“David, why are you hanging out with the CBCs?” A tough looking Chinese student asked me, furiously. CBC stands for Canadian-born Chinese, a term describing an Asian community that somewhat resists their Chinese identity. On the other hand, the angry Chinese student belonged to the community named “Fobs”- fresh off boat. Fortunately yet, unfortunately, I was the being that was in between of the two groups. Despite born in Beijing China and went to school there for 5 years, I immigrated to Canada right after and learned enough of the western culture. When I entered high school where entering a comfortable community seemed essential, I was confused. Initially, I joined the Fobs. We had many common topics- childhood games, Chinese cartoons, and
…show more content…
Surprisingly, one of the students from our class accidently solved it. As we wondered around the Asian plaza, one of the students complained: “I want to go back to Sydney.” The abnormal abundance of Asian aura perhaps made the student a little uncomfortable. When a community forms, its presence begins to pervade and attempt to dominate. As it encounters other communities or even people from other backgrounds, the different perspectives collide. This collision may initially cause joy of curiosity; however, as it slowly to emerge, it will create an incapability of adaptation. “I want to go back to Sydney” has no negative connotation at all: it is simply a phenomenon of cultural …show more content…
Thanks to Ghassan Hage, the author of “At Home in the Entrails of the West: Multiculturalism, Migrant Food and Ethnic Home-Building,” this peaceful coexistence can be answered. In the essay, Hage introduces the relationship between Cosmo-multiculturalism and food. One interesting point he raises is that “cosmo-multiculturalism perceives ethnicity more as an object of appreciation than as a subject in its own right.” (Hage, 143) In other words, Ethnicity, or in my case the nature of a community, is more like an object than a principle or pride. The apparent interaction with other communities may just be “subjects in their relation to other ethnics,” allowing them to benefit themselves. (143) For instance, Hage mentions Vietnamese restaurant owners “not only do they actively seek a non-Vietnamese clientele, but they have an excellent grasp of their expectations. They engaged in very sophisticated strategies of deploying ‘exotic’ and ‘authentic’ settings to attract cosmo-multicultural clients.” (144) The ethnicity becomes means of benefit instead of goals of coexistence. The seemingly tranquil relationship between the Chinese community and the Sydney fish market perhaps may just be a business partnership to fulfill each other’s
Surprisingly, one of the students from our class accidently solved it. As we wondered around the Asian plaza, one of the students complained: “I want to go back to Sydney.” The abnormal abundance of Asian aura perhaps made the student a little uncomfortable. When a community forms, its presence begins to pervade and attempt to dominate. As it encounters other communities or even people from other backgrounds, the different perspectives collide. This collision may initially cause joy of curiosity; however, as it slowly to emerge, it will create an incapability of adaptation. “I want to go back to Sydney” has no negative connotation at all: it is simply a phenomenon of cultural …show more content…
Thanks to Ghassan Hage, the author of “At Home in the Entrails of the West: Multiculturalism, Migrant Food and Ethnic Home-Building,” this peaceful coexistence can be answered. In the essay, Hage introduces the relationship between Cosmo-multiculturalism and food. One interesting point he raises is that “cosmo-multiculturalism perceives ethnicity more as an object of appreciation than as a subject in its own right.” (Hage, 143) In other words, Ethnicity, or in my case the nature of a community, is more like an object than a principle or pride. The apparent interaction with other communities may just be “subjects in their relation to other ethnics,” allowing them to benefit themselves. (143) For instance, Hage mentions Vietnamese restaurant owners “not only do they actively seek a non-Vietnamese clientele, but they have an excellent grasp of their expectations. They engaged in very sophisticated strategies of deploying ‘exotic’ and ‘authentic’ settings to attract cosmo-multicultural clients.” (144) The ethnicity becomes means of benefit instead of goals of coexistence. The seemingly tranquil relationship between the Chinese community and the Sydney fish market perhaps may just be a business partnership to fulfill each other’s