Wow - where did all the time go? It is May already?
Well, I must take a moment to celebrate Asian Pacific American Heritage Month:-). Hopefully, May will bring more posts to my blog - and a common theme of celebrating the contributions of people of Asian and Pacific Islander descent in the United States.
There's so much rich history - I'm overwhelmed even thinking about where to begin. I guess I'll start with my history...
Even though I'm adopted, I know quite a bit about the Japanese side of my biological family, which is my biological mother's side. My maternal grandfather was Japanese American who was a U.S. Army officer. He was stationed in Japan, outside of Tokyo. There he met his wife, a Japanese National. My biological mother was born in Tokyo and the family moved to the U.S. when she was young. Unfortunately, I do not know any great accomplishments of my maternal grandfather...one of the many things kept from me as a product of a closed adoption. However, I was able to study Japanese when I went to college and lived in Japan for twelve years.
I am proud to be a mixed Japanese American. I also love to see my kids identifying with their Japanese side...interest in the language, celebrating the culture, eating the food...even though they haven't picked up too many of my Asian physical traits. And, yes, they CAN use chopsticks:-).
