Growing Up In A Marshallese Culture

You want to know something about me that know one’s ever heard? Well, imagine trying to be two separate people everyday. You think you could do it, I doubt it. As you grow with life and time, it becomes trickier to the more detail you begin to realize. You think you can handle it, let us see? For example, take me. I am adopted and till this very day I still constantly hear comments and questions about my family and my birth family. Growing up within my cultural community has been confusing. From birth, I was taught the American way of life, but when I left my home to see my friends I had to learn a whole other culture. The culture I was born out of - Marshallese. As I grow older I realize more and more why all the Marshallese adults look at me differently and why the children …show more content…
To them, I am strange because at first I only look like a Marshallese, but when people hear me speak it is like I am not even human. People get shocked and confused. I never really know how to respond and I am always ashamed to after I do. I always have to explain that I’m raised by Americans. I still feel somewhat uncomfortable, even around the people who have known me for a long time. I feel unsettled and unsatisfied because I try so hard to fit into one side at different times. Next, it sinks into my friends I hang out with. I use to hang out with one set of friends for one day and another pair for a different day. Back when I was young there were groups, not just little school cliques, but racial groups. Can you imagine, racial segregation at the age of eight? I still can’t believe it, especially during this period! When it