Identity and home

[venaja]

Californian Asians have attempted to draw me out before. When I evinced no interest in their exclusionary activities and showed no sympathy towards their cliqueish mentality, I was accused of being whitewashed. I finally realized that my feeling of distate stemmed from the simple fact that I was not like them at all. We did not share a similar

Comments

[mettchen]

I know 4-H...

Just wanted to mention that - never participated though :-)

[venaja]

Well, you're not Californian, are you? ;)

I didn't know 4-H was an internationally renowned organization.

[mettchen]

Not the last time I checked...
And it wasn't a statement to go against what you said to prove a point.

I just wanted to tell you that I knew what it was :-)

http://www.danmarks4h.dk :-)

[venaja]

HAHAHA. DANISH 4-H. THAT ROCKS.

Don't worry, I know you weren't being contrary.

[discopete1]

That's funny, because it reminds me of when my African friend (well, his parents were African, he was born in Canada) hung out with some African-Americans on a long bus trip. His conclusion on returning to our section of the bus was, "Guys, I've just discovered something. I'm not black!"

Did you actually do 4-H? My father-in-law paid for college with his 4-H cow money.

[venaja]

I'm Asian. I'm just not a California Asian.

I joined 4-H very briefly when I was 8 (they had a special vote to let me in because I was so young) and dropped out when I realized we had to do...projects.

[aritei]

It's funny, because this morning, I went to bed thinking how easy it was to relate to you, as opposed to other Asians around here. I think it's the cliqueish groups I can't really understand. The Vietnamese outnumber all the other Asians by at least 4 to 1. While I do have a few non-ghettoified Vietnamese friends, the majority of my Asian friends are Korean, Chinese/Taiwanese, and Laotian. We're on the fringes of Asian-Oklahoman society.

[venaja]

I just can't stand that cliqueishness.

HEADLESS KITTY!

[rhiannonstone]

I totally grok you on the having a common ground to relate to thing. While I love having a variety of people and cultures around me, I also love not having to constantly explain what, exactly, I mean by the word "bbq," and not being made fun of for saying, "Yes ma'm," "please," and "thank you" on a regular basis. :)

Living in UT for a year was the first time I was immersed in a culture completely different from my own. It's not just about the Mormon stuff, either, though that is a big part of it. There were just customs and traditions and bits about growing up that they took for granted and I found totally foreign and had to have explained to me. The first time I said, "You did WHAT to your girlfriend to ask her to prom? And she still said yes??" and people looked at me like I was nuts, I finally understood how other people think when they ask me, "You eat WHAT??" :) I was at least pleased that we had a common food tradition--both Southerners and Mormons make some damn fine white trash food. :)

[rhiannonstone]

You know, that wasn't terribly coherent. Sorry. :)

[venaja]

JELLO PIE!

[misworded]

I am guilty of wanderlust myself. I wanted to see the world. I wanted to experience excitement. In the end, touring the globe only made me appreciate the things I had taken for granted.

In time I'll probably come to the same conclusion myself. Maybe I should just resign myself to the fact that I like boring things and that "exciting" things tend to bore me even more. I would take rural Oregon over NYC any day of the week.

[venaja]

Rural Oregon is the best. It's so beautiful.