Oh, and “Where are you from”
Before I forget, because it was a worthwhile read and pinpointed a lot of what my life is, what I am about:
“Where are you from?” from the International Herald Tribune
(Relatively speaking, my background isn’t even that complicated, but it always gets to me that 1) people don’t understand that I’m a “real” American even though I’m not white, and yes, I’m “originally” from the U.S., 1.5 [in the U.S.]) I study Japanese because I want to not because I AM Japanese 2) even though my parents are from Taiwan, that doesn’t mean I’m Taiwanese or Chinese or totally fluent in Chinese, 3) I can’t pinpoint myself to one geographical location for people since I lived in three states in the U.S. before college, would say Pittsburgh (2nd-grade~junior year of h.s.) but haven’t been back in 7 years, and my parents live in Taiwan now, while that has little relation to where I myself live, 4) I’m a bit mixed on my mother’s side, but no, I’m not “half” (as Japanese people put it), we’re not clear on the specifics, and ARRGGH just stop asking about my stupid background/ethnicity, people!!!
…I didn’t totally mean that last bit, but I think you get how I feel.)
Originally published at enyi.org. You can comment here or there.