When I heard the phrase, “I am my language”, it means that I represent my language. Although my Chinese is broken and very elementary, it still makes up who I am as a person. Anzaldúa said that “Until I can take pride in my language, I cannot take pride in myself,” I completed agree with what she is trying to say here. To me, I interpreted the quote as, until I am at peace with myself, I cannot move on. Growing up, occasionally I wished I were not born Chinese from all the racial slurs and minor bullying. Now that I am more mature, I am perfectly at peace with my ethnicity and language. My Chinese culture has been able to offer so much in addition to the American culture. At some point, I decided that small provocative such as that will not bother me anymore. Instead, I will continue to develop myself into a better person both physically and mentally.

There is this proverb in Chinese which roughly translates to, “every grain of rice is a drop of sweat from a farmer’s brow.” This was said to me a lot when I was a child while leaving food in the bowl. My mother would say this to me to get me to finish my food. So far it has been working. I now finish my food daily and usually never leave a grain of rice on the plate. Now I am the one saying it to my younger brother who was born in the states, to persuade him to finish all the food.  Seeing how the proverb has become a part of my character, and me using it to influence my younger brother, I know for sure my children are going to get the treatment. Personally, I have learned a lot from Chinese proverbs that my mother has always said to me to make me wiser. I also hold dear to the moral values that my parents and grandparents taught me, things like respecting the elders and taking care of your parents when they get older. They spend their lifetime raising you, guiding you, and financing your interest and education, the last thing you can do for them is to care for them when they become grandparents. Although this is my opinion, I hope others can relate to this.

A term that an outsider would not understand is “oorah,’ this term comes from my time in Marine Corps. The word “oorah” was very universal. It is primarily used as a battle cry used in the Marine Corps, but while in garrison, its typical used as a greeting between two Marines when they pass each other. The word is also used as a shout for motivation runs, they say false motivation is better than no motivation. Depending on the tone of the word when said, its meaning can change drastically. It can range from being motivated, to simple greeting, to being sarcastic, or simply being confused. Its satisfying knowing that this is something that is shared between Marines. To us you can tell whether they are a Marine or not from their oorahs.