CHIPANESE FOREVER

[hi_bye]

have any of you been with me to an asian restaurant / grocery store / out in public period? if so, then you know that i invariably get asked what my ethnicity is (as if it's anyone's business). some think chinese, i've gotten thai or some other southeast asian variety before, but mostly i get asked if i'm korean. okay, i can understand how my

Comments

[sandieshewrites]

"How does that work?" What kind of comment is that? Are they referring to the war between China and Japan? Despite my quarter Japaneseness, I'm pretty clueless about this subject.

My potluck roommate in the dorms was and exchange student from Japan. She was half Japanese and half Chinese...and she didn't tell me until we knew each other really well. Before that, she only told me she was Japanese because in Japan it was shameful for her to be mixed. She even has two different names to conceal her mixed identity. One is a Chinese name which she uses when she lives in China, and the other is a Japanese name she uses in that country. She also told me not to tell my Japanese grandmother that she was part Chinese. I feel bad that she still feels like she has to live in secrecy...but I never quite got what it was all about.

[aka_imelda]

Most of the countries in Asia have been at war with each other at one point or another over land, goods, etc. Except for Thailand which usually just rolled over and did whatever the conquering country wanted. Usually, China came out on top until the 20th c. Because of the centuries of fighting, there's a lot of deep seeded prejudice that still lingers today, especially among the top three nations - China, Japan, and Korea. The prejudice seeps out in little ways - arguments about who really invented sushi or who is innately smarter. It's kind of like racism in the US, but different. Does that make sense?

[sandieshewrites]

Gotcha. I should have asked you in the first place! Ms. Asian Studies major.

[hi_bye]

haha, that's it exactly! actually, my dad likes to claim that everything came from the Chinese. pfft. even the internet...

[mama_amia]

You mean you're Japanese and Chinese? I thought that you were Venusian. Or something more clever than that. But you know, I try.

Let's eat dinner and be merry sometime. Too bad you're not a student, we could study-buddy.

[hi_bye]

yes, we should get have dinner sometime. do those herbs whet your appetite appropriately?

and, i may be taking german classes w/ cclsjohnson (!) next spring.

[mama_amia]

you can practice with David!
I will eat dinner with you whenever you say the word. It just has to be kind of early. You know, with the kidlets and all.

[puella]

Umm what do they mean "how does that work?"????
It's really weird that people assume asian-americans are immigrants or have immigrant parents. I mean clearly that's not a super rare phenomenon but I feel like even the shittiest most basic US history includes a tidbit about chinese building the railroads if no other mention of asian people in america.

[hi_bye]

yeah i know! i mean, jason and i are third/fourth generation. our ancestors didn't build any railroads, but they probably worked on some plantations in hawaii. ehh, whatever. thanks for understanding. i want to visit you!!

[margotamelia]

did you make some progress on your thingy?
i'm really proud of you!
what you had for your statement of purpose sounded awesome.
let me know how it went.
xo