I keep forgetting that you're Taiwanese - most Taiwanese that I know do not identify themselves as Chinese, or at least not primarily the way that you do.
everyone is so WHITE!
I'm always so torn in situations like that. Yesterday I was talking with a Chinese colleague about how she'd never had a teacher who was Chinese, and I realized I'd never had a teacher that was (to my knowledge) of mixed race, let alone Jewish and Chinese specifically. I have had a few Chinese teachers/profs, but two hated everybody (Ms Eichler and one in grad school), and the third hated me for being half Chinese (he didn't hate either whites or full Chinese).
I'm both Taiwanese and Chinese. The reason you think that I primarily identify myself as culturally Chinese is because I identify you as American in nationality. To the many people in my life whom I identify as Chinese or Taiwanese in terms of nationality, I primarily identify myself as culturally Taiwanese. Of course, my nationality is American, and I identify "primarily" as such when someone is asking about my national identity
( ... )
I have to admit as I sat there watching the concert, I noticed the one black man and started to note the whiteness, myself; I think as a whole Arizona has been startlingly white, although lately we're more and more Latino (and I'm one of the people who think that's a good thing). My own whiteness (Western European whiteness) is likewise bred to the bone, and yet somehow I find myself making all my characters staggeringly mixed-race!
The black man -- I can't believe I don't remember his name -- is actually either the or one of the proprietors of a good music store near where I live. I used to browse music stores a bit when I was in high school, and visiting his shop was a lot of fun (especially the show tunes and Christmas carols sections!) You'd probably like the guitars :)
Compared to Lexington, MA (the first place I lived in the US), Phoenix is _super_ diverse!
When my high school put on Hair we practically had to beg the few black kids in the school to audition; and having cast most of them, many dropped out, leaving ALL the black roles to two girls, one black boy, and one Latino.
Yep! Sean Patrick is Irish/American Indian; his great-nephew, Matt, is Irish/American Indian, of course, and also East Indian and Scandinavian. Theo is black, his girlfriend Helen is mixed-race black & white, there's a collection of Latinos (which makes sense, it being set here in the southwest), and Cody's grandfather is, well, an alien. At least I know all their backgrounds!
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Are you living in Taiwan?
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I'm happy to answer your open-ended questions once I better understand how you came to ask them on my journal.
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everyone is so WHITE!
I'm always so torn in situations like that. Yesterday I was talking with a Chinese colleague about how she'd never had a teacher who was Chinese, and I realized I'd never had a teacher that was (to my knowledge) of mixed race, let alone Jewish and Chinese specifically. I have had a few Chinese teachers/profs, but two hated everybody (Ms Eichler and one in grad school), and the third hated me for being half Chinese (he didn't hate either whites or full Chinese).
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I love your love of Nation!
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Compared to Lexington, MA (the first place I lived in the US), Phoenix is _super_ diverse!
I love that you make your writing diverse!
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Yep! Sean Patrick is Irish/American Indian; his great-nephew, Matt, is Irish/American Indian, of course, and also East Indian and Scandinavian. Theo is black, his girlfriend Helen is mixed-race black & white, there's a collection of Latinos (which makes sense, it being set here in the southwest), and Cody's grandfather is, well, an alien. At least I know all their backgrounds!
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