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?

Thursday, May 27, 2010

Ice Ice Baby

Went ice skating today with Becky and it was SO amazing.  I guess after skating so much throughout my life, I just need my fix from time to time.  Sometimes I get bored of walking and really wish I could just throw on a pair of skates.  It feels so good to glide and jump and spin around, I love it so much.  Even though I never really got that great at it, it's become such a big part of my life, and I'm glad I haven't lost it all yet.

Hugs and hielo [need to start practicing my Spanish!],
Angela
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