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如果你在某一国成长，本身却来自另一种不同的文化，你会遇到什么情况呢？17岁的朱莉娅小时候很难接受自己英籍华人的身份，但是现在她很高兴这个身份令她与众不同。一起来听听她的故事。
y parents moved from Vietnam
to England during the Vietnam War. It must have been weird[古怪的]
for them to adapt to[适应] different
surroundings and learn the English language. It was a different story for me and my sisters, as all we knew was being English and we had to go back to our Chinese roots and learn from scratch[从零开始] what it’s like to be Chinese.
This didn’t hit me until I started my first year of
Chinese school at the age of 11. I remember the first day quite
vividly[鲜明地]; I went in with my big sister and my dad, looked at the class and felt nauseous[厌恶的]. It might sound stupid now, but I was so used to the English environment that I felt different in the class, even though everyone was the same as me. Same colour hair, same colour eyes, same colour skin. Then I saw this guy who wasn’t Chinese; he was an intern[实习生] student learning Chinese. I tried talking to him in English but he made me speak back to him in Chinese. That’s when I realised that to feel equal as a person I had to embrace my Asian culture. I began to learn that being
Chinese made me unique.
Finding Friends – and Finding Myself
When I was in secondary school I moved from one group of friends to another. I was hanging out with
Vietnamese and Chinese people and I still felt uncomfortable
because they liked different things to me. I suddenly got pushed out of that group for being too much of an outsider. I eventually found a group of new friends who accepted me for who I am and to this day, they are still the best friends a girl could ask for. They taught me that to be myself, I have to learn to love myself and accept the way I am. They knew where I was coming from because they all had something unique and quite different about themselves.
Life at Home
My home life was another story. My dad’s best
language is Chinese, whereas my mum is better at speaking in
Vietnamese. This can sometimes lead to misunderstandings, so they’d have to ask the other person how a certain word is said. When I went to my friends’ houses I also noticed how different my home life is. For instance, at my house you have to take your shoes off at the front door so you don’t dishonour the family of the house. Because we’re Buddhists, we also have a room where my Mum goes to meditate[冥想] and pray to my dead ancestors[祖宗]. When it comes to celebrating Chinese New Year, we have to stick to traditions by cleaning the house thoroughly for three days until the new year starts, and then we can’t clean at all over the New Year period! My Mum puts up small red banners[横幅] around the house to keep the demons, bad spirits and ghosts away. In a way, because I believe all of the traditions, it makes me feel safe.
The Highs and Lows of Having Two Cultures
There are many good things about having two
cultures. I feel individual, and it’s not like a phase which fades once you grow up, it stays with you forever. I like teaching my friends about a different culture so they’ll
understand me more as a person.
When I was younger, I used to enjoy going to the park with my sisters, but that was spoilt when a bunch of girls swore at[诅咒，咒骂] us and told us to “go back home” because we didn’t belong here. I’ve always been told that if you
experience racism[种族歧视] you should tell an adult, and that’s what we did, but the adult turned their back on us. Looking
back, I should have told someone more responsible[可靠的],
like a parent or teacher because they have a
bigger chance of helping you out. I still feel angry that I didn’t fight back for my culture and didn’t ask the adult why they wouldn’t help me, but in a way I feel that I’ve become stronger as a person through the experience.
One day, I want to set up my own telephone helpline where young people who have experienced racism can call up and confidentially[秘密地] ask for help, or simply talk to someone if they’re upset about racist comments.
Now that I’m older, I feel that being Chinese and English is something to be happy about and
celebrate. Sure, there are times where I keep both cultures separate but I would never forget or
abandon[放弃] one for the other, because then I wouldn’t feel whole as a person. My advice to
someone who is in a similar situation to me is to
remember that you’re unique, and no matter what horrible comments are thrown at you for being
different, you don’t have to be the same as everyone else to fit in.
我的父母在越战期间从越南搬到了英国。他们要适应完全不同的环境，还要学英语，一定很不习惯。对于我和我的姐妹们来说，这却是两码事。因为我们只知道自己是英国人，却要找回中国的根，从头学习怎样做中国人。
这个想法直到我上中文学校的第一年才触动我，当时我11岁。我对开学当日的事情仍然记忆犹新——姐姐、爸爸和我一起去到学校，我看了看课堂就觉得很不舒服。现在听起来可能有点傻，但那时的我已经对英国的环境习以为常，觉得自己在班上很另类，尽管大家看上去跟我长得一样——头发、眼睛和皮肤的颜色都是一样的。之后，我看到一个长得不像华人的男孩；他是一名学习汉语的实习学生。我想用英语跟他说话，可是他要我用汉语回答他。就在那一刻，我意识到要与人平等相待，就必须接受自己的亚洲文化。我开始明白到“中国人”这个身份让我与众不同。
交友中寻找自我
上中学的时候，我的交友圈子经常变化。在跟越南人和中国人交朋友时，我依然觉得很不舒服，因为我和他们的爱好很不一样。正因为我表现得太像一个外人，我忽然间被那群朋友抛弃了。最后我终于找到了一群接受我的新朋友。到现在，他们还是一个女孩能交到的最要好的朋友。他们让我明白到要做真正的自己，我就要学会爱惜和接受自己。他们了解我的背景，因为他们都有各自独特的、与众不同的一面。
家庭生活
我的家庭生活又是另外一回事。爸爸说得最好的是汉语，而妈妈则更擅长说越南语。这有时候会引起误解，所以他们不得不询问对方某个词应该怎样说。到朋友家玩的时候，我也留意到自己的家庭生活是多么的不同。比如说，在我家你必须在进屋前脱掉鞋子，以表示对主人的尊重。因为我们是佛教信徒，我家有个房间专供妈妈冥思以及祈祷祖先保佑之用。到了庆贺春节之际，我们要按照传统在春节前三天给房子进行大扫除，然后春节期间绝对不能清扫房间！妈妈会在家里到处贴上红色的小横幅以辟除恶魔、邪灵和鬼怪。在某种意义上，因为我对所有这些传统深信不疑，这也让我很有安全感。
两种文化的甜酸苦辣
拥有两种文化有很多好处。我觉得自己很有个性，这不像是某个阶段的特性，会随着年龄增长而消失，而是永远跟随着你。我喜欢向朋友展示一种不同的文化，这样他们就会更加了解我。
在我还小的时候，我很喜欢跟姐妹们上公园。可是自从被一群女孩咒骂并恶言警告我们“回老家去”、因为我们不属于这里以后，我们就没再上公园了。人们总是这样告诉我，如果受到种族歧视就要告诉大人。我们确实这样做了，但那些大人袖手旁观。回想起来，我应该把这事告诉更有责任心的大人，比如父母或老师，因为他们更有可能帮助我们。我没有为自己的文化争一口气，也没有责问那些大人为什么不伸出援手，这至今让我懊恼不已。但在某种程度上，我觉得自己经过这件事之后变得更加坚强了。
我希望有一天能够建立自己的电话求助热线，让那些遭受种族歧视的年轻人可以打电话过来私下求助，又或者他们因为受到种族歧视而闷闷不乐，只想找个人聊聊。
现在我长大了，觉得（同时）身为中国人和英国人是一件很值得高兴和庆幸的事情。当然，我有时会把两种文化生活分开，但我永远不会忘记或者放弃其中一种文化，因为如果这样的话，我就不是一个完整的个体了。我给那些处境相似的人的建议是——记住自己是与众不同的；即使有人因为你的不同说出多难听的话，你都无须把自己变得跟别人一样以融入当中。
y parents moved from Vietnam
to England during the Vietnam War. It must have been weird[古怪的]
for them to adapt to[适应] different
surroundings and learn the English language. It was a different story for me and my sisters, as all we knew was being English and we had to go back to our Chinese roots and learn from scratch[从零开始] what it’s like to be Chinese.
This didn’t hit me until I started my first year of
Chinese school at the age of 11. I remember the first day quite
vividly[鲜明地]; I went in with my big sister and my dad, looked at the class and felt nauseous[厌恶的]. It might sound stupid now, but I was so used to the English environment that I felt different in the class, even though everyone was the same as me. Same colour hair, same colour eyes, same colour skin. Then I saw this guy who wasn’t Chinese; he was an intern[实习生] student learning Chinese. I tried talking to him in English but he made me speak back to him in Chinese. That’s when I realised that to feel equal as a person I had to embrace my Asian culture. I began to learn that being
Chinese made me unique.
Finding Friends – and Finding Myself
When I was in secondary school I moved from one group of friends to another. I was hanging out with
Vietnamese and Chinese people and I still felt uncomfortable
because they liked different things to me. I suddenly got pushed out of that group for being too much of an outsider. I eventually found a group of new friends who accepted me for who I am and to this day, they are still the best friends a girl could ask for. They taught me that to be myself, I have to learn to love myself and accept the way I am. They knew where I was coming from because they all had something unique and quite different about themselves.
Life at Home
My home life was another story. My dad’s best
language is Chinese, whereas my mum is better at speaking in
Vietnamese. This can sometimes lead to misunderstandings, so they’d have to ask the other person how a certain word is said. When I went to my friends’ houses I also noticed how different my home life is. For instance, at my house you have to take your shoes off at the front door so you don’t dishonour the family of the house. Because we’re Buddhists, we also have a room where my Mum goes to meditate[冥想] and pray to my dead ancestors[祖宗]. When it comes to celebrating Chinese New Year, we have to stick to traditions by cleaning the house thoroughly for three days until the new year starts, and then we can’t clean at all over the New Year period! My Mum puts up small red banners[横幅] around the house to keep the demons, bad spirits and ghosts away. In a way, because I believe all of the traditions, it makes me feel safe.
The Highs and Lows of Having Two Cultures
There are many good things about having two
cultures. I feel individual, and it’s not like a phase which fades once you grow up, it stays with you forever. I like teaching my friends about a different culture so they’ll
understand me more as a person.
When I was younger, I used to enjoy going to the park with my sisters, but that was spoilt when a bunch of girls swore at[诅咒，咒骂] us and told us to “go back home” because we didn’t belong here. I’ve always been told that if you
experience racism[种族歧视] you should tell an adult, and that’s what we did, but the adult turned their back on us. Looking
back, I should have told someone more responsible[可靠的],
like a parent or teacher because they have a
bigger chance of helping you out. I still feel angry that I didn’t fight back for my culture and didn’t ask the adult why they wouldn’t help me, but in a way I feel that I’ve become stronger as a person through the experience.
One day, I want to set up my own telephone helpline where young people who have experienced racism can call up and confidentially[秘密地] ask for help, or simply talk to someone if they’re upset about racist comments.
Now that I’m older, I feel that being Chinese and English is something to be happy about and
celebrate. Sure, there are times where I keep both cultures separate but I would never forget or
abandon[放弃] one for the other, because then I wouldn’t feel whole as a person. My advice to
someone who is in a similar situation to me is to
remember that you’re unique, and no matter what horrible comments are thrown at you for being
different, you don’t have to be the same as everyone else to fit in.
我的父母在越战期间从越南搬到了英国。他们要适应完全不同的环境，还要学英语，一定很不习惯。对于我和我的姐妹们来说，这却是两码事。因为我们只知道自己是英国人，却要找回中国的根，从头学习怎样做中国人。
这个想法直到我上中文学校的第一年才触动我，当时我11岁。我对开学当日的事情仍然记忆犹新——姐姐、爸爸和我一起去到学校，我看了看课堂就觉得很不舒服。现在听起来可能有点傻，但那时的我已经对英国的环境习以为常，觉得自己在班上很另类，尽管大家看上去跟我长得一样——头发、眼睛和皮肤的颜色都是一样的。之后，我看到一个长得不像华人的男孩；他是一名学习汉语的实习学生。我想用英语跟他说话，可是他要我用汉语回答他。就在那一刻，我意识到要与人平等相待，就必须接受自己的亚洲文化。我开始明白到“中国人”这个身份让我与众不同。
交友中寻找自我
上中学的时候，我的交友圈子经常变化。在跟越南人和中国人交朋友时，我依然觉得很不舒服，因为我和他们的爱好很不一样。正因为我表现得太像一个外人，我忽然间被那群朋友抛弃了。最后我终于找到了一群接受我的新朋友。到现在，他们还是一个女孩能交到的最要好的朋友。他们让我明白到要做真正的自己，我就要学会爱惜和接受自己。他们了解我的背景，因为他们都有各自独特的、与众不同的一面。
家庭生活
我的家庭生活又是另外一回事。爸爸说得最好的是汉语，而妈妈则更擅长说越南语。这有时候会引起误解，所以他们不得不询问对方某个词应该怎样说。到朋友家玩的时候，我也留意到自己的家庭生活是多么的不同。比如说，在我家你必须在进屋前脱掉鞋子，以表示对主人的尊重。因为我们是佛教信徒，我家有个房间专供妈妈冥思以及祈祷祖先保佑之用。到了庆贺春节之际，我们要按照传统在春节前三天给房子进行大扫除，然后春节期间绝对不能清扫房间！妈妈会在家里到处贴上红色的小横幅以辟除恶魔、邪灵和鬼怪。在某种意义上，因为我对所有这些传统深信不疑，这也让我很有安全感。
两种文化的甜酸苦辣
拥有两种文化有很多好处。我觉得自己很有个性，这不像是某个阶段的特性，会随着年龄增长而消失，而是永远跟随着你。我喜欢向朋友展示一种不同的文化，这样他们就会更加了解我。
在我还小的时候，我很喜欢跟姐妹们上公园。可是自从被一群女孩咒骂并恶言警告我们“回老家去”、因为我们不属于这里以后，我们就没再上公园了。人们总是这样告诉我，如果受到种族歧视就要告诉大人。我们确实这样做了，但那些大人袖手旁观。回想起来，我应该把这事告诉更有责任心的大人，比如父母或老师，因为他们更有可能帮助我们。我没有为自己的文化争一口气，也没有责问那些大人为什么不伸出援手，这至今让我懊恼不已。但在某种程度上，我觉得自己经过这件事之后变得更加坚强了。
我希望有一天能够建立自己的电话求助热线，让那些遭受种族歧视的年轻人可以打电话过来私下求助，又或者他们因为受到种族歧视而闷闷不乐，只想找个人聊聊。
现在我长大了，觉得（同时）身为中国人和英国人是一件很值得高兴和庆幸的事情。当然，我有时会把两种文化生活分开，但我永远不会忘记或者放弃其中一种文化，因为如果这样的话，我就不是一个完整的个体了。我给那些处境相似的人的建议是——记住自己是与众不同的；即使有人因为你的不同说出多难听的话，你都无须把自己变得跟别人一样以融入当中。