Family

1.    I would describe my family as a diverse Asian family. My mom is Korean and Japanese, my dad is Chinese and I have two brothers but I was adopted and I am Cambodian, so I like to think of our family as pretty diverse.

2.       Family connections are very important in my family so growing up my brothers and I was very close with our aunts, uncles and cousins on both sides and saw them often.

3.       I find my family relationships to be first priority; however my parents do not hold it against me when I sometimes put my friends first and especially school and work since I am in an entirely different state. They know that I always consider family first, but there are other priorities as well.

4.      For the most part I am satisfied with my family relationships but being that I only go home during winter break and 2 weeks in summer I barely get to see my family. I do however keep in contact through calls and e-mail though everyone has a busy schedule so sometimes it is hard to get a hold of some people.

5.      I think there are some very big similarities with family dynamics with close friends and coworkers. I tend to be more drawn to people who are family oriented although I do have friends that have family relations that are very different then mine. I respect differences and am open to different family dynamics.

6.       Compared to families in other countries my family probably seems very Americanized for an Asian family. Nobody in my family speaks a fluent language besides English and we have a wide variety of family friends and tend branch out from only being around other Asian families.

I understand the importance of diversity and understanding, education and the use of technology; I also understand that although there is poverty all over the world there is a massive population of children here in the states that are living well below the poverty line. I also understand that there are many cultures that see education and raising children in all different aspects.