Bokyung Kang immigrated to the United States six months ago from Seoul, South Korea. On her first day at SF State, she found herself lost on the unfamiliar campus. “I want to finish my master’s at San Francisco State University then go back to Korea,” Kang says.

Integration emphasizes retaining individual characteristics while living in a community. The latter emphasizes the social process of being absorbed by one culture into another.

Kang believes that it is not necessary to learn English in such a multicultural place.

“Especially in California, if I don’t speak in English I can live,” Kang says. “For Chinese, or Korean, or Japanese they don’t need to learn English.”

Although a non-English speaking person can survive in America, Kang believes that it is still important to learn the language. “It would be better to learn English for [immigrants],” she says. “Otherwise they always need some help from others.”

Kang first studied at the Center for Learning through the Arts. She found the teachers helpful, but says she was not treated with the same hospitality by others outside the center.

“The teachers were willing to help international students and everyone was so nice,” Kang says. “For real, native English speakers, they don’t like to talk to international students because we cannot understand the slang or idioms.”

On the other hand, assimilation of culture and language sometimes mean losing one’s native heritage. For Sabina Chen, an American-born Chinese, assimilation comes at a great cost.

“One of the costs is that I don’t speak Chinese very well and it would be great if I could,” Chen says. “I encourage the new generation to learn Chinese.”

The executive director of the Chinese Culture Center (CCC) as of August 2006, Chen is the first Chinese American director and part of a new generation of leadership for the center. Established in 1965, the center promotes understanding and appreciation of Chinese and Chinese-American art and culture. The CCC aims to explore the Chinese culture both through the Chinatown community and the community at large.

“A lot of the program that I’m doing is focused on my generation of Chinese Americans,” Chen says. “I’m trying to look at how I can go back to that older generation and stay true to the new generation.”

Assimilation is not black and white, though.

“I think assimilation is a tricky word because you want to be able to live in two different worlds here and it’s very difficult,” Chen says. “One thing I see that is a shame is that people stop being Chinese, which people do.”

There is no right answer to which is more preferable.

For Marisa Louie, exhibition coordinator at the Chinese Historical Society of America, it is important for Chinese Americans to explore their heritage and at the same time embrace their future. The Chinese Historical museum focuses on Chinese-American history and culture.

“People come to learn about history, contribute their histories, and make personal stories a part of history,” Louie says.

She believes that it is ideal for Chinese Americans to both retain their culture and gain a new culture. “The best situation is if you have the best of both worlds.” Louie says.

There is a general appreciation for the Chinese Historical Society of America. “People appreciate seeing a story told that isn’t necessarily told in history,” Louie says. “We are one of a few in the country that preserve Chinese-American history.”

Valerie Voe, assistant professor in Asian American Studies at SF State agrees.

“Much preferable is the idea of acculturation, in which [Asian Americans] can keep their Asian cultural beliefs and integrate them into their newer ‘American’ cultural beliefs,” Voe says. “They can balance between the old and the new and not give up anything.”