asian communities

[Rob_Hugo@PortNW]

so I was wondering if whatever hometown you came from had prominent asian communities and if they have affected your "asianness" at all..

I'm from orange county and they have a pretty big Vietnamese community in Westminster where my family goes on some weekends and eat out or go grocery shopping and it's really interesting to see so many Vietnamese people congregated together.. but it's also nice to know that there's a community there that represents where I'm from. I know that my Chinese and Korean friends would go to Hacienda/Roland Heights a lot because there were pretty big and popular asian communities there.

I think going to these places throughout my childhood has mentally made me more "Asian" because I wouldn't become too Americanized by forgetting my culture with its people, clothing, traditions, and food (YUMMY YUMMY food!!!!!!).

[Anonymous]

I grew up in Poway, CA which is a suburb of San Diego. It's pretty white-dominated I guess you could say. My high school was 95% white, 3% asian, and 2% other. I basically knew only about 5 or 6 other asians at my school. I guess that's why I lost a lot of my Chinese language since I used to be fluent in it. It's ironic though because in the school district, there are 2 other main schools, Rancho Bernardo HS, and Mount Carmel HS. RBHS had about 28% asian, while MCHS had close to 45% asian. Those schools are only 10 and 20 minutes away from Poway respectively! My parents had the choice to put me in RBHS because I live on the border between the two schools, but they decided against RBHS because they thought it was too asian. Even though I was born in SD, I moved to Taiwan until I was 5 so I had a pretty asian culture. My parents decided it would be nice if the cultures became mixed. Little did they know that the white-side slightly dominated considering where we lived. I don't regret living there at all, it's just really different than a school like UCLA where there is so much diversity. I didn't really know about asian communities. The most asian people I saw was at this Chinese Bible Church in SD. I didn't even know what Boba was until my junior year of high school! Crazy...I know 😀

[Anonymous]

I know I said this in a previous post, but i figured this topic went more alongside my response. I grew up in the Midwest, far from any prominent Asian community. Of a school of 2000+ students, there were about 8 Asians total. Then I moved out to California when I was 15, and was totally enriched by both asian and Vietnamese culture--like i said, I was a complete culture shock. I could definitely see differences between how my Asian friends were raised compared to myself. I guess you could say my parents were pretty "modern" and I think much of that it because I grew up in a largely Caucasin community. They were pretty lenient with me and weren't stringet on my studies. At the same time, they didn't force me to speak Vietnamese with them in the house. In that way, I can clearly see the differences between myself and my asian friends here because of my meager language skills. I'm trule glad that my parents made the choice to move out to Cali where it is so much more diverse, for i think i have embraced my heritage much more than if we would have stayed in Missouri.

I find it funny when i showed my california friends pictures from missouri they would all say, "all your friends are white!" And vice versa, when i showed my missouri friends pictures from here,"your friends are all asian!" Yes i can plainly see that distinction, but I dont even notice that. It shouldn't be a big deal to have friends of distinctly different races.

Haha...Michelle--I didn't try boba out until my sophomore year.

[Anonymous]

i'm from san jose and there's quite a large number of viet people there. eastside san jose has places like "lion plaza" and "grand century mall" and these places are always PACKED with asian people (especially during the holidays, so finding parking is craaazy). it's definitely a good thing that my hometown offers these kinda "asian" places for us to preserve our culture. where else would i get my daily servings of rice and pho? =P

[Anonymous]

I've lived in Brentwood (10 min from campus) since third grade, which is a very caucasian neighborhood. I think that environment has made me less "asian" than I actually thought I was. In high school I hung out mostly with Korean students but my close friends are a mix of russian, asian, and white. However, I didn't grow up in an asian community setting, which probably affected my "asianness".

LA is a very diverse city and I feel lucky to have interacted with people of so many different backgrounds. I went to pretty diverse high school in Pacific Palisades with around 2500 students (21% african american, 7% asian, 25% hispanic, 42% white, 2% other), so in many ways coming to UCLA, I felt something lacking, as in it's almost all asian and white.

I also try to get in touch with my asianness by going to San Gabriel or Monterey Park on the weekends with my family to go grocery shopping (99 Ranch Market, yea!) and eat out. Although we don't go as often as I'd like, it's still awesome to experience asian communities whenever possible.

[Edit by="yzhen on May 20, 5:57:50 PM"][/Edit]

[Anonymous]

Like Mli, I am from a predominantly White community and my high school reflected the same demographics with Caucasians making up the majority and the only minority population belonging to Asians (however as every year passed in high school there was a noticeable increase in the population of Asian students in each class), and I could literally count the number of black students on one hand.

Despite growing up in this community my entire life, I am proud to say that I have repelled most advances, culturally, of the overwhelming phenomenon of so-called "white-washing" that many Asian students in my high school have fallen victim to. I admit that I am white-washed to a certain degree and in some aspects perhaps materially and language-wise, but I have not forgotten that I am Chinese, culturally and cuisine-wise.

This is largely due to two things.
1) My parents were well aware of the lack of diversity in our town and they made deliberate efforts throughout my child in educating me in Chinese fables, traditions, etc. I was ALWAYS that one Chinese kid in my classes growing up who always brought a pack of that red-foil-wrapped-hard-vanilla-strawberry-candy EVERY Chinese New Year. Yes that was me. hehe.

2) which will finally respond to the "asian community" aspect of this thread. . .I live in the Bay Area so Oakland Chinatown was basically my second home growing up. My dad, who recently retired, worked in Chinatown for as long as I can remember, my grandmother lives in Chinatown, and my family's church is located not far from Oakland, so Chinatown has always been a routine weekend stop for my family. My familiarity with Chinatown has most definitely kept me grounded in my Chinese roots. And who can resist the Chinese groceries and snacks. . .come on now, lets give it up for Pocky!!

[Anonymous]

Where I live, Rancho Cucamonga, is the epitome of suburbia. The city kids that came here snubbed at the lack of diversity, the "farm" kids (Colton, Fontana, high desert) felt awkward at the change in the standards of living and competitiveness. My high school had a "prep hill" where all the cheerleaders, ASB people, jocks, and metrosexuals hung out. Around the quad, it seemed like a buffet of cultural tables: Asian, Latino/Latina, African-American, Tongan/Samoan, Filipino, Indian, and other social interests. People were into sports, their letterman jackets, and about outward appearances. Trevor Penick, the lead of O-town, was class of 1997. Connie Chin (c/o 2001) was Miss Photogenic & 1st Princess in the Miss LA Chinatown Pageant, and on Homecoming Court. Working at Abercrombie & Hollister was the "thing" to do. And many girls participated in beauty pageants, modeling, and acting on the side. Yes, even the teachers were attractive. I think there should be a television series in my city.
I was involved with a multicultural-awareness club & we would host many cultural dances and activities in the quad on a bi-monthly basis; Polynesian dancers, Oktoberfest, step team, Chinese dragons, Irish folk-dancing, Ori-tahiti, and nearly everything under the sun. People watched in interest, but I would say most people pretended not to be interested and would walk through the quad while the performance was on. That used to bother me, because there is nowhere else they can go to experience different types of cultures other than those moments (unless they make it a point to go to LA or befriend someone from a different culture). Every two years I would throw a Chinese New Year party at my home, and people would have the opportunity to learn about the Chinese culture, meaning behind stuffed dumplings, and taste traditional food NOT FROM PANDA INN. I did my best to share my culture, as well as learn it from the older generation, because I loved it so much that I wanted to share with the people surrounding me.
This is mainly because I was hurt in elementary school. There were only 2 Asian kids in the grade: she was Vietnamese, I was Chinese, but people would ask "Are you sisters??" multiple times for fun. They would make fun of the food I brought and laughed, saying it was "dog food". They would pull down their eyelids and say "Ching Chang Chong". This hurt me so much I just shut myself, and often cried to my mother telling her I wished I was not Chinese and that I had "blond hair, blue eyes, and white skin like Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty". I was hurt because I did not feel accepted, not because I was Chinese.
Years passed and I tried sharing my culture with people so that it was "cool" to be different (since those pre-teen & teen years revolved around being different). People soon warmed up my Chinese background and showed interest. In high school I joined that multi-cultural awareness club and lead as Director. It wasn't the easiest thing to do, but it was rewarding to learn, share, and experience.
UCLA is the most diverse university in the nation, and I know this was the place for me for the next four years. Hopefully you all feel the same way!

[Anonymous]

I'm also from Westminster, Orange County. Living there has always made me very aware of my cultural heritage, since the Vietnamese community is rather established there. I love being able to enjoy the good food, shop around areas that have an atmostphere of "Little Saigon," and just the thought that I can overhear people speaking in Vietnamese sometimes. Of course, that is not to say that other places where I've been is not as interesting. But I think now that I'm away for college, I spend less time of the week in the little Vietnamese American community, and thus even appreciate it more when I do go back. Living there has definitely made me more "Asian," in a sense. I can't function without the Vietnamese ice coffee once in a while! 😛

[Anonymous]

I also want to add some things to my previous post, especially after attending lecture today for my Asian American Studies class. Many ethnic groups form enclaves, and I suppose many Asian communities that we live in, or see, are examples of those enclaves. I think the enclaves provide a sort of comfort zone for many people, especially first generation immigrants, who are less likely to want to adopt the mainstream way of life. However, later generations may think of the communities more or less of a community that perhaps emphasize a certain culture, rather than a safe, comfort zone like earlier generations who had to deal with blatant racism and what not.

[Anonymous]

I experienced the same things in elementary school as Amy did. I hated all the racial comments about chinese people even though there were asian people in my class... sometimes it didnt count because they were filipino and dark and you know how filipinos are refered to as P. I. so yeah i was one of the only full asian person that actually knew how to speak in a different language. elementary school was hard on me because I didn't like being different from my friends. I guess thats why in junior high and hs i surrounded myself with asians although i did date the cute white boys but anyway.. being surrounded by asians made me comfortable for awhile..this is not to say that i didnt have any new ethnic friends.. but i did tend to mix fairly easy with the asian crowd..except those ghetto asians..Since my family participates in big family dinners every weekend we usually go down to monterey park/alhambra u know on valley somewhere.. and i was surrounded by asian people and i started drinking boba the first time at au 79 in arcadia back in 8th grade maybe freshmen year... but senior year when i wasnt so surrounded by asianness having a white bf and hanging out with more white people and getting irritated with the drivers on valley.. it made me aware that hanging out with a group of asian people all the time kind of looks weird from the outside.. so now i guess im in between since my best friend is white and we hang out all the time.. and i go to huntingtion beach more than i go to valley now.. and with all my hollister/ abercrombie wardrobe i guess im more white or at least neutral.. i think it is important for asians to have an experience of being around asians most of the time because it is different and it is needed to become less americanized. I know that my friend at berkeley is vietnamese and he never got into the asian community boba craze..hardly ever ate pho and his little 3 yr old cousin can speak better vietnamese then he can and now he feels like he has missed a great part of his culture.

[Anonymous]

I'm also from east side san jose like van, and we are always overwhelmed with vietnamese culture. I think people of the same heritage tend to commingle with each other more, and once that starts happening, a whole community is started. Growing up, I barely met any other asian races beside Vietnamese and Filippino. I remember comming across one or two koreans and one japanese even though we have a Japanese district down town! Weird huh. But besides from the Vietnamese community, i was also exposed to the Chinese culture as well since there is also a fairly large Chinese community as well.

[Anonymous]

While my hometown itself is not very populated with Asians (I'm from a small city called Los Altos up north), there are serveral cities which are highly populated with Asians within a short drive. Some of these include Cupertino, San Jose, Saratoga, and Milpitas. I liked being just outside the Asian community and not going through the "azn pryde" stage as much as many of my peers from other high schools. However, I definitely thought it was convenient to be just close enough to those cities where there are good authentic Asian restaurants and supermarkets.

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