一直对华裔移民下一代的发展感兴趣。读他们的传记，我总希望能透过一个人的成长，窥见两代人的碰撞与交融——这正是我翻开Jimmy O. Yang自传的初衷。
书不厚，220多页，几天便读完了。但这篇读书笔记却拖了两周，断断续续地写，写时又回头翻书，花的时间竟比读时还长。
Jimmy是当下活跃在各大媒体的脱口秀明星，也曾在几部影视剧中饰演配角。他13岁随父母从香港移居洛杉矶——一座文化多元、人口混杂的西海岸城市。他的书名为 How to American—An Immigrant's Guide to Disappointing Your Parents（《如何做美国人——一个让父母失望的移民指南》）。题目虽标新立异，内容却扎实地记录了他移民后的生活，以及追逐梦想的艰辛。
Jimmy来自同时使用中、英、粤语的香港，踏上美国后最先撞上的仍是语言关。他说自己在香港学的英语，不过相当于美国高中生学第二外语的水平。初来乍到，同学随口一句地道的“What's up?”，他会下意识地抬头望天，满脸茫然，更别提那些微妙的日常文化差异了。虽然祖父母比他们早十年抵美，但父母依然要为生存挣扎。父亲在美林证券谋得一份金融顾问的差事，收入主要靠佣金；母亲则在一家华人小银行做柜员，薪水微薄。两年后，母亲离开父子俩，去上海工作了整整十年。在Jimmy至关重要的青春期里，母亲是缺席的，每年仅返美探亲一个月，其余时间，他几乎与父亲相依为命。
为了尽早融入学校、被同伴接纳，Jimmy拼命学英语。像许多亚裔学生一样，除语言外，他应付其他课程绰绰有余——“美国课程设置普遍比香港落后两年”。然而，他更多时候是孤独的。陪伴他度过漫长中学时代的是BET（Black Entertainment Television 黑人娱乐电视台）的节目。那里云集了才华横溢的黑人脱口秀演员和音乐人，它不仅是他了解美国文化的窗口，更是他脱口秀之路的启蒙。他被黑人文化的多彩与活力深深吸引，高中三年，每天至少花三小时泡在BET的音乐视频里，痴迷于Rap和Hip-Hop，走火入魔。他还和同学组了个叫“黄豹”（Yellow Panthers）的三人乐队（1.5个亚裔，1.5个黑人），用简陋的电脑设备刻录光盘。他自嘲是“最烂的说唱歌手”，但那段浸泡在黑人口音与节奏中的日子，无形中奠定了他日后的舞台感觉。
高中毕业后，Jimmy考入UCSD的机械工程专业，后因理科吃力转读经济学。毕业时，他拿到了顶尖咨询公司Barney Smith的财务咨询offer，却毅然放弃安稳，踏上寻梦之旅。他说：“如果不去试，我的人生会后悔的。”——开弓便无回头箭。
逐梦之路的艰辛可想而知。他曾与人合租一房一厅，三人蜗居，其中一个住在壁橱里；最拮据时，一周五天吃泡面，外加一罐九毛九的香肠。为了一场50美元的零活，他来回开车8小时，除去30块油费，到手只剩20块（外加老板施舍的一顿9.99美元快餐）。从大学五年级起，他就混迹于圣地亚哥的大小脱口秀俱乐部和酒吧；为了糊口，他卖过二手车，在脱衣舞厅当过DJ，开过Uber。从首次登台脱口秀场，到争取好莱坞小角色，再到真正接片、走红，他熬过了六年。穷困潦倒时，他差点认同父亲那句话：“Pursuing your dreams is for losers. Doing what love is how you become homeless." 幸好，他咬牙撑了下来，也幸好，他最终成名了。
像所有成功故事一样，他的翻盘离不开才气、热爱、努力、坚持与运气。毕业那年，UCSD请来了 Silicon Valley 的导演Mike Judge做演讲——此人正是放弃电脑专业转行影视的成功典范，那段演讲给迷雾中的Jimmy投下一束光。巧的是，Judge后来成了他出演剧集的导演。书中他还提到另一位“教父”级的人生导师Sean Kelly，正是Sean醍醐灌顶的点拨，给他指明了方向--用自己的故事和文化作为起点。
回到书名后半句：“如何成为让父母失望的人”。当他放弃到手的好工作，向父亲摊牌要走自己的路时，父亲是失望的。此后六年，他独自在底层挣扎，再难也咬牙扛着，只因不愿去面对父亲那双失望的眼睛。无可厚非，Jimmy选的是一条非典型的险路——一个其貌不扬、在沙滩上都不敢脱掉T恤的小个子小眼睛亚裔，想闯荡好莱坞，在外人看来无异于痴人说梦。天下父母无不盼着孩子安稳，演艺圈终究是凤毛麟角之地。然而，正是他敢于让父母失望，敢于挑战传统认知与自我极限，才换来了今天的成就。若永远顺从父母、不越雷池半步，便少了“后浪推前浪”的勇气，也缺了时代所需的推陈出新。Jimmy自有胆识——一次面对台下racists的冷嘲热讽，他上台第一句就是：“What's up, you racist motherfuckers!”语惊四座，反而镇住了全场。若他畏首畏尾，或许早就被嘘声淹没于茫茫人海了。
读这本书最触动我的，是他成名后对“身份”的真实感悟。他说他成年后一直在努力做一件事——成为一个真正的美国人，融入这片土地。他苦学英语，广交各族朋友；上了大学，为了打破亚裔书呆子的刻板印象，留起长发、吸大麻、翘课。然而，他始终觉得自己是个局外人。可无论离开香港多久，当他再次踏上阔别十七八年的故土时，那种“家”的感觉便扑面而来。虽然他已读不懂自己九岁时写下的中文日记，但在香港，他不再因肤色而被视为“老外”，那种如鱼得水的自在与心安，让他真切地感受到一脉相承。参加Crazy Rich Asians的拍摄更是让他想去寻根， 而非逃离亚洲文化。
反观他的脱口秀，话题始终围绕亚裔圈子和身边事展开，他必须不断挖掘文化差异的视角，一次又一次地回望亚裔文化。他说：“我是美国人，也是中国人。”他感激美国这个鼓励追求自我价值的国度，让他实现梦想的同时有家可归，而非父亲预言的那般落魄。即便这片土地上或许有人无知地叫他“滚回中国”，他依然会张开双臂拥抱美国，正如美国当初张开双臂拥抱他接受他成为公民一样。这里，就是他的应许之地。
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Pursuing your dreams is for losers. Doing what you love is how you become homeless.
This group of mish-moshed friends became my clique for the rest of my high school career.
but this diverse group of human beings from different backgrounds reflected an even more truthful version of America: a country of immigrants.
BET stands for Black Entertainment Television; it is an American television network for the urban community. I later learned that urban is just another word for black people.
Tuning into BET was like opening Pandora's box to a whole new American world. I was mesmerized by the colorful hip-hop culture.
I learned how to speak proper American English from watching BET. I consumed at least three hours of music videos a day. These music videos were snippets of different version of the American dream. They shaped my adolescence and they inspired me way beyond my high school years.
It (stand-up comedy) was unrestrained, dynamic and culturally relevant.
So I watched BET Comicview religiously for three years. they weren't just telling jokes, they were making insightful observations from a unique point of view. Rap City taught me American English. Comicview enlightened me about American culture.
I smelled the independent spirit of hip-hop; it smelled like America.
So I tried my hardest to be the opposite of a stereotypical Asian student: I grew my hair out down to my shoulders, I started smoking weed and I never went to class.
I rolled off my set with my trusted self-deprecating opener: "I can't take my shirt off at the beach. I am in shape, but I'm just a small guy with really nice hair. So from the back I look like a hot Asian chick. And from the front... I look like a really hot Asian chick."
Comedians are some of the most cynical and judgmental people, but we judge each other on the content of our jokes, not the color of out skin. As long as you're funny, it doesn't matter if you're rich or poor, Nigerian or Chinese, skinny or fat.
I doubled down on material about being Chinese.
I expected nothing and I had nothing to lose, not even my pride.
Give a man an acting job, you feed him for a day; teach a man to Uber, you feed him for a lifetime.
Charles Dickens and UCSD chancellor Fox did have a point after all. "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness."
It was scary to feel empty in the presence of success.
I felt an ounce of what Danny went through that night.
"Nobody cares about me here." I could surely relate to the loneliness of being an immigrant.
And no matter how Americanized I become, no matter how much Jay-Z I listen to, I'll always be an immigrant. Just because I don't speak English with an accent any more does not mean that I'm better than the people who do.
My mission is not to avoid playing an immigrant; my mission is to make Asian immigrants as sexy as Ryan Gosling.
This was the crowning moment of my career.
Stand-up and acting was my bread and butter, but there is always a special place in my heart for hip-hop music.
It's hard to put ethnicities aside in the melting pot of American.
We had all experienced being seen as Asian before being seen as American, British or Australian.
I didn't have to explain myself that I'm Asian here. I'm just another person.
Crazy Rich Asians made me want to get in touch with my roots instead of running away from them.
newly found sense of pride in my culture and myself.
I never really lost my Asian-ness. I just recovered it up with an American facade.
I had forgotten that there was a place in this world where I wasn't judged for my ethnicity, and I was the norm. I felt at peace.
I've spent my entire adult life figuring out how to American. Finding it became the only constant part of my life. And no matter how American I tried to be, I'd always felt like an outsider. And no matter how long ago I left Hong Kong, I would always feel like home.
读Jimmy O. Yang的自传
暖冬cool夏 (2026-08-08 19:50:33) 评论 (45)
一直对华裔移民下一代的发展感兴趣。读他们的传记，我总希望能透过一个人的成长，窥见两代人的碰撞与交融——这正是我翻开Jimmy O. Yang自传的初衷。
书不厚，220多页，几天便读完了。但这篇读书笔记却拖了两周，断断续续地写，写时又回头翻书，花的时间竟比读时还长。
Jimmy是当下活跃在各大媒体的脱口秀明星，也曾在几部影视剧中饰演配角。他13岁随父母从香港移居洛杉矶——一座文化多元、人口混杂的西海岸城市。他的书名为 How to American—An Immigrant's Guide to Disappointing Your Parents（《如何做美国人——一个让父母失望的移民指南》）。题目虽标新立异，内容却扎实地记录了他移民后的生活，以及追逐梦想的艰辛。
Jimmy来自同时使用中、英、粤语的香港，踏上美国后最先撞上的仍是语言关。他说自己在香港学的英语，不过相当于美国高中生学第二外语的水平。初来乍到，同学随口一句地道的“What's up?”，他会下意识地抬头望天，满脸茫然，更别提那些微妙的日常文化差异了。虽然祖父母比他们早十年抵美，但父母依然要为生存挣扎。父亲在美林证券谋得一份金融顾问的差事，收入主要靠佣金；母亲则在一家华人小银行做柜员，薪水微薄。两年后，母亲离开父子俩，去上海工作了整整十年。在Jimmy至关重要的青春期里，母亲是缺席的，每年仅返美探亲一个月，其余时间，他几乎与父亲相依为命。
为了尽早融入学校、被同伴接纳，Jimmy拼命学英语。像许多亚裔学生一样，除语言外，他应付其他课程绰绰有余——“美国课程设置普遍比香港落后两年”。然而，他更多时候是孤独的。陪伴他度过漫长中学时代的是BET（Black Entertainment Television 黑人娱乐电视台）的节目。那里云集了才华横溢的黑人脱口秀演员和音乐人，它不仅是他了解美国文化的窗口，更是他脱口秀之路的启蒙。他被黑人文化的多彩与活力深深吸引，高中三年，每天至少花三小时泡在BET的音乐视频里，痴迷于Rap和Hip-Hop，走火入魔。他还和同学组了个叫“黄豹”（Yellow Panthers）的三人乐队（1.5个亚裔，1.5个黑人），用简陋的电脑设备刻录光盘。他自嘲是“最烂的说唱歌手”，但那段浸泡在黑人口音与节奏中的日子，无形中奠定了他日后的舞台感觉。
高中毕业后，Jimmy考入UCSD的机械工程专业，后因理科吃力转读经济学。毕业时，他拿到了顶尖咨询公司Barney Smith的财务咨询offer，却毅然放弃安稳，踏上寻梦之旅。他说：“如果不去试，我的人生会后悔的。”——开弓便无回头箭。
逐梦之路的艰辛可想而知。他曾与人合租一房一厅，三人蜗居，其中一个住在壁橱里；最拮据时，一周五天吃泡面，外加一罐九毛九的香肠。为了一场50美元的零活，他来回开车8小时，除去30块油费，到手只剩20块（外加老板施舍的一顿9.99美元快餐）。从大学五年级起，他就混迹于圣地亚哥的大小脱口秀俱乐部和酒吧；为了糊口，他卖过二手车，在脱衣舞厅当过DJ，开过Uber。从首次登台脱口秀场，到争取好莱坞小角色，再到真正接片、走红，他熬过了六年。穷困潦倒时，他差点认同父亲那句话：“Pursuing your dreams is for losers. Doing what love is how you become homeless." 幸好，他咬牙撑了下来，也幸好，他最终成名了。
像所有成功故事一样，他的翻盘离不开才气、热爱、努力、坚持与运气。毕业那年，UCSD请来了 Silicon Valley 的导演Mike Judge做演讲——此人正是放弃电脑专业转行影视的成功典范，那段演讲给迷雾中的Jimmy投下一束光。巧的是，Judge后来成了他出演剧集的导演。书中他还提到另一位“教父”级的人生导师Sean Kelly，正是Sean醍醐灌顶的点拨，给他指明了方向--用自己的故事和文化作为起点。
回到书名后半句：“如何成为让父母失望的人”。当他放弃到手的好工作，向父亲摊牌要走自己的路时，父亲是失望的。此后六年，他独自在底层挣扎，再难也咬牙扛着，只因不愿去面对父亲那双失望的眼睛。无可厚非，Jimmy选的是一条非典型的险路——一个其貌不扬、在沙滩上都不敢脱掉T恤的小个子小眼睛亚裔，想闯荡好莱坞，在外人看来无异于痴人说梦。天下父母无不盼着孩子安稳，演艺圈终究是凤毛麟角之地。然而，正是他敢于让父母失望，敢于挑战传统认知与自我极限，才换来了今天的成就。若永远顺从父母、不越雷池半步，便少了“后浪推前浪”的勇气，也缺了时代所需的推陈出新。Jimmy自有胆识——一次面对台下racists的冷嘲热讽，他上台第一句就是：“What's up, you racist motherfuckers!”语惊四座，反而镇住了全场。若他畏首畏尾，或许早就被嘘声淹没于茫茫人海了。
读这本书最触动我的，是他成名后对“身份”的真实感悟。他说他成年后一直在努力做一件事——成为一个真正的美国人，融入这片土地。他苦学英语，广交各族朋友；上了大学，为了打破亚裔书呆子的刻板印象，留起长发、吸大麻、翘课。然而，他始终觉得自己是个局外人。可无论离开香港多久，当他再次踏上阔别十七八年的故土时，那种“家”的感觉便扑面而来。虽然他已读不懂自己九岁时写下的中文日记，但在香港，他不再因肤色而被视为“老外”，那种如鱼得水的自在与心安，让他真切地感受到一脉相承。参加Crazy Rich Asians的拍摄更是让他想去寻根， 而非逃离亚洲文化。
反观他的脱口秀，话题始终围绕亚裔圈子和身边事展开，他必须不断挖掘文化差异的视角，一次又一次地回望亚裔文化。他说：“我是美国人，也是中国人。”他感激美国这个鼓励追求自我价值的国度，让他实现梦想的同时有家可归，而非父亲预言的那般落魄。即便这片土地上或许有人无知地叫他“滚回中国”，他依然会张开双臂拥抱美国，正如美国当初张开双臂拥抱他接受他成为公民一样。这里，就是他的应许之地。
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
Pursuing your dreams is for losers. Doing what you love is how you become homeless.
This group of mish-moshed friends became my clique for the rest of my high school career.
but this diverse group of human beings from different backgrounds reflected an even more truthful version of America: a country of immigrants.
BET stands for Black Entertainment Television; it is an American television network for the urban community. I later learned that urban is just another word for black people.
Tuning into BET was like opening Pandora's box to a whole new American world. I was mesmerized by the colorful hip-hop culture.
I learned how to speak proper American English from watching BET. I consumed at least three hours of music videos a day. These music videos were snippets of different version of the American dream. They shaped my adolescence and they inspired me way beyond my high school years.
It (stand-up comedy) was unrestrained, dynamic and culturally relevant.
So I watched BET Comicview religiously for three years. they weren't just telling jokes, they were making insightful observations from a unique point of view. Rap City taught me American English. Comicview enlightened me about American culture.
I smelled the independent spirit of hip-hop; it smelled like America.
So I tried my hardest to be the opposite of a stereotypical Asian student: I grew my hair out down to my shoulders, I started smoking weed and I never went to class.
I rolled off my set with my trusted self-deprecating opener: "I can't take my shirt off at the beach. I am in shape, but I'm just a small guy with really nice hair. So from the back I look like a hot Asian chick. And from the front... I look like a really hot Asian chick."
Comedians are some of the most cynical and judgmental people, but we judge each other on the content of our jokes, not the color of out skin. As long as you're funny, it doesn't matter if you're rich or poor, Nigerian or Chinese, skinny or fat.
I doubled down on material about being Chinese.
I expected nothing and I had nothing to lose, not even my pride.
Give a man an acting job, you feed him for a day; teach a man to Uber, you feed him for a lifetime.
Charles Dickens and UCSD chancellor Fox did have a point after all. "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness."
It was scary to feel empty in the presence of success.
I felt an ounce of what Danny went through that night.
"Nobody cares about me here." I could surely relate to the loneliness of being an immigrant.
And no matter how Americanized I become, no matter how much Jay-Z I listen to, I'll always be an immigrant. Just because I don't speak English with an accent any more does not mean that I'm better than the people who do.
My mission is not to avoid playing an immigrant; my mission is to make Asian immigrants as sexy as Ryan Gosling.
This was the crowning moment of my career.
Stand-up and acting was my bread and butter, but there is always a special place in my heart for hip-hop music.
It's hard to put ethnicities aside in the melting pot of American.
We had all experienced being seen as Asian before being seen as American, British or Australian.
I didn't have to explain myself that I'm Asian here. I'm just another person.
Crazy Rich Asians made me want to get in touch with my roots instead of running away from them.
newly found sense of pride in my culture and myself.
I never really lost my Asian-ness. I just recovered it up with an American facade.
I had forgotten that there was a place in this world where I wasn't judged for my ethnicity, and I was the norm. I felt at peace.
I've spent my entire adult life figuring out how to American. Finding it became the only constant part of my life. And no matter how American I tried to be, I'd always felt like an outsider. And no matter how long ago I left Hong Kong, I would always feel like home.
书不厚，220多页，几天便读完了。但这篇读书笔记却拖了两周，断断续续地写，写时又回头翻书，花的时间竟比读时还长。
Jimmy是当下活跃在各大媒体的脱口秀明星，也曾在几部影视剧中饰演配角。他13岁随父母从香港移居洛杉矶——一座文化多元、人口混杂的西海岸城市。他的书名为 How to American—An Immigrant's Guide to Disappointing Your Parents（《如何做美国人——一个让父母失望的移民指南》）。题目虽标新立异，内容却扎实地记录了他移民后的生活，以及追逐梦想的艰辛。
Jimmy来自同时使用中、英、粤语的香港，踏上美国后最先撞上的仍是语言关。他说自己在香港学的英语，不过相当于美国高中生学第二外语的水平。初来乍到，同学随口一句地道的“What's up?”，他会下意识地抬头望天，满脸茫然，更别提那些微妙的日常文化差异了。虽然祖父母比他们早十年抵美，但父母依然要为生存挣扎。父亲在美林证券谋得一份金融顾问的差事，收入主要靠佣金；母亲则在一家华人小银行做柜员，薪水微薄。两年后，母亲离开父子俩，去上海工作了整整十年。在Jimmy至关重要的青春期里，母亲是缺席的，每年仅返美探亲一个月，其余时间，他几乎与父亲相依为命。
为了尽早融入学校、被同伴接纳，Jimmy拼命学英语。像许多亚裔学生一样，除语言外，他应付其他课程绰绰有余——“美国课程设置普遍比香港落后两年”。然而，他更多时候是孤独的。陪伴他度过漫长中学时代的是BET（Black Entertainment Television 黑人娱乐电视台）的节目。那里云集了才华横溢的黑人脱口秀演员和音乐人，它不仅是他了解美国文化的窗口，更是他脱口秀之路的启蒙。他被黑人文化的多彩与活力深深吸引，高中三年，每天至少花三小时泡在BET的音乐视频里，痴迷于Rap和Hip-Hop，走火入魔。他还和同学组了个叫“黄豹”（Yellow Panthers）的三人乐队（1.5个亚裔，1.5个黑人），用简陋的电脑设备刻录光盘。他自嘲是“最烂的说唱歌手”，但那段浸泡在黑人口音与节奏中的日子，无形中奠定了他日后的舞台感觉。
高中毕业后，Jimmy考入UCSD的机械工程专业，后因理科吃力转读经济学。毕业时，他拿到了顶尖咨询公司Barney Smith的财务咨询offer，却毅然放弃安稳，踏上寻梦之旅。他说：“如果不去试，我的人生会后悔的。”——开弓便无回头箭。
逐梦之路的艰辛可想而知。他曾与人合租一房一厅，三人蜗居，其中一个住在壁橱里；最拮据时，一周五天吃泡面，外加一罐九毛九的香肠。为了一场50美元的零活，他来回开车8小时，除去30块油费，到手只剩20块（外加老板施舍的一顿9.99美元快餐）。从大学五年级起，他就混迹于圣地亚哥的大小脱口秀俱乐部和酒吧；为了糊口，他卖过二手车，在脱衣舞厅当过DJ，开过Uber。从首次登台脱口秀场，到争取好莱坞小角色，再到真正接片、走红，他熬过了六年。穷困潦倒时，他差点认同父亲那句话：“Pursuing your dreams is for losers. Doing what love is how you become homeless." 幸好，他咬牙撑了下来，也幸好，他最终成名了。
像所有成功故事一样，他的翻盘离不开才气、热爱、努力、坚持与运气。毕业那年，UCSD请来了 Silicon Valley 的导演Mike Judge做演讲——此人正是放弃电脑专业转行影视的成功典范，那段演讲给迷雾中的Jimmy投下一束光。巧的是，Judge后来成了他出演剧集的导演。书中他还提到另一位“教父”级的人生导师Sean Kelly，正是Sean醍醐灌顶的点拨，给他指明了方向--用自己的故事和文化作为起点。
回到书名后半句：“如何成为让父母失望的人”。当他放弃到手的好工作，向父亲摊牌要走自己的路时，父亲是失望的。此后六年，他独自在底层挣扎，再难也咬牙扛着，只因不愿去面对父亲那双失望的眼睛。无可厚非，Jimmy选的是一条非典型的险路——一个其貌不扬、在沙滩上都不敢脱掉T恤的小个子小眼睛亚裔，想闯荡好莱坞，在外人看来无异于痴人说梦。天下父母无不盼着孩子安稳，演艺圈终究是凤毛麟角之地。然而，正是他敢于让父母失望，敢于挑战传统认知与自我极限，才换来了今天的成就。若永远顺从父母、不越雷池半步，便少了“后浪推前浪”的勇气，也缺了时代所需的推陈出新。Jimmy自有胆识——一次面对台下racists的冷嘲热讽，他上台第一句就是：“What's up, you racist motherfuckers!”语惊四座，反而镇住了全场。若他畏首畏尾，或许早就被嘘声淹没于茫茫人海了。
读这本书最触动我的，是他成名后对“身份”的真实感悟。他说他成年后一直在努力做一件事——成为一个真正的美国人，融入这片土地。他苦学英语，广交各族朋友；上了大学，为了打破亚裔书呆子的刻板印象，留起长发、吸大麻、翘课。然而，他始终觉得自己是个局外人。可无论离开香港多久，当他再次踏上阔别十七八年的故土时，那种“家”的感觉便扑面而来。虽然他已读不懂自己九岁时写下的中文日记，但在香港，他不再因肤色而被视为“老外”，那种如鱼得水的自在与心安，让他真切地感受到一脉相承。参加Crazy Rich Asians的拍摄更是让他想去寻根， 而非逃离亚洲文化。
反观他的脱口秀，话题始终围绕亚裔圈子和身边事展开，他必须不断挖掘文化差异的视角，一次又一次地回望亚裔文化。他说：“我是美国人，也是中国人。”他感激美国这个鼓励追求自我价值的国度，让他实现梦想的同时有家可归，而非父亲预言的那般落魄。即便这片土地上或许有人无知地叫他“滚回中国”，他依然会张开双臂拥抱美国，正如美国当初张开双臂拥抱他接受他成为公民一样。这里，就是他的应许之地。
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Pursuing your dreams is for losers. Doing what you love is how you become homeless.
This group of mish-moshed friends became my clique for the rest of my high school career.
but this diverse group of human beings from different backgrounds reflected an even more truthful version of America: a country of immigrants.
BET stands for Black Entertainment Television; it is an American television network for the urban community. I later learned that urban is just another word for black people.
Tuning into BET was like opening Pandora's box to a whole new American world. I was mesmerized by the colorful hip-hop culture.
I learned how to speak proper American English from watching BET. I consumed at least three hours of music videos a day. These music videos were snippets of different version of the American dream. They shaped my adolescence and they inspired me way beyond my high school years.
It (stand-up comedy) was unrestrained, dynamic and culturally relevant.
So I watched BET Comicview religiously for three years. they weren't just telling jokes, they were making insightful observations from a unique point of view. Rap City taught me American English. Comicview enlightened me about American culture.
I smelled the independent spirit of hip-hop; it smelled like America.
So I tried my hardest to be the opposite of a stereotypical Asian student: I grew my hair out down to my shoulders, I started smoking weed and I never went to class.
I rolled off my set with my trusted self-deprecating opener: "I can't take my shirt off at the beach. I am in shape, but I'm just a small guy with really nice hair. So from the back I look like a hot Asian chick. And from the front... I look like a really hot Asian chick."
Comedians are some of the most cynical and judgmental people, but we judge each other on the content of our jokes, not the color of out skin. As long as you're funny, it doesn't matter if you're rich or poor, Nigerian or Chinese, skinny or fat.
I doubled down on material about being Chinese.
I expected nothing and I had nothing to lose, not even my pride.
Give a man an acting job, you feed him for a day; teach a man to Uber, you feed him for a lifetime.
Charles Dickens and UCSD chancellor Fox did have a point after all. "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness."
It was scary to feel empty in the presence of success.
I felt an ounce of what Danny went through that night.
"Nobody cares about me here." I could surely relate to the loneliness of being an immigrant.
And no matter how Americanized I become, no matter how much Jay-Z I listen to, I'll always be an immigrant. Just because I don't speak English with an accent any more does not mean that I'm better than the people who do.
My mission is not to avoid playing an immigrant; my mission is to make Asian immigrants as sexy as Ryan Gosling.
This was the crowning moment of my career.
Stand-up and acting was my bread and butter, but there is always a special place in my heart for hip-hop music.
It's hard to put ethnicities aside in the melting pot of American.
We had all experienced being seen as Asian before being seen as American, British or Australian.
I didn't have to explain myself that I'm Asian here. I'm just another person.
Crazy Rich Asians made me want to get in touch with my roots instead of running away from them.
newly found sense of pride in my culture and myself.
I never really lost my Asian-ness. I just recovered it up with an American facade.
I had forgotten that there was a place in this world where I wasn't judged for my ethnicity, and I was the norm. I felt at peace.
I've spent my entire adult life figuring out how to American. Finding it became the only constant part of my life. And no matter how American I tried to be, I'd always felt like an outsider. And no matter how long ago I left Hong Kong, I would always feel like home.