"This is what it means to say, Chinatown"

Trash all over the sidewalks and street, consant yelling in Chinese, cars honking, traffic jams, and the smell lets not forget that. This is my hometown, a disgusting pile of cultural trash. I have to listen to these people every single day of my 17 years of living here. The annoyance is building up and I just can't take it anymore. The people who live think they know everything. They think they're gods to their friends and family, but what I see is a person just wanting to be noticed and heard. We call these people FOB's (Fresh of the boat). As quoted from my father "You can take the people out of China, but you can't take the China out of people." My friends that come by Chinatown tell me, "This place is amazing. You've got food, activities, people, and life. I would love to live here." Boy are they wrong. My friends don't understand that the people who live here are Fresh of the boat. They don't know any better. The life style the Chinese live are different then in the states. They treat where they live like junkyard, full of trash. But even though the annoyance is building up, this is still my home and my roots. I grew up here and I have to accept it even though I hate the neighborhood a lot, deep down I love it at the same time. This is what it means to say "Chinatown".

- Alexander Huang