Self Acceptance
anonymous
Freedom of Self-Acceptance
There is a time and place in this world where we may feel that we do not belong. Have you ever experienced this type of moment? For example, your first day of school when you do not know anybody and you are timid because you see people who are not alone or going to an occasion with a lot of guests and the only way to fit in the crowd is to be a part of it, but it isn’t always so easy. In a memoir, Stealing Buddha’s Dinner by Bich Nguyen, writes about her family and her struggles in America after immigrating from Vietnam. Her struggle growing up in America is trying to fit in the customs and standards of an American person. By doing so, Bich learns the food American people eat and she gets outstanding grades in her classes. Even though she tries, at the end of the day, she knows the background she came from and who she really is. No matter what she does, her roots can not change.
According to Bich, real people meant being an American. “Real people ate hamburgers, casseroles, and brownies. And I wanted to be a real person, or at least make others believe that I was one” (Nguyen 56). In her world, she considers a real person as an American. In order to be a real person, she wanted to eat what American people ate and refused the traditional food her grandmother, Noi, always made such as cha gio--meaning eggrolls in Vietnamese. It is ironic how she uses the term real to describe and Americans. To be real is to be genuine, true, or valid. In reality, there is no such thing as Americans listed under the category of “real people”. Although, from her perspective, she simply knew that if she ate like one, others would see her as one.
She also tries to prove that she can be just about the same as everyone else. “In pursuit of gold stars I became an insufferably good student, with perfect Palmer cursive and one hundred percents in every subject. I had something to prove—to myself, to Mrs. Andersen, to everyone in this class” (Nguyen
Freedom of Self-Acceptance
There is a time and place in this world where we may feel that we do not belong. Have you ever experienced this type of moment? For example, your first day of school when you do not know anybody and you are timid because you see people who are not alone or going to an occasion with a lot of guests and the only way to fit in the crowd is to be a part of it, but it isn’t always so easy. In a memoir, Stealing Buddha’s Dinner by Bich Nguyen, writes about her family and her struggles in America after immigrating from Vietnam. Her struggle growing up in America is trying to fit in the customs and standards of an American person. By doing so, Bich learns the food American people eat and she gets outstanding grades in her classes. Even though she tries, at the end of the day, she knows the background she came from and who she really is. No matter what she does, her roots can not change.
According to Bich, real people meant being an American. “Real people ate hamburgers, casseroles, and brownies. And I wanted to be a real person, or at least make others believe that I was one” (Nguyen 56). In her world, she considers a real person as an American. In order to be a real person, she wanted to eat what American people ate and refused the traditional food her grandmother, Noi, always made such as cha gio--meaning eggrolls in Vietnamese. It is ironic how she uses the term real to describe and Americans. To be real is to be genuine, true, or valid. In reality, there is no such thing as Americans listed under the category of “real people”. Although, from her perspective, she simply knew that if she ate like one, others would see her as one.
She also tries to prove that she can be just about the same as everyone else. “In pursuit of gold stars I became an insufferably good student, with perfect Palmer cursive and one hundred percents in every subject. I had something to prove—to myself, to Mrs. Andersen, to everyone in this class” (Nguyen