How well do you think you connect with your heritage?
I'm proud of being Chinese, but that's not all that I am. I'm also American. Not only do I speak English, but I also speak Chinese fluently; I can watch Chinese soap operas, as well as American TV shows in English; I can listen to
Jay Chou as well as
Keyshia Cole.
When I went back to China a few years ago, some people in my dad's homeland thought that my family was 'strange' because of the way we talked and dressed. My dad's hometown is a place where the American influences haven't reached yet, so they probably felt territorial on us intruding. A few days ago, I had a video conversation with my cousin and some of his friends over
Skype and it was pretty awkward. They talked about toiling in the farms and going to the internet cafe to chill, while I talked about how went to the movies with my friends, and went shopping at the mall. However, we had a lot of similar interests, like playing video games, and watching Chinese dramas. We're not the same, but we're also not opposites.
My own friends have called me "white-washed" (meaning that I act like a Caucasian person). Truth be told, they're all idiots. Who's to say that I'm white-washed? Sure, I'm not very good at math, and I'm decent at writing, but does that make me white-washed? One of my friends even called me a "banana" (yellow on the outside, white on the inside). People are so tangled up in their stereotypes -- Caucasian people are good at writing, Asian people are good at Math. They're overlooking the fact that I'm also American, which means that I'm going to be influenced by a lot of other cultures, rather than just Chinese. For example, sure, I shop at
Abercrombie & Fitch, but I also like to watch Bollywood movies with subtitles! Those who call me "white-washed," open your eyes to the world around you!
As
Hannah Montana would put it, "
You get the best of both worlds,
chill it out take it slow,
then you rock out the show.
You get the best of both worlds,
mix it all together,
and you know that it's the best of both worlds. "
So, in the end, I love being able to state that I'm Chinese-American!
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