I am Vietnamese. That is what I call myself when people from America ask what ethnicity I am. But when I am outside of America, people ask of my nationality, in which I address that I am American. It makes sense, right? A few days ago, one of my Korean students told me that I look Asian. I replied with, "Yes, I am. My parents are from Vietnam." They were in total shock, and followed up by asking "I thought you were American, not Asian!" This is the first time I have encountered this kind of situation, for my belief in American culture is that no one is American by an ethnic background, but by a nationality. I'm not sure if other Americans feel this way, but I have been at a loss about discovering myself as both an Asian and American for so long and a part of me doesn't know how to carry on. I learn American culture while at the same time, try to learn my parent's traditions. I find it hard to do both while pleasing my parents and doing what I want as well.
Other things that I have learned here is that Koreans really love foreigners. Since I am Asian, I blend in with them. A few Koreans have spoken to me in Korean, assuming that I know it. It's pretty funny though! Also! My partner teacher is from Wales, and I don't know whether his presence is the reason why I feel more homesick for the UK than the US, or just by being here makes me miss my former home.
Other than these discoveries, I have been having a really good time. I am currently sick, which refrains me from going out as much as I want. I went out every day of this week and the only time I got to blog about this is today because I am resting from being sick! It's nice to have some time to myself though - I've been hanging around with big groups of people and it can get exhausting. This morning I walked with some music on. I haven't listened to music in a while. Something simple like this helps me rejuvenate.
Koreans are very nice. I love my students, they make my experience a whole lot more amazing. I am enjoying teaching so much that I don't want the next two weeks to pass by so quickly. I also don't want to start the summer school classes. I think I enjoy teaching more than learning in classes. But for now, I will leave with a few photos.
Before posting my photos, I just want to thank everyone who has been reading my blog. It means so much to me that people are reading it.
that looks so so amazing!
ReplyDeleteI received some similar comments when I went to Vietnam. I would be introduced as American and sometimes people would say, "but you look Asian." .....I didn't really know what to think about it haha but I didn't dwell on it too much. I even got one comment about how I don't look American at all, like what? Am I supposed to become Caucasian through osmosis in the air or something??
Haha yeah exactly!
DeleteI think some people think we transform into a white person or something lol. One of my students told me when she saw my name and enrolled in my class, she thought I would be an older Indian lady hahahah. Clearly, I am the opposite of that but yeah, it's a weird thing and we don't usually think of responses like these.
How was Vietnam?!