Hi! 你好!

I’m曉彤(Hiu Tung)! You may call me Annie, but I do like my Chinese name more! “曉彤” is my Chinese given name. My family name is “陳(Chan)”. So, my Chinese name is 陳曉彤(Chan Hiu Tung). As you may notice, Chinese put family name before given name. That reveals our culture of “family comes first”. Family is the basic unit under Chinese culture, individuals are components within.

I love my Chinese name. “曉(Hiu)” means “dawn” and “understand”. “彤(Tung)” means “the brilliant color red” and “colored decoration”. My parents purposely chose these two words for my name. They wished that I, their first-born, would have brilliant dawn every day in my life and can become a wise person. Thank my parents for such blessing to every single day of my whole life.

I am currently a “non-resident alien”. That means I am neither a US citizen nor a US resident. I am an international student! I first got into the US in January 2007. I came here as a Bachelor’s level exchange student. A year and a half later, I am now taking my very last class for my Master’s degree.

I was born and raised in Hong Kong. I lived with my immediate family my whole life. I have never been away from Hong Kong, and people from there, for more than two months before I came to the US. Yes, you are right, I’m alone in the States! All of my family and relatives are in Hong Kong. My peers, my neighbors, my community, my network, my high school, my hobbies, they are all in Hong Kong. I consider my life in the US an adventure, an extended adventure, an alone adventure.

Annie

Hello.