Children Without a Home
I read a book many years ago in my early 20s called “Catfish and Mandela”. In short, it’s a story about a first-generation Vietnamese American and his experience as a person of two cultures. There was a term I read in it that has stuck with me through the many years since I first read it. The term was “Viet Kieu”, which in literal translation means Vietnamese person living overseas. In the book, however, it alludes that Vietnamese people use it as a form of pity. These are the people who feel too foreign to feel at home in Vietnam, but also feel too Vietnamese to feel American. They are like children without a home.
I have spent my life living this reality and feel that there isn’t much of a voice in the world for it. I have a hard time believing that there isn’t a large population of people living in different countries who feel a bit alienated due to displacement and cultural dysphoria.
I often find myself searching for acceptance and a sense of belonging in some cultural space where I can feel connected to the world around me, instead of feeling like I’m floating in the world until something grounds me. “Outcast” is not exactly the right term, as I was never cast out from a subset. I simply never feel like I belong enough to be cast out in the first place.
I know that there are many articles that have been written about white male culture, but I don’t get to read or see the stories of people who express the emotions of my world, as opposed to the white society I live in. It has taken me years to believe that my story is important to share, and even now, I’m not sure how important it is. My best guess is that this is due to the nature of my culture teaching Asians to lay low and not cause too much disturbance.
The lack of disturbance has also led to a lack of representation that I have desperately searched for most of my life. For those who read these articles, I hope I can help you find the grounding that I have yet to find. I can tell you that I have a desire to write about love, life, and the many other things that have been affected by the status I was born into. I am scared, but I have come to the conclusion that I must share my story if I want to help those like me.