日中関係

Yes, I agree with you that Chinese people have a difficult time assimilating into foreign cultures. The "Chinatown phenomenon" is one strong evidence supporting such a claim. However, to say that all Chinese are like this is a bit too extreme. Themost important is that the young generation appreciates and is willing to "melt themselves" into the mainstream culture while preserving their roots. However, here in Canada, many HKers and Taiwanese (I'm not sure about those from the mainland becausethey're pretty quiet all the time.) don't try to assimilate themselves into the mainstream culture. Some of them speak only in Cantonese or Mandarin. I think that the Koreans have the same problem too. I think that Chinese must try hard to really get local,but since Chinese media and pop culture are so much alive here, there is but little incentive for them to change. As for older people, they certainly don't want to "abandon" their Chinese style of life.

The mainlanders I know are quiet becausethey usually keep to themselves. Most of them are not very financially well-off and that they live pretty hard lives here. They'll only start to talk more freely with you only when you get to know them very well. I guess that this has to do with thesocial atmosphere back in the mainland where everybody has to always protect himself or herself. In addition, the education they've received back in the mainland is a lot different from that in here. I've heard from the news that many of the new immigrantsfrom the mainland are experiencing family problems because of their anxiety about the future and their tight financial position. The Canadian government has been funding certain organizations that take care of new immigrants from the Chinese mainland.(Well, the Canadian government pretty much does it for immigrants from other places too.) There are also many Chinese organizations that help these recent immigrants (but I'm not sure whether there're enough though.). The point is that although we may notagree with many of their beliefs, we must at least understand their social background and all factors that could have shaped their mentality. The most effective solution is to research the cause of the problem and try to eliminate it. At first, the numberof family problems reported may drop only a little. But in the long-run, by providing adequate family councilling and helping them to make more contact with different kinds of people, I'm confident that the situation will become better.

On theother hand, I'm glad to see that there are many CBCs who go along well with the mainstream people. This is not enough but again it's going to take time for others to join in the group. Once, I was surprised to see that there were many western people whowent "bubble-teaing"!! Oh! I love bubble-tea. (^^)