Nationality vs. Home
Ever since I got to Japan, I struggled with answering the question:
"Where are you from?"
I didn't know if I was supposed to say "I'm from Malaysia. I lived there for years." or, "I'm from Japan. I was born here, and my entire bloodline is from here." This question often caused me to struggle with my personal identity, and it really did make me question what this really meant for me.
Did the place I was raised in define me, or was my 'blood' what defined me?
A lot of people also chose to categorize me as a Malaysian because I "practically was one", but in truth, I could not agree, or disagree, to this statement. Was I externally influenced by my very "foreign" surroundings, yes. Was I raised completely isolated from my country and culture of origin? No.
I celebrated Malaysian holidays just as much as I celebrated Japanese ones, and my parents made sure I knew the essentials of Japanese culture way before I grew old enough to understand what culture was all about.
I thought about this long and hard until I came to the conclusion that my nationality does not equal my home, nor does my home equal my nationality; and, nothing to do with my race should define who I am as a person.
Nationality DOES NOT equal to home. Home DOES NOT equal to nationality.
Comfort equals home. Nationality equals blood/documentation/*include other legal things here*. End of story.
"Where are you from?"
I didn't know if I was supposed to say "I'm from Malaysia. I lived there for years." or, "I'm from Japan. I was born here, and my entire bloodline is from here." This question often caused me to struggle with my personal identity, and it really did make me question what this really meant for me.
Did the place I was raised in define me, or was my 'blood' what defined me?
A lot of people also chose to categorize me as a Malaysian because I "practically was one", but in truth, I could not agree, or disagree, to this statement. Was I externally influenced by my very "foreign" surroundings, yes. Was I raised completely isolated from my country and culture of origin? No.
I celebrated Malaysian holidays just as much as I celebrated Japanese ones, and my parents made sure I knew the essentials of Japanese culture way before I grew old enough to understand what culture was all about.
I thought about this long and hard until I came to the conclusion that my nationality does not equal my home, nor does my home equal my nationality; and, nothing to do with my race should define who I am as a person.
Nationality DOES NOT equal to home. Home DOES NOT equal to nationality.
Comfort equals home. Nationality equals blood/documentation/*include other legal things here*. End of story.
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