我在英國長大

如果你在某一國成長，本身卻來自另一種不同的文化，你會遇到什么情況呢？17歲的朱莉婭小時候很難接受自己英籍華人的身份，但是現(xiàn)在她很高興這個身份令她與眾不同。一起來聽聽她的故事。

y parents moved from Vietnam

to England during the Vietnam War. It must have been weird[古怪的]

for them to adapt to[適應(yīng)] different

surroundings and learn the English language. It was a different story for me and my sisters， as all we knew was being English and we had to go back to our Chinese roots and learn from scratch[從零開始] what it’s like to be Chinese.

This didn’t hit me until I started my first year of

Chinese school at the age of 11. I remember the first day quite

vividly[鮮明地]; I went in with my big sister and my dad， looked at the class and felt nauseous[厭惡的]. It might sound stupid now， but I was so used to the English environment that I felt different in the class， even though everyone was the same as me. Same colour hair， same colour eyes， same colour skin. Then I saw this guy who wasn’t Chinese; he was an intern[實習生] student learning Chinese. I tried talking to him in English but he made me speak back to him in Chinese. That’s when I realised that to feel equal as a person I had to embrace my Asian culture. I began to learn that being

Chinese made me unique.

Finding Friends – and Finding Myself

When I was in secondary school I moved from one group of friends to another. I was hanging out with

Vietnamese and Chinese people and I still felt uncomfortable

because they liked different things to me. I suddenly got pushed out of that group for being too much of an outsider. I eventually found a group of new friends who accepted me for who I am and to this day， they are still the best friends a girl could ask for. They taught me that to be myself， I have to learn to love myself and accept the way I am. They knew where I was coming from because they all had something unique and quite different about themselves.

Life at Home

My home life was another story. My dad’s best

language is Chinese， whereas my mum is better at speaking in

Vietnamese. This can sometimes lead to misunderstandings， so they’d have to ask the other person how a certain word is said. When I went to my friends’ houses I also noticed how different my home life is. For instance， at my house you have to take your shoes off at the front door so you don’t dishonour the family of the house. Because we’re Buddhists， we also have a room where my Mum goes to meditate[冥想] and pray to my dead ancestors[祖宗]. When it comes to celebrating Chinese New Year， we have to stick to traditions by cleaning the house thoroughly for three days until the new year starts， and then we can’t clean at all over the New Year period! My Mum puts up small red banners[橫幅] around the house to keep the demons， bad spirits and ghosts away. In a way， because I believe all of the traditions， it makes me feel safe.

The Highs and Lows of Having Two Cultures

There are many good things about having two

cultures. I feel individual， and it’s not like a phase which fades once you grow up， it stays with you forever. I like teaching my friends about a different culture so they’ll

understand me more as a person.

When I was younger， I used to enjoy going to the park with my sisters， but that was spoilt when a bunch of girls swore at[詛咒，咒罵] us and told us to “go back home” because we didn’t belong here. I’ve always been told that if you

experience racism[種族歧視] you should tell an adult， and that’s what we did， but the adult turned their back on us. Looking

back， I should have told someone more responsible[可靠的]，

like a parent or teacher because they have a

bigger chance of helping you out. I still feel angry that I didn’t fight back for my culture and didn’t ask the adult why they wouldn’t help me， but in a way I feel that I’ve become stronger as a person through the experience.

One day， I want to set up my own telephone helpline where young people who have experienced racism can call up and confidentially[秘密地] ask for help， or simply talk to someone if they’re upset about racist comments.

Now that I’m older， I feel that being Chinese and English is something to be happy about and

celebrate. Sure， there are times where I keep both cultures separate but I would never forget or

abandon[放棄] one for the other， because then I wouldn’t feel whole as a person. My advice to

someone who is in a similar situation to me is to

remember that you’re unique， and no matter what horrible comments are thrown at you for being

different， you don’t have to be the same as everyone else to fit in.

我的父母在越戰(zhàn)期間從越南搬到了英國。他們要適應(yīng)完全不同的環(huán)境，還要學英語，一定很不習慣。對于我和我的姐妹們來說，這卻是兩碼事。因為我們只知道自己是英國人，卻要找回中國的根，從頭學習怎樣做中國人。

這個想法直到我上中文學校的第一年才觸動我，當時我11歲。我對開學當日的事情仍然記憶猶新——姐姐、爸爸和我一起去到學校，我看了看課堂就覺得很不舒服。現(xiàn)在聽起來可能有點傻，但那時的我已經(jīng)對英國的環(huán)境習以為常，覺得自己在班上很另類，盡管大家看上去跟我長得一樣——頭發(fā)、眼睛和皮膚的顏色都是一樣的。之后，我看到一個長得不像華人的男孩；他是一名學習漢語的實習學生。我想用英語跟他說話，可是他要我用漢語回答他。就在那一刻，我意識到要與人平等相待，就必須接受自己的亞洲文化。我開始明白到“中國人”這個身份讓我與眾不同。

交友中尋找自我

上中學的時候，我的交友圈子經(jīng)常變化。在跟越南人和中國人交朋友時，我依然覺得很不舒服，因為我和他們的愛好很不一樣。正因為我表現(xiàn)得太像一個外人，我忽然間被那群朋友拋棄了。……