Cultural influence

[Ganbare!]

Because of different mixes, location or interests EAN members cultural spectrum is pretty large though Anglo-East Asian seems to be overrepresented.

What cultures are you influenced by, consume or are you digging? Are they linked to your ethnic mix?

Canadian and French cultures form the basis of my identity as I lived there the longest but I've always been interested in neighboring countries cultures like Spain or Greece in Europe and how surprising the US in NA. I should add that in recent years I've been digging traditional Chinese language and traditions as well as HK/Korean/Japanese contemporary pop culture. As you can see there is no real cultural uniformity but my culture is still linked to my ethnic background nevertheless a significant part of it is completly unrelated to my mix and has been voluntary chosen.

What about you?

[furbob]

I've been highly envious of HK/Japanese teenage life~ seems way more interesting than life here (Australia) since as soon as you step out of your house you've got a shopping center and many-a-things-to-do right in front of you. not to mention the night life too

plus lately I've been learning more kanji/chinese characters in my spare time since im currently doing Japanese as a school subject. I find learning to write the characters really interesting a rewarding when you can understand a shop sign

[betahat]

At this stage I'm culturally pretty Canadian though I've absorbed a bit of California-ness too.
I've been pretty into Latin America in the past decade, learning Spanish and spending over a year living in various parts (Argentina, Cuba, El Salvador). There are a lot of things I really dig about Latin American culture - the warmth of the people, how much they like to party and dance, the rhythm and energy of the music, football, etc. With Asian culture for me it's mostly about the food though I have a soft spot for martial arts films and epics. Never got too into the language, music, art, video games, pop culture, etc. of any Asian country, though I always get a laugh out of the Singaporean stuff from my youth (Dick Lee, Under One Roof, etc.).

[Ganbare!]

^there's a special term to qualify that: californication.

The warmth of the people is exactly why I enjoy the company of people from sunny countries, their vision of friendship is much more engaging. I've never been too much into the superficial, reserved Western approach to relationships even though I fill the bill myself in many regards.

I get the feeling your father didn't pass the yellow fever onto you.
Anyways, it's good to hear people keep their minds open and even if you'll probably never capitalize professionally on speaking the language you can still shine at the restaurant ordering tapas in Spanish.

[betahat]

My father didn't have yellow fever - he was the yellow fever!
But he's an odd Chinaman, since he prefers French philosophy, English literature and Indian food.
The Latin influence comes from my maternal grandmother, who was born in Paraguay (to British ex-pat parents) - she's always encouraged her grandchildren to learn Spanish and travel in Latin America, and my first trip with her was to El Salvador, Guatemala and Central Mexico.

[Ganbare!]

My first gf father fits the stereotype of the Japanese artist so enamored with Old Europe he leaves his country for good and ends up totally assimilated, I thought that to be a little scary equally as much as segregated FOB.

^Oh that's why then. My interest for latin culture is circonstancial, as a child my neighbor's Spanish parents offered me to take classes with their son to learn the language. From this day on, I have immersed myself in its lifestyle, customs, beliefs, travelled a couple of time to Spain (the cuisine, architecture, Mediterranean scenery are so laidback, I love it) until I started getting more and more involved with Asian culture.

I've never forgetten how great close-knit families and friends were, they treated me like I was one of their own, I wish this existed in every culture, it would considerably reduce depression rates in the West, especially in North America where individualism is exacerbated. Many immigrants avoid befriending Caucasians for this very reason, contrary to what people believe, cultural difference is not the main reason. I should know most my friends in Canada and the US are minorities as opposed to 90% Caucasian in France.

[betahat]

^My first gf father fits the stereotype of the Japanese artist so enamored with Old Europe he leaves his country for good and ends up totally assimilated, I thought that to be a little scary equally as much as segregated FOB.

Well in my Dad's case it's just a case of colonialism in action - the common thread in his childhood between Burma, Singapore and Canada (other than his parents) was the English language and the culture of the British Empire. No surprise then that he went to Cambridge for Grad School and wrote his dissertation on British modern poets including Ezra Pound, who of course was enamored of Chinese and Japanese poetry. My Chinese name, Hsin Ren (the character being "upright man" or "man who stands by his word"), is actually borrowed from the Cantos as is my brother.

[quiapo]

Because my recently born only grandson is half Korean, my wife and I have been immersing ourselves in Korean culture and language.

[ahliang]

i feel that wherever in asia i go, i can call the place home and i m embraced by the culture as much as the culture of the country and inhabitants embrace me...

as i mentioned in another thread, even abroad, i m looped in with random groups of asians and i often end up being the only "foreigner" among the group...when i m with koreans, i KNOW i m not korean and they certainly don t consider me one but they consider me like this mixed south east asian kid...
when i m with indonesians or malay, they consider me part of them they ll boast that "our" manis pedas sauce is better than °íÃßÀå and that "we" can handle more spicy food than koreans...

i m mostly mixed with east asian but all my east asian friends think i m FULL south east asian...either indonesian/malay/thai (which i ve gotten a lot from koreans). but they ll count me in as asian no matter what and since they now know how k-pop culture is popular in south east asia they ll talk about whatever is the subject of discussion in korea and ask what other asians think of it...all koreans know what pho is and all my korean friends will see me as this thai and vietnamese food representative...

one of my singaporean friend here says i look different everyday. EVERY single time i see him he says "you look different again!" ...has anyone noticed that on certain days you ll get different culture-feels and feel like belonging or looking a culture more than another?

apparently over spring break i looked very indian...i had the indian guy at subway ask me if i was half desi, an indian lady in the washroom tell me i looked like some indian personality and ask me where i was from, and an indian couple sit at the table i was sitting at and ask me why i was wearing a Buddha (..."oh...you re not hindi?" ...and then i had an old korean lady comment on my face shape saying how "indians have better *hands gesture around my face* shapes than chinese...you re lucky" (but urrr...who said i was indian? i m more chinese than i am indian ¾ÆÁÖ¸¶... )

the week before last i had a very "exotic asian" look apparently where no one could place me...
me (late in lecture): may i sit here?
him: yeah, hey! i ve been wondering, where the hell are you from?
me: urrrr...you ve been (past)? (first time i see this guy...)
him: we re in the same **** class as well, you sit in this row in this lecture....i ve been meaning to ask you where you re from cause you look asian but not...like exotic...

but aside from feeling like a different culture everyday and looking a different culture, i think i m influenced by pretty much any culture i encounter...when i hung out with cambodians i was one of them, same with thais, particularly indonesians and malays here, same with vietnamese people...not the case with east asians even though ironically enough i m mixed east asian, but they ll definitely acknowledge that i m asian...it s not even that they won t consider me as asian...either you re full han or you re not...so they ll just see me as asian but other (not east asian) and lately instead of classifying me as half asian i ve been classified as south east asian...

conclusion: i think how we are perceived and how we perceive ourselves moulds what cultures we want to be influenced from an d thus what cultures influence us...as a citizen of the world i would say i m pretty maleable and if i can potentially blend in south east asian and south asian cultures and have managed to be considered one of them, i seem to, as a result feel more attracted to STRONG east asian cultures (since i m originally more east asian than anything else)...all the while i learn about these cultures that appear to fully accept me. the "strong" east asian culture i m speaking of is korean culture...it s as though i m trying to be accepted as one of them although i very well know it will never be the case (to japanese/koreans/ and to a lesser extent chinese either your FULL and born and bred in the home country--korean-americans aren t korean to most koreans from korea--or you re not)...but then they will often bring my heritage as a way to "include" in the clan: "you re Buddhist/you have the same sense of morals/attitudes as "we-koreans-" have/your culture is confucian so you know/koreans love this food and this food and it represents both your cultures/etc..."

if as a eurasian you ll never be the "authentic" representation of any culture, the advantage is that you re more maleable to the cultures you re supposed to represent and MORE...(racial ambiguity)

[hypeforlife91]

Well, I dunno as I don't know much about the German culture. I think I can describe myself as an American that is born to a very Chinese mother. My mother is Buddhist. I still believe in the Buddhist deities and stuff because she influenced me, but now when I think about God..I automatically think of Jesus. I grew up eating lots of Chinese food, that is why I am drawn to Chinese food because it makes me feel like I am home. My dad doesn't cook...well...he makes great fried chicken. But the fried rice he attempts to make always turns up charred black.

The other day I told my boyfriend:

Me: "I would love to be one of those Disney Princesses at Disney World. I love to make little kids happy."

Him: "Really, which one?"

Me: "Mulan."

Him:"How are you going to be Mulan if you don't even look Asian?"

Me: *Shocked* Really...um..okay..I'll be Minnie then." [You don't even know what the person under the suit looks like and I think I look too Asian to be a white Disney Princess like Cinderella anyways. But perhaps I can pull off a Pocahontas/Jasmine with a tan and a black wig. Or at most..a Belle since she has brown hair, like me.]

I was like kind of shocked because I remember that when we first met he said that I looked somewhat Asian. (My boyfriend is white; he's a mix of Portuguese, Italian, and Spanish and probably has some French roots...if you're curious.) Anyways, I guess my looks do change as well. I get all sorts of things from people though...Latina, Filipino, Thai, Spanish, White, sometimes Japanese, you name it. I think if I had tiny curls, I wouldn't be surprised if people thought I was a mulatto (African-White mix). But I see that a lot of eurasians can look mulatto with tiny curly hair if their skin is tanned.

I love Japanese/Korean stuff and my boyfriend complains that I am such an Asian freak. Whenever I say "let's go to Japan or let's go to Korea!" He is like "here we go again...." Sometimes he even goes to me "Why do you always talk about Asian stuff so much?" That confuses me a little too since 1) I am part Asian. 2) I love Asian stuff, so what? He's obsessed with video games.

On a side note, I think there should totally be a Eurasian Disney Princess. >;P

[Ganbare!]

Apr 19, 2010 16:20:47 GMT -5 betahat said:

^My first gf father fits the stereotype of the Japanese artist so enamored with Old Europe he leaves his country for good and ends up totally assimilated, I thought that to be a little scary equally as much as segregated FOB.

Well in my Dad's case it's just a case of colonialism in action - the common thread in his childhood between Burma, Singapore and Canada (other than his parents) was the English language and the culture of the British Empire. No surprise then that he went to Cambridge for Grad School and wrote his dissertation on British modern poets including Ezra Pound, who of course was enamored of Chinese and Japanese poetry. My Chinese name, Hsin Ren (the character being "upright man" or "man who stands by his word"), is actually borrowed from the Cantos as is my brother.

My Chinese name is Wei meaning 'towering' or 'mighty'. Is your name part of your civil records?

Unlike yours, my father was essentially a segregated FOB despite founding a family in Europe, I don't think he ever planned to stay in the West considering he was sent overseas by the government in the first student contingents to obtain the advanced Western knowledge China was severely lacking in the 70's for its modernization. Which he did, however I never knew if he ever profited, if he had become rich like so many overseas Chinese entrepreneurs returning home had become during the economic boom. My life has unfolded in such an unlikely manner it's hard to relativize sometimes.

Reading some of the parents stories here, it feels like there is such a large spectrum of ethnic and social backgrounds from parents who met at university in HK to boat people refugees working at pho restaurants, it'd be foolish to think we're an uniform group if a group at all.