america has all sorts of people. they come from all regions and are the ingredients. their children mix together and the end result is americans. that's corny but hey, it's just a blog. the result is a bunch of mixed children or multi-generational children. that would be me. that would be my friends. we are the children of immigrants. we are of mixed cultural heritage. even if you're 100% something, if you're 2nd generation, then you're pretty much mixed yourself. you see, your parents bring their culture and you grow up in another culture. it doesn't mean you know that culture as well as your parents but you know something of it. to truly know your parents' culture would mean that you would have to spend a significant amount of time in their homeland. given this criteria, there are few truly mixed people out there. i don't know if my experiences are enough, but they are more than many i know. i'm very lucky to have experienced living in my mother's land, learning the culture and learning the language, to have even been enrolled in public school there. but it is not enough to claim her heritage in her eyes and probably in the eyes of anyone from there either. for i will always maintain my foreign status. i am not completely this and not completely that. even in a room of halvsies like me, i am the outsider. even when i return to my native america or my native los angeles, i remain the outsider for i have now picked up a touch of foreignness.

for example, i was recently asked something i have not been asked in a long time: "where are you from?" while i was buying lunch. god forbid i explain to the staff at togo's that you don't put mayo on a hummus sandwich! they never heard of hummus before so i said what it is and it's common in mediterranean food. they must've thought i was not from around here because god forbid LA people actually dare to eat something besides burritos, burgers, and pizza! at least i haven't been asked "do you speak english?" in years. damn that used to piss me off. my response was to turn to the brit/american/etc and ask, "do you?"