Out of the readings we did so far, I chose, “My Country ‘Tis Not of Thee’” by Elizabeth C.Leung. I chose this reading because I can relate to it, I mean I’m not an Asian American woman so I can’t say I know exactly what Elizabeth feels, but I found this reading very interesting because I have experienced Similar.
She starts by explaining her past as, “The little Asian girl” who pretty much knows zero English, and whose parents emigrated from Hong Kong. I could relate because, my parents emigrated from Turkey, and when I was put into school I knew zero English as well. Then she went on to talk about how she was tagged “it” and was always picked last for, “dodge ball, kickball, handball, war ball, you-name-it-ball.”
What I realized is that when you have that language gap and the other kids see you as “different” you are almost pre disposed to being singled out, especially when you are with younger peers. She then leads into her experience going through middle school and high school, and thinking, “Where were my role models? With whom was I supposed to identify? Where were the women? Where were the Asian women? Why didn’t my textbooks mention their triumphs?
Naturally from a statement like this I thought, what is there to motivate her? And when you keep reading to the next sentence, sure enough she talks about how she fell asleep in class and that she was contemplating cutting class. She doesn’t have interest in the class, she doesn’t have motivation, and the curriculum doesn’t engage her. I mean, I chose this reading was because it engaged me, and because I can relate. Anyways back to the point, she basically has no role models to look up to.
She decided her answer to this is to study abroad in China, and “Go back to her roots.” It’s funny because when my dad took me to Turkey to see my family and to, get in touch with my roots as he said, I experienced something similar to what Elizabeth did in China: I was anxious and nervous. As soon as our miserable fifteen hour flight ended, I met my uncle for the first time at the airport. I quickly realized that because of living in America I couldn’t really communicate with him at all, then I met his wife and my cousin for the first time and I really couldn’t say anything at all. It was that moment that I realized that just because this is where my family came from; it did not imply that Turkey was a place where I could live. The surroundings and the way everyone acted were so alien to me that by the end of the trip I was so happy to go back to America and see my friends.
One of the Major differences between her situation and mine was that I went back to America and realized that America is my home, It’s where I belong, weather I like it or not. The trip helped me discover something about myself that I did not know before. In her case however She saw neither America nor China as her home, which she described as being “Caught in between” She found no belonging in either. She associates this “In between” as being Asian American for her. As years pass she talks to more who are just like her and she states, “We are confused, until we learn that there is a term that describes who we are- Asian American women. We like it. We find comfort in each other.
We find pride.”
We find pride.”
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