I Am a Californian
- Karen Zhou
- UNITED STATES
- 16
I am a Californian – it is where I was born and have lived for my entire life. Like many first-generation Chinese American families, I grew up speaking Chinese and English. My parents were born and educated in China. Though their English is not the best, they encourage my brother and me to learn English and to maintain our native language – Mandarin. You have probably heard of “Chinese inside (the house) and English outside.” When my brother and I want to communicate something just between the two of us, we speak English at home despite the rule. Other times, we speak Chinese and practice chopsticks. Still, it is much easier to eat rice with a fork (and a hamburger with fingers)! While my parents see me as an American pie, my friends at school think of me as a Chinese dumpling. Once, I was asked in the school cafeteria, “Karen, why do you eat dumplings so much?” I responded, “They are my favorite food.”
In addition to being a Chinese American, I am also a Californian. In school, I learned about the Spanish arriving in Mexico, the namesake of the state, and Father Junipero Serra traveling up and down the Californian coast, creating missions to convert the Native Americans to Christianity. The missions, in particular, had a great impact on me. I realized then that it was this piece of history that made our state unique. While other states may have artifacts of Spanish conquerors, ours is the one that is blessed by so many. It’s something that makes our state so special; it was this realization that later prompted me to pick Spanish as my second foreign language to study in school.
As a high school student, I’ve been able to travel to national conferences as a representative of my state. I’ve noticed, upon meeting all sorts of people from all over the country, that there are marked differences in people’s gestures and speech depending on where they come from. I have begun to wonder if there is something in my own behavior that shows that I am from California. Yes, there is. I do let slip some Californian slang at times. When I describe a difficult test to my friends, I call it “hecka” hard. Aviator sunglasses – to keep the California sun out of our eyes – are called “stunna shades”. I eat “gi-normous” portions of both dumplings and hamburgers and seafood. Well, in the end, I’m a Chinese-American-Californian. That’s who I am.