For those of you who don't know, a FOB is Fresh Off the Boat. Asian American slang for newcomers. Preoccupied by issues of Asian American identity as I am and since I only worked 18 hours this week, I've been thinking about this a lot.
It's weird to be a person here, rather than an Asian person. If I get stared at it's because I dress funny or am smiling for no apparent reason in public. At the same time, what I miss most about home isn't really American culture, burgers, french fries and American TV, it's Asian Americans. Don't know what you've got 'til it's gone right? I miss obnoxious overachievers, spiked hair, rice rockets, guys named Jimmy Lee who wore plaid shirts and khakis, and girls named Jenny Lin who weighed 80 pounds and had really long black hair. Have I mentioned Honda Civics? I miss Honda Civics. Hell, I don't even like people like that, I just miss having them around.
Also the thing is, there's a very different idea of fashion and cool here. I've been watching Taiwanese MTV and it's native clone Channel V an unholy amount. Some things I don't particularly like or seem laughable to me, but some of it I like a lot. Anyway, tons of people that I know want to go to America, and I feel sort of weird talking to them about America because I have an idea about what they might face when they get there. I went to school with kids who were FOBs and got made fun of for their weird clothes, funny food and shoes. Generally their English was pretty bad and they were too nice to say anything about it anyway. What am I supposed to say to these people who think that America is this wonderful place with tons of opportunities for everyone and for them? I did tell my TA Ann, who wants to go to Denver Colorado for school about how kids I know from Reed are picking up dead bodies for minimum wage, and she said "That's not what I thought America was like at all." I felt sort of bad, I mean who am I to say anyway? But I guess I thought it was fair warning.
It's weird though, here people who would be FOBs in America look cool here, and I mean in my perception. It's just strange to think about how one's perception of people's clothes and bearing changes depending on where you are. Cool's just different here, and my perceptions have been changing I think to accomodate that.
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5 comments:
dont forget that America still is a world power. getting an education in the US still gives most Taiwanese a better deal when they come back looking for jobs. Whether they are truely more skilled than people who get a native education is debatable, but at least they have a head start in a second language skill.
i used get picked on all the time, for being an american-born kid. people envied me, and they might have expressed it even more openly to me since i am Chinese. People were mean to me.
i used to hate it and find it incredibly unfair. but now i accept it, since, its true that i do come in contact with a lot more opportunities than most taiwanese kids. My dad has a great paying job, we have a couple houses, and they can pay for my college education no problem.
i think its good that you have a group of people in the US that you can identify with and feel a "part" of. isnt traveling to a foreign country a great way to get in touch with yourself? it really magnifies cultural differences.
and isnt it a weird feeling to be walking in a sea of dark-haired people? its easy to choose to be part of the majority, where in the US it would be kind of difficult to do that...
-Michelle
Ha ha you forgot Key Club - Magg
I love your writing. It's quite engaging and, I'm assuming, spot-on.
Dealing with excited inquiries from naive emigrant-hopefuls must involve walking a thinner tightrope than fielding questions from entering Reedies. On the one hand it's "no no no no no life is not what you're expecting" but then again, do you really want to be responsible for crushing their hopes and dreams? What you said to Ann sounds very responsible. (I can tell you were an HA; you can walk that tightrope with ease.)
--Jess
We had dinner again this week, and she says she's considering applying to Oklahoma State University. And I was just thinking, "Christ, how to I break this to her." I tried to let her know that she's going to probably be one of the only Asian people around and that she might be the first Chinese person that a lot of these people have met. She didn't really seem to believe me, so I just stopped trying after a while. We all have to find out ourselves I guess.
Maybe she will do more research into specific colleges on her own and in the process, realize that what you're telling her is true.
-Jess
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