Across the Sea: The Real-Life Experiences of Chinese Women Studying in the U.S.

Author: Liu Fengxia
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2005-06-01
Features: A group of Chinese intellectual women who crossed the ocean to pursue their dreams in America. After experiencing cultural clashes, value conflicts, emotional confusion, and a series of real-life challenges, they tenaciously survived on this unfamiliar land and steadily moved toward their ideal. Over two decades ago, they arrived in North America with aspirations for a new life and the ambitions of young people. Over two decades later, they have endured both happiness and misfortune, firmly planted new roots here, and become part of the new immigrant community in North America. It is precisely because of their unwavering pursuit of dreams that this group of Chinese women who wandered overseas, regardless of the hardships and trials they faced, remained blameless and, with their intelligence, broad-mindedness, and optimism, created a bright future for themselves. This book is a firsthand account of the lives of Chinese women who have started businesses in the United States. Through their straightforward and honest narratives, you can learn about some lesser-known stories of Chinese women living, studying, dating, and living abroad in all aspects of their lives. They are a group of intellectual women from mainland China who, while living away from home, constantly struggled and strived amidst the clash of two cultures—either for survival or to find themselves. They are ordinary people with no extraordinary stories, yet they use their unique feminine touch, sensitive nerves, and down-to-earth style to gain insights into North American society, filter the nourishment of their homeland, and focus on the intersection of Eastern and Western cultures.
The group of North American Women Writers includes those who came to study in North America, those who accompanied their spouses before studying, and those who "married" into this land. Regardless of their origins, they are all seeds of exile scattered on this unfamiliar soil, taking root for their dreams and for the next generation. From then on, they made the world their home, no longer bound by the Yangtze River separating north and south.
In their struggles in North America, they faced life's tests. For survival, they fought against their environment; for growth, they challenged themselves. Among them are doctors, masters, university professors, computer experts, biochemists, lawyers, stockbrokers, real estate professionals, restaurant owners, and housewives. Whatever they do, they share one common desire: to pour their joys, tears, and struggles onto the page. Though living far from home, they retain their accents; though in the world, their words travel far.
From this book, readers can see how they adjust their minds amid cultural conflicts, how they adapt to various environments, and how they sacrifice for their families and children to overcome challenges. This book collects 34 works by 20 active women writers in North America, accompanied by dozens of photographs, making it a richly illustrated collection. Though they may not be professional writers, they possess passion and sincerity. Each piece of plain text is infused with their hard work and condensed with their emotions. The book covers every corner of life, including studying, pursuing education, migration, changing jobs, getting driver's licenses, buying cars, marriage, stocks, babysitting, having children, and interacting with American colleagues and friends.
We see a group of flesh-and-blood women playing different roles—mothers, wives, daughters-in-law, white-collar workers, blue-collar workers, and students. In the loneliness of their exile, they had to adapt, yet the soil of their homeland had nurtured them, and Chinese cultural traditions, morals, and the long history of their country still bound them. This made the North American female immigrants of this generation reluctant to part with the Chinese characters. So, in their free time at work and during gaps in their lives, they sat in front of computers, pouring their hearts onto the keyboard. They did so to find friends who shared their fate, to vent their emotions, to remind younger sisters and fellow countrywomen, and to explore the path of overseas literature. And so, they began to diligently cultivate their writing in the digital world.
After years of effort, discussion, and exploration, this is how the "She Is on the Other Side of the Sea" series of women's literature came into being.