How To Balance Eastern and Western Culture While Living In America

[@charlesliumy]

'Absorb what is useful, discard what is not, add. what is uniquely your own. ' -Bruce Lee.

[@jay_sooning]

Agree and disagree to this. Always good to know your roots and heritage

[@jenl9081]

Newly turned on to your channel, 1.5 gen Chinese girl grew up in the 90’s in the SGV, you guys are great, so in tune with the Asian communities and the little niches and nuisances. Please keep doing what your doing and spreading awareness, we need more channels like this…

[@GIN.356.A]

I think the fung bros made a fantastic point when with that line: "When you discard part of your heritage, what are you using to replace it" I think that is such a key point. And as much as I value my heritage, it shouldn't get in the way of your pursuit of happiness or whatever it is you are pursuing in the limited time you have on this world. The way I always saw it, instead of a grid, its more like the Freudian iceberg. My heritage is my Id. It is the foundation, the history of everything that precedes my being. It creates the condition upon which my existence was able to come into being. It subconsciously shapes my place in the world, and influences and navigates my mind through the events I encounter. It is immutable to my will, it is something to be accepted and respected. My experiences as a manifestation of the objective circumstances that created me, it is what I am, as seen by the world. What you choose to adopt, how you want to carry yourself, it determines your future. So in that sense, I don't think it contradicts preserving one's heritage. I think its like the mid-range jumper in Basketball. It has fallen out of fashion, it is considered inefficient, and most guys in the NBA don't shoot that shot, and shoots 3s instead. But you look at the greats like KD, CP3, Melo, they all still got it, and when they need a bucket, and that was the shot available, they can cash in. We should adopt whatever things that help us live a happy and fulfilled life in American or Western society in general. But we shouldn't forget our heritage. Keep them in the back pocket. Those things worked for hundreds if not thousands of years, they might be out of fashion now, but you never know when they might help you. And we are uniquely equipped to take advantage of that.

[@peter-mickey-chu198]

Thank You Two For Also Uploading This Video On My 37th Birthday.

[@charizard13111989]

HBD man 🎉🎉🎉

[@peter-mickey-chu198]

@@charizard13111989, Thank You.

[@JuneOng-i9t]

Hope you had a good bday! 🎂

[@ResidualSelfImage]

You are spot on again. Any culture can be oppressive and overbearingly negative. However, all cultures by nature can offer positive benefits. No culture is static and almost all cultures will assimilate and adopt new values and concepts to survive and compete with other cultures as time goes one. A culture's value is based on how it can support the growth and development of those who adapt it. Each person who is part of a community can alter a culture by their own contributions - For example, KZbin videos are not a particular an Asian cultural concept but the Fung Brothers have integrated KZbin videos as a contributing part of Asian American culture - that value is based on the people the video reaches and impacts. Rather than ask what is bad in culture - identify what is good and how one can sustain it or why one should sustain it. The ultimate internal motivation is when those advantages are uniquely yours to create and own and that becomes your "super" power that makes people want you to be part of their world and their community.

[@Drownedinblood]

The difference is it's constantly hammered in people's head Asian culture is terrible and oppressive and there's whole spaces on the internet to vent abusive stories and classify those stories as "Asian" meanwhile stories from other groups are either unheard or marginalized to mitigate the fact other people can have it bad too. There's political and cultural motivations for this. Western people have always had a weird hate relationship towards the east, even in Roman times. The east held any sort of leverage I guess, which is unacceptable.

[@StevenTakahashi-d7i]

I’m sold! Gonna get me some SMALA.

[@thebookishkhmerican4303]

I definitely discard the bad stuff especially the toxic filipino mentality such as shame and blame, the indebtness to family, and the strictness and pressures in Asian culture, stoicism and silence. But I keep things like language learning, certain foods, and a balance between individualism in terms of developing a healthy sense of self and community. But there are so many problems and challenges with the Asian culture that I’ve experienced from my older traditional Asian parents who had outdated ideas more than good and it definitely holds us back from getting certain opportunities as Asian Americans. There are so many nuanced challenges of being Asian and it’s not easy navigating between the two. I definitely gravitate towards more of the American culture because of the limitless freedom experience it offers such as the openness to talk about mental health, the freedom of a well-rounded education, and a healthier sense of self and identity that Asian parents rarely teach. I even saw this clash between my dad and mom’s values because one was more individualistic and the other was more collectivist, one was buddhist and the other Catholic, so it was extremely confusing growing up as a mixed Asian American. I had to use my education to really sift through which things were the truth and which things were just lies that my parents were telling me based on their own traumas.

[@winterfrost4879]

One thing I've noticed is that it is often advantageous to be chill/compliant in Asian countries especially China. In Asia, strict upbringing and listening to your parents would actually make most people successful and have better lives. Your parents know what they are talking about when it comes to Asia. Asian culture works. Look at the rise of China, Japan, Korea. The problem is that your parents don't know much about the West. In America, it is better to be defiant than to be compliant. I don't think the solution is to give up on Asian culture. The solution is to adapt cultural values to a new environment, which is easier said than done.

[@theia1653]

No they don't. The truth is, people in Asia are miserable and lonely. No one wants to or has time to have kids but at the same time there is intense pressure to get married, have kids by a certain age. Your whole life you are just expected to get good grades, get into a university, and then work. No time for play or dating but at some point they will have the gall to ask "hey, where's the baby!!??" (usually after college graduation) like it will magically grow and wonder why you're still not married yet as youths just give up on life, live as recluses, are still single as they age. That's a good life? The worst part is they think the same model works in the west too, and it's too late to adopt new values. Asia didn't industrialize until since about 60 years ago so it was late for even that, when the west was industrialized in the 1800s, and American capitalism played a big role in it too.

[@damonlbs]

go visit south east asian countries like Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia they are pretty westernize and still very Asian, then you know balance eastern and western culture

[@HiItsMe-ip8cj]

I guess The Philippines is the only westernized Asian country in Asia, no surprise cuz it was colonized by USA and Spain, the mindset of the people there are very westernized, the culture is blended by western and Asian.

[@ponuni]

aside from singapore which is like 80% chinese the rest are dumps. nothing western about muslim countries like malaysia or indonesia. you sound like you never left SE asia.

[@josephimperatrice5552]

How are Indonesia and Malaysia westernized when the majority of the women there wear hijabs and burqas? Burqas and hijabs are the complete polar opposite of Western culture.

[@JuneOng-i9t]

Yes, I agree but you left out the Philippines which is probably even more Western than all those countries and still very Asian. Literally a place where East meets West. Signs in English. Buddhisy temples. Chinese diaspora, etc. No Confucian thinking though..Relaxed Western vibe. Love to all Southeast Asians 👍

[@Drownedinblood]

Imo they aren't a model, because they treat white people with privilege rather than equality and instead vent on other Asian groups. Like in Thailand, even though it's mostly ang moh causing problems, people are more likely to talk shit about Chinese and Korean tourists.

[@kshinokevin]

this is a great "Things that may you go Hmmm...." topic. Waisan = one part is White (Caucasian/European) and/or Asian = Half and Half, just like milk; if not either a: Latin or African-American / Asian mix. "Hapa" in Hawaiian, derives from the word "hapa haole" ("half white/Caucasian"); it is much like a Filipino dessert, which is called "Halo Halo (mix mix)." I have read about (Christian) solitary monks and nuns that were eunuchs.

[@Drownedinblood]

The issue is yet again community. Asian people seem to think their culture is stuck in a certain state forever and see western culture as progressive and evolving and they associate this with people as well. It's how you get Asian women who go around thinking Asian men are all traditional misogynistic types but still hook up with white guys who wear that on their sleeve. It has always irked me that Asian kids rebel against their parents but submit to western caricature and racism of them in one way or another. They blame their parents more for the pain but give a pass to racism they face elsewhere and think that's some type of acceptance of them. If Asian people had a strong community, it would evolve within that community just from interactions and there'd be more conciousness of it outside of food. Tbh the k-wave and tiktok have done a lot to introduce a boost to Asian cultures in the kids today but it needs to be protected otherwise it will burn out.

[@supa3ek]

In america you are taught to despise being asian. There is still a culture of racism there. Much like how you were taught that being beautiful was being more white. There is still that belief and culture present in todays usa even though everyone pretends otherwise !!!! So the younger generation are systematically being led into hating their asian heritage which is sad. The solution is for younger asians to get a sense of pride, be strong and stand up for who they are. As asians we must never exacerbate the problem by talking down on other asians or helping spread slander and stereotypes. One bad asian doesn't represent all asians even though the racist will try to portray that, so don't help them by adding your voice to those conversations.

[@quincy189]

Literally they all hate Asians they hate the competition and especially Asian men all other races that aren’t white that are also immigrants like Indians Mexicans Hispanics and Arabs will even go out of their way to cock asian men and even gate keep other races of women from asian men for example an Indian or Mexican guy will get in the way and say you can’t date white girls or in some cases even asian girls because they like them and those girls should like the real alpha race which is them. They not even gate keep girls of their own race from us Asians but they are gate keeping girls of other races that aren’t even there’s because they believe they are a better dating prospect then you. Indian guy will say you can’t date white girls because he like them as if he holds some sort of authority over you and even Mexican guys will say Asian women are not allowed to date asian men same with white guys saying white women and even asian women all belong to them Asian men aren’t even allowed to breed with Asian girls because asian girls belong to white men the real alpha men lololololol and asian girls see this shit happen all the time in social settings and see asian men as weak

[@lilaznkid4ever]

8:45 The fuck with that accent! Bruce Lee spoke fluent English 🫥🫥🫥

[@annunakian8054]

Bruce was also mixed race.

[@dtna]

Bruce Lee's family was also very wealthy in Kowloon. A chauffeur drove him around. And he took private lessons from Yip Man.

[@danwilson12]

Family gatherings felt like some kind of wealth measuring contest. How's Johnny doing? Did he go to a good school? What is he doing right now? How much does he get paid? Oh my Tiffany she did blah blah blah working at such and such, look what she bought me for my birthday? We went to Paris.

[@lylelaney8270]

I like it when people say "asian culture" when they really mean is their anecdotal experience viewed through self "typecast".

[@RKKY-mf7fe]

What does Kevin Nguyen have to say about it?

[@reptilerule91]

Hmm

[@chinatownboy7482]

More importantly, what do you do if one of these guys takes you to The Cheesecake Factory?

[@josephimperatrice5552]

I see a lot of Asian people eating at The Cheesecake Factory in San Francisco.

[@chinatownboy7482]

@@josephimperatrice5552 The City is unofficially 2/3rds Asian. We're everywhere.

[@Razear]

They may no longer practice foot binding, but they still do the neck ring thing in Myanmar to stretch their necks so that they look like human giraffes.

[@cafezo87934]

Of course you could. Biracial kids are a great example of the best of both worlds. The human brain is expandable lets start using it more

[@JuneOng-i9t]

Lol that assumption about biracial kids kind of gets old. Many have identity issues. Not fun always being in a gray area and not accepted by either side.

[@monchichipower6334]

What happens to mixed kids then Do they follow the lax western ways or the Asian tiger ways

[@JuneOng-i9t]

Just depends which parent we grow up closer to.

[@winterfrost4879]

I think Asians have an unhealthy fascination with Western culture. You know how white people think Asian culture is a bit strange and unfamiliar. Many Asians really resent this. But I think recognizing differences is normal and a sign of confidence. It's good to be open to other cultures, but too often Asians are more comfortable with Western culture than their own. This points to a fundamental insecurity. Other people will pick up on the fact that you don't believe in yourself and will think less of you. Our Western liberal education would have us believe that people start out as blank slates and are a product of their environments. I believe in equality but I no longer believe that people are meant to have the same culture. I think people are predisposed to their ancestral culture from birth. The culture was developed to fit a particular group. To live an authentic life, you have to be mindful of your culture

[@MonaGee98]

Asian Americans who excel in America are those who took the best practices from Western and Eastern cultures. This is why I identified my self as an Asian American woman, not Chinese or American. Asian culture see me as a traitor and attacked me relentlessly since the 1990s.

[@biker944]

I try to maintain my mixed race culture I got no culture

[@psikeyhackr6914]

OMG! Comparing culture to a car! How American can you get? LOL

[@theia1653]

I don't believe there can be a balance, because it will always be a struggle to be caught in between two cultures that are so different and opposite to each other, one ancient vs. one modern, behaviors and duties that we don't want to follow or is alien in a western society, that holds us back, and I don't want that. I will take and use what I have learned here for a better life. The food, anime, and Art of War are the only things from eastern culture that are worth keeping.

[@Willxdiana]

I’m about to hit all 2500 characters and learn guzheng. I know Confucius and individualism. I know both fully in it’s extremes

[@Willxdiana]

There is no such thing as balance. You only learn in the extreme. And then when you know both. I act more Asian now unless I need act like a individual. It helps me with my dating with Asian Asian girls from the heartland

[@theia1653]

@Willxdiana I don't put on an act. The more I know about confucianism, the more I h8 it. I am always an individual first. Asia has a more stable, peaceful society because it puts the community over the individual and emphasizes social harmony. One of the first thing American expats notice in Asia is how safe they felt. You can go out at 3am and be safe but not in the US. I've been held at gunpoint and shot at before and I still don't care. Under individualism there is freedom, personal space, creativity, self determination, self reliance, you aren't being babied your entire life, everyone lives their own lives, it's okay to make your own decisions or be different or have opinions, so it's better and it has more to offer.

[@Willxdiana]

@@theia1653 the more I learn about Confucius the more I learn the pain every Asian go through including me. Including my parents trauma and mines. And about goodness and brotherhood of people.

[@Willxdiana]

@@theia1653 the community supports you and now I’m not lonely and have real brothers who look out for me