Bill Belew has raised 2 bi-cultural kids, now 34 and 30. And he and his wife are now parenting a 3rd, Mia, who is 8.

My dad has always been my inspiration in my life. I am a very late child and brought up in a very family life which has been a mix of

traditional and modern blend. I am always been very close to my dad and he has always been very supporting and motivating to me. My dad is a business man and he does business of medicines  My dads life was full of struggle and hardship and he started working very early in life. There were number of responsibilities on his head at a very early age as grandfather passed away. My grandfather was a very rich landlord and he had very very big land. Besides working, my dad also used to take care of the land and the entire family. He  took care of his younger brother and got his younger sisters married too. He has been a very responsible and mature person. Besides learning professional skills, i have also learnt several soft skills from my dad which are very important to become successful.

My dad started off his career by doing a contractor business. He took contracts from the government and worked on building roads and big school buildings. Since my childhood i have seen him as a very very soft spoken and hardworking person. Although he was into contracting and business, he always wanted me to study hard and become a very qualified and successful person in life. Since i belong to a very traditional society and a very small town from India, it was very difficult to come out to a different city and study. My dad never stopped me from doing so. He always motivated me to pursue career of my choice and go ahead in life. I remember times when i failed in life was very much disappointing with it. My dad always told me” Success is not as sweet if you don’t taste failure in life” . He became very angry when i used to cry or feel low. He always said that crying and low confidence are signs of looser.

Another important characteristics i have ingrained in myself from my dad is a habit of reading and writing. I always remember my dad

as a voracious reader and writer. He always read novels and newspapers, magazines during his free time and also wrote diaries. Me and my brother as children also ingrained this habit and we also have a habit of reading and writing during our free time. My dad always taught me work hard and do your studies right now and you will be a happy person throughout your life.  Knowledge brings respect to your life. Both me and my brother are successful in their own respective careers and the credit goes to my dad who has been the source behind our success.

Talk to Bill and others about their experiences raising bi-cultural Japanese-American kids.