Lizeth A.

Vasquez

Lara Beninca

EFL 111

October, 3 2016

June May’s Trip to China

Is it possible to live in with two cultures? Many people who have gone to other countries have

experienced many things. Leading with a new culture can be challenging, but leading with two cultures

at the same time can be very difficult. Take, for example, being raised by immigrant parents. For these

people, these kinds of experiences can be tough. Also, sometimes, people who are experiencing two

cultures at the same time have identity problems. A clear example of this is when June May’s points of

view change while travelling from San Francisco to China.

While living in San Francisco, June May has a strong opposition towards her Chinese heritage.

That is, she refuses being Chinese. During that time, June May is an adolescent who faces two distinct

cultures, the one where she was born, and the one where her parents come from. Facing these two

different cultures becomes a dilemma for her because she sees herself as an American rather than

Chinese. To back her up, June May’s Caucasian friends support her ideas by saying that she “was about

as Chinese as they were.” On the other hand, her mother strongly believes that “Once you are born

Chinese, you cannot help but feel and think Chinese.” In other words, according to her mom, June May

does not have any other option but to accept her heritage. Thus, she starts feeling confused about her

identity. Her confusion leads her to see the negative connection towards her Chinese heritage. An

example of this is when June May recalls “I saw myself transforming like a werewolf….” That is, June

May finds it depressing when she sees her identity abruptly changing from American into Chinese. In

other words, becoming Chinese is acquiring all the things Chinese people do in their daily lives.
However, the problem is when things such as “haggling with store owners, pecking her mouth with a

toothpick in public…” are performed by her mother, they embarrass June May. Due to her mother’s

behavior, she refuses her Chinese heritage.

Experiencing new things June May finds herself confused towards her identity. To be more

specific, this confusion starts when June May is on the train and at the train station. When June May is

going through this process, she is not an adolescent anymore, instead she is a grown woman who is

open to new challenges. Being open to new challenges, June May starts to accept what her mother once

told her, and she recalls, “And I think, My mother was right. I’m becoming Chinese.” These thoughts

come to her mind when she is on the train to Guangzhou, and somehow she feels something unusual

inside her. Perhaps, it is because she sees her dad very excited and emotional due to his returning back

home that she feels empathy. She explains, “And I can’t help myself. I also have misty eyes, as if I had

seen this a long, long time ago, and had almost forgotten.” This implication clearly shows how she puts

herself into her dad’s shoes and tries to understand his feelings. In addition, when they get to

Guangzhou, she feels like she is home. “It feels right,” she says.

On the other hand, all of these emotions suddenly change when she gives her American

documents to the immigration officer. While giving her documents to the officer, she starts to compare

herself with others and implies “Even without makeup, I could never pass for true Chinese.” At that

moment, she feels American because of her appearance. Then, at the train station, her father’s relatives

appear on the scene, and she does not know how to act towards their emotional reunion after many

years. In fact, she starts to feel like a spectator. However, this changes when she tries to communicate

with the youngest member of his father’s relatives. Even though June May and the little girl do not speak

the same language, June finds a way to get along with her. As a result of this, June May feels

comfortable with the little girl’s company.

 Due to her short experience with the little girl, June May unconsciously starts to incorporate

some Chinese habits into her behavior, and she also feels more curious about her Chinese heritage.

During this period of time, June May and her relatives are at the hotel, which seems to be an

unexpected experience for her. That is, when she sees how elegant and beautiful the hotel is, she says,

“‘This must be the wrong hotel.’…I had explicitly instructed my travel agent to choose something

inexpensive.” Due to these thoughts, she has a surprising Chinese reaction. She recalls, “But when I step

up to the reservation desk, ready to haggle over this booking mistake, it is confirmed.” This shows that

somehow she is now doing the same thing her mother used to do which used to embarrass her before.

Now it seems that her behavior is changing little by little. Moreover, when June May is in her room, she

looks forward to experiencing more of the Chinese culture. Though, everything turns out to be different.

For instance, the hotel looks more American than Chinese, and she exclaims, “This is communist China?”

which shows her discontentment. Then, everyone comes to June May’s room to spend time together.

While everyone is in June May’s room, they decide what to eat. Even though June May wants to dine on

Chinese food, her dad’s relatives decide to eat American food. Once again, June May’s preference shows

how she is now accepting her Chinese culture. After eating, while taking a shower, June May shows a

favorable reaction towards being Chinese. That is, when June May sees the packet of shampoo, she

enjoys it, and she says, “…upon opening, I discover is the consistency and color of hoisin sauce. This is

more like it, I think. This is China. And I rub some in my damp hair.”

Because she now enjoys being Chinese, she becomes more curious about her mother. June May

recalls, “I think about what my mother said, about activating my genes and becoming Chinese. And I

wonder what she meant.” Since there are so many questions about her mother that June May does not

understand, she starts to listen more carefully when her father starts talking about it. While everyone is

sleeping, June May is awake and listening carefully to the conversation her dad is having with his aunt.

They are talking about Suyuan, June May’s mother. As her dad is relating her mom’s story, which is the
reason why they are in China, she feels more interested in knowing every single detail. At some point,

her dad’s aunt falls asleep, and it becomes a conversation between father and daughter. While he is

relating, he mentions her sisters’ names and she wonders, “‘What do the names mean?’” He replies,

“‘One means “Spring Rain”, the other “Spring Flower”,’” June May is more curious about the other

names as well, so she asks again, “‘And what does Ma’s name mean?’” He says, ““Long-Cherished

Wish.”” After her dad explains her mother’s name’s meaning, they become emotional. To change the

emotional environment, she quickly thinks of a way to change the subject, and she asks, “‘…what about

my name,’ … ‘what does “Jing-Mei mean?’” He replies, ‘“Jing” …-just pure essence. And “Mei”… as in

meimei, “younger sister”’” After listening to the meanings of the names, June May understands more

about her mother’s desires. For instance, she recalls, “I think about this. My mother’s long-cherished

wish. Me, the younger sister who was supposed to be the essence of the others.” June May now starts

to put things together and gets to the conclusion that her mother was disappointed towards her

because June May was not the person her mother expected to be. Then she continues asking more

about her mother’s story. Now she wants to know why her mother abandoned her daughters. Her dad

starts to explain. Afterwards, she realizes that her mother did that in order to keep them from dying,

and that she never stopped looking for her daughters. Hearing her mother’s story makes June May feel

more secure towards her identity because she now understands her heritage.

After a long night full of answers, June May now has a positive attitude towards her Chinese

heritage. For instance, there are clearly significant positive signs of her change when she is at the

airport. It must be mentioned that this is the day she has been waiting for. This an important time for

June May since she is going to meet her sisters for the very first time. However, while walking she feels

anxious and starts to think about her mother and says, “…if only my mother had lived long enough to be

the one walking toward them.” At this moment she wishes her mother were there, she has many

emotions together and explains, “I’m so nervous I cannot even feel my feet. I am just moving
somehow.” Suddenly, all of these feelings fade away when she sees her sisters. While looking at her

sisters, the figure of her mother comes through her mind as if she is there. June May says, “And now I

see her, two of her, waving… we run toward each other…,” and all of them exclaim at the same time,

“‘Mama, Mama’…as if she is among us.” While hugging and seeing each other, June May sees that her

mother is not there. Thus, she feels complete and exclaims, “Yet they still look familiar. And now I also

see what part of me is Chinese. It is so obvious. It is my family. It is in our blood. After all these years, it

can finally be let go.” June May now feels Chinese and proud of her culture. All the experiences June has

lived during her trip in china finally help her to accept her Chinese heritage and identify herself as one of

them.