cm
Junior Member
Posts: 68
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Post by cm on Sept 29, 2007 10:22:30 GMT -5
I know heaps of EA that say they "are the best of both worlds" except thing about it is - apart from having some Asian genes in them, they aren't asian at all. In my opinion, if you can't speak Chinese (or another Asian language) then you can't consider yourself Chinese (or another Asian identity) Therefore, you are not truly "Eurasian", a blend of Euro and Asian, apart from the genetics. Being Asian in the US has nothing to do with culture or food or religion or anything. It has everything to do with prejudice due to your Asian appearance.
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Post by JohnCoolYoungHistory on Sept 29, 2007 12:48:27 GMT -5
I know heaps of EA that say they "are the best of both worlds" except thing about it is - apart from having some Asian genes in them, they aren't asian at all. In my opinion, if you can't speak Chinese (or another Asian language) then you can't consider yourself Chinese (or another Asian identity) Therefore, you are not truly "Eurasian", a blend of Euro and Asian, apart from the genetics. Being Asian in the US has nothing to do with culture or food or religion or anything. It has everything to do with prejudice due to your Asian appearance. 99% agreed. I consider myself asian-american in that aspect, but not asian in regards to what an actual asian immigrant is like my mother, who grew up in asia. And they don't consider us asian either.
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Post by Micha on Sept 29, 2007 13:16:55 GMT -5
In my opinion, if you can't speak Chinese (or another Asian language) then you can't consider yourself Chinese (or another Asian identity) What? For the majority of EAs and many overseas brought up Asians, that is the case. Many parents choose for their children not to be raised learning their native language (for a whole variety of reasons) but if that is the case and the child grows up incredibly resentful of that fact how can you deny his or her's heritage purely based on the fact he or she can't converse in their native language. What about interest in culture? History? Politics? Or more obviously, race? My Mum was keen for me not to be brought up speaking any Chinese dialects but due to some complications after I was born, I lived with my Grandma and picked up Taiwanese which now I'm so thankful for - had I learnt Mandarin then, I wouldn't be in such a pickle about where and when I'm going to find the time to pick it up again. However, it's not my fault she didn't teach it to me yet I love every bit of Asian culture - the food, boys, media (bit of an Asiaphile unfortunately) and it is THE worst feeling when Asians patronise you about every part of their culture even though it's quite rightly yours too.
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Post by soliliquy on Sept 30, 2007 11:49:15 GMT -5
Do your looks make you feel more or less EA? Do you wish you looked more white? Do you wish you looked more Asian? Do you wish you looked more balanced?
I'm definately more to the white side, which I kind of dislike. I don't feel like I have any connection to *either* side of my lineage. I'd really just like to look like something else since it's so bloody depressing to be in either homeland and feel like a fish out of water.
Do you feel like you're not good-looking enough to be EA (with all the EA beauty myths floating around)?
I don't feel like I need to be good looking to be EA, but people do seem to have the expectation you should be gorgerous if you are EA. I do at times wish I was better looking because other people think I'm not smexy enough to be EA, though.
Do you feel 'less EA' when people label you as either Asian or white? When they do, do you correct them?
I do feel bad when people say it, but I gave up correcting it a long time ago. I've found that even after explaining it people where I live will still think of me as white (because that's what I mostly look like) and it just got too frustrating.
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Post by jenecis on Oct 2, 2007 1:00:35 GMT -5
In my opinion, if you can't speak Chinese (or another Asian language) then you can't consider yourself Chinese (or another Asian identity) What? For the majority of EAs and many overseas brought up Asians, that is the case. Many parents choose for their children not to be raised learning their native language (for a whole variety of reasons) but if that is the case and the child grows up incredibly resentful of that fact how can you deny his or her's heritage purely based on the fact he or she can't converse in their native language. What about interest in culture? History? Politics? Or more obviously, race? My Mum was keen for me not to be brought up speaking any Chinese dialects but due to some complications after I was born, I lived with my Grandma and picked up Taiwanese which now I'm so thankful for - had I learnt Mandarin then, I wouldn't be in such a pickle about where and when I'm going to find the time to pick it up again. However, it's not my fault she didn't teach it to me yet I love every bit of Asian culture - the food, boys, media (bit of an Asiaphile unfortunately) and it is THE worst feeling when Asians patronise you about every part of their culture even though it's quite rightly yours too. The intricates and complexity of language reveal - in fact is - a major part of the culture, so that you cannot truly embrace a culture without sufficient knowledge on the language. Language goes beyond the cultural elements of food, media etc. because they reveal a group of people's way of thinking, their mannerisms, the subconsious philosophy that underlies their actions and behaviour. Think about the idioms and gestures that an outsider to your language will have difficulty understandng. For an example, when I speak Mandarin and then English, I notice that my manner, tone and even humour changes to fit in with the group of people I'm communicating with. The point: sure you can be an expert on a group of people (I, for an example am studying the Amish for a research project) but it is the language that is the key to insider knowledge and inclusion. Go to China and find some locals. You might like their cuisine but you will find they will not accept you as one of their own unless you can speak their language, with preferably a native-ish accent. (Though, on the reverse, just knowing the language is not enough to be part of the culture of course - yet critical nonetheless. E.g. I can speak and write French but never in my life would I consider myself French coz I was never brought up in French customs)
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Post by TeeHee on Oct 2, 2007 3:14:23 GMT -5
I know heaps of EA that say they "are the best of both worlds" except thing about it is - apart from having some Asian genes in them, they aren't asian at all. In my opinion, if you can't speak Chinese (or another Asian language) then you can't consider yourself Chinese (or another Asian identity) Therefore, you are not truly "Eurasian", a blend of Euro and Asian, apart from the genetics. i think jenecis worded himself/herself as such in this post in such a way that apparently has caused some backlash with folks misinterpreting it. from the way i interpret it, i thought he/she meant "if you can't speak chinese(or whatever your asian language is) then you can't consider yourself culturally chinese(or whatever your asian ethnicity is", and if this is what he/she meant, then i understand where jenecis is coming from. myself for example, i'm vietnamese-french EA...vietnamese was my first language, and i made/make a concerted effort to keep up with my viet language skills, be it taking literary classes(which i did so without any sort of credit hours, but out of sheer will/interest), going to viet/asian cultural events, eating/cooking vietnamese food, so i do consider myself pretty culturally-in-tuned. then you got your asian/EA-american who knows little to nothing of their asian language nor do give a rat's ass about their traditional asian culture, the only things asian about them are the fact that they hang out/sympathize with other [culturally-void] asians and their physical appearance. while this lack of knowledge/access to their asian language/culture may not necessarily be completely their fault, i find it laughable how these such types act all holier-than-thou on me and are so quick to write me off as "white-washed" just because my bf is white(for the record, i've dated both asian and white guys, along with EA guys in the past) despite the above-mentioned facts about my background in vietnamese/asian culture, while they know little to nothing about their asian culture and consider themselves "more asian-cultured" than me. Obviously, an asian or EA person's appearance may cause them to experience prejudice in a country like the US, so they definitely have the "asian experience", and in turn, are more than entitled to identify as asian in that sense. but as far as being culturally asian, not much so. I would apply this same concept to white americans who are generations removed from their ethnic european background, and in turn know little to nothing about and exhibit mannerisms different from those in their ethnic european country- they are definitely european by genetics, but culturally just american.
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Post by jenecis on Oct 3, 2007 22:21:11 GMT -5
culturally Asian
*face palm*
that's what I meant! lol
Thanks TeeHee for pointing that out!
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swordcane
Junior Member
~quappuccino~
Posts: 116
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Post by swordcane on Oct 4, 2007 15:36:36 GMT -5
Do your looks make you feel more or less EA? Less. I have pale skin and aqua/green eyes and dyed my hair blonde for a while. Do you wish you looked more white? No, I look it enough as is. Do you wish you looked more Asian? Yes, to appear more balanced so that people would take me more seriously and not try to debate that I "might as well" call myself white Do you wish you looked more balanced? See above. Do you feel like you're not good-looking enough to be EA (with all the EA beauty myths floating around)? I know it's supposed to be the best of both words, but I seem to have gotten the worst of both worlds. Do you feel 'less EA' when people label you as either Asian or white? Yes. When they do, do you correct them? Not really. I look white enough, and I'm not about to bust out my family tree to strangers. I only really correct/inform people when: a) People try to say that I don't get a certain idea/veiwpoint because I'm "white" b) They try to guess my heritage (and, generally, fail) c) They think I have some sort of Asian fetish
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Post by jefe on Oct 8, 2007 10:21:35 GMT -5
The country where we are born defines our nationality, not our genetic racial background. Not necessarily. Different countries have different nationality rules and even if it does dictate your nationality, the reality may still be different. I remember the old EAN moderator Synrg -- His mother was from Vietnam, his father was from Minnesota. Yet he was born in Korea and moved to Taiwan at a young age. After university in the USA, he relocated to Shanghai. I really doubt that being born in Korea says anything about his nationality.
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Post by DivaDancerLara on Oct 11, 2007 8:32:22 GMT -5
Yeah sometimes I think I am just a hapa girl hangin around you eurasians. But this website has issues that appeal to me more than hapa.com
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Post by halfbreed on Oct 11, 2007 8:37:49 GMT -5
^ You're a half Chinese sista to a lot of us.
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Post by DivaDancerLara on Oct 11, 2007 8:48:09 GMT -5
^ hahaha....you are becoming my new bestfriend ahhahah
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Post by sugarbaby on Aug 10, 2008 5:24:02 GMT -5
Well in the beginning, both my mom's and dad's side disowned us... but after a decade it sorta got better... =)
I feel more asian, because I personally think I look more asian [I'm 3/4 asian and 1/4 european] but my asian culture/ other asians do not see me as asian enough b/c to them I dont look asian... and my european side/ other europeans dont see me as being european cuz I dont look white enough...
I really dont know where I fit it, but into my Canadian culture... =)
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Szymon Von Zalyn
Full Member
50% Polish of Prussian descent, 25% Italian, 25% kalmyk, but 100% English.
Posts: 367
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Post by Szymon Von Zalyn on Aug 23, 2008 6:35:29 GMT -5
I look very Asian and lately even Chinese ppl (from China) think I'm full-Asian . I always felt that put a pressure on me to be very Asian. But I'm not. I speak little Korean and my Korean mom was very untraditional. I'm into Korean music and TV programmes but I need translations to understand them... My mom doesn't care at all about these things. I have more non-Asian friends. I think I have more Arab friends than Asian. I don't get along too well w/ Koreans who were born and raised here, I get along better w/ other halfies or even some (normal in their heads) "Wasians". I like Asian food better than Western food most of the time and sometimes I think I have Asian likings eventhough I don't know why (it's in my blood ), all in all I'm way more Euro. Sometimes I feel I'm rather half-Portuguese culturally, b/c I understand nearly everything, by now know how to speak Portuguese fluently, have been to Portugal often. Whereas the last time I was in Asia (Korea) was 14 years ago . I have very very little contact to my Asian relatives. This thread makes me sad . ... I have a similar problem but the other way around. People say I do not look eurasian enough or at all. I have been criticised for not speaking German or Italian because of my surname/s. I have got stick for using a English pseudonym at work and stick for not changing may name to an English one. You cannot win these days!
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Post by Phil on Aug 25, 2008 22:49:59 GMT -5
This is a great discussion! Thanks for bringing it back Sugarbaby! I also don't know where I fit into this canadian culture, a feeling I'm really not enjoying these days.
Chris Highfive!
I'm surprised so many of us have feelings of inadequacy when it comes to our Eurasian identity. Not knowing our Asian side or European side, that's all part of the Eurasian experience, the mixed experience. Whatever our personal story is as a Eurasian person, is the Eurasian story. I think most of us on this forum grew up in more White/European circles, even those of us in Asia, correct me if I'm wrong. In Thailand I met a girl who's dad was German and mom was Thai. Her dad and mom separated when she was quite young and so she grew up with pretty much only Thai influence. You could see that she was EA but apart from saying her dad was German she didn't seem to identify with being German. But that doesn't make her less EA. There are plenty of EA's like that, as immersed in Asia as we are in our Western worlds, and so they don't make it to these boards. One day we'll bridge that gap and party!
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