“How to say… that?”, uttered a Chinese girl timidly in broken English as she pointed at the poster on the wall. “Oh, it’s ‘Chipotle’ ” I responded. We continued talking and I asked her questions about where she was from. I quickly found out that she was from China, just like me. When I told her I was from China, too, her eyes immediately lit up. “Great! But I really thought you were American” she said in Chinese as she smiled, much more loudly and confidently. It always amuses me how people mistake me for an American, even those from China. What’s more interesting is seeing how my own behavior changes based on people’s different expectations of me. As soon as I realized the girl was treating me as a fellow Chinese person, my smile softened
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My integration into American culture began when I fell madly in love with American music at the age of 12. It quickly became clear that I would never be the same as other kids again. American music introduced me to an alluring new world, and I plunged myself right into it. At times, it was disappointing that I didn’t have as much in common with my peers, but I secretly loved the idea of enjoying something no one else knew …show more content…
Because we feel that we have all been assigned to a specific cultural “box”, we sacrifice our desire to be uniquely integrated to other cultures. We then begin to feel as if our existence relies on staying within the “box”. For a long time, my goal was assimilation rather than acculturation. I was blindly trying to fit into a box which I deemed “desirable” at the time, without truly recognizing the beauty of complexity and fluidity in people. I am beyond grateful to have reached a point where I wholeheartedly embrace both sides of my cultural identity. The freedom to transition between the two cultures and the ability to incorporate them equally have shown me a multitude of cultural possibilities that were not previously attainable. So now, whenever people ask me where I am from, I proudly reply “China” and proceed with a
My integration into American culture began when I fell madly in love with American music at the age of 12. It quickly became clear that I would never be the same as other kids again. American music introduced me to an alluring new world, and I plunged myself right into it. At times, it was disappointing that I didn’t have as much in common with my peers, but I secretly loved the idea of enjoying something no one else knew …show more content…
Because we feel that we have all been assigned to a specific cultural “box”, we sacrifice our desire to be uniquely integrated to other cultures. We then begin to feel as if our existence relies on staying within the “box”. For a long time, my goal was assimilation rather than acculturation. I was blindly trying to fit into a box which I deemed “desirable” at the time, without truly recognizing the beauty of complexity and fluidity in people. I am beyond grateful to have reached a point where I wholeheartedly embrace both sides of my cultural identity. The freedom to transition between the two cultures and the ability to incorporate them equally have shown me a multitude of cultural possibilities that were not previously attainable. So now, whenever people ask me where I am from, I proudly reply “China” and proceed with a