Bingyi Mei

       My Name

Bing in English means being strong or being good quality, but in Chinese it means ice or cold water. One of my uncles gave me this name because I was born in February, the coldest month in China. Furthermore, Bing is a common name in China, and it’s given to girls to represent intelligence and purity. In fact, I don’t really like my name because sometimes it gives people feelings like too cold, too quiet and not easy-going. However, I keep it as my Chinese name and translate it into my English name as Icy. I remember when I went to a city college in Atlantic City in New Jersey four years ago, the teacher asked me my English name, and I told her my name is Icy. Unfortunately, she said she didn’t like the name “Icy” because it’s too freezing and she just called my Chinese name “Bing” instead of my English name. Therefore, “Icy” used as an English name in China is so cool, but it’s not so much welcomed in the United States. People here love warmth and enthusiasm. Since then I have kept my Chinese name “Bing” as my English name because it’s short, easy to remember, and also brings good feelings.

Mei is my last name. Mei means plum blossom in Chinese, and it represents strong, and resistant to low temperature. I like my last name because it encourages me to be strong in difficult environments. Immigrating to America has been a big challenge for me, like working long time to support our whole family, taking good care of my daughters, studying to improve my English and looking for a good job. Everything at the beginning is hard. Nevertheless, I will never give up pursuing a better life. I hope I can be like the plum blossom to be strong and independent when facing obstacles.