My parents are from Guangzhou, China, and immigrated to the US in 2000. My mom brought this bamboo bed cover, which you place on top of your mattress to cool the bed and for natural health benefits. She knew that these would not be available for purchase in the US, so that's why she brought it. The airport security were searching random suitcases, and my mom's suitcase was selected for one of these random searches. When the airport security opened her suitcase and saw the bamboo bed cover, he was confused and asked my mom's translator what it was (my parents were nervous about the immigration process so they brought a translator that day). I like this story because it highlights the lifestyle differences between Chinese and American culture; most Americans do not like sleeping on such hard material and do not use such bed covers.

– Loisa Chen

Relationship:  Im/migrant Im/migrant