I could not hide my embarrassment as I walked down the narrow hallway of Nanyang Technological University (NTU) when my best friend Kayden exclaimed, “you can totally be a Southeast Asian representative with all the nationalities that people say you are”. These words echoed in my ears despite the loud noise that was generated by the ongoing construction work happening in the background, making my face turn bright red. This is what happens when someone mistakes me for a foreigner or when someone speaks to me in languages that I can hardly decipher. This is not the first time that I was being mistaken for an Indonesian and I was frustrated, I was fuming. In my head, I was questioning myself – do I not look Singaporean enough for people to question …show more content…
The first day at work was probably the most embarrassing day of my life. When I first entered the building and headed to the lift, the person that I was in the same lift as asked me which level I was going to in Thai. I obviously did not understand what he was saying and was taken aback. I stared at him and said “sorry”, looking confused and evidently annoyed. He was quick to apologise, saying that he thought I was Thai and asked the same question apologetically in English before I went on my own way. I was hoping that would be the end of my nightmare, but it was not. Lunch was probably the most awkward moment in my life because my supervisor started apologising as soon as we arrived at the food court as there was no halal options available where we were at. In my head, I was screaming – ‘I can have anything I want and nobody can stop me. I love minced meat noodles and I am going to have that for lunch!’ Despite that, I had to explain that he did not have to worry because I am not a Muslim. He was confused and asked me “so what are you, Vietnamese?” All I could do was sigh in disbelief and explain that I am a Singaporean Chinese, like he
In the article “My “Oriental” Father: On the Words we use to Describe Ourselves” Kat Chow explains her opinion on her father’s choice to continue to use the word “oriental” to describe not only himself but anything of the Asian culture. Chow’s father, originally from Hong Kong, moved to the U.S. in 1969. He opened an oriental restaurant in a Connecticut suburb, but it eventually went bankrupt. The author explains how her father using the word oriental made him out to be looked at like a “caricature of a grinning Asian man with a ponytail and buck teeth.” Kat shares a story of when she was working at her father’s restaurant.
I was only speaking my language. I'm a Chicano, ¿que no? TEACHER: Because I don't understand you, and the rest of the class doesn't understand you. FRANCISCO: So what?
After my parents told me about a woman who came to them to talk about something I had done, I realized that being different isn 't necessarily a bad thing. So I am what is termed a TCK, a third-culture kid, which means that I grew up in between two cultures which melded together to form a unique culture of my own. This third culture can make it difficult people who don 't have experience with TCKs to understand me and there have been instances where being a TCK has gotten me into trouble. So we were at Chick-fil-A,
Nguyen’s essay focuses on how people who viewed her in a stereotypical way and treated her unfairly, shaped who she is today. The purpose of the essay is to inform readers on how racists acts and behaviors can affect children as well as adolescents in their lifetime; also how small remarks that categorize individuals into terms such as “foreigner” and “immigrant” play a role psychologically on how the individual beings to think and behave later on in their future. The essay incorporates may details that point to how other people’s use of language made the author think she was less than everyone else around her, due to being categorized as an immigrant. When the author states “I got good grades because I feared the authority of the teacher; I felt that getting in good with Mrs. Alexander would protect me, that she would protect me from the frightful rest of the world” (Nguyen, 90), this proves how being referred to different emotionally affected the way the author behaved because she had to act in a good manner in order to not attract attention to herself.
Erik Alvarez Professor Bogusky December 02, 2015 INTRODUCTION Hello everyone, one of my earliest memories that I have from school is from my first day of kindergarten. I remember walking into my ESL, english as a second language class, & instantly being questioned as to why I was in there. My fellow classmates assumed I was asian because of how I looked and teased me to the point of tears. In reality, I am of Guatemalan origin.
But my coworker just stayed calmed throughout the whole situation. She gave the man a brief introduction of who she is, where she 's from, and why she 's working. The man just stood there quietly and apologized to her for
At six years old, I met him for the first time and immediately found that I was unable to converse with him. The cultural and language barrier was already evident in our family. Throughout the years, my family’s economic disparity lessened, but our cultural and language gap burgeoned. I can attest to the truth of Asian parent stereotypes;
1.0 Introduction 1.1 Background of the Issue The purpose this report is written is to investigate the consequences of Asian stereotypes in America and how it has affected the teenagers living in America. This topic has been widely studied by many researchers to find a correlation between Asian stereotypes and the effects on them. Asian-American stereotype, also known as “ model minority ”, portrays an Asian as someone that does not comprehend or speak English well, excels academically especially in Mathematics, timid, anti-social ,moral, uptight, and lacks non-verbal knowledge etc. (Zhang 2010).
Taking acceptable lies outside the court room, one can see how deception affects and closes off entire groups of people. In Eunhye Cho’s essay, “My Synonyms and Antonyms,” she tells the hardships she faced growing up. Cho described growing up as an Asian-American she has to face my synonyms—or stereotypes—about being Asian. These stereotypes “tethered and suffocated [her] throughout [her] childhood” (Cho 13). Not only did her parents automatically place certain expectations onto her, her peers also assumed Cho to possess certain attributes because she was Asian; the treated her accordingly.
Everyday I walk into my English class is the moment I experience an identity crisis. As I approach the entrance to the class, I already detected the dichotomy in the room. On the right side lies the Caucasian students, and on the left, resides the International Chinese students. As the only Asian American in the class, I struggle to select the correct side. Being an Asian American can be conflicting sometimes; especially when you 're born in a predominately Caucasian town, but raised in a stereotypical Asian family.
Consolisa Edmond Professor Sanati English Comp. 102-12 22 March 2017 Analysis of” Trying to Find Chinatown” Shortly after birth, we have our identity written on our birth certificate and we are forever defined by that. The world often defines the people within it, instead of people going off to discover their own identity themselves. Race, ethnicity and other factors like it describe who we are but not represent our identity. In David Hwang’s 1996 play “Trying to Find Chinatown” Hwang considers the role of race and ethnicity in how we identify ourselves and how others identify us.
i said curiously, and he would respond with “Yes some Amontillado, the man that insulted you had interesting choice of words when he tasted it”, and he my friend smiled which only interested me more in this Amontillado. Then he asked me if i wanted to try it, i without thinking and in a flash responded “YES!
It’s difficult to pinpoint a specific moment in one’s life in which your life is transformed. We often realize that this moment is so signingagent when looking back on personal experiences and don’t realize it at the time. For me, this moment occurred when I realized that I had taken what I love most for granted. It all started back in 2004 when my family suggested that I get into a sport at a young age.
His face lit up with joy while I Selfishly, said “Mom! You gave him all our money, how am I going to eat now”? Despite having plenty of food at home I was upset that I would no longer be able to purchase my Chinese food. My Mother stated, “don’t
A memorable day I my life is when I first found out I was a diabetic. I was scared and didn’t really understand what was happening. I was too sick, and for the most part out of my mind. But, what I do remember is a lot of pain and a few visitors. It wasn’t the best day and I don’t remember every detail.