Nostalgic

Nostalgic

       The United States was been an immigrant destination for many people of other countries. Many people yearn for life in the United States. From the TV, I have seen many aspects of the United States that appeal to me. When my parents and I came to the United States, my previous concept of the United States changed a lot. I thought America was no longer the magical land of my imagination. Maybe the reason is the pace of life in the United States is too fast and make me missing the relax life of China. These so-called changes have brought me a lot of nostalgia. However the most important thing I miss is the friendship that already disappeared.

       In my hometown: Tianjin, China people always stay together and enjoy their time. After a busy week of work, people sit around eating, drinking and chatting, which seems to be part of Chinese life. On the street, there are all kinds of small restaurants, and people will gather with their friends or family, regardless of the weather or environment. That kind of fun and exciting atmosphere has always attracted me. The United States is a country with great competition; work is more important for many people from other countries and the reason of they came here is earn money. People have no more motivation to relax and enjoy their life after they end their hard daily work, so people just choose to go home directly, then take a shower and sit in front of the TV and watch the boring show until they fall asleep. Just like my daddy, he was a traveler in China, but now he just want to stay at home after he work, I know he is so tired.When new day starts, people appear at the same time, at the same place, and do the same work. Some people seem to live in a planned life, and they close themselves in a narrow space, with less and less communication with others. People in China is also living a busy life, the money is the reason to make people change their life style, forget how to relax and make a conversation to each other.
       As time passes by, technology is becoming more and more developed. Everyone has a mobile phone in their hands, and these developed technologies have improved people's quality of life while also making people lose the opportunity to talk to each other face to face. When I was very young, I went out to eat with my  Chinese family members or friends, I always heard people discussing different topics and all the restaurants  full of lively atmosphere, but the beautiful old time was slowly disappeared. I found a part-time job at a restaurant in Chinatown, and there are countless people eating at restaurants every day, family, friends and couples. When most of them eat, their movements are the same. They hold the mobile phone in one hand, the chopsticks in the other hand, chewing food in the mouth, and they watch the contents of their mobile phone screen. The life of the people is completely replaced by technology, as people became robots. In China, people have also started to change. Most of them stare at their mobile screens or other electronic products all day, and the communication between people is becoming less and less. I miss the time when technology was underdeveloped, but now people have given up the most primitive way of communication. Although people sit together, they don’t raise their heads and rarely communicate with their friends or family.
       After I came to the United States, I also distrust about friendship. When I was in China, I always had a group of friends by my side. They were the objects I would choose to talk to, and at that time they was more important than my parents. My father said to me that only childhood playmates are the most “valuable wealth”, but everything is a matter of time. There is an old saying in China called "The tea cools down as soon as the person is gone". I have never understood the meaning of this sentence before, but after I came to the United States, I understood it. As me and my friends grow older, we begin to understand what is “utilization.” If a person loses “utilization value,” people begin to alienate this person. The first time I arrived in the United States with my parents, I really didn't understand why my Chinese friends began to alienate me. They even deleted the only contact between us, but after about one year I had understand what my father wanted to tell me. At school, the relationship between the foreign students is also very cold. Every student comes from a different country and the languages that we speak are different, so there is no common topic between us. After everyone enters a new living environment, people will start to be wary of everything, and this is a human instinct. Now, my psychology has also changed in making friends. The meaning of change is that my definition of the relationship between friends has begun to become blurred, but at the same time I also miss the true friendship when I was young.
       The feeling of missing old days is getting stronger and stronger, but some memories are beginning to blur as time goes by. The United States is a good place because it has attractive advantages, but the interpersonal relationships here is not as harmonious as I imagined. The most beautiful thing that stays in my memory is just a kind of homesickness, a kind of longing for my family and a kind of attachment to the old friendships.