Julia Week 1- My Cultural Perspective
When it comes to the beginning of the school year, a common question gets asked. What did you do during summer? Some of these responses include: “I visited my grandparents in their hometown” or “I flew to see family” and the common complaint of “It was so hot over there.”
When they ask me where I went, I simply just say hesitantly, “Uh, I just stayed at home.” Then they talk about how lucky I was. “There wasn’t any air conditioning over there, you’re so lucky” or “At least you got free time.”
I do have family of course, but they all live in California. All it takes is a car ride. Sure that may be lucky in a way, but I don’t have the experiences of visiting or experiencing a different country full of culture my ancestors were from. My roots.
I call myself a Chinese American; but, I have never before stepped foot in China.
Identity is something that makes up a person. Am I losing part of my identity by not being exposed to my own culture?
My culture and my ethnicity are different things; culture is shaped by the beliefs of the people around me while ethnicity is based on where my ancestors came from. My culture encompasses my family, friends, classmates, and neighbors. Ethnicity does not necessarily affect culture, so therefore, I live through my own culture.
Is it in a way building myself a completely different and unique identity?
I guess that could be said, my experiences are what shapes who I am as a person. Those two hour car rides are something that only I can understand; those sixteen hour flights are what others understand. I do not have to be physically in contact with my ancestor’s culture to be considered a Chinese American. I am who I am.
If I did experience flights to hometowns far away, maybe I wouldn’t appreciate it as much. But, standing here and watching those planes fly away, I would never know. It’s all a matter of perspective which wouldn’t be possible without me being the me I am today. I don’t need those plan rides to understand what makes me special. My identity gives me this perspective.
I really liked how your blog discussed the difference between culture and ethnicity instead of treating it as the same thing, which is a common misconception. The part that particularly stood out to me was your question about whether you could be “losing” part of your identity by not experiencing the country and culture your ancestors came from. I think your conclusion discusses an interesting and important perspective on how identity does not necessarily have to come from being in a certain place, but instead from the experiences we have and people that surround us every day. I also appreciated your juxtaposition of the two hour car ride and the sixteen hour flight because it created a strong contrast between your experiences and those of others. The idea about perspective made me think about how different people can share the same ethnicity but still develop completely different identities depending on the lives they have lived.
ReplyDeleteI always find it funny when people say “you’re so lucky you got to do that, I had to do this instead,” because most of the time, like you talked about, it all boils down to perspective. Different people find different things fun and I do not understand how people find it so difficult to realize that just because you think what I did seems enjoyable does not make it enjoyable for me. The questions you asked in the post really connected with me, pushing me to ponder the answer alongside you, rather than passively standing by and reading. The way you separated your ideas through block paragraphs is also amazingly done; I always struggle slightly with separating them well and sensibly and do it solely because it's required, but you’re structuring plays a heavy role on the interpretation of your post as a whole, making it feel more emotional and driven.
ReplyDeleteTo be honest, I relate to this a lot. The dialog at the beginning was a good choice to communicate that feeling of missing out, since a lot of people (including me) have had conversations in which everybody other than themselves seems to be able to chime in. One thing that I wanted to add that reminds me of what you said is the struggle of not speaking your own language. When I go to family gatherings, everyone speaks Tagalog. I have to ask what certain phrases mean all the time, but I’m often told that English just doesn’t have the words to translate them. Like you said, it really does feel like “losing part of my identity.”
ReplyDeleteI resonated with your conclusion of “I am who I am.” It was a powerful way to sum everything up, and encourages building your own identity instead of trying to fit in a box. While it might suck to miss out on common experiences, our differences are what make us special.