I know majority of you on here are of an ethic background who is living in a western society. But what do you identify yourself as, what would you call yourself. Do you identify yourself as the country you are living in now, especially if you were born there, or do you identify yourself as where your parents or grandparents are originally from, due to your language and culture?
When I was younger, I grew up in an area were it was mainly made up of migrants of different nationality. Growing up I went to school with others just like me (same ethnicity), so I never had to explain. But when I got to university, and someone asked 'what are you?'. I always had to explain, like a history lesson of my family tree as no one knew what my nationality was, when I told them. By the end, I just said I was Chinese, it was easier and it was true, as thats my ancestral linage. However telling people this, slowly made me lose myself, or what I could identify myself as. I was born in a different country to my parents and the one I grew up in.
It took me awhile, to figure it out and find my identity. These days, I identify myself as Chinese - <insert where my parents were born>. Im a minority, there are not much of us in the world and in each generation as the elders pass, the younger generation like myself no longer stay within the community and many marry outside of it. We are so westernised that our culture and traditions are slowly fading away. Its only now, that I realise how sad that is, to lose your own identity and culture and in the process losing your unique history.
Back to the question. What are you? What do you identify yourself as?
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