春假之二文化的碰撞

春假之二——新朋友

春假是美国学校春天的一个普通假期。对我来说，春假的最后两天可谓是最兴奋的两天了。我交到了一个新朋友，并玩得很开心，真的算是给了假期很好的结尾。

周四早上，我和妈妈一起到downtown公共图书馆还书。其实，我们也只是借阅了两天而已，并没有真正读完。而这一次，我又借阅了一本新书，一个中国女孩的自传。作者在书中描写了童年时代艰难的家庭状况和被继母排斥的悲剧岁月。这本书所吸引我的不仅是其感人至深的故事，而且书中的中文表达看起来自是十分亲切。我们第一次使用了图书馆中的自助借书机，这时我才发现自己操作的确是一个有趣的过程。

十分不幸，我们刚好错过了一班开往Hawkeye Court的校车，而距离下一班校车的时间到来还有足足一个半小时。我们在无奈之下来到了图书馆旁边的购物中心。当我发现美国超市中卖的贺卡都做得那么精致漂亮，我决定给朋友们寄一些。直到此时，我才发现仅由纸片做成的贺卡竟然奇贵，比那些大包的糖果，小布偶甚至一些体恤衫还贵。

当我回到家时，俨然已经是中午了。这时，我们电话响了，是爸爸的一个朋友。原来她想要趁着假期带着两个孩子过来坐一坐，我们全家自然很高兴。她很快便带着她的两个女儿来到了我们家。小女儿仅有两岁大，出生于这座小城市。大女儿来这里也有五年之久，英语已经相当棒了，并且性格外向。她总是喜欢跟我说英语，有时我还真为听不懂她的话而惭愧呢。她会讲中文，她的妈妈告诉我们，只是小孩子不喜欢罢了。这似乎是每一个华裔美国小孩或早年就跟随父母漂洋过海的孩子们的问题。她今年11岁，在小学读5年级，叫韦青。我们在家里谈得并不很多。她们很快便邀请我们到她们家里去玩，我们爽快地答应了。

Her family has been here for almost 5 years and they bought a house here.Her house was located at a good position.It was not a big one,but it looked soft and sweet enough for a family to live.I played for a while with the elder daughter.It was kind of boring at first.We just chatted and did not find many common topics.She was much more outgoing and loved playing.I thought I was quieter and didn't enjoy moving much.I just decided to leave when the day was getting dark. Qing Wei seemed passionate.She urged me to stay for dinner and with her such enthusiastic words,I agreed.Later,the playing was more interesting.We played chess and watched TV together.I found her a very funny girl who loved snacks something I was also interested in-Distance began to diminish.Despite such a common hobby,the strong personality and individuality she presents undoubtedly reflect tinges of American character that is so strong one could at once distinguish it.I couldn't help but be amazed at such a powerful assimilation of culture.In USA, there are tens of thousands of kids like Qing Wei.They don't and can't understand Chinese;they have been living in US ever since they were little;they possess characters,worldviews and lifestyles that are obviously native to America.Could they ever truly perceive what Chinese culture and China mean to them just by growing up?Perhaps on their bodies is destined to exist a conflict and crash of two cultures,between a physical structure of an Asian and amental concept of an American.

After the dinner,the aunt told us that she knew there is a science station in Cedar Rapids and it was said to be wonderful.She asked us whether if we liked to go with the mtogether during spring break.We agreed.

A super day!

她们家在Iowa定居已有五年，并在这里买了房子。她家的位置很好，尽管看上去不是很大，但对于一个家庭来说却已足够温馨和甜蜜。我和大女儿玩了一段时间。起初，一切显得很无聊。我们只是聊天，并且共同语言也没有那么多。她似乎更加开朗和好玩。我想我更加安静，也并不那么热衷于运动。我本想天黑后便告别，然而韦青却是个热情的女孩，她极力邀请我们留下共进晚餐。盛情难却，我同意了。后来，我才发现和她的交流玩耍越发地有趣了。我们下棋，看电视。我逐渐发现她是一个幽默的孩子，喜欢零食，而这也是我的酷爱——我们之间似乎没有什么距离。尽管如此，她身上所散发的个性和气质都无疑地折射出一种你可以感知到的典型美国个性。这也令我不禁感慨文化强大的感染力和同化力。在美国，千千万万和韦青一样的中国孩子，他们不习惯也不真正了解汉语，他们从小就生活在美国这样的环境中，他们的性格、世界观和生活方式充满了美式色彩。等到他们长大，他们就能体会到中国文化，中国这片大地对于他们的含义吗？或许他们这群我们习惯称之为香蕉的孩子，身上注定流淌着两种文化的碰撞，一个亚洲人的身体，一个美国人的文化。

晚饭后，阿姨向我们介绍了cedar rapids一个很好的科学博物馆，问我们是否在这个春假想和她们一起去。我们答应了下来。之后，我们回到了家。

期盼着第二天的博物馆之行，就这样我结束了一天。