Ultimate Pressure: First Generation In SV

Not in SV, but I was first generation in SF. Seeing our parents and grandparents work pretty hard to put food on the table and a shelter over our heads, I suppose we had to be “good” kids and study hard to make sure all that sacrifice they made was worth it…

How you parents do it today, I don’t know, but bravo and keep it up!!!

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I like these kids! Give me hopes for this great country of ours. These kids look like they can hustle and they can fight. We need more of these kids.

That Chinese kid’s English is pretty alright. It seems he just learned it for a year or two? Impressive.

Your parents are first generation. You’re second.

No, my folks came over as immigrants (weren’t born here) in their late 20s to early 30s. Me born here, right there in the original Chinese Hospital on Jackson Street of San Francisco’s Chinatown.

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Look like both of you are correct.

The term first-generation can refer to either people who were born in one country and relocated to another at a young age, or to their children born in the country they have relocated to. The term second-generation refers to children of first-generation immigrants, and thus exhibits the same ambiguity.

Yes, I saw that definition too. My folks didn’t come here at a “young age” though so I would think I would tech be true first gen only.

Chinatown was a godsend for my family. Yeah, sure, let’s hear the criticism about not “being more American, and learning English.” Well, the fact was, they had to work their arses off to support their kids in this strange new country and Chinatown allowed them to slowly get up to speed. No worries, their kids and future generations are as American as one can be.

Interestingly, in korean community, we call people who immigrated as a grown-up 1st generation, people who immigrated as a child, 1.5 generation.
It looks like we have been using the term differently from others.
Regarding your parents’ generation, it is quite amazing to see how much people can sacrifice themselves for their family.

I like to think all people did that back in the day. I don’t know that we do it so much these days though. Adult children seem to be coming back home due to finances so I guess people are going back to that kind of thinking. And I think it is good, as hopefully the kids then take care of their folks in their senior years. What is it again, @manch, that paying forward concept of yours???

Right. It’s really an optimal strategy once you remove the generation boundary.

Of course it’s best to have your cake and eat it too. If I had 10M sitting in my bank I can bankroll my kids’ education, buy each of them a nice house, and have a nice retirement for ourselves.

For a long time, we chinese faced a lot of stigma and negative press about oh how many people or generations live under a single home…blah blah blah. Well, it really is a great thing when kids are WILLING to more than help their parents in their hours of need. Our mother stays with each of us during the week and while the driving around the Bay Area can be tiring, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

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Filial piety is a double edged sword. My parents sacrificed for me by immigrating to America so now I feel obligated to look after them in a big way, which I am. It’s not helpful that they are not at all financially savvy so I need to take care of almost all of their needs, the most important being shelter. And they have an expensive taste in choosing the home they like to occupy… :slight_smile: