Not one culture is the same as another. You can experience this though movies, tv shows, and even the music that we listen to. I was born and raised in Manhattan, so when I went back to Hong Kong, the environment was totally different. The food there was a lot less greaser, and the people were a lot more friendlier. They are a lot less rude, and actually apologize when they bump into you. Compared to New York, they give a lot more respect. I guess America just has a major pride issue. Chinese pop and American pop music is also totally different. And the difference between the nightlife! In New York, the nightlife usually ends at around 4ish or 5ish, but in Hong Kong, everything ends earlier.
The biggest cultural difference I found was that they respect their parents with a lot more respect than we do. With us, it's like we do whatever we want, we talk back to our parents and yell at them, but there, they hold back. They treat their parents with a lot more respect than we do.
3 comments:
I totally agree with you on the 'respect' part! I'm not sure about other cultures, but Asian culture compare to American Culture, seems to pay more attention on showing respect. Not just with parents,but I think in America, they are more 'friendly' with everyone in general. Although those friendly actions and comments are considered to be rude in Asian culture.
Interesting read. I was born and raised in a Chinese family in the USA, specifically Brooklyn, NY. To be honest, even though I am Chinese I lack the respect for my parents that they have in Hong Kong. Don't be mistaken, I'm not a bad son (seriously), I respect my parents a lot but in different standards. I guess its due to the fact that I was born into the American culture. I respect my parents but I joke around with them as i do with my friends. Its my way of bonding with them and that's what separates Hong Kong culture from American culture when it comes to parent and children relationship. I believe we all respect our parents (hopefully at least most of us do), it's just that we bond differently.
Hello,
I think its interesting how what I just read contrasts with the prior post that I responded to a few minutes ago.
If you check out Chenwei Huang's blog,he talked about how people in NYC are more polite than those from China. And you stated the opposite.
So which is it? Is HK culture different from Mainland culture?
As for the differences in terms of degree of respect for one's parents, I feel like it might be due to a more strict upbringing. If you as the child know your boundaries, then of course you would not act too irrationally. When a child is spoiled and unable to be disciplined, s/he acts on self-interest without fear of the consequences.
My parents were more strict with my brother and I as children but now that we are both in College, they've (generally) stopped demanding things of us because they know that we are now adults and able to make rational decisions by ourselves (for the most part..)
Post a Comment