On the first day of kindergarten, I came in with a lunchbox that contained noodles and rice. I didn’t think much of it, until I looked around the classroom to realize that everyone had a “regular” lunch that contained a sandwich and a juice box. All the kids in the class would ask what it was, asking if it was Chinese food. Growing up, people would ask the same question, “Are you Chinese?” I guess that was the only Asian country they knew, but that was not the thing that bothered me.
Although I was in kindergarten, it astonished me how people knew little about culture and diversity. I strayed from the roots my parents brought me up on because of what the classrooms were teaching me. I was isolated and was taught this narrow idea of stripping away my culture to be just like everybody else. It wasn’t the teachings from the teachers, but the environment of the classrooms brought by the students and the silence or ignorance of the teachers. It is tempting to follow the flow of society, but learning how to embrace my literacy through the traditions taught by my family, community, and culture was the best thing I have ever done. In addition, the realization that literacy does not belong to one language.
“Ching Chong Ching,” is what I would hear, when I walk by a group of kids in the skating rink. They assumed that I was Chinese, when, in fact, I was Indonesian-American. These words aren’t even real words, according to Dictionary.com, it is defined to mimic the Chinese speech. As years passed from hearing these words in the first grade, these words are still present and occasionally said to me by strangers who want a cheap laugh with their friends. Although not everybody spoke like this, this does depict the closed society we live in today and how the standard education and literacy is being defined as the English language. It is understood that the primary language is English, but does that mean it is required to strip the details of accents from other countries, or to strip away every part that is different from how Americans are supposed to act? Does every student in America have to become robots that produce the same way of life?
As a child, I was ashamed of my Asian background. Society at the time was so isolated in American culture. My family didn’t speak English, so I was in a dilemma where confusion consumed me with a constant tug on both sides of the culture at home and the culture outside of home. At the time, I didn’t want to be associated with my parents because people saw them as the ignorant ones. My dad always emphasized that I was Asian-American, and that I should never forget that. Growing older, I realized that it wasn’t them who were ignorant, but I, who was. I lived differently from my parents; however, my parents always ingrained the Indonesian culture into my life: taking me to my Indonesian church, surrounding me with a strong community of Indonesians, and submerging me with tons of underrated Indonesian food. I never realized how grateful I was for that upbringing until recently. I started to embrace my diverse background and be proud of where I came from. However, I do regret one thing, and that is allowing myself to lose my Indonesian tongue.
Never realizing the significance of knowing another language, until it was completely gone. Now, I am relearning the Indonesian language as if I am still a child learning her basic ABC’s and 123’s. However, my parents came to the U.S. with no knowledge of the English language, but have lived here for 19 years learning their second language. It’s odd to think that I used to think that they were the ignorant ones, when they don’t just know one language, but two, I am grateful to come from a family of a different cultural background because, although, I am surrounded by a community that speaks Indonesian, it motivates me to learn the language even more. Literacy shouldn’t be isolated to one language. After all, the definition of Literacy, according to Dictionary.com, is the ability “to read and write, or to have knowledge about a specific subject.” Therefore, there is no country or ethnicity that can claim the word “literacy.”
My sophomore year in high school was the year I learned about vocabulary. During that year, I’ve learned the misconceptions of certain words, and how badly people, specifically myself, used words that were not accurate to what we wanted to actually say. Over time, these words came with an alternate definition that was not accurate to what they meant. The funny thing is, people were ignorant of this and we’re oblivious of this fact. To say that foreign people are ignorant because of the way they speak is absurd to the fact that they know more about the meaning of the word instead of how it is actually spoken. No longer trying to prove that I deserve to be here, but that I am capable of coming out of my comfort zone and able to be literate in America and in Indonesia.
It took me 18 years to discover the power of culture and how literacy is leveled in the knowledge obtained by an individual, and not by the way it is spoken. A person that is literate does not mean full-time American, and that is what immigrant students need to understand. It’s challenging to be in a classroom where you know you are different from everybody else, but the sooner you come out of your comfort zone and embrace your true self, all the burdens will fall from your shoulders. In an instant, you’ll be free because you are no longer a slave to what society has to say about you and who you will become.