Peg tagged me, so here's my APA Parent survey. I changed the last question.
1. I am: Sansei, 3rd generation Japanese American
2. My child is: Hapa Hapa Yonsei Gosei (3/4 J.A, 1/4 European American Jew), which means that because her dad is Hapa, she is a Hapa Hapa, which is half a Hapa, and Gosei (5th generation Japanese American) which makes her 5th generation J.A. (and 7th generation Jewish European American (via Pittsburgh) on her dad's side, and then 4th generation Yonsei on my side. Confusing? You could just call her Hapa.
3. I first realized I was APA when: I went to college and my boyfriend was Vietnamese and my good friends were Quynh Anh, Lan Anh & Sonny (Vietnamese), Lea (Pilipina), Monica (Korean, raised in Paraguay and the Valley), Takae (Chinese, raised in Japan), Ladan (born in Iran), Amelia (Mexican American), Alyce (Chinese), Minna (Taiwanese). Before college, my group of friends were all White, except for Cynthia who was African American. When I got active in the commemoration of the 50th Remembrance of Japanese American internment in 1992, I reconnected with my JA roots and identity, which also kicked off my interest in community work and political activism.
4. People think my name is: Jenni or Emiko. I also go by Jen or Jennifer.
5. The family tradition I most want to pass on is: Oshogatsu, the Japanese New Year's celebration
6. The family tradition I least want to pass on is: I can't think of any.
7. My child’s first word in English was: MaMa. Then apple.
8. My child’s first non-English word was: Well, apple was just last week, so none. Although she does understand "siente te," sit down in Spanish, and I regularly say "agua" instead of water. I don't speak Japanese, but I have used "oishi desuyo?" which means "does it taste good?" since she started eating. Her first baby signs were "milk" and "more."
9. The non-English word/phrase most used in my home is:
and "chotto matte yo" which means, just a minute, "abunai" which means be careful, or dangerous, and sometimes "atsui" which means hot!
10. One thing I love about being an APA parent is: exposing my daughter to different cultures, not just her own.
11. One thing I hate about being an APA parent is: nothing I can think of.
12. The best thing about being part of an APA family is: Tony says, "not too sure what it is to not be an APA family."
13. The worst thing about being part of an APA family is: Racism is bad, any way you slice it.
14. To me, being an Asian Pacific American parent means: that I have a responsibility to my child to raise her to embrace other cultures and nationalities, and to allow her to learn about being Japanese American. If she wants to play in the JA basketball leagues, or join a Japanese taiko drum group, that will be fine with us. Although if she wants to do African drumming and dance or Mexican folkorico (I have friends who teach both), then that will be cool too!
Here we are at the Senshin obon with Nobuko. It was a little hectic as Maiya did not want to be held. She wanted to be out wandering amongst the circle of dancers-crossing into the dancing traffic. She really liked all the dancing lights. We danced the Tanko Bushi and One Plus One, the two dances that Tony & I know.
It was my first time to the West LA obon, it is the one that Tony grew up going to, and it was a lot of fun. It was much bigger than I thought it would be. My parents were visiting, so they went with us. Maiya is wearing her taiko and fan hapi coat sent from Yuko from Okinawa last summer! We didn't see the dancing at this one as it was out on the street, and we were inside eating food. Maiya and Tony enjoyed the Teriyaki chicken and Chili Rice very much as you can see from the photo above. I liked that they had Bi Bim Bap, my favorite Korean rice dish. The shaved ice was awesome, but Maiya had a bit of a meltdown, so we had to leave rather quickly. Such is life with an active toddler!
