Occasionally I feel envious of locals in Xinjiang. The feeling wells up in me most often when I travel. I see people mostly minorities such as Uyghurs Mongols and Kazakhs and I cannot help but wish I had what they have:“Belong”.

偶尔我挺羡慕新疆人，心中会升起一种感觉，因为看见维吾尔、蒙古和哈萨克等少数民族时，不由得会羡慕他们所拥有的东西，也就是“归属感”。

I moved five times as a child and I went to five different schools not including college. Most Americans do not move as much as I did but most move at least once or twice. There is very little sense of community growing up like this. This kind of lifestyle produces children who adapt well yet do not know what it means to settle down. I have seen in my society that with the increase of opportunity comes a decrease of a sense of community. When I see minorities in Xinjiang especially in their own towns the first thing I notice is their unity.

小时候我搬了５次家，不包括大学我上过５个不同的学校，一般美国人搬迁没有我这么频繁，但大多数人至少搬一两次家。在这种情况下长大的我，没有属于社区的感觉。这样的生活造就了有适应力的孩子，不过他们很难理解定居的含义。在美国社会当中我发现，随着机会的增多，大多数人归属于社区的感觉却减弱了。看见新疆少数民族的时候，我首先看到的是他们的统一。

The first time I had contact with a minority group outside Urumqi was several weeks after I arrived. I went to South Mountain to an area with Kazakh yurts and I was mesmerized by the nomadic family that ran the tourist facility. I had never before seen a lifestyle like this. This picture had a sense of completeness to me unscathed by modern encroachments. Each one had their place in the family business and I am sure their roles in the family were well defined too. They knew their roles clearly because they belong to South Mountain and to each other. My view of them at that time only went this far. I saw them in simple terms defined by my own background. It did not know how to see things from their point of view.

首次在乌鲁木齐以外遇到少数民族是我刚到新疆几个星期后。我到有哈萨克毡房的南山，那个搞旅游的牧民家庭把我迷住了。我从没见过这样的生活方式。对我来说这个场景好像是完美的，没有现代化的侵袭和影响。每个人在家庭事务中有明显的位置，而且家里面的角色一定也同样确定。因为他们属于南山并且他们彼此相属，每个人的角色都是清晰的。当时我对他们的看法就是这么简单，也就是说我的看法局限于我的背景，我不理解他们的看法。

They had an equally simplistic view of me which pivoted on money. After I returned early from a horseback ride a young Kazakh girl demanded I pay for one hour instead of half an hour. “You should pay more because you are a foreigner” she explained to me. I was livid because of her discrimination and saw them as nothing but greedy. It took me quite a while to understand her frame of mind and change my opinion.

他们对我的看法一样简单，而且看法的轴心就是金钱。我骑他们的马提前回去以后，年轻的姑娘要求我掏一个小时的钱而不是半个小时的。“因为是老外，你要付更多。”她解释道。由于她的歧视，我发怒了，然后判断他们是贪婪的。好长时间后，我才明白她的想法并转变了我的看法。

Many Chinese assume I make a lot of money when I actually make the same as locals. When I meet new people they often ask about economic differences between our cultures sometimes with a glint of envy in their eyes. Basically I am seen in economic terms first whereas I begin to see others in terms of community. When evaluating other cultures we often see our own poverty first. This is one reason our cultures do not understand each other.

好多中国人以为我挣很多钱，但事实上我的收入跟本地人一样。遇到当地人时，他们常常问我关于国家之间经济差异的问题，在他们的眼睛中偶尔可以看到羡慕。基本上我首先被人用经济条件来打量，然而我用社会条件来理解别人。判断其他文化的时候，我们常常首先看到自己的贫穷。这就是文化之间相互不理解的原因之一。