(I) one of the things my time in japan left me with was a very deep appreciation for nations that are truly multicultural. i think of you as simply "American" for the same reason that i do not consider myself "Irish-Canadian". to me, the generic word implies being part of and embracing the multiculturalism, while (for example) "Chinese-American" carries connotations of the first-gen immigrant who only speaks Chinese, only hangs out with Chinese people, that sort of thing. we're all something-American (or something-Canadian) if you bother to look enough, except for Native Americans and even they're probably asian in the long run. so to cut this short, i see no reason for you to feel guilty here. everyone's heritage should be important to them. you are absolutely 100% justified in being proud of yours, and you don't need some crazy dingbat in a robe telling you what he thinks about deculturalization.
(II) as someone who tackled it directly, i can only say that i have a great deal of respect for you being able to handle a bit of mandarin. it's a beautiful language, which isn't a word i use to describe any of the many others i've been exposed to, but it's also damned challenging to master :/
also, i'm pretty certain i read that 國語 is a taiwanese term somewhere.
so, in conclusion, you rock; keep on rocking in the free world.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wow, i could write a paper on this, but...
Date: 2005-10-05 08:37 am (UTC)(II) as someone who tackled it directly, i can only say that i have a great deal of respect for you being able to handle a bit of mandarin. it's a beautiful language, which isn't a word i use to describe any of the many others i've been exposed to, but it's also damned challenging to master :/
also, i'm pretty certain i read that 國語 is a taiwanese term somewhere.
so, in conclusion, you rock; keep on rocking in the free world.