Cultural differences

Just finished a book called 拐彎的夏天 by a Chinese author called 魏微.....I guess reading stuff from China in traditional Chinese font does make things more acceptable in away....but I am still not sure if I know how to relate to their history and way of thinking + living....It's like saying "I understand", but not knowing or feeling the same way....

It is indeed interesting when we talk about identities of races. When you were raised as a type of person, it's very hard for you to relate to other complete diff. groups. I have been having troubles liking stuff from modern China no matter if I am reading a book, watching a movie, or just browsing through their TV programs. I understand when people say we are all "Chinese", but I don't feel I am anything more than "Taiwanese". China basically means nothing to me since I was not raised there, do not live there, and am not planning to move there.....

I personally don't think any of the 外省人in Taiwan or any other places would be that interested to move back to China....but they tend to relate to mainland China much better and think everyone should do the same. I do not understand why people who live "outside" of China would think it's imp for people in TW to think the two diff. countries are as one. Through all those past years, people in those two diff. lands already developed diff. cultures and cannot relate to each other much other than through their economical developments and cooperations.....To wish unity for the two sides is really like how Chinese parents always force their kids born in US to Chinese school and wish the kids be fluent with what they were forced to learn.

I see a difference between "knowing the roots" vs. "living in the history". Knowing the roots for a person is more like learning what happened, and appreciate the beauty of everything including the tragedies. Living in the history means clinging to the past including everything bad that happened...not letting go....I think that is exactly why most of the "Chinese traditions" mess up the way of living for us who actually exist in the CURRENT era. It becomes very confusing for people to decide what is good and what is bad once it's called "traditions"....and at the end past mistakes just haunt us down since they are passed on generation by generation. What good is tradition if we cannot take the good parts and modify from the bad? heck...too much thoughts from a book which I don't relate much from....