Xian Li's blog assignment #3

After reading this article, I feel quite interested in the example provided by the Vietnamese student about making friends. Actually I think making friends is a quite natural and easy thing for American students. However, for a Chinese person, “friendship” means much more. It is a kind of trust and dependency.

Indeed, it takes me a long time to have a new friend even though we may have met many times or talked a lot. Friend in China means you two know each other a lot and share all your happiness and sadness together, have no secretes. When one met difficulties, the other will give a hand without any condition. We would depend on each other with total trust. Therefore, almost Chinese people won’t have too many “real” friends.

Especially recent twenty years in China, every family is allowed to have only one child. Therefore, most teenagers pay much emphasis on friendship. It is often said that “a good friend is like a brother”. Though we may have lots of classmates or working partners, we only open our heart wholly to our friends. When person grows up to adult and has his/her own family, his/her best friends are those they met when they are young.

I find in United States it is not the same as in China. American students seem to open their heart easily and make friends quickly. However, I feel quite doubt whether they have different definition of friendship. Maybe some friends are not that close, some are really important and close, or something like this. It is really interesting to find the truth:)