I was debating earlier today between posting an entry or studying for my Math Structures Test tomorrow. My studying can wait. LOL.
I’m excited that I was given the opportunity to blog on this site. I’ve been looking for an outlet for my growing interest in talking about and discussing Asian-related issues here in the United States and around the world. With that I want to talk about how I became so interested in these things in the first place. I know that most of the other bloggers here are already into talking about the issues but it’s always interesting to take a step back in the past and think about that initial “spark” that completely changed how you thought about the world.
I believe that the term Asian American still has many political aspects attached to it. It’s slowly becoming a cultural lifestyle but the idea at this point mostly resides in political circles and discussion boards.
It’s been a while but I still remember when I had that “spark” that I mentioned earlier. 2004, I was a junior year in high school, my parents agreed to send me to an International Cultural Conference in Thailand even if it meant missing a few days of school. I admit that the main reasons I wanted to go was to get out of going to class for a week, to meet people and to probably pick up some girls. Not exactly the most “honorable” reasons, but hey, I was only 17. And I have to say that I got a lot more from going to that conference that eventually and radically altered my whole perception of what it meant to be Asian. People talk about the “clash of cultures” all the time but you usually never really get to see such things happen before your eyes. That conference was intended to bring people from diverse backgrounds together but it ended up becoming a “battle of the races” – that’s how I like to put it anyway…
You had misunderstandings flying left and right. People getting offended that they were being left out of discussions. I won’t get too much into the details because it’s all kinda fuzzy to me now. But in short, the entire thing was complete mess with Asians, Europeans, North American, South Americans and Middle Easterners all forming cliques among themselves. If you think you’ve ever been in a WTF! moment or at least know what I’m talking about, this was definitely my most unforgettable pupil-dilating, jaw-dropping one. Keep in mind that this was a week-long conference. That’s a hell of a lot of WTFs. And many of the organizers talked about soon bringing in the African countries to this circus. *Shakes head*
The world as I knew it was completely changed after that experience. It affected me in a way I couldn’t understand, and strangely enough, I actually remember feeling all my thoughts of innocent naivety fading away and slowly being replaced with this unusual curiosity. My parents also noticed it right after I got back from that conference. It started with me learning more about the Ku Klux Klan and their history with blacks. Website and website of all the crap they did. The Civil Rights era and the whole Black Movement soon after started to grab my attention. This continued as a mere curiosity until I entered college. Nothing much more than spending a few hours every now and then reading about different racial tensions within the United States. It was only during my first semester when I had to write a paper for my English class that I took my curiosity a step further. I started asking myself, “what about Asians? where do we come into the picture?”
It all started with me posting discussions on some Asian-related sites on Facebook for advice on how I can potentially make the paper I had to write related to Asian Americans. I got a good number of responds including one that essentially changed my general interest in race-related issues into a strong passion towards finding more about Asian America. I got a private message from someone talking to me about this Facebook group and how it can potentially help with my paper. That group did a lot more than just help me write my paper, it put me in contact with people who were very passionate about Asian American issues and other people like me who were also curious about finding more about it. Many other people can testify that actively posting in that group has also made them more aware of the issues that affect Asian America and gives them a place to informally talk about it. Several people from that group have actually taken it a step further and met up with each other in real life, whether it be at AA conferences, movie premieres, or just to shoot the breeze – people who would have otherwise not known each other. It’s become so much more than just a simple Facebook group. It’s hard to not get pulled into the hustle of bustle that constantly gets updated there and now, two years later, I’m still an active member of it.
Whatever your opinion may be of that group, it is the reason I’ve become more interested in finding out more about what it means to be Asian in this day and age and passionate towards spreading awareness about issues that affect the community. It’s also the reason I found out about this place and am now blogging on it. You should check it out when you have the chance.
As for my story, I’m still finding out what exactly Asian America means to me. The rest is history
Thank you guys again for the opportunity to write here. I’m looking forward to making more entries. Right now though, I’m hoping that I survive the one more week I have of summer school. This is just a small introduction I wanted to make to say hello and introduce myself to everyone.
