I think one of the novelties of being in a foreign country is that I feel twice removed from my Chinese heritage. It is very a surreal and disorienting "out of body" "out of character" "out of comfort" state. It puts into perspective for me what it means to be Chinese. What it means to be the child of immigrant parents. What it means to be the child of Taiwanese-born Chinese parents. What it means to be American-born Chinese. What it means to be an American in a foreign country. A Chinese-American in a foreign country. A tri-lingual Chinese-American in a foreign country. And it makes me wonder how much or how little the people in that place understand this layered identity. How do they process me? All the nuances, the politics, the prejudices, the social constructs, my multi-cultural values, the pieces of my heritage that I choose to wear and the other pieces I've chosen to shed-- They can't they possibly understand any of that, but what do they see instead?

Monday, August 10, 2009

KEEP AUSTIN WEIRD






spent last weekend in atx with steph, mike, david, daniel. first stop: alex's duplex. water hole at zilker park. ate at shady grove. tour of ut. yogurt spot=love. toy joy=random clutter. medieval party (with guest appearances from the anything-but-clothes party down the way). terrible blisters. friendly gay guys. good night. great punch. day 2: chuy's tex mex for lunch, note to self: chicken flautas=win. kayaking in zilker park. lots of fun. sore arm. love that cool water under the hot sun. cwandering around the drag. shopping. fro-yo at swirl. walking. bats at 7:30. really grotesque and graceful at the same time. unwind. 6th street exploration and people watching. fiesta: margarita mix, water, orange juice, grenadine syrup, peach mango fuze, saltines. back to the hotel for a couple rounds margarita pong. tipsy david. super cute. "is that my toothpaste?" *unscrews and looks inside* "yup that's my toothpaste." falling asleep to some random movie on tv. sleep in. day 3: slow wake-up and clean-up, barely make check-out. back to the drag. keep austin weird shirt. shopping at the co-op. more fro-yo for me. depart from austin. outlets at roundrock=favorite. $15 converses. (traded in for $40 coach shoes, courtesy of steph. a bitter sweet trade. mostly sweet). great sales. wish i had more time and money. head home. the end.

your friend,
angela