Coming To Terms With Place: Response To You, Too, Can Be Americano - Essay Example

Coming To Terms With Place: Response To ‘You, Too, Can Be Americano’The essay ‘you, too, can be Americano’ is a highly descriptive essay about a citizen from Philippines who immigrates into America in order to experience the American dream as he has been dreaming about it all his life. The main idea of the essay is to provide a first person narration of the practical and at times challenging situations faced by new comers into America and the possible obstacles that come with trying to adapt into a new culture.

The descriptions in the essay provide a vivid imagination and contribute to further understanding of the personal experiences of the character. An example is the recreation of the big arrival into the United States: the thin walls with the unpleasant smells, the tight city without breathing room or even trees, as had been imagined. While the character in the story had imagined a nice house with beautiful lawns that will allow him the experience of a lifetime, he discovers that the opposite is actually true (Balcita, Chapter 2).

Lessons on culture shock and inter cultural communication are expressed in detail as this latest American citizen tries to find his way around America both socially and economically. He discovers that unlike the perfect picture created in films and movies, everyone in America indeed has to work hard in order to live ‘the American dream’ as expected. Throughout his new life in America, the Filipino questions his true identity and where his allegiance now lays i.e. with his mother culture or newly adopted culture.

He is also deeply divided over whether he really wants his son to grow up in this fast paced society, without even a clue of his origin.The essay provides critical insights into the personal conflicts individuals go through in the process of leaving home for better lives in other societies and trying to live by the societal rules of other cultures. It also questions if at all a line can be drawn between totally naturalizing into another culture and maintaining some semblance of your traditions in your new life.

The essay’s main lesson seems to be that while the American dream can be achieved, it is not automatic; it takes hard work. It is also important and possible for one to be America, while still keeping to their traditions and cultures that positively reflect on their current way of life.Works CitedAngela M. Balcita, Americano Dream. Retrieved on October 6, 2011 from seeing and writing, 4th edition by Donald , McQuade University of California, Berkeley and Christine, McQuade Queens College, 2010 pp.

10-11; 140