Family Interview Essay

Growing up as a kid in Atlantic Beach, New York, I was raised just like any other typical American would be. I became accustom with all the same American customs, and values that most other people hold. Most of my friends growing up were American as well, so I never really knew about other cultures, or others ways of living aside from my own. It wasn’t until I became friends with an Asian American kid named Alex that I realized just how different some cultures are. As I grew older I became more familiar with his Asian culture, as well as his family customs and values. I interviewed him recently to ask him questions about his culture in order to gather information that I previously did not know. Furthermore, I researched two articles about his
This is because in his family, the most important value is respect, and out of respect for his family he will do what is asked of him. Even through my own personal experience I realized respect in Alex’s family was important. I knew this because I was never allowed to call his father by his first name, and I always had to call him Mr. Lee. Alex said that respect, especially for elders was the most important value in his family. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 2007 also agrees that respect for elders is one of the most important values in most Asian-American
Although this custom wasn’t mentioned in either of the articles I researched, supposedly it is an ancient Korean tradition which occurs on a child’s first birthday. Alex explained that the child is placed in front of a bunch of random items such as money, a pen, paper, a baseball, and many other things. The child than picks two items out of the group and it is believed that the items the child chooses will determine what they will become in life. It is an extremely important tradition in Alex’s family, and I thought it was very