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This is one of the best things I've read on TL in a long time. Thanks for sharing this. For people who've never had to question their cultural identity, this article provides great insight.
I am a second generation Chinese-American. And I also struggled with being an ABC until my late teens. I grew up in a town like krndandaman which had a very small Chinese population up until the last 5-8 years. I remember wondering which culture I really fit into.
However, I am very lucky to be well traveled and came to the same realization that you posted under "Which Culture is Home?". The more I've traveled, the more I've seen how most cultures have very interchangeable features. I've become comfortable with identifying myself as an American first. I don't see this as a slight to my Chinese heritage, but rather that I've realized that I see things through an American point of view first. Like you, I've found where I'm comfortable.
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Korean-german here. Awessome read! In my childhood I hated everything about being korean. My parents where typical korean parents. I had to take piano lessons, go to a taekwondo club, go to the korean church every sunday... -.-
German parents were more relaxed for example if you have a bad grade. I even thought about burning down the korean church I visited. Thought about how I could get the whole church to burn as a 9 year old.
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Very good read, and very reassuring, thanks for this. I've been struggling with being out of place where I live my whole life for a variety of reasons, and it's hard to tell how much of each reason is to blame. it's also hard to be taken seriously as a white guy claiming to experience culture clash in the United States. My west coast family is largely from the Basque immigrant communities in Kern country, California, and my east coast family are New Yorkers from my Scottish great grandfather. Now I live in Arizona, and just the clash between northeast and southwest US cultures is confusing. I feel like I'm always one wrong word away from offending someone out here cos people are real big on being polite and formal, but when I go back east I feel like I come off to New Yorkers like a dumb hick. Arizona itself has grown so fast that there's not much shared history between Arizonans yet, so I never know if I'm gonna get someone who is offended by my flippant and insensitive humor (pretty common with the WASPS and mormons around here) or who thinks I'm too 'white and uptight' (as I suspect the Mexican-Americans I interact with probably feel.)
I've spent a good deal of time getting to know some Scottish people and have visited them and there's so many things about the way they interact with each other that reminds me of things I do, but at the same time I probably seem oversensitive to them and like I take myself too seriously. I haven't had the privilege of spending time in the Basque country - mostly because my Spanish is terrible, and my French and Basque are nonexistent. I would probably find out things about myself that would be really valuable.
At the same time, no matter how many cultural groups I try to blend into, I'm always too something to really feel comfortable. I guess I'm not in the same boat as the OP in that it's not so much I have to explain myself to one cultural group because of my background in another, but that I haven't been able to find a comfort zone anywhere.
On the bright side, I can always just use "I'm Basque" as an excuse for any awkwardness, since 99.99% of Americans don't know what a Basque is >.>
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On October 08 2012 03:21 CPTBadAss wrote:
This is one of the best things I've read on TL in a long time. Thanks for sharing this. For people who've never had to question their cultural identity, this article provides great insight.
I am a second generation Chinese-American. And I also struggled with being an ABC until my late teens. I grew up in a town like krndandaman which had a very small Chinese population up until the last 5-8 years. I remember wondering which culture I really fit into.
However, I am very lucky to be well traveled and came to the same realization that you posted under "Which Culture is Home?". The more I've traveled, the more I've seen how most cultures have very interchangeable features. I've become comfortable with identifying myself as an American first. I don't see this as a slight to my Chinese heritage, but rather that I've realized that I see things through an American point of view first. Like you, I've found where I'm comfortable.
I agree with this completely. I made a rant about how this is the 21st century and skin color, mother-tongue, and nationality have no connection what so ever.
When I was in Taiwan, I saw Caucasians with Taiwanese citizenship. In the USA, nobody stops to think about that. Most Americans are untraveled and the only reason why the number of U.S. Passport holders has increased is because of customs requiring travelers to Canada to pack a passport with them as measures of security.
I remember sitting in 7-11 at Shuiyuan BOT / Prince dorms at Taiwan National University, and I hear someone say "Excuse me." I didn't think they were talking to me because I wasn't in anybody's way. Then I heard it again, "Excuse me." So I look to my right. "You use chopsticks very well." "I learned when I was 12 in America." I just brushed it off at the moment, but frankly speaking, it's hearing things like this on a frequent basis from condescending people that don't know that I speak Chinese, or don't care (simply because of my white face), that kind of bothers me.
Recently there was an incident that took place that made me angry and, looking back, I feel bad for it. It happened here in America. I was at a friend's place, waiting for him to get home and I was talking to some other friends on an app called 微信. Some guy rings the doorbell. Apparently someone ordered Chinese for delivery. Some old man shows up at the door holding a bag of ordered food. Being at an apartment where four people lived, I had no clue who had ordered it. So, I asked him,
"那是被誰點的菜？“
”..."
””誰點那分菜了？“
“Chinese Food." This condescending bull shit made me extremely angry. I was clearly speaking to him in Chinese, and I am fluent, to an extent in Mandarin and he spoke the only two words of English that he probably knew how to say.
"廢話就是Chinese food！我想知道誰打你的飯館的電話，點菜了。你筆記了個人的名字嗎？“
”沒有名字。“
”好。等一下.“
”斯洋，克里斯托弗，你們倆點菜了嗎？“
I get even sicker of the rednecks out here that always ask me the cliche, "Where'd you learn to speak that language?" or "Are y'all speakin' Chinese or Japanese?" And I ignore the questions, all the time. Everywhere I go now, I face discrimination.
However, I must say that I feel the least phased by it when I'm in Taipei.
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On September 20 2012 12:34 GoldforGolden wrote:
being a Hong Kong-er, identity crisis is a big problem to me.
I had been studying in UK for 9 years, although I never really adapted the British style of living (PUB and Clubbing are just not my cup of tea) but most of my entertainment and education were stemmed from the UK such as movies and drama.
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That's fun generalization!
Genuine question, why does this matter in any form?
I'm born in France to an Iranian mother, and grew up in UK since 10 years old. if someone asks, that's my answer (if any) and i' never really identified or cared either way. seems like something that can only be a 'problem' if you already have everything given to you on a plate.
sry if that seems insensitive.
is this just one of those "american" problems? i never known anyone who cared about this sort of thing, and our schools were incredibly mixed in race etc
Anyone can enjoy parts of any culture, Don't have to use chopsticks to be chinese.
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EPT
