There are times when you’ll encounter people who are up for a chat and will talk away. But you don’t want to talk and want to avoid them.
You might wonder: how do you stop talking to someone without being rude? How do you end a conversation politely, especially if the other person won’t stop talking?
Sometimes you’re in the middle of something and talking isn’t ideal. Perhaps you’re avoiding the person talking to you altogether. Or you’re not in the mood for talking and it’s just bad timing.
The recent rise in Asian hate crimes is alarming. Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, many Asian communities are facing a lot more racist attacks and discrimination, fearing for their safety.
Asian-American health workers have been spat on and accused of spreading the ‘Chinese virus’ in the US. Six Asian women were killed in the Atlanta spa shootings this year. In New York, an elderly Asian woman was kicked on the streets as bystanders watched on.
Such harassment has also been felt here in Australia. 8 out of 10 Asian Australians reported facing discrimination during the pandemic. Chinese Australians experienced verbal and physical assaults going about their day.
‘Why don’t I belong?’ Sometimes we go through moments in our lives where we don’t fit in with a certain group or place.
For some of us, we might feel like we don’t belong anywhere most of the time.
AURORA AKSNES (1) | The Forum, Melbourne, Australia 2019
Either way when we don’t belong often that means we feel different. The feeling of not fitting in comes in different forms. For instance, we don’t get along with family and never seem to say much around our parents or siblings. Can’t identify with ‘where you are from’ or our heritage. Don’t get the latest trends or TV series everyone is so into.
There’s the common racial stereotype that Asians are quiet, and also shy and silent all the time.
Sometimes this is true and there are reasons behind that.
Many of these reasons are due to cultural upbringing stemming from school and class. Cultural upbringing and values also play a part in why some Asians are quieter than others.
Introverts love quiet and their own space | Weekly Photo Challenge: Layered personalities of different colours.
I am a quiet person, preferring to lay low as opposed to shouting out every opinion. I was the Chinese Australian, Asian student in class who almost always never talked in class. In all honesty, I don’t mind being the quietest among a group of people.
Time and time again, some of us get the question, “Where are you from?” We might dislike this question, or we might not. It’s a matter of perspective, or rather how we’re feeling in a moment in time that we decide if we like or hate the question there and then.
Chances are if we’re migrants, immigrants, refugees, third culture kids, expats or find ourselves part of a cultural minority community (think an Asian Australian in Australia, an Asian American in the States, we’re much more likely to hear the question. So too if we’re some place where our skin colour, accent or hair style sticks out from the rest.
Sometimes when someone asks where we come from, we feel small | Weekly Photo Challenge: Tiny.
A while back I wrote a blog post on the different answers to this question. It’s a question carrying quite a few assumptions, a question I’ve been asked all my life as an Australian-born Chinese living in different countries such as Australia, Singapore and Malaysia. Sometimes it rubs me the wrong way. Sometimes it amuses me.
There are many stereotypes about the land of Australia. Whether you have lived in, visited or heard of Australia, chances are you’ve come across typical perceptions of Australia in the geographic sense – and come across Australians agreeing with them. And disagreeing with them as well.
Having lived in Australia for a while now, I’ve noticed some things are always predictable about this 7.692 million km2 patch of land called Down Under. At times its surrounds surprise me when I least expect it, and sometimes it doesn’t.
Stereotypes are unique to each and every country. Regional Victoria | Weekly Photo Challenge: Rare.
Some of the stereotypes you may know, and some you may have vaguely heard about in passing. Some of these stereotypes about this continent south of the equator also known as Oz include:
Mabel Kwong 