出生在美国并且长大的华人真实的生活情况是怎样的？
Brian
以下有 @萧腾 翻译的中文答案
Let's start with something fun - Chinese American Humor / What Kind of Asian Are You?
I'm not sure exactly what this question is looking for, so I'll just talk about my life and my friends and let you guys ask questions.
Identity
If anybody asks, I'm Asian American. If they ask further, I'm Chinese.
Very few people say "Chinese American". In fact, it sounds really weird when I read Chinese American because so few people ever say it.
Very few people say ABC - American Born Chinese. That's something mostly people from China will say to me.
My friends and I think of ourselves as Asian American mostly because that's how we were taught in school. In kindergarten they had the different racial categories, White, African American, Hispanic, Asian, Native American. Also, any document that asks about race asks if I'm Asian, not if I'm Chinese. And most community organizations for Asian Americans are named that way, such as the National Association of Asian American Professionals. The organizations that specifically call themselves Chinese are usually for people who grew up in China.
Like most of my friends who've visited China, I miss China when in America, but I miss America when I'm in China. I like to call it "jetlag of the soul", my body's in one place, but my heart's in the other. I also feel like I'm missing something when Chinese people my age joke and jostle in Chinese; it's like I'm mute in a world that sings. But when I go back to China, the culture shock is nauseating sometimes.
So, being Chinese American is convenient and complicated. If I'm shrewd, I can use my Chinese and American statuses interchangeably. But if I'm unlucky, then the Chinese and American collide inside me.
Education
Public School
As you might expect, most of what I learned is about America. I can sing the American anthem, but not the Chinese one. I know US and European history (and a lot of it), but not Chinese history. I was always "good" at math, because in elementary school, I learned multiplication before it was taught in 4th grade; from then on, I always enjoyed the advantage of being placed in the highest level math classes.
In elementary school, almost all of my homework had some sort of story behind it,
Suzy is going to the bank to deposit her coins. She has 15 coins that total $2.25. How many different combinations of coins could she have?
And we also had research projects starting in elementary school such as,
Pick your favorite historical figure and write about his or her contributions.
or
Survey the people you know and create a plot of their birthdays.
or
Design a science experiment. What was the result? What is the scientific reasoning behind the result?
There were occasionally some homework problems that simply tested rote learning, but usually no more than 5 questions a day. So in general, homework took about 30 minutes each day.
Middle school followed the same format except the project topics were more detailed and we had more group projects. Homework only took about 1 hour each day.
For high school, I tested into a magnet high school, so my experiences vary from the average student. Although my friends in the normal high school programs had about 1-2 hours of homework each day, suddenly, I had 2-3 hours of homework and 2 hours of reading each day. The classes were discussion based and we studied through researching our discussion topics at home
Discuss Shakespeare's commentary on England's economic conditions in Hamlet
Discuss the connotations of Hemingways use of weather in A Farewell to Arms
Discuss the influence of industrialization on German unification
and then we learned methods of analysis when we questioned each other in class. It was demanding because the teacher didn't expect a correct answer, but the best answer our research and reasoning could construct. The process was much harder than remembering and repeating, but also more thorough.
Outside of school, I also
Acted in a theater performance
Played on the varsity men's volleyball team
Co-edited the school's literary arts magazine
Led a local robotics team.
It sounds like the typical over-achiever Chinese American story, but I did each of these things because they were incredibly fun. I could have easily gone home at the end of the day, done my 2-3 hours of homework and played games for the rest of the night. In fact, my parents wanted me to quit my extracurricular activities because they wanted me to sleep more. But from each of my activities, I learned skills that have carried me farther than any of my classes.
Chinese
Almost all of my Chinese American friends attended Chinese school. Chinese school is outside of normal school. It's usually organized by the local community and consists of a couple hours a week on either Saturday or Sunday.
Most of my friends speak a basic level of Chinese with improper pronunciation (shi / si, chang / cang give them trouble). But it's enough to talk with their grandparents at home about basic everyday things ("这个放在那儿", "我吃过饭了" - pretty basic stuff). Even better, some of my friends actually speak 广东话, or 上海话 at home so they really have trouble with 普通话. But overall, their parents speak to them in Chinese, they respond in English, and sometimes the parents will also respond in English after that. Some of us try to speak Chinese regularly at home and I have two friends who can read.
When I was five, my parents actually sent me back to China to live with my grandparents for a year. So I learned 拼音 and some basic words (and enough math to last me through 5th grade back in the States). That year made a huge difference in my Chinese education. When I was in middle school and my parents enrolled me in Chinese school, knowing Pinyin really set me apart because I could,
Use a Chinese dictionary
Read and understand simple essays if it had Pinyin
Pronounce words accurately
Doing well in Chinese school set me on the path to pursue Chinese studies. I enrolled in Chinese as my foreign language in high school. I started speaking Chinese at home and actively asking my parents about vocabulary I didn't know. I studied abroad in China for a year in college. (There's so many differences between American and Chinese colleges that the topic deserves it's own question.)
Economics
When I was young, our family was pretty poor because my Dad was a PhD student and my Mom didn't have a work visa. All our furniture (and all my toys) were donated to us or purchased at yard sales for a couple dollars. At school, I had free meals since our income was close to the poverty line.
Over the years, we moved 16 times, including across the country, as my Dad pursued better jobs. Now we've settled into upper-middle class society: my parents and I have well-paying jobs; we have a mortgage on a house; we can buy most of the everyday things that we want, but not many of the luxury items you see in magazines.
Overall, it's been a very slow and stable economic progression instead of the rocketship ride of China's economy,
20 years ago, when we were at our poorest, our standard of living was much higher than our family friends in China. For example, we owned an '81 Toyota Corolla and shopped at Walmart (20 years ago, every Chinese person who walked into a Walmart for the first time was stunned speechless)
Now, we are no where nearly as wealthy as our family friends in China. For example, my parents' friends have all sent their kids abroad for college (many them to the States) where they pay the exorbitant international student tuition with plenty of money to travel and shop. In contrast, I chose to go to a state university because of the lower in-state tuition, the opportunity for scholarships and I also worked part-time for 3 years.
Most of my friends' families are also upper-middle class. Our parents are doctors, engineers, accountants, researchers, professors; and they've guided our generation into similar professions. But we're still young, so our careers paths could diverge quickly. I have a friend who just quit a perfectly good job in financial consulting to pursue improv comedy.
Some of us feel that our parents toiled and endured so that we could have the advantages of an unparalleled education, and that working at a "good" job for a "good" salary is to squander their sacrifice - that we should strive to enter a higher strata of American society.
Social
Looking through my friends on Facebook, about half of them are Asian American.
Growing up, I mostly had non-Chinese friends, but not by choice; somehow the schools I attended always had very few Chinese students. Half of my friends were Jewish and the rest was a mix of African Americans and other Asians.
In high school, there were a lot more Chinese American students in my IB and AP classes. For the first time, I had a group of Chinese American friends, although they didn't hang out together with my non-Asian friends. The people in both groups grew up in America and we all watched the same shows and listened to the same music. The two groups didn't feel that different to me, although the they must have looked very different to an observer.
Family
Parents
I can only speculate on my parents' cultural identity, because we haven't talked about this, but I can tell you how they act.
My parents are both American citizens by now. In fact, they even legally changed their first names to American names. But they speak Chinese at home, watch Chinese TV (my Mom loves 非诚勿扰 and 中国好声音), and cook Chinese food (my Dad still can't order a good sandwich).
All their friends are Chinese. A couple years ago, when we had three other Chinese families living on the same street, my parents loved it. In the summers, every night they'd go out for a walk and chat on the sidewalk. During the Olympics, they root for China in every event (I usually root for both China and USA). And they complain about America's harsh political stance towards China.
But on the flip side, they're very well adjusted to America. They both work with predominantly non-Chinese coworkers and get along great with them. My Dad voted in the last two presidential elections and he's pretty proud of that (my Mom was too lazy to stand in line haha).
Personally, I doubt that they could ever move back to China. In the 20 years that have passed, their hometown is a memory now. Each time we go back to visit, my parents are utterly helpless and have to depend on our relatives. They don't recognize the streets or bus routes, they don't know the subway systems and sometimes they don't even know the names of popular products and activities.
They try to blend in as normal Chinese citizens, but they give themselves away pretty quickly. For example, when they get into a taxi, they automatically buckle the seat belt (safety first!). And they're also not used to living without the conveniences we take for granted in America such as, unlimited hot water, central air conditioning, public WiFi, clean public bathrooms and so many more.
They miss China tremendously, because it means being with family and friends; but they're always relieved when, finally driving their own car again, we arrive back at our house. So I'd say that they're stuck. They'll always be proud to be Chinese, but they're happy to be American.
Our Relationships
I'm very close to my parents. I'm very close to my grandparents, since they also helped me raised me, so they're like my second pair of parents. I try to be 孝孙 because that's the example my parents set for me when they interact with my grandparents. Even though I live in my own apartment closer to my work, I spend the weekends with my parents, which is very rare for Americans.
My relationship with my cousins in America are also really tight. But that's because we're all Americans.
My relationship with my cousins and aunts and uncles in China are a bit more distant than I would like. The year I spent in China as a child really helped me bond with them, so I always think of them as close family. But in reality, we rarely talk.
There's the language barrier, of course. It's hard for me to say interesting things in Chinese and only a few of my cousins understand English. But also the 12-hour time difference makes calling each other a hassle. Emails? Well...I'll work on my Chinese first.
I'd really like to know more about how they're all doing. Although technology, such as 微信, is helping to bridge that gap.
- - - - -
So there you go, a brief, biased story of a Chinese American 20-something. Let the questions begin haha
- - - - -
This is actually a really hard question for me to answer because I have to describe things that are perfectly normal to me, but may seem absolutely bizarre to most of you. Also, I can only describe how things our for me and my friends. We're all 2nd generation Chinese Americans. But our experiences differ greatly from the 5th / 6th / etc... generation Americans of Chinese descent. Furthermore, these are just my experiences. If you've observed Chinese Americans acting very differently, then trust what you've seen; there are a lot of different people in world.
- - - - -
As always, if you have the courage and patience to translate this into Chinese, then go for it! =P
============================
萧腾
翻译了一下@Brian 的答案
让我们先来看一些有意思的东西Chinese American Humor / What Kind of Asian Are You?
我不确定提问者想要怎样的答案，那我就说说我的生活还有朋友，等大家提问之后再补充。
关于身份
如果有人问起，我会回答我是亚裔美国人，他们继续追问的话，我会答是华裔。
很少人会回答“华裔美国人”。因为实在太少人这么说，我觉得这个词念起来怪怪的。
也很少人会回答“美国出生的中国人”。在中国土生土长的人倒是常用这个词形容我来着。
我和我的朋友们认为我们是亚裔美国人很大程度上是因为我们所受的教育。从幼儿园开始学校就有不同的种族分类：美国白人，美国黑人，拉美裔美国人，亚裔美国人和印第安人。而且所有涉及种族的文件要求填的都是“是否亚裔”而不是“是否华裔”。大多数亚裔美国人的社区组织也是这么命名的，比如全美亚裔职业协会。那些名称中特别包含华裔的组织通常是为那些在中国长大的人设立的。
和我大多数去过中国的朋友一样，我在美思华在华思美。我称这种感觉为灵魂的时差混乱，身在曹营心在汉。在美国当周围同龄的华裔用中文打打闹闹的时候我总若有所失，感觉与他们的世界格格不入。而当我真正回到中国有时也为文化差异苦恼不堪。
总之，做华裔美国人说难不难说简单不简单。足够敏锐的话，你可以在华裔和美籍两个身份之间自如转换，但是也很有可能你在这两个身份中……凌乱了。
关于教育
公立学校
如你所料，我所学的大多数都是关于美国的。我会唱美国国歌而不是中国的。我了解美国和欧洲的历史而不是中国的。我的数学一直很“棒”，因为在小学四年级教乘法之前我已经学会了，并且在那之后，我一直是数学尖子。
小学时，我的家庭作业几乎都包含了一些故事，比如
苏西去银行存她的硬币，她一共有15个硬币加起来是$2.25。请问她的硬币可以有多少种不同的组合呢？
另外，我们还有一些研究课题，比如
写出你最喜欢的历史人物并描述他/她的贡献。
或
调查你认识的人并将他们的生日绘成表格。
或
设计一个科学实验。实验结果是什么？有什么科学道理？
偶尔也有一些测试记诵内容的作业，但一天一般不超过五题。总而言之，家庭作业一天大概要花半小时。
初中作业也是这种形式，只是课题主题会更复杂小组合作更多，一天大概花一小时写作业。
高中的时候，我考进了一所磁铁学校（注1），因此我的经历和普通学生有点不同。我在普通高中的同学一天有1-2小时的作业，而我却突然有2-3小时的作业还要加上2小时的阅读。课堂是以讨论为基础的，我们需要在家查阅讨论主题的资料。
比如
讨论莎士比亚在《哈姆雷特》中对英国经济的评论；
讨论海明威在《永别了，武器》中天气描写的内涵；
讨论工业化对德国统一的影响。
我们在课堂上相互质疑时学到了分析问题的方法。由于老师想要的不是一个正确的答案而是我们的研究和推理能够给出的最好答案，这一切十分费劲。它不仅比死记硬背困难，而且更加全面。
课外，我还
ღ参加戏剧表演
ღ参加校男排队
ღ编辑学校的文艺杂志
ღ领导当地机器人队
我知道这听起来是一个典型的成绩很好的华裔美国人的故事，但我做这些都是因为它们很有趣。我本来可以放学后直接回家，做完2-3小时的作业再打打游戏这么过完一天。我父母也希望我停掉课外活动多休息一会。但我觉得从我的课外活动中，我学到的技能比起课堂上的那些能使我走得更远。
关于中文
我的亚裔美籍朋友几乎都参加了中文学校。中文学校不同于普通学校，它通常是当地社区组织的，在周六或周日有几个小时的课程。
尽管发音不是很标准（shi/si, chang/cang这些音发不清），我的朋友们大都会说基本的汉语。这些就足够他们在家和爷爷奶奶交流了（“这个放在那儿”，“我吃过了”之类的简单用语）。稍微好一点的一些朋友在家能够说广东话或者上海话，但他们依然不是很擅长普通话。经常是这样，他们的父母对他们说中文，他们用英文回答，之后的对话父母有时也会改用英文继续。有些朋友试着在家常说中文，我有两个朋友可以读中文书。
我五岁时，父母把我送回中国和祖父母呆了一年。那时候我学了拼音和一些基本的单词（还有达到美国小学五年级水准的数学）。那一年对我的中文学习意义重大。后来我上初中的时候父母给我报了中文学校。会读拼音真的使我与众不同，因为我能够
ღ使用汉语词典
ღ读懂简单有注音的文章
ღ正确地朗读词汇
在中文学校的优异表现推动着我继续学习中文。高中时，我将中文作为的自己二外学习。我开始在家说汉语而且乐于向父母问一些我不知道的单词。大学时，我还去中国交流了一年。（中美大学有太多不同，在这里就不细说了。等有相关问题时再回答。）
关于经济
我小时候家里特别穷。当时爸爸还在读博妈妈也没拿到工作签证，我们所有的家具还有我的玩具都是别人捐的或者在庭院售物（注2）以低廉的价格买到的。在学校，因为家里的收入接近贫困线，我可以享受免费的用餐。
那几年里，由于爸爸追求更好的工作，我们搬过16次家，其中一次甚至去了别的国家。现在，我们处在社会的中上阶层：父母和我都有不菲的薪水，我们按揭付款买了房子，我们可以买大多数想要的日常用品但不是杂志上的奢侈品。
总之，这是平稳缓慢的经济增长而不是中国经济那般的飞速。
♫20年前我家最穷的时候，我们的生活质量也比我们家在中国的朋友好得多。比如，我们有一辆丰田花冠而且可以在沃尔玛购物（同一时期，每个第一次走进沃尔玛的中国人都为之震惊不已）。
♫现在，我们再没有那些朋友那么富裕了。比如，我父母的朋友都送他们的孩子到国外读大学（很多是到美国），作为国际学生他们需要付极其高昂的学费还要花很多钱旅游购物。相反，因为本州学生学费较低并且有拿奖学金的机会，所以我选择了在州立大学读书。此外，课余时间我还打了3年的工。
我朋友们的家庭大都是中上阶层。我们的父母是医生，工程师，会计，研究院，教授；他们还将子女引到了相似的职业。但我们还年轻，职业生涯可能迅速转变。我的一个朋友辞去了一个很好的金融咨询工作投身即兴喜剧。
我们中的有些人觉得父母历尽千辛万苦才让我们有机会受如此好的教育。如果只是做一个令人羡艳的工作拿一份令人羡艳的薪水简直是浪费他们的牺牲，我们应该努力进入美国更高的社会阶层才对得起他们。
关于社交
浏览我的Facebook好友就会发现其中大约半数都是亚裔美国人。
在我的成长过程中，我的朋友几乎都不是华裔，但这并非我的选择，是因为我所在的学校很少华裔学生。我的朋友大半是犹太裔，其余的是非裔和其它亚洲国家的美国人。
念高中的时候，在我的大学预修课程（注3）和 国际预科证书课程（注4）的课堂上有很多的美籍华裔学生。尽管他们不和我的非亚裔朋友一起出去，但头一次我有了一群华裔朋友。这两类朋友都在美国长大，看相同的节目听相同的音乐。尽管旁观者会觉得他们看起来截然不同，我却没有这种感觉。
关于家庭
父母
我从未和父母聊过他们的文化身份，所以我只能推测。但我可以告诉你们他们是如何应对这个问题的。
我父母现在都是美国公民了。实际上，他们甚至把自己的名改成了美国名字。但他们在家说中文，看中文节目（我妈爱看《非诚勿扰》和《中国好声音》）做中国菜（我爸至今没法做出像样的三明治）。
他们的朋友都是中国人。几年前，其它三个中国家庭和我们住在同一条街时，我父母很高兴。夏天时，他们每晚都出去散步聊天。奥运会时，每个项目他们都为中国队加油（我通常会为中国和美国）。他们也会抱怨美国对中国尖锐的政治立场。
另一方面，他们已经非常适应美国。他们的同事大多不是华裔但相处得很不错。我爸爸为最近两次总统大选投过票而且引以为豪（我妈妈懒得排队等投票）。
我觉得他们不会再搬回中国。20年过去，故乡已成回忆。每次返乡，父母总显得非常无助而且必须依靠亲戚的帮助。他们不再认得故乡的街道和公交路线也不知道那里的地铁系统，有时他们甚至不知道最普通的用品和活动的名字。
他们试图向普通中国居民一样融入当地的环境，但很快就放弃了。比如，当他们上一辆出租车会自觉系上安全带。而且他们不习惯生活在没有在美国想当然的一些便利条件下，像无限制的热水，中央空调，公共无线网，干净的公共浴室等等。
他们无比思念中国，在那里意味着和亲人朋友团聚，但他们很快就释然了，开车回到了我们自己的家。所以我觉得他们进退两难，他们永远为是中国人自豪但同时也为成为美国人喜悦。
关系
我和父母关系非常密切，和我的祖父母也一样。我的祖父母也抚养了我，所以他们就像我的第二父母。我的父母在对待祖父母上为我树立了很好的榜样，我也努力做一名孝顺的孙子。尽管现在我住在离工作单位很近的公寓里，我还是会和父母一起过周末，这在美国人中是很罕见的。
我和在美国的表亲们也很亲近。但这因为我们都是美国人。
我和我在中国的表亲叔婶就比我期望的要疏远了。小时候在中国的那一年帮助我和他们联系在一起，我也把他们当做亲近的家里人。但实际上，我们很少交谈。
语言的障碍固然很大。对我来说用中文讲有意思的事实在很难而我的表亲很少懂得英语的。何况还有12小时的时差让打电话都成为难题。电子邮件？嗯……先让我努力学习下中文。
我想知道更多他们的动态。一些科技产品像是微信，对跨越我们之间的隔阂有所帮助。
--------------------
就这样了。一个20几岁的华裔美国人的简短的但可能有所偏颇的故事。大家尽情提问吧~
------------------
这真的是一个很难的问题，因为我必须描述一些对我来说稀松平常但对大家却可能极不寻常的事情。而且，我只能说说我和我的朋友的事情。我们是第二代的华裔美国人。但我们的经历跟第五，第六……第N代华裔美国人会大不相同。还有，这些只是我的经历。如果你发现华裔美国人不像我这样，请相信你看到的吧，毕竟大千世界人各不同。
------------------------------------------End of Brian's Answer-------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
标注（？）处表示我不确定。
【一些注释，来自百度】
❤注1．磁铁学校 magnet school（此词始于1965年的美国，是一种公立学校，有着特别的课程设计与教学方式，以吸引各种背景的学生，希望有助于各种种族间的融合）；
❤注2．庭院售物 yard sale（又称garage sale、porch sale或moving sale，是美国一种独特的售物方式。由主人把家中多余不用的物品放在庭院中，车库里或门廊下廉价出售）；
❤注3．大学预修课程 IB （是一个极具水平的世界通用预科文凭，拿着IB Diploma 的学生无论在世界任何地方升学进修，都是无往不利的。
并且在修完IB后可直接跳过语言课程直接读大学。）
❤注4．国际预科证书课程 AP（指由collegeboard提供的在高中授课的大学课程。美国高中生可以选修这些课程，在完成课业后参加AP考试，得到一定的成绩后可以获得大学学分。）
http://www.zhihu.com/question/20389338
 |
以下有 @萧腾 翻译的中文答案
Let's start with something fun - Chinese American Humor / What Kind of Asian Are You?
I'm not sure exactly what this question is looking for, so I'll just talk about my life and my friends and let you guys ask questions.
Identity
If anybody asks, I'm Asian American. If they ask further, I'm Chinese.
Very few people say "Chinese American". In fact, it sounds really weird when I read Chinese American because so few people ever say it.
Very few people say ABC - American Born Chinese. That's something mostly people from China will say to me.
My friends and I think of ourselves as Asian American mostly because that's how we were taught in school. In kindergarten they had the different racial categories, White, African American, Hispanic, Asian, Native American. Also, any document that asks about race asks if I'm Asian, not if I'm Chinese. And most community organizations for Asian Americans are named that way, such as the National Association of Asian American Professionals. The organizations that specifically call themselves Chinese are usually for people who grew up in China.
Like most of my friends who've visited China, I miss China when in America, but I miss America when I'm in China. I like to call it "jetlag of the soul", my body's in one place, but my heart's in the other. I also feel like I'm missing something when Chinese people my age joke and jostle in Chinese; it's like I'm mute in a world that sings. But when I go back to China, the culture shock is nauseating sometimes.
So, being Chinese American is convenient and complicated. If I'm shrewd, I can use my Chinese and American statuses interchangeably. But if I'm unlucky, then the Chinese and American collide inside me.
Education
Public School
As you might expect, most of what I learned is about America. I can sing the American anthem, but not the Chinese one. I know US and European history (and a lot of it), but not Chinese history. I was always "good" at math, because in elementary school, I learned multiplication before it was taught in 4th grade; from then on, I always enjoyed the advantage of being placed in the highest level math classes.
In elementary school, almost all of my homework had some sort of story behind it,
Suzy is going to the bank to deposit her coins. She has 15 coins that total $2.25. How many different combinations of coins could she have?
And we also had research projects starting in elementary school such as,
Pick your favorite historical figure and write about his or her contributions.
or
Survey the people you know and create a plot of their birthdays.
or
Design a science experiment. What was the result? What is the scientific reasoning behind the result?
There were occasionally some homework problems that simply tested rote learning, but usually no more than 5 questions a day. So in general, homework took about 30 minutes each day.
Middle school followed the same format except the project topics were more detailed and we had more group projects. Homework only took about 1 hour each day.
For high school, I tested into a magnet high school, so my experiences vary from the average student. Although my friends in the normal high school programs had about 1-2 hours of homework each day, suddenly, I had 2-3 hours of homework and 2 hours of reading each day. The classes were discussion based and we studied through researching our discussion topics at home
Discuss Shakespeare's commentary on England's economic conditions in Hamlet
Discuss the connotations of Hemingways use of weather in A Farewell to Arms
Discuss the influence of industrialization on German unification
and then we learned methods of analysis when we questioned each other in class. It was demanding because the teacher didn't expect a correct answer, but the best answer our research and reasoning could construct. The process was much harder than remembering and repeating, but also more thorough.
Outside of school, I also
Acted in a theater performance
Played on the varsity men's volleyball team
Co-edited the school's literary arts magazine
Led a local robotics team.
It sounds like the typical over-achiever Chinese American story, but I did each of these things because they were incredibly fun. I could have easily gone home at the end of the day, done my 2-3 hours of homework and played games for the rest of the night. In fact, my parents wanted me to quit my extracurricular activities because they wanted me to sleep more. But from each of my activities, I learned skills that have carried me farther than any of my classes.
Chinese
Almost all of my Chinese American friends attended Chinese school. Chinese school is outside of normal school. It's usually organized by the local community and consists of a couple hours a week on either Saturday or Sunday.
Most of my friends speak a basic level of Chinese with improper pronunciation (shi / si, chang / cang give them trouble). But it's enough to talk with their grandparents at home about basic everyday things ("这个放在那儿", "我吃过饭了" - pretty basic stuff). Even better, some of my friends actually speak 广东话, or 上海话 at home so they really have trouble with 普通话. But overall, their parents speak to them in Chinese, they respond in English, and sometimes the parents will also respond in English after that. Some of us try to speak Chinese regularly at home and I have two friends who can read.
When I was five, my parents actually sent me back to China to live with my grandparents for a year. So I learned 拼音 and some basic words (and enough math to last me through 5th grade back in the States). That year made a huge difference in my Chinese education. When I was in middle school and my parents enrolled me in Chinese school, knowing Pinyin really set me apart because I could,
Use a Chinese dictionary
Read and understand simple essays if it had Pinyin
Pronounce words accurately
Doing well in Chinese school set me on the path to pursue Chinese studies. I enrolled in Chinese as my foreign language in high school. I started speaking Chinese at home and actively asking my parents about vocabulary I didn't know. I studied abroad in China for a year in college. (There's so many differences between American and Chinese colleges that the topic deserves it's own question.)
Economics
When I was young, our family was pretty poor because my Dad was a PhD student and my Mom didn't have a work visa. All our furniture (and all my toys) were donated to us or purchased at yard sales for a couple dollars. At school, I had free meals since our income was close to the poverty line.
Over the years, we moved 16 times, including across the country, as my Dad pursued better jobs. Now we've settled into upper-middle class society: my parents and I have well-paying jobs; we have a mortgage on a house; we can buy most of the everyday things that we want, but not many of the luxury items you see in magazines.
Overall, it's been a very slow and stable economic progression instead of the rocketship ride of China's economy,
20 years ago, when we were at our poorest, our standard of living was much higher than our family friends in China. For example, we owned an '81 Toyota Corolla and shopped at Walmart (20 years ago, every Chinese person who walked into a Walmart for the first time was stunned speechless)
Now, we are no where nearly as wealthy as our family friends in China. For example, my parents' friends have all sent their kids abroad for college (many them to the States) where they pay the exorbitant international student tuition with plenty of money to travel and shop. In contrast, I chose to go to a state university because of the lower in-state tuition, the opportunity for scholarships and I also worked part-time for 3 years.
Most of my friends' families are also upper-middle class. Our parents are doctors, engineers, accountants, researchers, professors; and they've guided our generation into similar professions. But we're still young, so our careers paths could diverge quickly. I have a friend who just quit a perfectly good job in financial consulting to pursue improv comedy.
Some of us feel that our parents toiled and endured so that we could have the advantages of an unparalleled education, and that working at a "good" job for a "good" salary is to squander their sacrifice - that we should strive to enter a higher strata of American society.
Social
Looking through my friends on Facebook, about half of them are Asian American.
Growing up, I mostly had non-Chinese friends, but not by choice; somehow the schools I attended always had very few Chinese students. Half of my friends were Jewish and the rest was a mix of African Americans and other Asians.
In high school, there were a lot more Chinese American students in my IB and AP classes. For the first time, I had a group of Chinese American friends, although they didn't hang out together with my non-Asian friends. The people in both groups grew up in America and we all watched the same shows and listened to the same music. The two groups didn't feel that different to me, although the they must have looked very different to an observer.
Family
Parents
I can only speculate on my parents' cultural identity, because we haven't talked about this, but I can tell you how they act.
My parents are both American citizens by now. In fact, they even legally changed their first names to American names. But they speak Chinese at home, watch Chinese TV (my Mom loves 非诚勿扰 and 中国好声音), and cook Chinese food (my Dad still can't order a good sandwich).
All their friends are Chinese. A couple years ago, when we had three other Chinese families living on the same street, my parents loved it. In the summers, every night they'd go out for a walk and chat on the sidewalk. During the Olympics, they root for China in every event (I usually root for both China and USA). And they complain about America's harsh political stance towards China.
But on the flip side, they're very well adjusted to America. They both work with predominantly non-Chinese coworkers and get along great with them. My Dad voted in the last two presidential elections and he's pretty proud of that (my Mom was too lazy to stand in line haha).
Personally, I doubt that they could ever move back to China. In the 20 years that have passed, their hometown is a memory now. Each time we go back to visit, my parents are utterly helpless and have to depend on our relatives. They don't recognize the streets or bus routes, they don't know the subway systems and sometimes they don't even know the names of popular products and activities.
They try to blend in as normal Chinese citizens, but they give themselves away pretty quickly. For example, when they get into a taxi, they automatically buckle the seat belt (safety first!). And they're also not used to living without the conveniences we take for granted in America such as, unlimited hot water, central air conditioning, public WiFi, clean public bathrooms and so many more.
They miss China tremendously, because it means being with family and friends; but they're always relieved when, finally driving their own car again, we arrive back at our house. So I'd say that they're stuck. They'll always be proud to be Chinese, but they're happy to be American.
Our Relationships
I'm very close to my parents. I'm very close to my grandparents, since they also helped me raised me, so they're like my second pair of parents. I try to be 孝孙 because that's the example my parents set for me when they interact with my grandparents. Even though I live in my own apartment closer to my work, I spend the weekends with my parents, which is very rare for Americans.
My relationship with my cousins in America are also really tight. But that's because we're all Americans.
My relationship with my cousins and aunts and uncles in China are a bit more distant than I would like. The year I spent in China as a child really helped me bond with them, so I always think of them as close family. But in reality, we rarely talk.
There's the language barrier, of course. It's hard for me to say interesting things in Chinese and only a few of my cousins understand English. But also the 12-hour time difference makes calling each other a hassle. Emails? Well...I'll work on my Chinese first.
I'd really like to know more about how they're all doing. Although technology, such as 微信, is helping to bridge that gap.
- - - - -
So there you go, a brief, biased story of a Chinese American 20-something. Let the questions begin haha
- - - - -
This is actually a really hard question for me to answer because I have to describe things that are perfectly normal to me, but may seem absolutely bizarre to most of you. Also, I can only describe how things our for me and my friends. We're all 2nd generation Chinese Americans. But our experiences differ greatly from the 5th / 6th / etc... generation Americans of Chinese descent. Furthermore, these are just my experiences. If you've observed Chinese Americans acting very differently, then trust what you've seen; there are a lot of different people in world.
- - - - -
As always, if you have the courage and patience to translate this into Chinese, then go for it! =P
============================
萧腾
翻译了一下@Brian 的答案
让我们先来看一些有意思的东西Chinese American Humor / What Kind of Asian Are You?
我不确定提问者想要怎样的答案，那我就说说我的生活还有朋友，等大家提问之后再补充。
关于身份
如果有人问起，我会回答我是亚裔美国人，他们继续追问的话，我会答是华裔。
很少人会回答“华裔美国人”。因为实在太少人这么说，我觉得这个词念起来怪怪的。
也很少人会回答“美国出生的中国人”。在中国土生土长的人倒是常用这个词形容我来着。
我和我的朋友们认为我们是亚裔美国人很大程度上是因为我们所受的教育。从幼儿园开始学校就有不同的种族分类：美国白人，美国黑人，拉美裔美国人，亚裔美国人和印第安人。而且所有涉及种族的文件要求填的都是“是否亚裔”而不是“是否华裔”。大多数亚裔美国人的社区组织也是这么命名的，比如全美亚裔职业协会。那些名称中特别包含华裔的组织通常是为那些在中国长大的人设立的。
和我大多数去过中国的朋友一样，我在美思华在华思美。我称这种感觉为灵魂的时差混乱，身在曹营心在汉。在美国当周围同龄的华裔用中文打打闹闹的时候我总若有所失，感觉与他们的世界格格不入。而当我真正回到中国有时也为文化差异苦恼不堪。
总之，做华裔美国人说难不难说简单不简单。足够敏锐的话，你可以在华裔和美籍两个身份之间自如转换，但是也很有可能你在这两个身份中……凌乱了。
关于教育
公立学校
如你所料，我所学的大多数都是关于美国的。我会唱美国国歌而不是中国的。我了解美国和欧洲的历史而不是中国的。我的数学一直很“棒”，因为在小学四年级教乘法之前我已经学会了，并且在那之后，我一直是数学尖子。
小学时，我的家庭作业几乎都包含了一些故事，比如
苏西去银行存她的硬币，她一共有15个硬币加起来是$2.25。请问她的硬币可以有多少种不同的组合呢？
另外，我们还有一些研究课题，比如
写出你最喜欢的历史人物并描述他/她的贡献。
或
调查你认识的人并将他们的生日绘成表格。
或
设计一个科学实验。实验结果是什么？有什么科学道理？
偶尔也有一些测试记诵内容的作业，但一天一般不超过五题。总而言之，家庭作业一天大概要花半小时。
初中作业也是这种形式，只是课题主题会更复杂小组合作更多，一天大概花一小时写作业。
高中的时候，我考进了一所磁铁学校（注1），因此我的经历和普通学生有点不同。我在普通高中的同学一天有1-2小时的作业，而我却突然有2-3小时的作业还要加上2小时的阅读。课堂是以讨论为基础的，我们需要在家查阅讨论主题的资料。
比如
讨论莎士比亚在《哈姆雷特》中对英国经济的评论；
讨论海明威在《永别了，武器》中天气描写的内涵；
讨论工业化对德国统一的影响。
我们在课堂上相互质疑时学到了分析问题的方法。由于老师想要的不是一个正确的答案而是我们的研究和推理能够给出的最好答案，这一切十分费劲。它不仅比死记硬背困难，而且更加全面。
课外，我还
ღ参加戏剧表演
ღ参加校男排队
ღ编辑学校的文艺杂志
ღ领导当地机器人队
我知道这听起来是一个典型的成绩很好的华裔美国人的故事，但我做这些都是因为它们很有趣。我本来可以放学后直接回家，做完2-3小时的作业再打打游戏这么过完一天。我父母也希望我停掉课外活动多休息一会。但我觉得从我的课外活动中，我学到的技能比起课堂上的那些能使我走得更远。
关于中文
我的亚裔美籍朋友几乎都参加了中文学校。中文学校不同于普通学校，它通常是当地社区组织的，在周六或周日有几个小时的课程。
尽管发音不是很标准（shi/si, chang/cang这些音发不清），我的朋友们大都会说基本的汉语。这些就足够他们在家和爷爷奶奶交流了（“这个放在那儿”，“我吃过了”之类的简单用语）。稍微好一点的一些朋友在家能够说广东话或者上海话，但他们依然不是很擅长普通话。经常是这样，他们的父母对他们说中文，他们用英文回答，之后的对话父母有时也会改用英文继续。有些朋友试着在家常说中文，我有两个朋友可以读中文书。
我五岁时，父母把我送回中国和祖父母呆了一年。那时候我学了拼音和一些基本的单词（还有达到美国小学五年级水准的数学）。那一年对我的中文学习意义重大。后来我上初中的时候父母给我报了中文学校。会读拼音真的使我与众不同，因为我能够
ღ使用汉语词典
ღ读懂简单有注音的文章
ღ正确地朗读词汇
在中文学校的优异表现推动着我继续学习中文。高中时，我将中文作为的自己二外学习。我开始在家说汉语而且乐于向父母问一些我不知道的单词。大学时，我还去中国交流了一年。（中美大学有太多不同，在这里就不细说了。等有相关问题时再回答。）
关于经济
我小时候家里特别穷。当时爸爸还在读博妈妈也没拿到工作签证，我们所有的家具还有我的玩具都是别人捐的或者在庭院售物（注2）以低廉的价格买到的。在学校，因为家里的收入接近贫困线，我可以享受免费的用餐。
那几年里，由于爸爸追求更好的工作，我们搬过16次家，其中一次甚至去了别的国家。现在，我们处在社会的中上阶层：父母和我都有不菲的薪水，我们按揭付款买了房子，我们可以买大多数想要的日常用品但不是杂志上的奢侈品。
总之，这是平稳缓慢的经济增长而不是中国经济那般的飞速。
♫20年前我家最穷的时候，我们的生活质量也比我们家在中国的朋友好得多。比如，我们有一辆丰田花冠而且可以在沃尔玛购物（同一时期，每个第一次走进沃尔玛的中国人都为之震惊不已）。
♫现在，我们再没有那些朋友那么富裕了。比如，我父母的朋友都送他们的孩子到国外读大学（很多是到美国），作为国际学生他们需要付极其高昂的学费还要花很多钱旅游购物。相反，因为本州学生学费较低并且有拿奖学金的机会，所以我选择了在州立大学读书。此外，课余时间我还打了3年的工。
我朋友们的家庭大都是中上阶层。我们的父母是医生，工程师，会计，研究院，教授；他们还将子女引到了相似的职业。但我们还年轻，职业生涯可能迅速转变。我的一个朋友辞去了一个很好的金融咨询工作投身即兴喜剧。
我们中的有些人觉得父母历尽千辛万苦才让我们有机会受如此好的教育。如果只是做一个令人羡艳的工作拿一份令人羡艳的薪水简直是浪费他们的牺牲，我们应该努力进入美国更高的社会阶层才对得起他们。
关于社交
浏览我的Facebook好友就会发现其中大约半数都是亚裔美国人。
在我的成长过程中，我的朋友几乎都不是华裔，但这并非我的选择，是因为我所在的学校很少华裔学生。我的朋友大半是犹太裔，其余的是非裔和其它亚洲国家的美国人。
念高中的时候，在我的大学预修课程（注3）和 国际预科证书课程（注4）的课堂上有很多的美籍华裔学生。尽管他们不和我的非亚裔朋友一起出去，但头一次我有了一群华裔朋友。这两类朋友都在美国长大，看相同的节目听相同的音乐。尽管旁观者会觉得他们看起来截然不同，我却没有这种感觉。
关于家庭
父母
我从未和父母聊过他们的文化身份，所以我只能推测。但我可以告诉你们他们是如何应对这个问题的。
我父母现在都是美国公民了。实际上，他们甚至把自己的名改成了美国名字。但他们在家说中文，看中文节目（我妈爱看《非诚勿扰》和《中国好声音》）做中国菜（我爸至今没法做出像样的三明治）。
他们的朋友都是中国人。几年前，其它三个中国家庭和我们住在同一条街时，我父母很高兴。夏天时，他们每晚都出去散步聊天。奥运会时，每个项目他们都为中国队加油（我通常会为中国和美国）。他们也会抱怨美国对中国尖锐的政治立场。
另一方面，他们已经非常适应美国。他们的同事大多不是华裔但相处得很不错。我爸爸为最近两次总统大选投过票而且引以为豪（我妈妈懒得排队等投票）。
我觉得他们不会再搬回中国。20年过去，故乡已成回忆。每次返乡，父母总显得非常无助而且必须依靠亲戚的帮助。他们不再认得故乡的街道和公交路线也不知道那里的地铁系统，有时他们甚至不知道最普通的用品和活动的名字。
他们试图向普通中国居民一样融入当地的环境，但很快就放弃了。比如，当他们上一辆出租车会自觉系上安全带。而且他们不习惯生活在没有在美国想当然的一些便利条件下，像无限制的热水，中央空调，公共无线网，干净的公共浴室等等。
他们无比思念中国，在那里意味着和亲人朋友团聚，但他们很快就释然了，开车回到了我们自己的家。所以我觉得他们进退两难，他们永远为是中国人自豪但同时也为成为美国人喜悦。
关系
我和父母关系非常密切，和我的祖父母也一样。我的祖父母也抚养了我，所以他们就像我的第二父母。我的父母在对待祖父母上为我树立了很好的榜样，我也努力做一名孝顺的孙子。尽管现在我住在离工作单位很近的公寓里，我还是会和父母一起过周末，这在美国人中是很罕见的。
我和在美国的表亲们也很亲近。但这因为我们都是美国人。
我和我在中国的表亲叔婶就比我期望的要疏远了。小时候在中国的那一年帮助我和他们联系在一起，我也把他们当做亲近的家里人。但实际上，我们很少交谈。
语言的障碍固然很大。对我来说用中文讲有意思的事实在很难而我的表亲很少懂得英语的。何况还有12小时的时差让打电话都成为难题。电子邮件？嗯……先让我努力学习下中文。
我想知道更多他们的动态。一些科技产品像是微信，对跨越我们之间的隔阂有所帮助。
--------------------
就这样了。一个20几岁的华裔美国人的简短的但可能有所偏颇的故事。大家尽情提问吧~
------------------
这真的是一个很难的问题，因为我必须描述一些对我来说稀松平常但对大家却可能极不寻常的事情。而且，我只能说说我和我的朋友的事情。我们是第二代的华裔美国人。但我们的经历跟第五，第六……第N代华裔美国人会大不相同。还有，这些只是我的经历。如果你发现华裔美国人不像我这样，请相信你看到的吧，毕竟大千世界人各不同。
------------------------------------------End of Brian's Answer-------------------------------------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
标注（？）处表示我不确定。
【一些注释，来自百度】
❤注1．磁铁学校 magnet school（此词始于1965年的美国，是一种公立学校，有着特别的课程设计与教学方式，以吸引各种背景的学生，希望有助于各种种族间的融合）；
❤注2．庭院售物 yard sale（又称garage sale、porch sale或moving sale，是美国一种独特的售物方式。由主人把家中多余不用的物品放在庭院中，车库里或门廊下廉价出售）；
❤注3．大学预修课程 IB （是一个极具水平的世界通用预科文凭，拿着IB Diploma 的学生无论在世界任何地方升学进修，都是无往不利的。
并且在修完IB后可直接跳过语言课程直接读大学。）
❤注4．国际预科证书课程 AP（指由collegeboard提供的在高中授课的大学课程。美国高中生可以选修这些课程，在完成课业后参加AP考试，得到一定的成绩后可以获得大学学分。）
http://www.zhihu.com/question/20389338
