The Goals for My Ambition Are Calibrated Differently in America, China and France

I am always turned on by challenges.Whereas, lying on a beach stresses me out. I will simply call this tendency of mine --ambition. This morning, when I wrote a letter to a friend, I stumbled upon the realisation that my ambition takes different forms depending on which country I live in. The below is a pure speculation based on my experience only, but it may contain some general truth: In China, if you have an American education, you fall into a predictable social perception and professional track. If you speak an European language, you fall into another track. This clicking-into-place happens so naturally that it does not even qualify for ¨ambition¨ -- a word that almost implies some efforts to stretch one´s place along the socio-economical ladder. Even though it could easily smack of a middle-class mindset, an arrogant nonchalance. In the States, my big reservoir of energy is channelled into a kind of raw ambition for privilege, prestige, and success. I must be influenced by what is around me (I hang out in a limited social circle though): entrepreneurship is a big thing here; prestigious degrees are also common goals. It is as if the only way to adapt, is to be successful, or ¨awesome¨ in an alternative way. After all, it is a culture of success, and of personality. In any case, subtle matters of desires tend to be haunted by some recognisable patterns. It is tempting to join the ¨army¨ of optimistic young people who set out to ¨conquer¨ a future that feels safely linear and straightforward. A difficult place for introverts who are slow to buy into the packaged vision of ¨American dreams¨. But in France, my ambition is rerouted to the everyday life itself. I don´t want to sound naive about the convoluted French society, but it is safe to say that French culture is not meant to be receptive. It is so dense and demanding, the language so tricky that, to be able to live with relative ease and comfort, is already a feat in itself, that suffices to fill my ambition. If one day I can simply appreciate the soul of the wine and the food on a French or Italian dinner table, I would be so proud! Environment dictates what we want to want. So it is very advantageous to be acquainted with different cultural settings, and then choose which place is in overall accordance with who we want to be.

Complementing this reading with my observation about the culture of greed in the United States.