10 Things I Love About Being Mixed-Race
I. Blending in with Other Cultures
When I was volunteering for a summer in high school in Tanacross, AK, I blended in with the Native Athabascan Americans. In fact, I was mistaken for another girl, who was part-White and part-Athabascan.
Not only was I granted a day pass into their familial club, but they also thought of me as one of their own. I was privy to private, communal information.
II. Sharing My Blended Cultural Experiences
I absolutely adore sharing my cultural knowledge with friends, family and acquaintances. Whenever I visited my dad’s family in Portland, they would always ask me detailed questions about my Japanese heritage. One time, they even asked me to give a 10-second, elevator pitch on Buddhism.
When I spend time with Asian friends, I can deeply empathize with their stories of having Asian Tiger Mothers, not wearing shoes in the house, paying family visits and eating foods that can only be found in Asian grocery stores.
My mother wanted me to be a top student, generating A+ grades in all of my classes. She also wanted me to be well rounded, so that I could attend a top university. In reality, that meant I was attending some type of class 7 days a week.
Of course, if I didn’t earn A’s, I would not have attended so many extracurricular activities.
Whereas, my father wanted me to do well in school, but also be healthy and have time for “unrestricted play.” Without good health and unfettered play, one cannot have a balanced lifestyle, when it’s all about studying. While they both wanted their child to have a balance of excellent grades and good health, their cultures emphasized different things.
Thanks to their awesome parenting and my personality, I earned mostly straight A’s, learned to master the soroban (Japanese abacus), and still had time to play with friends.
III. Standing Out in Crowds
To put it quite bluntly, my face is an immediate conversation starter. Not in a cocky way, but in a way that makes me people think: I think she’s mixed-race, but what combination…Should I ask? How should I ask?
At all networking events or among new friends, I am asked about my ethnicity by at least one person. On rare occasions, I don’t want to talk about it, but 97% of the time, I am more than happy to share.
Be aware: if you ask me, I will most likely ask you to guess.
I have never felt like I need to dress extravagantly or change my appearance. All I have to do is show up, smile and turn on my gregarious personality.
It’s a blessing in disguise.
IV. Learning my Mother’s Native Language Before I was Born
During my mother’s pregnancy, I was already learning Japanese. Apparently, she used to sing classical Japanese songs and teach me Japanese words, while I was sitting around in her stomach. And it didn’t stop there…
A few days after my birth, my mother began teaching me kanji characters. Of course, I can’t say that I remember those characters, but I’m sure the knowledge is buried deep in my latent memory, making my Japanese classes in high school more manageable.
What an amazing mom, right?
V. 1st Generation Asian Mom
My mother came to America at the mere age of 25 with practically no money, no desire to return to Japan, and no friends. On top of all of that, she also hardly spoke any English. It was a bit brave, tossed with a bit of craziness and stirred with a desire to grow and learn quickly.
She worked seven days a week at two jobs, spent her free time attending Buddhist meetings, where she couldn’t understand a thing, and quickly grew to love the city she now calls home — San Francisco.
I loved having a first-generation Asian mother, who I could teach colloquial words and explain jokes on TV shows such as Friends.
How else would I have learned not to eat the last cookie at parties, how to cook sukiyaki (before YouTube existed), and why it’s a good idea to bow and nod profusely in Japan?
My mother’s dream was for me to speak Japanese and truly understand her culture. For that, I am forever grateful.
VI. Traveling 10+ Times to Visit My Japanese Family
The first time I left the country, I was a mere 6-months-old. Whereas, some 40-year-old people have never left the state, let alone country.
What an amazing privilege, right?
VII. Having a White Dad who Taught Me About the English Language
He worried constantly that I wasn’t reading enough and that I wasn’t getting a high-quality English language education in my public school. True.
So he took action.
He bought me anything and everything that I would read such as Nancy Drew detective novels, Archie comics and Tintin comics.
Whenever I had a paper to write, he would spend hours going over my not-so-carefully chosen words, and give me a thorough analysis. While it did annoy me sometimes, I am forever grateful that he poured his love and energy into extensively editing my papers and giving me unsolicited, grammar lessons.
Some Saturdays, we would spend an hour together, reading a grammar book. Afterwards, he would take me out to go out wherever my heart desired.
Since he was a profuse reader, he also constantly recommended must-read books that would help me get into a good college. Without his influence, I wouldn’t have had as much exposure to English classics and thought-provoking ideas. What a nice dad, right?
VIII. Mixed-Race People are Gorgeous — The Stereotype
I am a glass half full kind of person, so I love it! After all, it could have been the opposite.
While some people argue that mixed people are becoming a fetish, why not embrace the privilege having such a positive stereotype? Viewing it as an opportunity to share more about my culture, I readily embrace the stereotype.
IX. Multiracial Children
I will never have full-blooded children. It’s genetically impossible. And I readily embrace the fact.
Since I will have the privilege of having mixed-race children, I will do my best to raise them with a strong, healthy identity.
My dream is for them to fundamentally value themselves as unique individuals and craft the identity that they are proud to embody.
x. Embracing All of My Cultures
I have the freedom to take my favorite components of my various cultures, and paint the best image of how I want to be identified.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
What are your thoughts? Please let me know. And of course, thank you for reading this post.
