EAP Academic Writing

Reparation Candy

When I read this story for the first time, I thought the writer’s mother was crazy. That is because she believed Chinese traditions a lot such as “frog-swallowing-the-moon”. I thought it is abnormal. In contrast, the writer adjusted the culture of the place where she lived at that time. So, she didn’t feel comfortable her mother’s way of thinking. However, I considered about myself and I found that I have same kind of way of thinking with her mother.

For example, I don’t stick rice with chopsticks. Not only me but also many other Japanese people don’t do that. It is kind of a common sense in Japan. Maybe other country people don’t care to do this but many Japanese people hesitate to do this because it looks like incenses stick for their dead ancestors. So, I could understand her mother’s feeling. Even though she wasn’t in China, she still believed the old Chinese habit. Yet, as the proverb goes, “When in Rome, do as the Romans do.” I thought that she should be more generous and adjust herself to the new environment like her doughter.