Different environments and people can
change us. In my case, my mother has made a huge influence in my life. The
reason why she is the clearest example is that she is the person whose ideas
are far different from my own. I was born in a Taiwanese household, but brought
up by many Hispanic maids, and educated by Westerners. My father didn’t really
intend to change my beliefs, but my mother was very conservative. Although none
of my family members are very religious, my mother was a huge believer in culture.
Due to western influence from school and friends, I would question many things
that were not to be argued, and that would be a huge problem for my mother.
My
mother often delivered sermons about culture and identity. She stressed that my
actions and beliefs were identical to those of westerners, and she demanded
that I act more like a person of an Asian culture. But as I barely have contact
with other people of the same culture, this resulted to be quite a challenge.
And due to the fact that the western culture has taught me that my beliefs are
valid, I often disagreed with the values that my mother tried to instill in me.
For example, many subjects like religion, homosexuality, education and career
opinions often resulted in conflicts around my house.
Although
my mother has very distinct opinions from my own, my opinions do not really
change because of hers, but I think that it has influenced me in many ways. In
Spain, I was surrounded by confident friends, and I lived in a society where
everyone was extremely proud of their roots, their identity, and their
accomplishments. Although my mother kept on telling me that confidence is a
good element in a person, she kept on reminding me that one should always be
humble and keep a low profile. I never really listened to her at that time, and
did what I thought was right, which was to express myself the way I wanted. But
in my two years living in Taiwan, I have learned that Western thought was not
accepted in some cultures, and my mother was not the only one in thinking so. People
refused to be my friend because they thought that I was overconfident, when I
talked on and on about what happened to me last week.
Western society
has taught me the principle of freethinking, the Hispanic culture has taught me
the importance of family, and the Asian culture has taught me the importance of
modesty and respect. Thanks to my mother, the Asian part of my heart still
remains and I am still able to preserve my identity.
