Dutch | Thai
My Mother says she comes from Thailand, however until two years ago I thought I was half Thai. But in actual fact, I am quarter Vietnamese (Grandfather), quarter Laos (Grandmother). My Father is fully Dutch. It was a struggle for my parents to combine their cultures sometimes. They couldn't be more different. My Father is very precise and efficient, and my Mother is the polar opposite. And I often wondered growing up, how? You two are so different, you don't actually have much in common, but yet here you are. It’s a lot of consideration, and understanding, but ultimately, I guess they love each other, and because of that they put the effort into wanting to make it work. The number one challenge would be, explaining to people where I am from. It is a bit of a tasking process, and people always forget, but it’s because I don’t like to say that I am half Thai/Dutch – too much is assumed of me. Therefore, I do explain my lengthy life story. Other than that, no. I’m just not Asian enough to be Asian, and I’m not white enough to be white. You can’t put me in a box, so you can’t really say anything. Having English as my first language has also been advantageous. A positive for me is that I belong nowhere and everywhere. You can never put me in a box, and that’s a pretty liberating feeling. I have grown up in international environments and therefore never felt like I didn’t belong. Also, although I am mixed, I think people have a difficult time pint-pointing where exactly. I have a certain look I want to achieve and whilst I know that this might be narrow-minded, sometimes a look won’t work for me. For example, what might look good on a Caucasian or Asian girl, might not look aesthetically pleasing on me. This is my opinion of myself, I think women should be able to wear whatever they like. However, the way I connect with fashion/makeup/hair is that it has to look aesthetically pleasing to me. I have never experienced any issues or was treated any differently at work. I was luckily always in a meritocratic environment, treated based on my efforts.
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