Turning Japanese, Turning Japanese

Moving to an Asian country for a year would have been at the complete bottom of my list 10-15 years ago.  You couldn’t pay me.  You couldn’t even mention it without fear of a fist to the face.  I disliked traveling and I refused to acknowledge anything Asian. 

Growing up in the south (yes, Floridians, Florida is considered the south) was hard and I was often the only slanty-eyed character amongst my friends.  I got brutally teased, heard the phrase “ching-wong-chong” a million times, and asked to translate Chinese symbols more times than I can count. It was confusing when kids would come up and ask how I could see through my thin eye slits, always pulling back the sides of their eyes to demonstrate their point. When I looked in the mirror I only saw a white girl with dark hair and almond eyes wondering what all the “Chinese, Japanese, dirty knees, look at these” fuss was about.  I avoided anything and everything Asian related: eating rice, hair in buns, hanging out with Asian people- whatever, you name it- was avoided like the plague.  Like doing any of it was somehow going to tip people off that I was half-Asian. Like my olive skin and straw straight eyelashes on slanted eyes wasn’t enough of a tip off for people already.  The only thing I was ok with was being seen at a China Super Buffet, because let’s face it, only fat, greedy Americans really eat that crap anyways.  To me, I was blending in.

How I got from being racist against myself to voluntarily spending 8 months in Asia and loving it, and to now living in Japan is probably nothing short of a miracle.  This isn’t a story of some long lost connection with my culture. I’m half Korean anyways. 

Essentially, I am now in the same situation: I am an outsider trying to fit in.  Only this time it’s flipped: Instead of behaving like everyone but looking different, I look the part on the outside, but I behave differently.  My experience of moving to Japan will be unique to your average gaijin’s tale.  This is my log of an Asian-American girl assimilating into one of the most traditional Asian cultures. 

Wish me luck!