Idiosyncratic Integration

Both of my parents immigrated from Taiwan to finish their studies and get jobs in America before I was born, so I identify as Taiwanese even though I was born in California (in Yolo County!) My first language was Chinese/Mandarin, so I am still fluent with it, but I've been so used to using English that my vocabulary in Chinese has deteriorated. Since America, especially California, has such a wide variety of cultures, I've come to appreciate and integrate many of them into my own life. For example, whenever my whole family goes out to eat, we always (well, usually) go to a particular Korean restaurant - Korean food is great. Also, since we love Japanese things, both my sister and I have Japanese decor in our rooms.

I've come to realize, looking beyond these superficial things, that the greatest thing my parents have given me is how I see the world. My parents are both devout Christians, but they are in no way militant Christians. Instead of preaching and lecturing, my parents (usually) show me what to do with their own actions and give me a lot of freedom. Unlike the stereotypical "Asian mom" or "Tiger mom", my mom always discusses things through with me and respects me as a person. In turn, this has helped me have more respect for her. Even though I am a very skeptical person, I'm not completely agnostic or Atheist because of my family. They don't force me to believe anything, but since our personalities are very similar (they are both as skeptical as I am), the fact that both my mom and my sister are Christian gives me some faith.