My Treasure

My Treasure 

When I was in China, I enjoyed going to school. However, school has become a burden for me after I came to the United States because there were two different styles of school life. Chinese school lifestyle is harsher than the United States, but Chinese school lifestyle has become my favorite style. I lived in China for thirteen years, and my school experience was wonderful. I hear a lot of people who from China say that Chinese school is a robot mode school lifestyle, but I believe school lifestyle in China is more unique than other. This makes me nostalgia for Chinese high school lifestyle which was my treasure in my high school. 

What makes me nostalgic for the Chinese high school lifestyle is the after school activities. I stayed in our settled classroom to play or do homework with my classmates after school when I was in China. In United States, home is a place for high students to go after school if students do not join any club. Some American students do not have a home classroom. It means they do not belong to any classroom, so there are no classrooms where they can stay after school. Many of the American students cannot experience the thrill to have a home classroom. I would not know how fun and special it was if I had never come to the United States. Now, I have nothing to do because most of the students leave school when the bell rings. The only thing I could do after school is to find another place to go with my friend. I miss what I lost, and I want to back to my regular routine. 

I also miss the beautiful uniform, which give me an extraordinary feeling. I have always wondered why there are a few American public schools require uniforms, and I still have not gotten the answer. Now, every morning I need to think about what I should wear every day. I tried to wear my Chinese school uniform in school for a week after I came to the United States, and of course I wore clean clothes. However, I gave up because there were some students that thought I was odd. I took pains to hide my nostalgia in front of my classmates. The uniform is an iconic thing that is not common in American public schools. Therefore, I could keep wearing my uniform everyday anymore if I want to get used to the new school lifestyle. My uniform has become a meaningful memory to me after I came to the U.S. Therefore, I chose to put them in the closet, and make them as my treasure. 

Besides the rooms and uniforms, there is an activity to help students relax in Chinese school which is called setting up exercises. On the schedule, there is an activity called morning exercises, and it is the time that lets students do stretch and more around. Most of the students and I would relax and play with friends by using the exercise break, and most of the students had fun during this time. On the other hand, American high schools do not have these exercises, and the break time between each class is very short. United States students use this small break walk to another class for next period. It means they do not have a lot of time to rest, and it is not enough for the students. What I do for now is watch the exercises video online to review my school life in Chinese. I just want to lock my memory about things that happened in China, and I can use these memories to ease my nostalgia. 

Overall, what is lost in translation for me is that I cannot stay in my settled classroom after school anymore, cannot wear my uniform every single weekday, and I cannot do the setting up exercises in school again with my classmates. Moving to Chicago has changed the relationship between my school life and me, and I cannot forget how happy I was when I went to school in China. I believe I will find something new or interesting that can make me love and enjoy the American school lifestyle. I will try to change my views, and I will make myself fall in love with this new school lifestyle. Moreover, I believe I can be a part of the American school culture or I can promote the Chinese school lifestyle in Chicago’s school someday of the future.