Which nationality do you identify with the most?

posted 37 months ago by dooste

Many of my Hapa friends tend to lean towards one of the several nationalities they are. Chris, the lead developer on here, is half Japanese and half Filipino, but having spent a large part of his life in Japan, feels a closer sense of belonging to the Japanese culture and customs. My question to you is, do you 'take sides' or have a natural affiliation with one nationality more than the other(s)?

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  • Not Wanna be

    I have a learned affiliation with U.S. Democratic systems. However, being on the East Coast;- my personal affiliation is still Japanese in style. I have a learning bridge in life that is also heavily influenced by top notch European teachers.

    I am me. I am not Japanese because I have never been accepted there, I am not American in my problem solving approach and am shunned for my Japanese/ European approach.  I am a hybrid of 3 generations of war veterans and survivors on both the U.S. and Japanese sides.  My looks and mindset are not concurrent with linear racial lines and solitary national devotions.

    I am outside their boxes. To contain me in a box or boundary is to imprison me.

    37 months ago

  • Athena

    I feel like I am a chameleon at times, changing my color according to my surroundings, but at times I do feel like the black sheep since I am a mixed person.  I guess when it comes to tradition and cultural events, I identify more with my Japanese-American side because I was primarily raised around my mother's side.  I do feel a disconnect when it comes to my family living in Greece, Egypt and other areas of the world.  Unfortunately, I have yet to meet them, but fortunately I look forward to being accepted with open arms and learning all the things I never got  a chance to while growing up.  I think that it is never too late to embrace our ethnicities that we never got to know.  That is why I love to attend different festivals and travel.

    37 months ago

  • Shawn

    I don't mean to be a shit, but "nationality" refers to citizenship.  I think you mean what "ethnicity" (specific as in Japanese, Chinese, etc)  or race (more broad as in Asian, Caucasian, etc) do you identify with the most.  I'm probably being a shit being by saying I don't mean to be a shit hahahah, so I apologize in advance.  In answer to your question, although I was raised by a Caucasian mother who basically refused to acknowledge that I was anything other than white, I've always gravitated more towards the Asian side.  As for why, that's fairly complicated and would take more time to explain than anyone would want to read, so I'll leave it at that for now.                                                                                                            

    37 months ago

  • Chris

    Ooh tough to say.  I might be the last person on Earth to reply that kind of question.   

    37 months ago

  • Barbara

    Well, I was born in Hong Kong and raised by my Chinese mother so I have to say I feel more an affinity with my Chinese side. But I love my Swiss side too except when people confuse it with Swedish. ha.

    37 months ago

  • PikaPika

    I'm very much an upper midwestern American.  Minnesota isn't exactly the most ethnically diverse place in the world (but it's gotten a lot better over the years!).  My link to my Korean half, my mom, died when I was 10 so for many years I feel like that part of me sort of died with her.  In the past few years I've really made an effort to reconnect with Korea.  It's important to me now that I'm having a daughter of my own.

    37 months ago

  • Adam

     Being a hapa has created a struggle within me to find my " true self." When asked I would/will always identify with my Japanese side then follow with caucasian. Personally I find the asian side more "exotic" and separates myself from the others around me. Amazing how the term Hapa is rarely known. 

    36 months ago

  • t

    JAPANESE ALL THE WAYYY!!

    36 months ago

  • Jason

    I agree with Shawn on the "nationality" point. We hear so many stories about how someone (rightfully) takes offense when a passerby asks the dreaded: "so, what nationality are you?" question. Yet some of us may have dual citizenship, but how one would identify in that case is an entirely different question.

    35 months ago

  • simone

    Well depends on the circle I am in ---sometimes people say I look asain other times I get these people who try to tell me 

    who I am or who my family is !! Very annoying !My dad is chinese ..parents came from china and immigrated to Brasil.

    My mom well her dad is half chinese and half south american aboriginal indian .Her mom a mix of german ,indian ,portugese ,german and egytian .I grew up experiencing both cultures chinese and South American .

    Total chinese last name lol so was always questioned about it ....but funny my maiden name is gone .,....my married name is Italian and to be honest its weird but I feel liek I lost my identity taking on my husbands surname .Is that weird to say ??!

    Now when people see my son they ask me if my husband is chinese lol ...I tell them no ( as he is Italian ) and I'm the one who is half chinese...hence my son looking the way he does lol

    34 months ago

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