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Schools

Attaining an American Dream

A Chinese journalist chronicles the dreams of three Chinese transplants.

The Minister

It was an ordinary Sunday afternoon in room 402 at the Church of the Nations. About 20 Chinese adults were sitting around tables, chatting with each other, and enjoying their weekly potluck while watching their children pitter-patter along the corridor.

These families are members of the Eden Chinese Church, which is hosted by the Church of the Nations. All are pursuing their own versions of the American dream, a path that is harder for some than others, but which is never simple or easy.

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Surrounded by laughter and happiness, a middle-aged man named Liang Ouyang suddenly focuses his gaze on a map of China mounted on the wall.

Staring at it for several minutes, he feels stabs of home-sickness well up, then fade. He has flashbacks of his life over the past 11 years.

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“I don’t know when I can go back,” said Ouyang, who founded the Eden Chinese Church in Athens and is its leader.

While most Chinese people in Athens can go home again if they can afford the airfare, it seems impossible for Ouyang to return. He became a Christian here in Athens and returned to China in 2005 to preach in Xinjiang, a province with racial tensions. In 2007, Ouyang was banished by the Chinese government and returned to Athens.

“It was like my dream was broken,” said Ouyang.

Ouyang’s pursuit of his dreams, in China and in the United States, has never been easy. His path has been tortuous, full of hardship and desperation.

As a young man, Ouyang worked as an economist for the government in Guangzhou. “I was nominated as the section chief in three years,” he said.

Although superiors regarded him as a promising employee, Ouyang was not able to achieve happiness and success. His first marriage fell apart and he found himself caught up in frequent bureaucratic infighting.

“I was not good at dealing with interpersonal relationships and I was sick of kissing asses,” he said. “That made me so depressed at that time.”

He soon remarried, never expecting that his this second marriage would bring huge changes in his life. His new wife was accepted into the marine sciences Ph.D. program at UGA. In late 1999 Ouyang resigned his well-paying job and came to Athens with this wife.

The Church of the Nations was very helpful to the couple, as they struggled to get settled in a completely new culture and place, and  Ouyang was deeply touched by these friendly Christians.

“I suddenly realized that they have a radically different value system,” said Ouyang. “They help me because they really love me, instead of helping to expect something in exchange. I want to be one of them. Life should be full of happiness and positive attitudes. I know it’s time to unburden myself from all I’ve been carrying.”

After one month, Ouyang was baptised and became a Christian. He resolved to devote his life to serving the church and sharing his new-found happiness with others. He decided that preaching in China was his life’s work.  

“I believe the Chinese need this,” he said about his mission. “The current high divorce rate, and high rates of depression and teenage suicide just further my resolve.”

But the reality turned out to be harsh.

After a three-year stint preaching in Xinjiang, Ouyang was banished because he preached to ethnically mixed congregations and because he focused excessive attention on young people.

“There were so many limitations in China due to its communist ideology,” Ouyang said. “I never expected preaching would be so difficult.

“But, I have to go back. No matter how hard it would be,” he said, knowing that the Chinese government might have other ideas. “I will at least send other Christians with my dream go back in the future.”

Ouyang looked up at the map again. “Because my home is there.”

 

The Scientist

While Ouyang yearns to return to China, Zhuofei Hou preferred to stay in US and obtain his green card.

Like thousands of Chinese students who now study in the United States, Hou sometimes thought about pursuing graduate school in America when he was in college. But he wasn’t obsessed with the idea. His American dream did not take shape because of anything he saw in a Hollywood film, but because he worked in Japan right after graduating from Nankai University in China.

“I went there in 1994, when all of Japan had a kind of reverence for America,” said Hou. “I was affected by that atmosphere.”

After spending two years in Japan, Hou went back to China and got married. He was supposed to find a well-paying job in China and lead a cozy life.

But that didn’t happen. Hou felt like living in Japan had changed him, and he could not adapt to the environment in China at that time.

Small acts of civil disobedience left him puzzled. “The thing that I could not understand was why people like crossing the street while the red light is on?” he said. “And if I did not do that, people would stare at me with a peculiar look. It’s so ridiculous.”

Unhappy with China in the late 1990s, Hou and his wife came to the US in 2002 and he entered UGA’s doctoral program in physics.  

“You know what, the dream begins with hope and confidence, but it can turn out to be a nightmare,” said Hou. He never expected that a Ph.D could take him eight years to complete.

“When I began my project, my supervisor and I never thought it would be so difficult,” said Hou. “After over six year of studying, I was stuck. We totally moved into a new area that no one had looked at before. It’s about computation on a nano scale.”

Hou became so depressed that he considered giving up his research. “It felt like it was pointless to keep on going,” said Hou, who is now 36. “We both understood that there would be no big breakthrough in the near future.”

However, everything changed when Sofina, his baby girl, was born in 2007. Hou made up his mind to go through with his degree the first time he cuddled the baby in his arms.

“I believe that it was not a coincidence,” he said. “My girl gave me huge support and courage. Her lovely face made me believe that I would see results, whether they are good or bad.”

In the summer of 2011, Hou finally had a chance to throw out his cap in front of the Arch. His project is 80 percent finished---already a big breakthrough.

“I feel like I‘ve opened a door,” said Hou. And he has walked through it.

 

The Business Owner

Compared to the challenges that Hou and Ouyang have faced while pursuing their versions of the American dream, Sharon Huang has had an easier time making her dream a reality.

Huang is the owner of GC Computers, located in Georgia Square Mall, a business she started about 15 years ago. Her store specializes in computers for schools, personal computers and network setup and service. Huang said she has established her own clientele and has made many friends.

In 1995, Huang came to America with her husband. With a bachelor’s degree in computer science, Huang quickly found a job in an information technology company. “I had so much experience in IT when I was in China, so it was not hard for me to find a job at that time,” said Huang. “But that was not what I wanted.”

Huang realized that she wanted to be her own boss, not work for someone else. After quitting her first job in New Jersey, Huang wondered if she should go to graduate school.

“I thought about this for a long time. But finally I made up my mind to run a business,” said Huang. “Because I know that’s my American dream.”

Friends told her that Athens would be a great place to live, and she relocated quickly. “I like Athens as it was quite a beautiful city, and UGA is there. It is an ideal place to open a computer store,” she said.

Running a business in America was nothing like what  Huang expected. Language issues were one thing; learning how Americans do business was another.

“The most difficult thing for me was establishing client relationships based on mutual understanding and trust,” said Huang. “I needed to take my clients’ needs very seriously while also being friendly.”

Although building relationships is not easy, Huang quickly got into the swing of it. Once she achieved this, things came easier and easier.

 “I found Americans actually did business in a simple way. Clients just tell me their budget, what they want to do and what a result they’re looking for,” said Huang. “After that, I provide the proposal. Once we reached a decision, I do my job and provide good quality and service.”

 “It is easy because there is no bargaining and cheating,” said Huang. ”I like it.”

 Huang is happy with her life and feels that many of her dreams have come true.  But as a Chinese woman, she feels it is her responsibility to do something for her country.

“I know China now is developing very rapidly,” she said. “I am always thinking about doing some international business related to software or something else in IT. We’ll see.”

“At that time, this will not be my American dream,” Huang said with smile. “It will be my Chinese dream.”

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