A Taiwanese Adoptee Who Wants to Be American

choi

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A Taiwanese Adoptee Who Wants to Be As American As the Next Person

Mai-Ling Hopgood, Another Country, Not My Own; One Oversea Adoptee Explains: Parents’ Embrace of the ‘Home’ Culture Can Have Its Costs. Boston Globe, Aug. 23, 2009.
http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2009/08/23/one_overseas_adoptee_explains_parents_embrace_of_the_home_culture_can_have_its_costs/

Note:
(a) hanbok (Hanja 韓服)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanbok
(b) Ah-So
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ah-So
(c) mythical (adj.): “existing only in the imagination”  www.m-w.com


Quote:

“When I was her daughter’s age, I wanted desperately to avoid the kind of identity that she was trying to give her child. I averted my gaze if an Asian-looking stranger threatened to look me in the eye. I didn’t want people to think I was one of them, because really, I wasn’t: I couldn’t speak Mandarin, Cantonese, or any other Chinese dialect, and didn’t do “Chinese” things in my home. My parents weren’t even Asian. I was trying so hard to show that I was just as American as anyone else.

“But just as important have been the friendships I have built with other Asian-Americans: What I share with them is not a mythical culture, but an experience in America. Seeing others who defied cliche encouraged me to do the same - and to be proud of who I was.
“Today, I don’t wish that I were more Chinese, even if my biological family and our heritage hold a place in my heart and history.

My comment:
(a) For the past two years, a man who considers himself a friend oftentimes murmurs “Ah-so” in my presence, in an unobstrusive way. I thought nothing of it; I did not even know if the utterance had anything to do with me. Two weeks ago, I saw a sauce with this brand name. I started wondering what exactly the words meant. I did not have time, though. Then I read this article yesterday. I looked it up and it is nothing more than a brand name. Inherently there is no connotation, positive or negative. Thus one should not be so sensitive.
(b) The second quotation above firmly plants Ms. Hopgood in America, describing Asia cultures as “mythical” to her.
(c) Ms. Hopgood’s website is
http://mei-linghopgood.com/

Her husband is Mr. Monte Reel, Washington Post reporter stationed at Bueno Aires, Argentina.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/nation/nationalsecurity/abroad/iraq/field/reelmonte/

(d) The alienation Ms. Hopgood felt about Taiwan may not apply to a well-adjusted adoptee but an assimilated nisei  (Japanese words for the second-generation).
(e) Many leave Taiwan and settle elsewhere--US, China (whether thy have mainland parents or not). It is a personal choice. There is no need to take it personally. Taiwan aims to be a place where one returns (temporarily or permanently), if he so chooses. Taiwan will always extend its arms to welcome, no matter what.
(f) I had this posting:

“发信人: choi (choi), 信区: Taiwan
标 题: Cultural Taiwan (III)
发信站: BBS 未名空间站 (Sat May 9 14:53:59 2009)

(A) Faiza Elmasry, American Journalist Returns to Taiwan to Meet Her Birth
Family. VOA (English), May 9, 2009.
http://www.voanews.com/english/AmericanLife/2009-05-08-voa39.cfm
("It made her more appreciative of the opportunities her adoptive family [in
America] had given her and more forgiving and understanding of her birth
family" in Taiwan)

Note: Mei-Ling Hopgood, Lucky Girl: A Memoir (Apr. 28, 2009, which seems to
be self published)
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