The question “where are you from?”, seems like a very simple one. Where am I from? China. Where are you from? Japan. The first thing that came to my mind when answering, was always my nationality. As a university student studying amongst many international students with varying backgrounds – to be honest, sometimes I was jealous of other students talking about their experiences living aboard.
During my freshmen year, being asked where I am from, the answer was always simple – and sometimes that was the end of the conversation. I have to admit that I was not good at talking to people. But when a conversation that began from where I came from didn’t go well for a couple of times, I thought maybe it’s because my answer was a little bit boring. I mean, there are so many Chinese students on campus and China is such a big country. I was born and raised there for 18 years until I came to Japan for college… nothing strikingly exciting about that, for me at least. At that time, I was unaware that this kind of thought process was a lack of identity confidence.
However, when I went to the US for my study aboard program, the story started to change. “Where are you from?” my new classmate asked. “China.” I answered. But wait, that’s not the whole story anymore. I came from China but I was an exchange student from Japan. What a cool story! At the beginning, I thought I finally became one of those students who have diverse backgrounds. If the person I am talking to is not interested in China, he or she will have another option, Japan. The conversation somehow went better.
Once, when I travelled to New York City, I was trying to get onto a bus which actually required the ticket to be purchased in advance. I was extremely confused and the passengers grew impatient. But then, a girl got off of the bus and taught me how to purchase the ticket while complaining how New Yorkers can be so rude and impatient. Then the question came, “Where are you from?”. That’s probably the hardest question I have been ever asked. I am from China, but at that time, I travelled to NYC from Seattle. And that wasn’t even the whole story. I was confused as to which “where” she meant. Trying to keep my answer simple, I said “China”. The girl was a little bit confused, probbaly wondering what I was doing alone in NYC. But then, she excitedly told me that she’s a masseuse and is very interested in Chinese herbs and acupuncture. Though I’m Chinese, I’m not familiar with these things. She said, “You should be proud of the culture and traditions. They are really cool!” At that moment I realized, the question “where are you from” is a question on my identity. The number of places I have lived in does not matter. The reason why I felt it was a difficult question to answer, was that I wasn’t clear or secure about my identity or who I want to be. I think I finally understand how to answer this simple question…can you?
SO, WHERE ARE YOU FROM?
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