My name is Pei-Jeane Chen. Like most first-generation children of immigrants born in the U.S., I grew up despising my name. I was given an ethnic name, a name that was both a phonetic representation of my Chinese name—沛君 (Pèi jūn)—with an Anglo-twist that would allow me to assimilate a bit easier.
My first taste of assimilation occurred when I was enrolled in a predominantly white private school. The first thing that the teachers suggested was to drop the “Pei” part of my name because it would be too difficult for others to pronounce. I was Jeane Chen in my yearbooks. …
This totally happened just now. At 6:30 am, my cat woke me up to be fed. I had stayed up until 3 in the morning fervently searching for Korean beauty products on iherb.com, because a few hours before, I stumbled across this article on The Korean Skincare Routine. My search immediately resumed at 6:35 am when I hopped back into bed, excited by the possibilities of super soft, smooth skin.
17 products later and 113CHF less in my bank account, I sank contently (and slightly guiltily) into my pillow to try to catch a few more Z’s, as daylight crept through the blinds. …
