Mirth Pham was born in Vietnam. He left his native country when he was 21 years old. Minh has been in America for almost two years. There is still much he does not understand about America. Once Minh was in a supermarket. He saw an old man and an old woman. They wanted a box of cereal .The box was on a high shelf. The man and the woman couldn't reach it. Minh saw a ladder. He got on the ladder and got the box. He handed it to the elderly couple. They thanked him. "Where are your children?" asked Minh. "Why don' t they help you buy food?" "Our children have their own lives," said the man and the woman. "We like to be independent." Mirth doesn't think this is right. In his country, .children help their parents. Minh gave the elderly couple his phone number. He told them to call him if they needed help. One night they asked Mirth to dinner, but they never asked him for help. One day, Minh was walking with a Vietnamese friend. The two were going to a movie. Minh wanted to go to a restaurant first. Minh took his friend's hand. He pulled him toward the restaurant. People on the street stared at Minh. In Vietnam, friends often hold hands. Minh found out that people in America are not used to holding hands. Minh Pham is going through a process   known as re-socialization. Socialization is the process in which a person learns to live in a society. Everyone goes through this process. Minh went through it when he lived in Vietnam. But the Vietnamese way of life is much different from the American way of life. When Mirth came to America, he had to learn a new way of life. He had to learn how to live in a new society. Minh has learned a lot about American life in two years. He still has a lot to learn. The process of re-socialization can take many years. What the elderly couple said gave us an example that American people, young or old, try to be   _  .
kind independent helpful friendly