Kitchen Chinese

1. No because I was born here and I feel like this is where I belong.

2. The author used the term “kitchen Chinese” because that was the only time she ever heard or said mandarin, in the kitchen. Language plays a big role because this is Isabelle’s main problem throughout the story. She couldn’t speak mandarin when needed to.

3. I think that the younger has to live up to the perfection of the elder because that is how my household feels like. My younger sister is trying to be better than what I had been. I feel that Chinese American parents do have different expectations than American parents because my parents are immigrants from China. They were raised in different environments than the American parents; therefore they would have different expectations of their children.

4. Isabelle’s discovery of Chinese affects her perception of China by showing her new things she had never seen before. I believe that visiting the foreign place is the way to learn or understand the foreign place. When visiting foreign place, “When in Rome, do as the Romans do.”

5. I have felt like a fish out of water whenever I join a new club, organization, or team. I adapt by making friends.

6. Yes I believe that “all Americans have yellow hair and big noses” is a widespread stereotype. When I visited my cousins in China, they asked if Americans were fat and had big noses. Other people in other countries form their opinions on America based on the media in their home country. I form my opinions on other people based on how they treat other people and me.