“Your parents don’t look alike . . . how did that happen?”
I remember hearing that inquiry my first day here at Longwood University. I remember laughing off that question, thinking it was a joke. Then I was asked, “what are you?” These types of questions have become a sort of novelty for me during my time here.
I never really paid much attention to the fact that my parents have different skin colors. I recognized it and it became my own sense of normalcy. My mother is a naturalized American citizen that immigrated here from across the world and my father comes from a Yankee state that has never really impressed me.
I grew up hearing different languages being spoken in public and eating incredible food from different countries. As a matter of fact, where I am from, many of my friends were biracial like me, having parents coming from different ends of the world. Trinidadian and German, Puerto Rican and Cherokee, Filipino and Irish, you name it, my city had people identifying with any ethnicity and any combination.
Coming to Longwood has led me to experience something that I never experienced before living in Virginia: culture shock. I always thought that culture shock happens when traveling abroad, but instead it happened here in this quaint little town. I always thought that the rest of Virginia was like back home; a true melting pot in every sense of the word. However, from listening to my peers and colleagues, I have learned that some have come from homogenous communities.
I remember saying that I spoke a little Tagalog during a self-introduction, and one of my peers asked what that was. I remember feeling surprised when they asked. I know that Filipinos are among the largest immigrant groups here in America, I thought that it was common for people to know what language is commonly spoken among that group of immigrants. Then I realized, I could possibly be the only person that they know that can speak that language.
Likewise, I have been confused by some of the southern sayings my peers have said, and have learned new things about the vast land of Virginia. I grew up in a community where people had different ethnicities and spoke English as a second language (ESL). Here, I was surprised to notice the homogeneity of the Longwood community, an overwhelming majority of people have similar hair colors and skin tones. Many of my friends had taken speech classes and ESL, a large portion of the Longwood community has not.
I have heard numerous stories about my peers riding dirt bikes and hunting in the rural areas of Virginia, something that is hard to find back home. My classmate was astounded and bewildered that I never rode a dirt bike before and jokingly asked if I was even “a Virginian”.
I grew up eating chicken adobo and menudo with rice, a common staple in my home. I immediately felt homesick in the area of dining here on campus “D-Hall” doesn’t offer many international foods, much less authentic international foods. At first, I felt like a bit of an outsider here on campus – with my dark hair and Eurasian features.
I still have a lot to learn about rural Virginia and the backgrounds my peers were raised in and I’m still trying to figure out what “let-er-rip tater-chip” means. But I feel comfortable now, I now even embrace my differences with more pride, striving to teach my peers about my experiences and cultures, as much as they have taught me theirs.
