Amy Tan's "A Pair of Tickets"

Throughout the first five paragraphs the narrator uses the settings of riding on the train leaving Hong Kong, taking us to a past argument she had with her mother about being Chinese, and reminiscing about her mother and the "Chinese" things she did. I liked the last line of the 5th par. where she says she says "My mother is dead and I am on a train, carrying with me her drams of coming home. I am going to China." In that sentence you can tell she is still struggling with the idea of her being Chinese. To her Mom, China was home, but to her China is China. She isn't ready to accept or doesn't understand what her mother was trying to tell her. China, in a way, is her home, are her roots.
I'm not sure why she was so reluctant. Is she embarrassed of what being Chinese is? Maybe she fears how people look at the Chinese, and doesn't want to be on the inside looking back. Throughout the whole story she is constantly seeing things that are just like America.She compares getting off the train to getting on the "number 30 Stockton bus in San Francisco. Looking for the similarities to confirm being in China won't make her Chinese." I've had those kind of discussions with myself about other things. Growing up I never wanted to be different than anyone. I think most kids think that way though. If you're on the outside looking in life was easier.
In the end June May see's what her mother was talking about. That just because June May didn't look Chinese, like her mom, doesn't mean that there isn't a different connection inside of her.