QUOTE (username @ Oct 15 2004, 11:44 AM)
japanese and filipino?! really? hmm...never seen though i'm sure there are

I heard its hard for them to fit in either culture.
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QUOTE
"My friend, Miss. Taki, was born in Japan, as half Japanese and half Filipino, in 1976. She grew up with her nationality and identity both Japanese and Filipino. She acted more like Japanese, the only difference is her blood. However, some Japanese did not overlook the fact that she was “half.” Insensitive people asked her if her mother was “Japa-yuki-san”, a stereotypical discriminatory word, the name of seasonal female workers, prostitutes, from the Southeast Asia. They made a complete change from the contemptuous attitude to a flattering attitude after hearing the fact that she lived in middle class society.
She had been bullied for being “half” by the other kids when she was in public schools. She was “discriminated against as a foreigner, where only one race, Japanese, was dominant in Japan.” She explains that “Japanese are less exposed or experienced in other culture, narrow minded, can’t appreciate the difference in culture, or do not know how to cope.” “They rather ignore all the difficulties they face and go with the easiness.” The life, which was refused to tell, in the public school must have been humiliating. She knew how to speak Japanese and English, but not her mother’s native tongue, Filipino. Hiding and ignoring the fact of being half Filipino was the only way for her to survive in the Japanese community. She transferred to an international school later on.
After transferring to a multi-cultural school where students value each other basing on the personality, rather than on the cultural differences, she started redefining her identity as half Japanese and half Filipino, and asking her mother about the culture and language in the Philippines.
Even though the school life in the international high school stressed the commonality, there was still an unknown complex feeling somewhere in her mind, which was “different”. The feeling “different” was kept in her mind positively in the small community, the international high school, and negatively outside of it. Being “different” from the others created a sense of inferiority. She questioned how a life in the multi-cultured country, the United States, in where having “different” bloods from the others is natural and acceptable, would be. She was admitted to the Michigan State University with a scholarship.
She now calls herself as “double”, not “different” or “half.” The word “half” sounds more discriminative, while “double” sounds more optimistic when I put in certain situation. “Double” becomes her identity, and no longer as her inferiority.
Being “double”, as she explains, has many advantages. She has flexibility to excess to the other cultures; and the ability and willingness to see the world from different points of view as Japanese, Filipino, or even the others. She also has the ability to understand and help the people who are struggling in discrimination, racism or culture clash. It is easy to consider as ideas, but difficult to put into practice.
Her goal is to make prejudice people accept identity of “double” people and diminishing the discriminative prejudice. She wants to organize a group that consists of people with the same situation, “double” or more, then discuss their personal and cultural identities. It will help the depressed people to regain their self-esteem and prides of being who they are. To take over the volunteer activities of her parents, having many cultural events to introduce and share traditions and social movements in their countries, and sponsoring parties to invite people from various fields and races, is her duty and dream. It has both an advantage and disadvantage to have two different cultures, however, it is part of her identity and she is proud of what she has
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