Elderly in the U.S.

The answer I got from the question "Are you afraid of growing old?" was "Exactly!". Not only Americans afraid of it, but also Thais. It's universal. :) But, no one can refuse the circle of life. They said they must accept the truth and try to be as healthy as possible. Moreover, they hope to be able to travel after they retire. They have been collecting money for the journey and the expense for their living, too. Some of them want to live in their own house and some want to live in an apartment. They actually prefer to live separately after they retire which I guess that such idea is underlied from American's individualism. If they're 65 or older, they want to have peaceful life in a good house/apartment. However, they said that if they are disabled, they might consider living with their children.

American Family

American students are independent. To compare with Thai students, they're very different. They have jobs to earn for their tutoring. They live apart from their parents. They believe in themselves. The decisions they make are on their own. They tend to be independent on their families any more but they actually don't, at least emotionally.

Talking with my American friends, I found out that they still consider their families (which include the pets as well) very important in their lives. Many of them say that if they have hard time to decide something very important, they'll ask for advices from either or both of their parents. Besides, even though each of the family member lives apart, they still feel they have close family since they visit and make calls to each other frequently. They also organize a family reunion at least once a year. The big day varies. It might be a parent's birthday, anniversary, thanks giving or they might make a day among family members.

One of my American friends is living with her grandma. She told me that it's not normal for Americans to have a grandparent living in the same house. The elderly are usually sent to some certain places where there're people taking care of them instead of staying with their own children. This culture is completely different from Thai culture. We feel like we're supposed to return all good treats our parents have been giving us back by taking care of them when they get old. In Americans' perspectives, they think if they can't do that well, it's better for them to provide their parents the more comfortable lives.

The different perspective about the elderly's lives is a good example of how we, having different culture, think. It's unique. That's really interesting! Gosh, I love knowing these differences!!