The Heart of a TCK -- Part Three
It was no wonder that I had a hard time connecting with Bolivians and the Chinese community there in Santa Cruz, Bolivia after I began attending the American boarding school. For me, the only valid point of view was the one that corresponded with what I had learned at the boarding school. And it wasn't long before I began passing judgment on the cultural norms, values, and beliefs of the people in the other cultures through my "American" eyes. Ironically, in doing so, I was also judging myself--the Chinese and Bolivian side of me. As a result, I soon found myself alienated from the Bolivian people as well as the Chinese community.
posted by JHC @ 11:35 PM
2 Comments:
I think, JHC, that in addition to Kuki's posting and comment about finding your identity, there is the matter that society wants to categorize us. If you're not X or Y, you must be Z. I can't believe, for example, that diversity forms--you know, the kind you fill out voluntarily for, among other things, job applications--still so often allow you to check only one box for ethnicity. In effect, they are denying that anyone could be of multiple ethnicities or identify with more than one cultural heritage.
Yes, you have a good point. Now, as to identifying with more than one cultural heritage, I don't know that I even want to identify with more than one cultural heritage. I think I would rather be able to identify with one than with many. Anyways, this will have to be for another posting.
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