Language/Literacy Matters

Born and bred in Indonesia and growing up with people from all over the globe have always made me question my real ethnicity. I went to a British international school since pre-kindergarten. Nevertheless, I always thought we were all alike. As I thought, I discovered when I was in the second grade that I was a bit different than most of my friends. I was born on Indonesian soil and I am obviously a national citizen. But all these facts doesn’t make me Indonesian. My paternal grandfather was Chinese-American while my paternal grandmother was from Beijing. My maternal grandparents, however, are very different. My maternal grandfather was Chinese-Japanese whereas my grandmother was Dutch.
When I was younger, I never truly appreciated my uniqueness. Most of my Chinese-Indonesian friends are pure Chinese. So naturally, I would think that I am as well. When I knew where I really came from, even that meant very little to me. I speak fluent Chinese, English, and Indonesian and passable Japanese. I can’t speak Dutch but I hear it on a daily basis that I understand what stuff meant. However, ...