First Born Child In America Essay

From a humid peasant village in Fuzhou, China, married couple Min Fang Wu and Sau Hoi Cheng decided to start their family across the globe in Columbia City, Indiana. Despite struggling with inadequate English skills, it didn’t stop the two from opening a Chinese buffet in the Midwest town. Like many other persevering immigrants, Min Fang and Sau Hoi hoped that their efforts and sacrifices in a foreign land would ensure a better life for their children. Fresh off the boat with limited English but still yearning to include their heritage, Sau Hoi Cheng and Min Fang Wu named their American-born daughter Karen as well as 郑晞晴. Knowing that their daughter would be raised in America, Sau Hoi and Min Fang wanted to think of an American legal name first. To save time and energy, the couple didn’t start contemplating the name for their first born child until after they found out the sex. Next, the parents carefully …show more content…
The parents loved the character, 晴, because she was bright, clever, and intelligent. Hoping that their own daughter would exhibit those traits, the couple chose 晴 as the last component of Karen’s Chinese name.
Lastly, providing a Chinese name allowed Karen’s non English speaking relatives to still communicate with and refer to her. Soon, her grandparents, aunts, and uncles coined a new pet name for the lively girl in their hearts, 晴晴. While her classmates identified her as Karen Cheng, the folks at home invariably called her 晴晴.
Although some may think of Karen as an old lady name, Min Fang Wu and Sau Hoi Cheng thought it was the loveliest name for their first born. Also, the name 郑晞晴 radiates the parents’ ambitions for their Chinese-American daughter. Despite the couple's limited English lessening their choices of names, Karen was never once limited, thanks to her parents’ great