Respecting the old and loving the young

In China, we have always put a lot of weight on traditional virtues. As children, we are told to be obedient and respect senior members of the family. When we grow up as adults, we bear great responsibilities to take care of the young and elderly members of the family. Because in our culture, the young and the old are the people who are comparatively more vulnerable and need more help from the society.

So in buses and subways in China, you can always see a lot of signs to remind people to give up their seats to people in need. So it's pretty common to see young people stand up and let people in need to sit in buses.

But when I came to the U.S., I remembered one time I was on the bus with my friend. There was a old lady getting on and the priority seats had already been taken. My friend had been staying in the States for a long time, she reminded me that if you see something like this, don't just give your seat to senior people as you did in China. Poeple here don't like to do it this way. Man people here think they can do it without others' help.

This is another cultural difference between the two countries. The societies see individuals differently in these two countries. In China, the culture values collectivism much more. It sees individuals as part of the society and and society should do a lot to help and benefit the society. In contrast, in the U.S., individualism is valued more. Each individual has his or her own ability and uniqueness. You don't have to be similar to other people around.

Respecting the old and loving the young