What the heck is my blog about?

Growing up as an Asian American for me was very different than one might think. My maternal grandmother was Filipina and my grandfather was Filipino and Irish. One may guess that my phenotype would suggest some trace of Filipina blood, but in fact, I look completely Caucasian due to my father’s mix of Italian and German blood. My sister and I are usually categorized at first glance as white, but after we tell people we meet about our mother’s Filipina blood, they start to notice the subtle undertones. I, for example, have my mother’s skin tone, and in the summer I become very dark. I also have the thick, nearly black hair that many women on my mother’s side of the family have as well. Interestingly enough, I broke my nose in 5th grade, and after it was fixed, my nose developed a bridge, but up until that point, I had my grandmother’s button nose. However, now my nose appears much more Italian, according to my mother. My sister on the other hand, while much fairer than myself in skin tone and hair color, actually has the shape of my grandmother’s Filipina eyes.
However, while my sister and I may appear white, we by no means ignore our Filipina background. We consider ourselves very culturally Filipina and were semi-raised in what my great aunts like to refer to as “Filipino tradition”. In this blog, I will be recounting my stories of growing up in a large Filipino family, my trips to the Manila and Davao, and my encounters with other Asian Americans beginning in middle school all the way up until my time here at Wheaton. I will be trying to understand why those of an Asian background tend to gravitate towards others of similar phenotype and why my white appearance has always overshadowed my great fondness and attachment to my Asian culture and has never fully allowed me to be completely accepted by other Asian Americans I have encountered.