I am Bonnie Liang and I am Chinese born Canadian. My family practices Buddhism, however, asides from the main festivities that are celebrated, I have to admit that I do not know much about my own culture. My parents know more than me about the traditions that should be followed. Even so, because we live in Canada now, there are also many Canadian customaries that have been included into our lives. Holidays, such as Christmas, are not normally celebrated in the Chinese culture, but my Family has merged this holiday into it. New years is also supposedly celebrated according to the traditional Chinese calendar, which varies on any day between January and February. My family used to only celebrate the new year according to the Chinese calendar, but we now celebrate new years twice a year. The combination of my Chinese and Canadian background has developed a very unique macrosystem (Bronfenbrenner) for me.
I have a large family which makes me very family oriented. On the contrary, because my family is so large, there are many times where it is difficult for my whole family to be in the same place at once. The period of my toddlerhood, was right before my dad opened his own business. My family size was smaller then, and it was easier to spend time together. However, once my dad started his own business, he was always working. Overload of work caused him to have social withdrawal, a decline in social and emotional responsiveness, towards my sisters and I (Evans & Wachs, 2010, p.
The Chinese culture is built around thousands of years of tradition. Understanding these Chinese beliefs and social influences may benefit you when attending to someone of this culture.
As we know families as always changing and so are the dynamics. Communication is a transactional process that is changing over time. Two central scopes of family behavior are adaptability and cohesion. Each is divided into four levels to create 16 combinations. Overtime it has changed to fit into cohesion, adaptability and communication.
Although families may not always feel this connectedness, it is always there. The emotional climate of the family is interdependent of what is going on in the family as a whole. If one unit of the family is distant emotionally, it can have a great affect on the whole family. These attitudes are reciprocated throughout the entire family. It is important that most family members are able to stay healthy emotionally and have that ability to communicate their feelings to one another. Problems arise when individuals don’t fulfill their roles that are needed from all family members. Michael Kerr, explained this idea in an article he wrote to explain the family system theory. He explained that “heightened tension can intensify these processes that promote that promote unity and teamwork, and this can lead to problems” (Kerr,
Contextually, the family provides socialisation for children, so they can eventually be prepared for the trials and tribulations of the ‘outside world’. And because children have a lack of power within the family unit, it prepares them to be obedient when consulting with bosses, or those of a higher position, as adults. The family also provide a secure emotional base, so that workers can refresh then rejoin co-workers to make profits for their
Now that I have offered analysis and reflection on the extended family field of my family system on a macro level, I want to provide a microscopic look as it relates to individuals and individual relationships within my family system. As previously mentioned my family tends to have a level of homeostasis that is comfortable with distance and long periods of not interacting. This does not mean we do not love each other; we are just comfortable loving at a distance. This is connected to one of our unspoken rules and expectations, which is do not feel bad if I do not call you or interact with you regularly. This unspoken
First, Chinese Americans preserve their ethnic identities through holidays. One of the biggest holidays is the Chinese New Year. The Chinese New Year is different from the regular New Years in that it relies on the moon cycles instead of the western calendar, so it falls on different days each year. There is a lot of preparation that goes into the Chinese New Year. People start cleaning their houses and decorating them with spring couplets on the twentieth day of the twelfth moon. Spring couplets are short poems written on red scrolls of paper in black. A popular New Years tradition in the United States is the exchanging of red envelopes containing money, which are called hong-bao. Most families spend this holiday celebrating together because this holiday, above others, emphasizes family and family ties.
Over the years, I have become conscious of the manner in which I speak and behave when connecting with my peers and others. My parents especially have offered wonderful instruction, and extended much-needed assistance as I began to comprehend the influence my actions had on others. I consider my family to be wonderfully tight-knit. I have both of my parents and two older brothers. My brothers both progressed on and out of our childhood home. Although they no longer live with my parents and me, the love and support my family still shares- from hundreds of miles apart- is genuinely unreal. The Goins clan might not all live under one roof anymore, but it certainly feels like when we did. The extent of inspiration my parents offer each of us kids
Throughout On Golden Pond, it is apparent that Chelsea, Norman, and Ethel are rigidly enmeshed. According to Olson’s circumplex model, rigidly enmeshed families have authoritarian leadership, strict discipline, roles rarely change, there is too little change. Additionally, enmeshment in families is illustrated by very high closeness, very high loyalty, high dependency, and a lack of individuality (Sanders & Bell, 2011). Although Chelsea is distant with her family in the number of visits it is an artificial distance of time and space. They are strongly emotionally entangled as demonstrated through the ability of the family to emotionally affect one and other.
Based on my experience in Eastern Europe and in North America, I fully embrace both Serbian and the different cultures that are in Canada. In the summer, I try to go to as many Serbian events as possible and at these events, there is traditional music, food and dancing which I enjoy so much. Unfortunately, I have not gone to many events of different cultures but I do like to educate myself about different customs and traditions in order to build on my awareness and knowledge of different types of cultures. I am Christian Orthodox in which I celebrate Christmas on January 7th and I always enjoy going to the church services for this Christmas celebration. Also, I fast where I do not eat dairy or meat products for a few weeks before Easter and
Asia is such a large continent that being Asian already means you are part of a culturally diverse community. As an Asian American, you are mix of two cultures. We celebrate the lunar new year with huge family gatherings, gift exchanging, and food. Lots of food. Whether it be dumplings, kimchi, mattar paneer, mee goreng, or pho, our native cuisine will always make it to the dinner table. During the lunar new year, my family always prepares a huge hot pot, stuffed with shiitake and enokitake mushrooms, vegan fish balls, tofu, carrots, cabbage, ramen, bean sprouts, beancurd, and many other delicious foods. My grandparents hand us red envelopes and we bow to them to show our respect.
The second chapter, of the book “Family Interaction”, focuses on the theme of family strategies and boundaries. While reading, I noticed that my family has similarities and dissimilarities with other family members. Several topics that interested me were open and closed boundaries, and maintenance resources. My family is enmeshed and has internal boundaries, but other members of my family are on a continuum. For example, my family is very accepting and open to letting friends and spouses come over our house for special occasions the holidays. However, as a family we can be very different as a sub-unit. For example, with my mother I was often allowed to stay the night over a friend’s house, and later when I got older my boyfriends were allowed
New Years is an exciting holiday in many countries. It marks a new period of time with the pure and pristine beginning for individuals. Every country has a unique cultural celebration and specific traditions depending on where you live. However, there is a big difference between how Asian people and Western people celebrate New Year. The three most noticeable differences are in the preparation, travel and length of the holiday will be last.
The few times we did get to spend time together as a family, it wouldn’t feel like it. I knew all the relationships between my family members. I was the one who they told everything to but ask me not to tell anyone. This was a lot of weight on my shoulders because I began caring for everyone else’s relationships; especially my mom’s because my brother and sister would argue
For the past couple of weeks, I have been researching the Chinese New Year and I am here today to share what I have found.
My family has always been very close. We spend a great deal of time together and express our deep feelings and emotions with one another. If one of us has an issue, every member of the family is aware of it and shares the burden. When a person in the family does not share significant information about one’s life with the rest of the members, there is hurt feelings. Also, if a member cannot attend a family event, the family feels disappointed and misses the absent member. It is evident that connectedness is held as extremely valuable.