Few days ago, I chatted with one of my American friends online. He was quite upset at that time because his mother was seriously ill. And he  couldn’t go home to look after her because he was then studying in Canada. However, his brothers and sisters, who were in USA and not far from their mother, were not quite willing to take care their mother because they were busy.

I was so confused that I asked my friend why.  He responded:”It’s  not a big deal in USA. You feel strange because of culture difference.”

In Chinese culture, family is the most important factor. When one is very little,  he has been taught to love and respect h is family, to look after his parents when they get old. “Family comes first” is deeply rooted in Chinese value. If one dones n’t take care his parents, he will get  unimaginable social co ndemn.

In USA, it’s totall different. When one is 18-year- old, he is independent ind ividual. Childre will have their own lives while old parents are viewed as burden. They would rather hire someone to look after their parents than take care by their own.

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.