About a month ago I moved to the great Denver area and for the first time in my life I have found myself wishing I was racially only White. My Hapa background is an enigma to most locals.
There are few Asian markets and few Asian people. One can only expect to see an Asian person at an Asian grocery store or at an ethnic based church. I am blessed, however, to work for an international organization focused much on East Asia so there is a small handful of Asian American people in the office.
There is a small craving inside me that I never knew existed. It is a desire to fit in and belong. When I was in the SF Bay Area, it was easy to be Asian American because there are so many others who can belong together in ethnic identity. Now, I am being challenged to really take ownership of my identity as a whole person, not as someone who finds their identity by what is given to them by the public.
MyHapaLife.com 