I mean, technically I am an American because I was born and raised here. But when someone asks me "what I am" I tell them I'm from India, the southern part. I'm included in the first generation of my family to be born and raised here because my parents immigrated to America just a few years before I was born. I know that it must have been difficult to raise your own children in such a different environment. America is in so many ways different from India, and my parents were not used to that when they were raising me. Luckily for my sister who is seven years younger than me, they got the hang of it. When I look at my school pictures from elementary school, I wonder if what I'm wearing was the style back then or if my mom tried to dress me like herself. I always had a bow on my half up half down hairstyle that was practically bigger than my head. I also noticed my mom liked pairing different prints and different colors. In India, girls wear uniforms to school or traditional Indian outfits. It was really rare to see girls wearing pants in India back then. Now, it's becoming a lot more popular to see around. Anyways, in elementary school and I guess the beginning of middle school, people would make comments about being Indian to me all the time. I would get those stereotypical questions like does my dad own a 7-11 and does my mom talk like this (insert phrase with an Indian accent here) . People would also ask why I don't come to school with red dot on the middle of my forehead. I would just ignore them, it bothered me a lot more in elementary school. Now, I will gladly tell people my dad works at a dental lab and my mom speaks English really well. And that I don't wear a "red dot" because I'm not married nor am I Hindu. I actually think its kind of funny when people ask me these kind of questions now. Sometimes I'll just go along with what they want to hear just because it's humorous to me, and I am a very sarcastic person so I'll add a little more to the story to see if the person actually believes the bs that I'm telling them.
After the beginning of middle school, I don't think it was as difficult for me. Or maybe I just gave people attitude when they asked me questions like that. Or asked them stupid questions back. Either way I think I deal with it a lot better.
I always wonder how it is for my parents to raise two daughters in America, well not just my parents but also other parents who came from a different country. It must be so hard to instill their cultural values in their children, especially with outside influences. And to raise your child in a place that you're just getting used to? My sister and I have been raised so different from how my parents were and my dad always reminds us. He tells us of how times were so hard, especially with 4 other brothers and 2 sisters. Whenever my sister and I go shopping, he tells us stories about how he only had three pairs of clothes, and they were hand me downs. And when I drive my sister to her school down the street, he tells me of the miles he had to walk just to get to school. There are so many stories he tells us, all for different, simple and daily things we do in our lives. It really makes me appreciate everything I have and all my parents have done for me.
I like how Sherin based her blog. She used her cultural influences as her main point, and used her parents as examples on how they implied culture into Sherin's life. She understands how difficult it must have been for her parents to raise two children in a new country. Also, Sherin respects and understands that she has great parents who risked their lives and the lives of their children in order to give them a better opportunity. I guess her approach and purpose of this entry is to praise her heritage and respect everything her parents have done for her. Although being picked on an abused as a child made her upset, she was never and is not ashamed of being Indian.
ReplyDeleteThis is very good concise writing. There was a conversational tone and good imagery that made me want to continue reading. In the future maybe you could try rereading your writing a couple days after you've written it to get a new perspective on how well you were able to express what you wanted and it'll give you the opportunity to pick out parts that could be stronger grammatically.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading all of these posts, I personally think the topic of your blog is magnificent! It addresses social problems regarding your culture in contemporary society, and the fact that its so contemporary really interests me. As someone who grew up in a predominantly white neighborhood, i was really ignorant coming to such a diverse school. After three years in Rutgers Newark, and making "brown" friends of all different cultures, I fully understand the importance of this blog. The only problems that I've seen throughout many of your posts involve the flow of your writing. For some posts, the person you are writing in changes. For example, in this post you address a general audience regarding how your parents came to America, then quickly change your audience to that of your parents by saying "...it must have been difficult to raise your own children," then switch back to a general audience. I also feel like there are some ideas in some posts that could come before others, which also throw off the flow.
ReplyDeleteI loved this blog because I could relate to it so well. My parents are the same way and i understand everything you're going through. It's hard living in a country with parents who deep down wished they were still in their homeland. Your cultural perspective on how being in America changes you is very true and describes how much our society differs from "the outside world"/ other countries. I respect your admiration of your parents hard work and dedication before they came to America. The message of respect is very strongly shown in this blog. I feel like you can branch out into many different topics for this blog. Keep it up.
ReplyDeleteI like how you were able to tell the readers about your culture. You did a great job of integrating your personal experiences while still teaching us about your background. I noticed that at one point you spoke about going to India and how you enjoyed it, while many people do not. I feel like going into more detail on that would strengthen this post. That could also make a strong topic for a future post. I didn't expect to enjoy reading about culture, but you did an excellent job of making this post interesting and fun to read.
ReplyDeleteThis post shows how your parents had to adjust to American culture and how you were right in the middle. It's really informative, kind of like a look inside of an Indian American family like the rest of the blog. You do a great job with comparing how your parents grew up in Indian culture while comparing it to how it is to grow up here.
ReplyDelete