Unexpected

 

People were in peace, no one could see what was coming next. In late August of 2016, some regions in North Korea were in a crisis situation since the heavy rain had been falling nonstop. Everyone, however, was living their typical day, kids were in school and fathers were at work because the rain did not seem strong enough to strike the villages. On August 29th around 4 PM, along the east coast of a river, the dam was swept away by the rising volume of the water. The water destroyed the riverbank, and it took hundreds of lives from the family, thousands of homes flooded up to their roofs and everyone was evacuated to their extended families’ houses or wherever they could go. It was a bona fide disaster. Like anyone in my town, this catastrophic flood had a huge impact on my family.

One of the effects was my mother had a miscarriage after the flood came in.  From losing everything, she dug into the ruined house to find something reusable like clothes and blankets and then washed them in the river to reuse them. These tasks overburdened her.  At the quite late age of 46, my mother was pregnant about to bring a life into the world, which would be my little sister/brother, but given the situation, there was no room for her to say that she was at the inception of pregnancy. In such turmoil of the natural disaster, everyone looked out for themselves, and It was just like a battlefield without an ear-splitting report of guns. While my father was at work, and I was at one of my relatives' houses, I got a call from my neighbor saying that she was in a crisis situation. When I came back home, she seemed Okay.

Moreover, bad news came after one another. My mother had a stroke a few months later, and the government provided the victims of the flood-stricken new apartment. The complexes were built in three months, so the houses were extremely humid. The water drops were streaming down on walls during the daytime, and at night it became icicles hung down, but no electricity to dry the house. From losing a lot of blood in her miscarriage, she became very weak mentally and physically, and the condition was another burden for her that she could not carry with her physical or mental status. One day evening while she was making dinner, the excruciating stroke struck her very badly. All of the sudden, she became irresponsible but she was able to breathe in and out.

As the following consequence of these dreadful circumstances, I was motivated to escape the country and I did. Taking care of someone who lost the ability to speak and move was not that easy. My mother needed me every second except the nighttime because my father cared for her at night, whenever she needed to either go to the restroom or whatever. In the meantime, medicine was too expensive for the stroke, but my father’s income was inadequate to buy medicine for her treatment, so I had to make money. Despite the fact that she needed me, and I was the only child, I decided to leave her because I wanted to invest my youth not only in her treatment but also for my future.

This story is just a small piece of the remains of a terrible event. If the river bank was constructed strong enough to prevent the flood, all these gut-wrenching stories would not be told on this paper. If the government had braced for the possibility of the deluge of rain, my mother wouldn’t have suffered from the stroke. If the government tried to invest money in something that related to public safety instead of enjoying their luxury life, the baby in my mother’s belly would be my little brother or sister. Then somehow now I would have been spending a normal day with them in North Korea. 

                                        Scattered by the Era

      I had never imagined I would immigrate to the United States. However, it came true, and here I am. Hong Kong is an independent legislative city of China, and it runs its own policy by the Hong Kong government instead of following the regulations of China. However, China interfered the internal affairs of Hong Kong by establishing the extradition bill in 2019. This bill states that if someone commits a crime in Hong Kong, they will be extracted to China for trail. It is perfectly clear that China broke the commitment of letting Hong Kong operate independently in this bill. In fact, this bill means that Hong Kong lost its freedom and democracy. With the bill and consecutive regulations that are being implemented, no one can ever be able to express themselves freely ever. Therefore, my family and I left Hong Kong and immigrated to the United States. 

     When my family and I were still living in Hong Kong in 2019, my father lost his job due to the political stand. He cared about the social issues of Hong Kong a lot, so he knew the regime of Hong Kong was corrupt because of China wanted to take control of Hong Kong. Beyond the shadow of a doubt, my father decided to turn against the government, but his company supported it. While he was working, he criticized the bill with his colleagues. However, someone must have reported my father to his boss, because he got some warning letters after these accusations. Besides, he went on strike a few times to protest and to express his opinions, which is the right to do in a democratic city, yet the company fired him because of his political stand and his actions. My father realized the future of Hong Kong was in jeopardy and uncertain.   

     Because the political situation was deteriorating, my father decided to immigrate to the US with our family. The unpalatable truth that our family had to face is that Hong Kong is no longer a judicial independence city anymore. Many rights have been limited. Therefore, he decided to leave Hong Kong, seeking a better place for my brother and me. Any speech that is against the government is prohibited to say. For example, all student unions of universities in Hong Kong have been dismissed because they spoke against the government. Besides, the Mainland government has also suppressed freedom of the press. It is also now forbidden to express the truth about the bad sides of China. Protesters will be arrested if they report the truths. It is impossible to live in a city without freedom and the right to get the real information.

     

     Moreover, the bill makes me cherish the freedom that I have in the United States, and the memories that I had in Hong Kong. I realized I could not take for granted having freedom, so I am glad that I got a chance to move to another country, to a place with liberty and democracy. I treasure the freedom that I got in the United States ever more. There are many Hong Kong people that still staying in Hong Kong, but their rights have been suppressed by the government. They no longer can live freely. Moreover, I even realized I love Hong Kong more than I could imagine after leaving. I lived in Hong Kong for eighteen years since I was born, so it will always be my hometown. Memories that I had in Hong Kong will always be stored in the deepest of my heart, giving me courage to move forward in this new land. 

     Leaving our hometown was not a simple decision, our family gave up lots of things, especially my parents. However, we do not have any regrets about it, as we cannot bare to live in a city that deprives its citizens of freedom and democracy. If the extradition bill had not been announced, my father would not have lost his job. If the extradition bill had not announced, we would not have left Hong Kong and immigrated to the US.  If the extradition bill had not been announced, I would not have cherished freedom here and the moments that I had in Hong Kong. Although our family is scattered by the chaotic era, we have opened a new chapter for our life. Thanks to my father, I can breathe in the freedom air.

 

My Familiar Lifestyle

My Familiar Lifestyle 

Every individual who lives in a different culture must get lost in translation at some point. It could be difficult for people to find their way. I was living in Taiwan, which is a small but bustling place. I love the lifestyle in Taiwan because it made my life colorful and interesting. I have made a lot of memories in the past of my life in Taiwan. However, since I need to study, I had to move from Taiwan to the United States. Although I can have more diverse experiences and special memories living in a different culture, I always miss the lifestyle in Taiwan, such as night life, the relationship with neighbor, and hang out with friends for interesting activities.

One part of the Taiwanese lifestyle that I miss is the night life. People do a lot of different activities at night in Taiwan, such as working, studying and hanging out. Since the public security is good in Taiwan, there are a lot of stores open at night. I could always find somewhere to go. For example, when I was a high school student, I usually went to art class after school until 10 or 11 p.m. Art class was not part of regular school day, it was an extra class for students to refine their drawing skills. After art class, I waited for my father to pick me up at the 7-11 because it is a safe place to wait at night. Moreover, there were a lot of restaurants still open at night. If people don’t know how to cook, they won’t starve at night. For example, I love the night market in Taiwan because there is delicious food, and it is always open at night. I used to hang out with my friends in the night market at night, and I enjoyed the time stay there. After I moved to Chicago, I always go back home before the sunset because walking on street at night is dangerous. Therefore, I never hangout with friends at night; I haven’t had a nightlife since I moved to Chicago.

Another part of the Taiwanese lifestyle that the sense of community. The sense of community is more present in my home town. My home town Kaohsiung is a lively community. Neighbors tend to live close, so their relationship is good. For example, my neighbors take me like their own granddaughter. My neighbors are an elderly couple, and they are very kind to me just like my real grandparents. Since my mom had just start-up a breakfast store when I was a baby, she didn’t have time to take care of me. The elderly couple would help my mom look after me. I am grateful the elder couple really helped my mom a lot. After many years, the elder couple had their own granddaughter. Their granddaughter is very cute, and she grew up with my younger sister they just like real sisters. Moreover, a lot of neighbors from our community like to spend time in my mom’s breakfast store. They like to sit and chat in there with each other when they are available. My mom’s breakfast store became an important place where people met each other and hang out.

Finally, the part that I miss the most of the Taiwanese lifestyle is spending time with friends in the interesting activities makes me feel relaxed. There are some interesting activities only popular in Asian countries. Since the culture is different between western countries and Asian countries, people have different hobbies and activities they love to do. For example, I used to go to karaoke with friends. Although my friends and I are not singers or dancers, we just sing to relieve pressure. I have seen serval karaoke in Chinatown; however, the cost is very expensive. In addition, camping became a popular activity recently in Taiwan. People love camping in United Sates as well. However, camping is more luxurious in Taiwan. The staffs of the campground pitch the tent and prepare food in advance, so people don’t need to do any work. The tent is beautiful with air conditioner. There is even an open-air cinema next to the tent. Therefore, I believe it would be so relaxing to stay there. Since Chicago is a big city, there is no camping here. Although there is camping nearby Chicago, I have not gone yet. 

The different lifestyle of Chicago had extended my acculturation period, and it makes me feel like I am living in a strange and interesting world. When I just came to Chicago, I lost some habits that I was used to in my Taiwanese life before. However, I have learned how to adjust my own lifestyle to adapt a new culture. I also developed a new habit of keeping in touch with friends and family on the Face time. Nevertheless, I still feel lost sometimes. However, some people say you have to break some eggs to make an omelet. I have gotten a lot of new experience in Chicago instead those I have lost in Taiwan. Therefore, it is not too bad living in a different culture.

Life's Challenge

                                                                     Life’s Challenge

War not only affects one generation, but its effects will linger for many generations. In 1937, Japan brought their military to invade and colonize China for the second time. The war lasted more than eight years. Japan colonized so many cities and people were controlled by the Japanese army in China including the city where my great grandparents lived, Jiujiang. The Japanese and Chinese War was the biggest Asian war in the twentieth century, and this war merged into World War 2, after Japan attacked Pearl Harbor in 1941. In that war, over twenty million Chinese people died and people were separated from their families. Thus, a lot of people decided to escape to another country to start their new lives including my great grandparents’ family. My great-grandparents and their children were greatly affected by the Japan-China war. 

 Even though my great grandparents’ family moved to Vietnam, they had to deal with a lot of problems there. One of the problems was language and communication. Since my great grandparents had lived in Jiujiang, China, they did not know Vietnamese when they moved to Vietnam. They chose Vietnam because it was the closest country to China, and there was no war at that time. At the beginning, they sought help, but no one understood their language. Because everything was new to them, they were like three-year-old children. They needed to find housing or work, but Vietnamese people could not tell them where or how they could get it. Because of not knowing Vietnamese, they seemed like they were deaf, blind, and even dumb. They also could not make friends easily. I heard my father say that they only had one friend who could speak Cantonese in Vietnam. He taught my great grandparents Vietnamese, but it was not easy. After over a year they knew how to speak in daily conversation, but they still had an accent. After they learned the basic Vietnamese, they tried to communicate with some Vietnamese people and they met some friends. 

In addition, money and jobs were big problems for my great-grandparents when they  arrived in Vietnam. Because of the Japan-China war, they lost all of their money. In addition, because they moved to Vietnam illegally, they could not easily find a job. At the beginning, they had to pawn their belongings such as a ring, wedding jewelry, and even hair in order to get some cash. Because they moved to Vietnam illegally, they did not have Vietnamese passports or identity cards. Even if they could find a job, they got low pay and were treated badly. Without jobs and money, my great-grand family had to live in the toughest situation when they moved to Vietnam.      

 Almost twenty years later, my great grandparents’ family got used to the new environment. They thought they would have a better life, but another war began in Vietnam forcing my grandfather to go to the military. The war began between the North and the South in Viet Nam. China supported the North of Vietnam to fight with the south of Vietnam which was supported by the United States. My grandfather's family lived in the south of Vietnam. Because of the lack of soldiers in the south, they forced every man who reached eighteen year-old to join the military. Because they were still obsessed over the war before, my great grandparents hid my father in my grandfather's friend's house. My family was separate again. The southern army searched each house to find as many people who reached age as they could. They used law to force people to be in the army, and if they did not go, they would get in trouble and be punished. Because my father needed to hide from the military, he had to stop his studies and lost a lot of his childhood time. My father had to stay in my grandfather's friend's house all the time without getting outside, so he could not go to school. At that time, he felt like he was in prison and had no freedom. 

 War not only affected my great grandparents' generation, but also my father's generation. War always leads to a lot of trouble, not only during the war, but also after it. There are so many effects after the Japan and China war. People had to suffer the physical and mental issues within the war. Because of the two wars, the Japanese invasion of China and the Vietnam’s war, my great grandparents, grandfather, and my father had a lot of difficulties such as language, financial, and military problems. They had to try so hard to survive and work to ensure their next generation would have a better life than them. I appreciate them and I am proud of them.

Cause & Effect--My Hero Parents

My parents’ fortunes were changed because of their actions. There was an unforgettable event that happened in 1989. It was called “The Tiananmen Square protests and massacre”. The death of Chinese prime minister Hu Yaobang in April 1989 led many people to go to Tiananmen Square to commemorate him. He was the former president. He was hardworking, so people liked him. Therefore, many students and citizens were going to commemorate him after his death. In addition, students were protesting the lack of freedom and freedom of speech in the country. Eventually, the event turned into a demonstration against the government because the students wanted a democratic government. My parents also participated in this protest. However, my parents and students failed. Therefore, this event affected my parents’ rights to protest and free speech, and this also affected my parents’ right to democracy.

This event affected my parents’ right to protest. The government used force to stop people's right to protest during that time. Therefore, many people were scared to do or say anything against the government. My parents were twenty-three years old at that time. They were classmates at college, and they went to Beijing to join this protest together. In addition, the government ordered the army to ban students’ demonstrations.  My parents saw a lot of soldiers and tanks in Tiananmen Square, and the government allowed soldiers to shoot people and students because the government wanted to disperse the crowd and control the square. When my parents heard the shooting, they ran away because they didn't want to die. In addition, my parents didn't have enough food or water to stay in Beijing. Therefore, they had to leave Beijing. My parents had planned to stay in Beijing until the protest was successful. However, they had to go back home. Therefore, this changed my parents’ plan in Beijing which was to protest, and they had to left and went back home.

In addition, this event affected my parent’s right to free speech because the government didn't allow people to discuss this event. My parents saw the police arrest a lot of students. Moreover, they knew a person who was interviewed by an American journalist, and he was arrested later. At that time, the government only permitted news that was in favor of the government. When my parents went back home and watched the news of the day on the TV, they saw that the government made those who joined this protest plead guilty on TV. My parents were so scared to talk about this event because if they said something about this they might be arrested. Therefore, this event affected my parents’ ability to talk about this event and to speak freely. There is no free speech in China even today. In fact, the government today is cracking down on all kinds of speech including social media.

Furthermore, this event affected my parents’ right to live in a democracy. Before this massacre and since then, the Chinese government has not let people attend demonstrations and the government prevented people from gathering during the days and weeks after the massacre. My parents told me that the government checked people entering the city at all train stations because the government wanted to stop students at the train station, and they didn't let students go into Tiananmen Square to demonstrate. In addition, the government refused to talk to student representatives. My parents saw a lot of students make suggestions to the Chinese government, but the government ignored the students because they didn't want to implement any change. As a result, this event affected my parent’s right to make this country better and their chance to live in a democratic country.

In sum, after this event happened, my parents lost their rights. Although my parents tried to make China better, it was not easy to make the government change. They lost their right to protest and free speech. In addition, they lost their right to live in a democracy. In my opinion, my parents were brave to join this event. When my parents were young, they were heroes. However, Chinese politics today remains grim. People living in China still have no right to protest or speak freely. I hope my country will become more democratic one day in the future.

Cause & Effect Essay

 Divided Country

    Old generations say that young generations complain so much even though they can have everything what they want. I grew up hearing these words since I was young.  From their perspectives, the lives of young people seem so comfortable because many in the older generations suffered terribly from the Korean War. When my mother was five years old, the Korean War broke out. This clash was between communism and capitalism. Before the war, Korea was already being divided into the North and South based on their political lines. However, the Korean people couldn’t imagine that they would fight each other. The Soviet Union and China were behind North Korea and the U.S. was behind South Korea. The war lasted for three years and it left unforgettable deep pain on my mother’s family.

First of all, my grandfather’s business collapsed. He was a successful businessman who ran a furniture factory which was the biggest one in his hometown. Before the war, he built furniture for new schools after liberation from Japanese colonialism in 1945. However, the Korean war broke out in 1950, so all the plans were canceled. Therefore, he couldn’t get paid at all for jobs he already completed. After the war, he started a furniture business again. However, he couldn’t make money because everyone was poor, so no one could afford to buy furniture. Moreover, he ended up getting cancer and never recuperated. Thus, my mother’s family went from being wealthy to impoverished. 

        Furthermore, my grandparents lost their first son during the war. He was a handsome young man in his twenties who was very talented in every way and was my grandfather’s favorite. He was also talented in music and played the violin. When the North Korean army came to his hometown, they found him hiding in his neighborhood and kidnapped him for consolation performances of the North Korean army. After a while, some people who were kidnapped with my grandparents’ first son went back to their hometown. They said that while they were moving with the North Korean army, they were attacked by the U.S. army and most of them died including my grandparents’ son. My mother’s family was distressed to hear that and realized that there was no one standing on only one side in this war, but it was just a tragedy.   

        After the war, my mother had to be an independent child at the age of eight. She had six siblings and my grandparents were not able to take care all of them. Thus, my mother voluntarily entered an orphanage to ease the burden on her family. After one year, she came back home because the food was like garbage and she was sick a lot in the orphanage. Even though she could live with her parents, the situation didn’t get better. She picked up the wood and junk in the morning because even a single abandoned can on the street could be a household item for her house. She also sold one old book a day to buy sleeping pills to ease pain of her father who suffered from cancer. In addition, she loved school but couldn’t attend school often. Instead, she had to help her mother sell vegetables at the street market where it took three hours to walk from her house. Due to this reason, going to school became her lifelong dream until she went to college in her middle age. 

        To be honest, I couldn’t understand my elder family members whenever they criticized young generations and compared to their suffering from the war because it sounded unrealistic and felt like a story from a novel. However, when I heard from my mother about her childhood for the first time, because of my homework, I realized all the devastation during the Korean War that she and her family experienced. While listening her story, I felt really sorry for this young girl and ashamed that I didn’t ask about my family history before. She said that she had never told this story in detail to anyone. She cried like a child, and I also wiped away my tears. Finally, I was able to understand my mother better since I started to see vulnerable sides of older generations behind their strong sides. 

  

Winning Nothing

             Almost every country in Latin America has its own currency, but Ecuador is one of the exceptions. Twenty-two years ago, Ecuador changed its currency from sucres to dollars. In 1999, Ecuador was going through an economic and political crisis. The economy was deteriorating, and inflation was causing the country sink. As a result, the president arbitrarily changed currency, provoking a catastrophe. The dollarization started after the banks declared themselves bankrupt, and they started stealing Ecuadorian money. This event has been one of the most important historical events that Ecuador has gone through. Most of the population lost something with monetary value, savings, business, and houses, not even to mention people who lost their families. My family wasn’t exempt from losing something. The devaluation of the currency and the crisis economic caused two of my aunts had to immigrate to Italy. My mother was in the process of starting a small business and she lost everything she invested, and my grandparents lost money too. 

           Dollarization affected my family in many ways. Two of my aunts immigrated to Italy because of our family’s economic situation. They decided to help our family economically. In the beginning, it was hard for us to see them suffering the sorrow of being alone in another country. Moreover, they experienced racism and discrimination because of their race and language. They didn’t speak Italian. They had to do manual labor jobs that they would never imagine. However, my aunts helped my great-grandmother to build her house. They sent money to her every month to help with the expenses. They also help their sibling keep going after the economic crisis, sending money to them too. One of my aunts returned a few years later, but the other one still lives there. She always says that she is grateful to be in Italy despite all the circumstances she has experienced. 

           In addition, my mother’s new business was affected by the economic crisis. A year before my mother decided to set up a small business. She used to sell luxury brand perfumes. She traveled to Colombia to buy all the perfumes and do business with the providers who would sell her the perfumes that she would distribute. Everything was going well until the crisis and the dollarization occurred. My mother lost everything she invested and more. Despite Ecuador’s problem, my mom’s method to charge money for perfumes was unfavorable. She let the customers make monthly payments after they bought the product, so they would get the perfume first and pay later. As a result, they never fulfilled the payment commitment they had with my mother. They said as an excuse that they lost everything during the bankruptcy crisis and the dollarization. My mom had a lot of debts with her providers that took her years to figure out. Nevertheless, something good happened to my mother. She gave birth to me. She was pregnant while all this situation happened and at some point, I witnessed the crisis too.

        As I mentioned, this crisis involved my whole family. My grandparents faced difficult economic situations too. They were part of those people who had some savings at the bank, and they had lost it. It wasn’t a lot, but it represented their efforts over many years. They lost it with the crisis and the dollarization. Besides, they had a small business at their house. In Ecuador, it is common to see small grocery shops in houses where people can buy basic items like food or school supplies. They had this type of store. They didn’t close their small shop, but the business went through tough financial times. Customers weren’t frequent as before. As a result, they lost money and gained debts with banks. They asked for loans to keep going their business. Furthermore, it was hard for them to adapt to the new currency. They never had used dollars, so it was like learning again. 

           To sum up, dollarization changed the economic system in Ecuador. The country was affected by the consequences. My family faced the catastrophe of seeing our family getting separated, losing money, and hope. It took many years to adapt the country to a new era in the economy. What happened after dollarization and bankruptcy was horrifying, but also left a new hope that everything would be better at some point. Ecuador has preserved dollar currency for all these years. I consider it has helped the country not to be a complete mess. Even though the dollarization brought difficult times, the economy in Ecuador improved in a few aspects over the years. The situation would be worse if the country kept the old currency. Ironically, we got over what happened twenty-two years ago. It was hard at the beginning, but it has been better through the years. I don’t mean that Ecuador's economy is great now, but it is better than before the crisis.