American Dream

    Many people go through dark periods in life that are very awful. From the 1960s to 1970s, Chinese economic development was not going so well after the Cultural Revolution. In 1950s to 1960s, China had a Cultural Revolution that affected the Chinese economy. A lot people who lived in China had a very hard time due to the new economy charges. At that time almost everyone had the same dream, which was the American dream. During that time the American economy was developing better than China. Our family had the same feeling as everyone. In fact, my aunt was the person who immigrated to the United State from our family in 1988 and as the time passed from our family have more people immigrated to the U.S, including me. The poor economy forced our family to immigrate to the U.S in order to gain better living conditions.

         

Over the years, many of my family members immigrated to United States in order to pursue the American dream. In the past, the people who were living in China did not have many work opportunities to find. The old generation in China thought that America was a gold mountain where anyone could make a lot of money because in the United State there have more jobs. In addition, during that time, the value of the U.S dollar was very valuable so, my family could send money home to our family who still living in China. Over these years, my family's living condition has improved a lot.

Another why our family moved to the U.S, was because we were looking for a better education. In the past the education system in China was not as strong as the U.S. Moreover, my family thought that the Chinese education system  was not suitable to us because under the education system, people were not able to discover every student's advantage correctly. Furthermore, if our family keep studying in China it would be very hard because we have to pay a lot money to study and the learning process in China is more difficult than the U.S. For example, the students were working very hard in order to improve the grade and spending a lot of time to do the assignments and taking cram class everyday in additionally. As a result, my family decided to move to the U.S in order to have better condition to study also it is very important for our future.

Finally, in China there is no real freedom of speech. The fact is the Chinese government has too much control, and sometimes citizens cannot express themselves freely. For example, the criticize the leader or what he does. In addition, in order to beautify the government, the Chinese government often hides the dark side of country and the government only show the good side of the country. Moreover, the Chinese citizens do not have the right to vote for the leader. In fact, all the people think that is unreasonable. In addition, China also locks some internet websites such as Facebook, YouTube and Google. In other words, the people who still living in China cannot able to have the freedom of speech in the internet. Thus, in order to pursue the freedom our family had to make a decision to move to the U.S. 

In conclusion, I feel very lucky that I was not born in the old generation and that I did not have to experience poverty or the poor economy. Luckily, I grew up with a lot of happiness. I am thankful for everything that my aunt had done for me in the past. Therefore, if they had not immigrated to the U.S I probably would not be here right now and my American dream would not come true. In addition, I would not have the better education and very good living conditions. My life began a new chapter when moved here in 2006. I will always have a thankful heart for my aunt that she changed our family's lives.

The Family Trip

            In these recent thirty years, China is a country which one developed so fast. It surprised people all over the world, but every step doesn’t improve that easily. China had a series of revolutions, and finally it got the achievement like today. And thousands of Chinese sacrificed a lot for today’s China. In fact, my family is as normal as the most Chinese families. My family had been through the development of China.  That’s also the reason why my family move to the United States. This is my sixth month in the United States, and it’s my father’s seventh year in here, I really appreciated that I could have a chance to have different experience.

            Because of Chinese economic revolution, a lot of factories shut down, and my parents faced the crisis that they would lose their jobs. Finally my father decided to take a chance in Japan. Twenty years ago, the country didn’t need to afford too much country’s factories. Instead, it needed a new economic revolution. In that situation, the Chinese government decided to develop Chinese individual economy and then the government stopped paying lots of state-owned factories. Therefore a lot of state-owned factories shut down and my parents’ state-owned factory also faced challenges. Although their factory was still running, everybody knew the deadline was coming soon. In that situation, when I was a baby all the family’s burden came to my father. Japan is a developed country, so finally he resigned his job at the factory and went to Japan as a cook.

          

About two years later my father came back from Japan and Chinese individual economic revolution, stock market had started to developed after two years passed. The steps of Chinese revolution never stopped. However, it was just the start of Chinese stock market, and the market was unmeasured, there were some parts unclear. Then people called them grey areas”. When my father came back he took back all the money he saved in Japan. He was the same as thousands of Chinese people who wanted to be rich in one night. A lot of inside information came from “his friends”, so he carried the greedy dream and couldn’t wait any moment. He put all his money into the stock market. At first, he earned a lot, nearly like three times more than before. Unfortunately soon after he lost all his money. It was miniature of most Chinese who wanted to be rich at one night.

          

  He got another chance to work in the U.S and he still dreamed to be rich, he complained all the time about the differences between America and China. Because of the stress from family and the difficulty of finding jobs in China, he got the chance to work in the United States, eventually he got the green card to apply mom and me come to Chicago. Chicago was the place which always showed up in my dream, also a place where my dad wanted to achieve his “American Dream”. He still can’t be rich one night in America, he always complain about how America stupid is and how much rich people he knows in China.

The next generation, as my generation, can through study hard to achieve dreams. Nowadays, more and more Chinese people immigrate to the U.S. Some of them are international students, some of them because of work problems. We all work so hard and want to stay here to create our new world. We finally arrived in a new land. People who came to the U.S because of different reasons. But this country isn’t heaven. It’s a world full of competitions. New immigration used to have the stories in their motherland and will start another new chapter in USA. Even though I don’t know where my future is, I am supposed to appreciate it and achieve the first dream I used to have. 

Family History Essay-Reach to the Top

Reach to the Top

In imperial China, people that were not educated would have a hard time to earn money and support themselves. People had less education had to work in the fields from sunrise to sunset. My father grew up in a village and didn’t have a chance to get educated. In the 1970s, Deng Xiaoping, the president, decided to open up the  China’s economy. At the same time, many factories and railroad companies were built in Southeasten China. Around the 1990s, my father decided to get out of the village and get a job in a railroad company. He had made this decision because there is a saying in Chinese, man struggles upward and water flows downward. Regardless of family background looks like, people would take any chance to make their lives better. My father’s decision to find a job in Guangzhou brought the future and new hope to his family.

   When my father began work in the railroad company, it totally changed his family’s economy. My father was born in a well off family. His family owned a field, so they planted crops and sold the goods to earn money. Even though the family had some money, it was not enough to support a family of eight. When my father got the news through a friend that railroad company had a job offer in Guangzhou, he decided to take the opportunity and travel to a strange city for employment. After working in the railroad company, he sent back money monthly to support his family. In addition, it was inevitable that he would miss his family, but he never went back because he didn’t want to waste the money on the tickets. Even though there was a far distance between him and his family, their hearts were close together.

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In addition, because my father worked in a big city like Guangzhou, I received an amazing education in school and didn’t have to work in the fields. Moreover, my cousin who is the same age as me is less fortunate. She studied in a poor school in the village and helped her family in the fields. The education was poor and the environment was cruel in many villages in China. Schools couldn’t provided tasty lunch for students and the recreational facilities were poor. Also, the books that students used to learn were worn. Students couldn’t have the great opportunity to learn, nor could teachers have great teaching materials to use. I felt bad for my cousin because it can be unfortunate to be born in a poor village.

In modern China, those born in villages wish they can escape the poor life to find a better life. In 2007, there was a better chance that came to my father which was immigrating to Chicago. He had taken this chance to make an even better quality of life for his family. Now, he have the ability to send more money to his family in China, and buy everything for his family wants. Because of his immigration, it was a new and challenge life and great opportunities were set up for me. It has given me more experiences and challenges when I arrived in United States. I appreciate that my father had taken his opportunity when the chance came to him and chosen to be brave and dare to pursue a better life.

Everyone wants to pursue the best opportunities in their life. Many people find different ways to achieve their goals and wouldn’t miss any chances. Like my father, he had taken his chance and left his family to pursue a better life alone in a strange city. He wouldn’t miss any opportunities that could change his family and his life. He later chose to immigrate to the United States for an even better opportunity for himself and his family. The history forced me to think about when I have my own family, I want to give them the best things I have. Family is a magical thing that pushes people to do such difficult things, and I am proud to have such a father. 

The Law of the Jungle

Zalina Orozobaeva

ESL 100

October 8, 2015

Third draft

The Law of the Jungle

       

      Before 1991, Kyrgyzstan was part of the Soviet Union, and the government provided stable jobs for everyone. Everything was equal. In 1991 the Soviet Union collapsed, and in Kyrgyzstan there was chaos. Most people couldn't do anything because they were not ready to face with capitalism. When Kyrgyzstan became an independent country, there was a law “The early bird gets the worm” where people were surviving, and as in Darwin’s theory the strongest succeeded in surviving.

People had lost their jobs and money because of the changed currency. That situation gave some people a good opportunity, especially those who worked before in the government. They could save their money and privatize some factories. Also, there were a lot of scammers that came up with all sorts of companies where people could invest their money and earn a percentage. Nevertheless, when it came time to pay interest, these companies simply shut down and disappeared. The middle class lost all their savings.

This situation affected most families in the country, and of course those circumstances strongly affected my family too.

             At that time my mom decided to move to Bishkek because after the Soviet Union collapsed life became hard in my hometown.

My hometown Karakol



Karakol

She quit her job at the school, sold our house and my family said goodbye to all our neighbors. When my family moved to Bishkek, we lived in my aunt’s house for two months while my mom looked a new house and job. It was in 1993. Nonetheless, my mom couldn’t find a house because the currency changed and the money from sale of our house disappeared. In the Soviet Union in Kyrgyzstan people used the ruble, but in 1993 the government decided to adopt its own currency, the Kyrgyz Som.

The Kyrgyz som

 My family couldn’t buy a house, so my mom decided to rent an apartment. She rented a small room without a kitchen, bathroom because it was cheap. The neighborhood where we rented room was a suburb, but the people seemed strange to me because they were angry all the time for some reason which I couldn’t understand. Most people in that suburb were Russian which another reason why I couldn’t understand them was. I started attending to the Russian kindergarten, my brother studied in ballet school, and my mom started to work in the new job.

             During those difficult times, my mom had to change her whole life. She began her first steps as a builder in a construction company rather than pursue a career of teacher of music in a high school. It was a very hard job for a woman because she needed to lift heavy things, but chose that job for the salary. Consequently, my mom didn’t get her salary around six months, and we couldn’t pay for the rent for one month. After a week when my mom was late paying the rent, the owner came to our room, and told my mom that we had to leave. When my mom tried to explain to the owner that she would pay him for two months when she found a new job, the owner said ‘’currently our world is as a jungle, and only one law “The Law of the Jungle’’ applies. In this world, you need to survive as long as you can’’.  When he said that, my mom understood that we needed to move because he would never change his mind. My mom, my brother and I moved from that room to the street. It was that my brother studied in ballet school where he could live six days a week. My mom changed her job again, and she started to work in the studio where she sewed dresses. My mom and I lived in the park around one week because we didn’t have any money. All the owners wanted money first, and then would give out a key. While I slept, my mom was crying. I could hear her voice, but I never said anything her about it. I don’t know why, but she never showed me how she cried. Maybe she was afraid that I would cry too, or maybe she wanted me to be a strong girl. After one week, my mom and I found a new apartment where we lived around five years because it was near my school. However I started to study, we faced with other difficulties.

The situation of my country affected my education. The school where I studied was a new public school, but even though it was public school, I needed to pay tuition, and buy all books for classes because school couldn’t provide students with books. Unfortunately, I couldn’t buy books because every day the salespeople changed their price and nobody controlled it. Books in the fall were very expensive because it was season for books and school supplies. My class had thirty-three students, and only five students had all books. Most students didn’t care about homework, but I thought if I came to class without homework, my teacher would yell at me. One day I realized that my classmate Nargiza who lived near my home, had all the books. When I wanted to borrow books from her, she told me that I cannot because her mother would yell at her. I always did my homework in front of her house in the street. She couldn’t even invite me into her house because she was scared of her mother. I had always wondered what Nargiza’s mother looked like. Nazrgiza’s mother for me was like a medusa. Nargiza was not a successful student.  She never did her homework and she couldn’t understand what our teacher said. Sometimes I hated her because she had all opportunities to study, but she didn’t even try. Maybe Nargiza didn’t study because our teachers were nonchalant. Most of teachers came to school to show that they were there, and they spent their time drinking tea in teacher’s room. Somehow, I finished my education in school and started at the university. Nonetheless, I couldn’t finish my education there because of my financial situation. I ended up getting married very early when I was eighteen years old.  My husband and I moved to Turkey because he studied there. In our new country, I learned a new language, found a good job and saved money for my education in the future.

            

             When Kyrgyzstan became an independent country, it was a very difficult experiment for all people and for my family. I am happy that I lived through those difficult times because it made me who I am today. Now when I encounter difficulties, sometimes I do not even pay attention to them. I never will forget that experience from my life, and now I can give better future for my children. In recent years, life is better in my country people adapted to capitalism system, and education is better now than before.

Now most students have books

Bishk

 I never regret growing up in those transitional years because if I had good life maybe I would have never studied here. I am grateful to my mother who could survive in those difficult times, and who supports me until now in all my endeavors. Despite the fact that my life is better these days than in those times, I will never forget what my family and I had to go through. People were aggressive, discriminatory and very rude. That life was “The Law of the Jungle”.  

Bishkek

Family Dream

Do you have a dream? What is your dream? People all over the world dream of happiness and a better life. To live a better life is my dream, as well as my family’s dream. A family cannot fulfill a dream without its members’ hard-work or the nation’s stable policy. As the modern Chinese generation, we all benefited from the Reform and Opening-up Policy, which was initiated by one of the former Chinese Presidents Deng Xiaoping in 1979. This policy has not only reformed China’s economy, culture and policies, but also opened up China to outside countries. The Reform and Opening-up Policy has had great effects on China, but also on my family. Thanks to this policy, my family has been able to fulfill our family dream step by step to lead a better life.

At the beginning, the Reform and Opening-up Policy gave my father the first step to fulfill our family dream. My father was born on 1953, which was eight years after World War II. At that time, China was very poor; people lived in hard time and suffered from hunger and poverty. My father had to work as a farmer to support his family after graduating from high school. However, since China has pursued the Reform and Opening-up Policy, China’s economy has become better, and the people’s living standards have been improved. Firstly, my father had a chance to obtain wealth and get lifted out of poverty. My father grew large amounts of rice and vegetables, so he could make money to feed his family and provide them warm clothing. Furthermore, my father got married and built up a comfortable family. He married my mother who was introduced by his relatives in 1980. In order to build a comfortable home, my parents worked hard from dawn to night in the field. No longer had living in the old house, my family and his family moved into a new house which had a television, washing machine, and refrigerator.

In addition, thanks to the Reform and Opening-up Policy, I could take the second step to fulfill our family dream, and I had the chance to receive nine-year compulsory education and chase my dreams independently. In the old China, girls didn’t have the chance to go to school and get good education. They could not work outside, and just stayed at home and did housework. They got married by following their parents’ will, and they didn’t have the chance to pursue their dreams. Luckily, because China carried out the Reform and Opening-up Policy, I was able to go to school to get nine years of compulsory education. I was able to enter a teacher training school and graduated from college with my hard work. Moreover, I could fulfil my dreams independently. Fortunately, I got my favorite teaching job after I graduated from the college; I married a man who I love him and trust him not like my mother’s following her parents’ will. Finally, I chose to immigrate to the U.S because I admired its high quality education and good medical benefits.

Finally, thanks to the Reform and Opening-up Policy, my daughter can continue to pursue our family dream in the United States. The Reform and Opening-up Policy offered my family the chance to get U.S. visas and start a new life in this country. Moreover, the education here is so excellent and the medical benefits are so good. Not like Chinese spoon-feed education, American education cares more about students’ ability of imagination, thinking, creativity, and manipulating information. Fortunately, my daughter is getting a good education in school now. She is learning in an active and energetic way, and she is becoming smarter and more independent. In addition, as a member of a low income family, my daughter gets free and good medical care from the U.S government. For instance, my daughter has free physical and dental check so that she can grow up healthily.

In conclusion, my family is just one of many families that are fighting for their dream. The family dream, which is to live a better life, has kept us fighting for it from generation to generation. Thanks to the Reform and Opening-up Policy, my father, my daughter and I have opportunities to obtain wealth, receive good education, get good medical benefits, and pursue independence. Everything we do today is to weave our wings for our family dream so that it can come true one day.

Reunion

       Reunion

         The economy is the base of a country is development. This is a phrase note in all Chinese political science textbooks. A hundred years ago, China lost a war to Britain, so it leased Hong Kong to Britain. After a long effort, the Chinese government signed an agreement with the British government, which began the handover of Hong Kong to China in 1997. This great event not only let the Chinese territory be more complete, it also made the Chinese economy developed more quickly. My hometown, Guangdong Province, was the nearest place to Hong Kong. Because of the Hong Kong reunion, my hometown got a big boost to its economy, and my family and my lives changed profoundly.

            The reunion first effected my mother because it gave her an employment. At that time, Hong Kong just began to trade and with the Mainland. The factories started blossoming liked the shoots of trees after a spring rain. A great number of factories appeared in a short time and developed very quickly. Fortunately, my mother got a job working in clothing factory. It was lucky that my mother who was a woman from a little village in the countryside, and only graduated from middle school, could get a job. It made her have steady income and live comfortably in the city. She did not need to work in the rice fields in the hot summer like her classmates. My mother became one of the first beneficiaries of the Hong Kong reunion in my family.

            Moreover, my family had better material condition than other families in across China at that period. Nowadays, China is the second biggest economy in the world, but in the late 1990s, the Chinese marketplace just began to develop. Most Chinese people could not have a good material condition because there were few types of commodity but with bad quality. However, my family was different. My sister used to travel to Hong Kong because of work. Each time she came back, she would bring some gifts to our family because Hong Kong had more interesting and better commodities. Many things in my home were brought from Hong Kong from small snacks to big household appliances. Even though my family was not very rich, we could have a better quality and life.

            Finally, but most important for me, the Hong Kong reunion allowed me to have complete education. A few years ago and even today, many children still could not have complete education in some poor villages. Their parents required them to drop out of school in order to make money because their family did not have enough to support their education. However, this did not occur to me because I lived in Guangdong, and the proximity to Hong Kong allowed Guangdong to develop economically. My family had enough money to support me to get a quality education. Also, the development made they know that education was really important, and it could affect me whether I succeeded or not in the feature.  With their support, I could have the good education from primary school to high school, and even go to college.

            The Hong Kong reunion changed my hometown and gave my family many changes to live better. It gave the economic changes to my hometown, and it became the base of a good life. In fact, the reunion brought an advanced economy and society into regular Chinese life. I am really thankful for this reunion. This beautiful place now belongs to my country again. 

Trang Nguyen

ESLINTG 100

Cause and Effect History Essay

                                                                        

                                                       Medal of Honor

There were approximately four hundred thousand to two million Northern Vietnamese people that died from 1944 to 1945, due to the horrible famine. The consequence of the Indochina War destroyed all regions of Northern part in Vietnam. French colonialists and Japanese imperialists occupied and reformed the economy in order to serve their evil purpose. They accumulated all the rice and food for the war needs. Besides, disaster, flood, and cholera also deeply affected people’s life. Both my great-grandparents passed away during this famine, and my grandfather became an orphan. A few years later, he was adopted by a patriotic family and they moved to another province. It was his adoptive parents that inspiring my grandfather to join the army. When the war ended, he came back with medals of honor. His grand feats gave my family a life with full of fortune and pride.

Shortly after my grandfather returned home, my grandmother was the first one who received benefits from him. The Vietnamese government presented my family with a Certificate of Merit for serving the country. It’s called The Heroic Family. Since then, people in our village started to change their attitude toward my grandmother. Previously, she was hard of hearing. Due to this unfavorable condition, she often had trouble participating in conversation with others. Sometimes kids and even a few adults made fun of her. They laughed a lot when she misunderstood what people said. Now, after this prestigious award, whenever people saw my grandmother walking on the road, they came to say with excitement “You are a hero’s wife”. In addition, at the meetings or music shows, everyone was willing to offer her a seat at the first row so that she could be able to hear well. Furthermore, when she went to the market, the sellers there also gave her a better price for almost every item. If she refused to take it, they always said “It’s not worth mentioning. Your husband’s contribution is more deserved.”

Years later, my father took my grandfather’s model and became a successful man. After graduating from high school, my father also joined the army for a few years and then attended the political institute. During the time he was studying here, the learning environment was really tough and challenging. The school was less than twenty miles from home, but he couldn’t visit his parents for more than one year and did not contact with anyone, due to the rules and disciplines of his school. Finally, he finished the long term program and became a political lecturer. Nowadays, my father still recalled the hard time he had spent as a short film of his life. However, according to him, it was like a mere piece of cake compared with my grandfather’s feat.

Finally, I am the latest generation that inherited the reward from my family. During my sixteen years of studying in Vietnam, I only paid half of my tuition. All the students have parents or grandparents who served the country as a part of their lives were able to take this benefit. In addition, when I studied in the university, I could also stay in the dorm with fantastic living conditions and the payment was reasonable. It was far different than if I had rented an apartment outside. Many students had to worry about moving to a new place at least one or two times per year, since the rent often increased. Sometimes, the security was also a problem that concerned them. Thus, I could pay attention to my studies for four years, and my parents could count on me.

Sometimes, I saw my grandfather standing in front of the Medals and the Certificate, watching them in silent and smiling with pleasure. Before, whenever I asked him to tell me the war story, I saw enthusiasm and brightness in his eyes. He would spent the whole day to recall it. Now, he is ninety years old. His memory has become less reliable than it was. To the others, he brought my family a life that everyone might desire to live in, but to me, he is simply my beloved one that I admire most. In the past, the war left Vietnam severe suffering and deaths. At the same time, it also gave the country courageous heroes. They fought not only for the homeland but also for their family, for themselves.

Family Planning

Family Planning

            After the economic opening of China in 1978, there were better economic times, so people had more children and the Chinese population increased very fast. Because the medical services were getting better, people lived longer and there was a rise in birth rates. However, a rising birth rate eventually placed an enormous burden on Chinese society. In addition, people who lived in the countryside had a lot of children. As a result, the Chinese government promoted family planning to control the population. Family planning means that each family was only allowed to have a single child. Thus, each husband and wife was allowed only had one child. However, many families including mine violated the planning policy, and this violation had an enormous influence on my parents, my siblings and me.

            Because of the family planning law, my family had to escape our village. The government went around and started reinforcing the law everywhere. Then, my mother had one daughter, but my grandmother and my father really wanted a son. Therefore, my family escaped to different places to live when my mother got pregnant again. Because of the violation of the law that my mother was committing, the family planning officers came to my family’s house to arrest her. Later, when my mother got pregnant with my younger sister and brother, my family had to escape to different places again in order to avoid being arrested.  If the family planning officials arrested my mother, they would force my mother to have an abortion. Finally, my family never went back to my hometown until my little brother was born.

            In addition, my parents needed to make money to pay a lot of fines for the extra children. My parents always worked hard and hardly ever stayed at home; for example, they worked in a coal mine company, drove a bus in the city, and worked as a factory. My parents were very busy, so nobody did the housework. As a result, my siblings and I had to help my parents to do housework, and my older sisters and I had to take care of my little sister and brother and share a lot of household duties. For example, we had to wash clothes, cook, and sweep the floor. When my older sister cooked the meals, I always washed the dishes after dinner. I felt successful and independent to have this extra responsibility that I could help my parents share the burden.

              

            More importantly, because of the violation of family planning, my siblings and I had to change schools often and always make new friends. Each time we moved to a different place to live, I always had to adapt to a new environment. I remember when I was ten years old, I met a close friend in school, and she treated me like an intimate sister. She often told funny stories, and she always invited me to her house to study and play. At that time, my life was full of positive energy; however, when I was ten years old, my parents had bad news from me, which made me cry. They told me that I was transferring to another school. Every time I transferred to another school, I cried because I lost my friends.

            I know my parents had a hard time during those years.  They had to escape, pay fines and live in different places. Many of my friends and classmates envied me having several siblings because they were only child and felt lonely. Now, as they get older they need to take care for their parents and grandparents alone. However, my siblings and I have some advantages. We can take care of our grandparents and parents, and we can take care of each other. Despite the poor conditions when I grew up, I am so thankful to my parents for giving me my siblings. 

Ten Years of Grief

Ten Years of Grief

Most revolutions bring a society better conditions making the country develop faster, and giving people a better life. However, there was a revolution that brought the Chinese people sadness, pain and depression without any good change. That was the Cultural Revolution, which occurred between 1966 to 1976 and destroyed a huge amount of culture and society. At that time, the Mao Zedong came to power, and he initiated a strict order for the country. His party critiqued the traditional culture, defeated rich people, professors and anyone who didn`t support the Communist Party. The Cultural Revolution`s leader ordered those rich people know they should donate their whole fortune, let them work day and night and gave them dirty narrow rooms or grass houses to live. In fact, the ten years of the Cultural Revolution destroyed Chinese people`s characteristic. They threw out traditional culture even if it was good, and forced people to believe the only one party. It made our society become tough that people didn`t have real human right. This Revolution destroyed my family and let my grandmother lose her happiness and pass away early. 

The Cultural Revolution critiqued people who were rich and powerful. My great-grandfather was a famous businessman and powerful person in my hometown seventy years ago. He even donated an airplane to the army and assisted them to defeat any aggressors. However, he could not enjoy his old age after the Communist Party won the war. The leader of Revolution accused him of being a capitalist because he had an amount of money to donate. At that period, they forced everyone to become a communist or they would be criticized and denounced. Therefore, the Red Guard which was the solider unit belonging to the leader fired and broke great-grandfather`s traditional treasures, like books, paintings and vases. I still remember that one of the vases was more than two hundred years old. Moreover, they robbed the gold, beautiful decorations and broke the front door of his house. In fact, my great-grandfather passed away after those things happened. We didn`t know the reason that he died. However, compared with other sufferers, he still had a decent quality of life. For example, my grandmother`s sister married a professor and because professors and intellectuals were considered anti-communist by the government, they had to parade through the streets every afternoon. People forced them to hang a board, which was written “I was wrong”, on their neck. This was one rude role that happened in the Cultural Revolution and make people live like a sinner.

In addition, the Cultural Revolution destroyed people`s lives. At the same time, one person`s salary was too low to afford a family. Therefore, my grandmother needed to work hard to bring up four children. Unfortunately, she was ordered to go to the countryside to work. At that time, people believed women could do what men do, so she went down into the cellar in the summer. Nevertheless, this was dangerous work even for men. The biting cold water damaged her body and made her pass away too early. She was a really kind and wonderful woman in my memory. In fact, she was the most favorite family member of mine. That was why I felt animosity to the Cultural Revolution that it destroyed many blessed families.

Finally, due to the because of the revolution, a branch of my great-grandfather`s family went abroad to America, but we lost touch with them. They escaped the defeat in the correct time that they did not need to accept the unreasonable criticism and condemnation of the government. Furthermore, we all hoped they would have a free life where no one forced them to do anything and they could reach their American dream. We did not think they could get out of this dark period. In addition, the reason I came the U.S. was not only for the American dream, but also because I wanted to find the information about them or to know where they ended up. The Cultural Revolution separated a lot families, but I believe one day mine may have a reunion.

There is no doubt that the Cultural Revolution destroyed many aspects of the Chinese spirit, economy and culture, not only for the society, but also for the Chinese people. This ten years lag contributed immeasurable damages. Even though people tried their best to develop their country in the late 20^th century, there still exists a number of hidden troubles. Even today, Chinese politics still has problems because there is no freedom of speech and press. In fact, I love China and I absolutely hope China will change to a more beautiful, peaceful and freely developed country in the future.  

  

The Hero of My Family

Fatimah 

3 November 2015

The Hero of My Family

            My grandfather is my family’s hero. Without him, the whole family would be nothing but poor and uneducated. When my grandfather was twenty- four years old, in 1945, an American- Saudi Oil Company announced that they needed workers.  Although the Oil Company had no requirements about the employments like speaking English, only a small group of people applied. The reason was that working at an oil company might risk people’s lives since the workers either would extract the oil from the desert or work in the refineries. However, my grandfather found it a chance to change his life, and earned enough money to raise five kids. He applied and got accepted. Joining the American- Saudi Oil Company has had many positive impacts on my grandfather’s life and the whole family, too.

            One of the positive effects that happened for my grandfather after working in the oil company was an improved income. Before joining the company, my grandfather used to have two jobs, one as fisherman and another as a seller in a small grocery. Nevertheless, the money he earned from both jobs was not enough to feed  his family. However, his new salary was more than what he expected. It helped him to have one job instead of two, so he could spend more time with his family. Moreover, as the old tradition in our town, if the father did not have enough income, his older son had to work to help his father. However, since my grandfather had the chance to work with a good income, he did not need to ask any of his sons to work. He just wanted them to focus on their studies.

            Joining the oil company gave my grandfather the opportunity to visit many foreign countries, and this chance helped him to learn new things and change people’s negative views about visiting foreign counties. In fact, my grandfather was taught English during his work in the oil company, so he could communicate with American workers and could attend the company’s training that happened in many countries, such as in the U.S., U.K., and Japan. In addition, my grandfather was known as a wise man among his family because of the knowledge and experiences he had from vising these foreign places. Furthermore, eighty-two years ago, people in Saudi Arabia used to have negative views about anyone who went to foreign countries either to study, train or work. People were afraid that anyone who traveled abroad would never return because they might prefer life there. They also were afraid that the cultural differences could negatively impact travelers and make them see their own culture as an old and closed. Nevertheless, in my town, my grandfather and his co-works were an example of people who went to different countries and brought back with them the positive aspects of the other cultures like languages.

            Furthermore, realizing that education was important is one of the most important influences that happened to both my grandfather and his family. After my grandfather joined the oil company, my uncles and father realized that with education their lives would be more comfortable since most well paid jobs required educated workers. They also discovered that people highly respect educated people. Moreover, after vising many countries, my grandfather understood that women should have the right to study and be educated. Letting women attend schools was against the norm in the past. Only open-minded families would allow their daughters to study. People used to believe that women should stay at home and take care of their children. However, being trained in foreign countries made my grandfather believe that women need to be educated even if they are not going to work. He used to say educated women could help their children in their studies.

            My grandfather passed away six years ago, but he is still the family’s hero. I still remember and recount his stores, and I still feel his encouragement in everything I do. Working in the oil company had effected my grandfather and the family in three ways, which include improving the income, vising foreign countries and encouraging his kids to complete their studies. The whole family appreciates my grandfather’s chance to join the oil company, and he will be always a model in my and the family’s eyes.