I am Canadian. Get over it.

For those of you who don't know me well, I am Chinese by heritage. My parents are from mainland China, and as a random bit of trivia, my mom likes to mention that she grew up watching the Terracotta soldiers being unearthed. (Even more trivia…did you know that for the first time EVER, the Chinese government is letting some of the soldiers out of the country? They are hitting up Toronto, Montreal, and Calgary museums!)

Those of you who know me…will also know that I am “white”. In fact, I often get “whiter than most white people”, or “you are the whitest person I know”. In other words, I don’t act asian.

I do not speak Mandarin or Canto. I can’t read or write an asian language. I do not speak Engrish, or English with an accent. I do have a Chinese name, however, I can’t pronounce it, write it, or even recognize it in writing if someone showed it to me. I never had to go to Chinese school. I do not go to China once every two years. I do not know my relatives in China. In fact, I don’t even know how many relatives I have in China. The only time I went to China was when I was 5. I HATED it. I date a white guy, and no, my parents never tried to set me up with asian guys. I spent most of my life in Okotoks – for most of my life there, we were one of the only asian families in the entire community.

Is this unusual? I don’t think so…I am meeting more and more Canadian Born Chinese (CBCs) every day. I’m not alone!

Then why are there so many people who think I am some sort of alien?

Throughout my life, I’ve encountered people who express horror at my upbringing. “How can you not know how to speak mandarin?” “Where are your parents?” “Why didn’t your parents teach you?” “Why didn’t you go to Chinese school?” “You sound like a white person” “What a disgrace, dishonouring your heritage” “How can you ignore that you are Chinese?”

Why is it not obvious? My family chose to leave China – China didn’t do anything good for them. They chose to come to Canada, they chose to raise their kids as Canadian. Why is that so hard to understand? I’m not IGNORING the fact that I’m Chinese, my family has some habits and ways that can only be described as Chinese. However, my parents chose to embrace Canada and it’s ways and traditions, making our own little niche in this fantastic country.

I am Canadian. Chinese by heritage, but 100% Canadian, and it’s time people learnt to accept that.

-S