USA vs. China

January 12, 2009 marks 30 years since I first step foot in America. I immigrated here at the age of 3 so I have no memories of Taiwan before that. Though I visited every 2 years or so I didn't really have a deep connection with the country. That is until I was in Taiwan during the big earthquake on 9/21/99. Buildings collapsed, people trapped, thousands died, rescuers arrived from all over the world and everywhere on the streets people were banded together helping and supporting one another. That's when I had an overwhelming feeling of "Wow, these are my people". Corny eh? Well, since then, tragedy over, people healed, life went on and Taiwan is thousands of ocean miles away. The connection slowly fades away. Bryan on the other hand came to America when he was 16 years old. He tells me that he could never live in Hong Kong again. He's used to living in larger homes, driving to work and non-humid weather. But that doesn't change his deep connection to his roots. It was never so prevalent until we watched the Olympics together and I realized we were rooting for different teams! That brings on a slew of introspective questions of why I consider myself first a Chinese and second an American, but I still hope that the Chinese gymnastics team gets eliminated for having underaged athletes. Could it be because I was conditioned at an early age to pledge my allegience to the American flag every day at school? Too many questions to be discussed in this blog. But it does make me wonder, "At what age do you become connected to your country?"