Awkward Beginnings: From Chinese Native to First Generation American

             Describing how his English was only "book English" and had no application in real conversation, no wonder Chinese native Dr. Jing Luo initially had trouble adapting to a western culture. At a stature of 5'5", his professorial attire consists of square-shaped black glasses, light-blue dress shirt, and black slacks. This outfit he wears so often, as a professor of Chinese at Bloomsburg University, you'd think Dr. Jing Luo dons a uniform. Despite his composed and businesslike appearance, his first experiences in the West were far from perfect.
            

Peking University Library (1)

 Dr. Luo came to America as a result of a complicated hosting process between two universities. This undertaking began when the language department of Peking University in Beijing hosted a Penn State professor of philosophy because he spoke English. Regardless of his lack of fluency in English, Penn State's language department hosted Dr. Luo because he taught French and spoke Chinese. Though it may sound easy, the process of coming to the United States from China proved to be elaborate for Dr. Luo.
               To even get permission to go to the U.S., he was required to have two years of work experience at Peking University, something he'd already fulfilled. Additionally, the language and human resources department of Peking University, the local police, and the neighborhood committee all had to stamp his visa. Further complicating the matter, each entity had differing times of availability and dissimilar levels of cooperation. However, this lengthy process served as a stark contrast to America's much more open immigration systems.                    To enter the United States and teach at Penn State, Dr. Luo obtained a teacher visa sponsorship from the U.S. government. After living in America for some time, he was able to apply to become a citizen via a citizenship test. This exam included questions regarding the current President of the United States, number of representatives in the House and Senate, and the number of stars on the U.S. flag. To learn more about immigration, watch the following video:

             For many immigrants, adapting to a new culture's society and ideals proves a difficult task. Dr. Luo's difficulties presented themselves in the form of the teaching environment. He explains that "Chinese students are much more studious and disciplined, they have no weekends, no holidays, just study. While in America, many students don’t show up to class, don’t pay attention, and make excuses like 'bitten by a secluded yellow spider' ”. The lack of discipline shown by American students forced him to remove attendance as a requirement for his classes. He instead chose to deliver unannounced pop quizzes to make up that portion of the grade. Additionally, his lack of English fluency only added to the culture shock based confusion he felt as an immigrant. 

An aerial view of JFK Airport (2)

For instance, when Dr. Luo landed at JFK airport in NYC, he attempted to get a ticket for an airport shuttle bus to where he was staying in Pennsylvania. But because of his almost incomprehensible English, it took him half an hour.  Upon reaching his destination, his bus driver handed him his suitcase, and it suddenly bust open, sprawling his bedsheets all across the worn black asphalt. After helping Dr. Luo collect his sheets, the bus driver inquired, "Y'know you can get bedsheets here, right? Ya didn't have to bring yours." Embarrassing experiences like this plagued Dr. Luo's first few years in America but he never thought of going back permanently.
 Even though China is his home country, Dr. Luo only visits home only twice a year for study abroad sessions to Beijing, hosted in part both by Bloomsburg University and Beijing Normal University. Seeing as he visits China so rarely, he feels more naturalized in America than when he first came. To him, America appears more comfortable than China because the government is more lenient on its citizens. For example, his first call home to China when he arrived to the U.S. was rudely interrupted by a Chinese government worker who interjected: "You don't spread rumor!" and promptly let him continue his conversation. Unsurprisingly, the Chinese government has not let up on its persistent overseeing of its residents, continually updating their methods with the advance of technology. Today China uses programs that look for keywords in everything sent within, from, and to the country, such as emails, texts, and so on. If any of these keywords are deemed by the program to be used in a treasonous way, a government worker will manually read it and decide if the sender is betraying the communist party.
Hardships like these contribute to the various reasons people decide to emigrate. So, although living in the United States was an initially terrifying and uncomfortable experience for Dr. Luo, his life would not be the same without immigration. Immigrants' experiences differ from person to person, but Dr. Luo's time in America has proven to be both positive and beneficial for his life.

Picture Sources:

1. https://www.tripadvisor.com/LocationPhotoDirectLink-g294212-d553592-i75699038-Peking_University_Beijing_Da_Xue-Beijing.html

2. https://www.book2park.com/airport/jfk-airport-parking