Mexican | Thai

Robert Saeheng.jpg

I was born in London but lived in Mexico till I was 8 because of my disability. I was born deaf. I went to live with my grandmother in a small village. We had a pet donkey called Jesus. We also had chickens, pigs, goats, you name it. It was a great childhood. Even in school in Mexico, I was always seen different. In Mexico, it is quite common for people to call each other by nicknames. The nicknames come from the father normally. Our nicknames were ‘Japonicitos’ which means Japanese because in Mexico they had never really seen an Oriental person before apart from what they had seen on TV i.e. they were referring to us looking like characters from Dragonball Z. Everyone in the village was very tanned and Mexican so when they saw this Oriental man they were like who is this guy. I was brought up like that being different anyway.

I think there are always going to be remarks for mixed race people and we are going to always seem differently. However times have changed really especially regarding London. There are so many people from different cultures and we are all integrating anyway. Nowadays it is so rare to find someone who is pure English in London really. Or maybe it’s the circle of people that I hang around with who are more open about hanging out with non-English people. But yeah, in terms of the future, I think we are all going to end up mixed one way or another. Whether its dating each other or having friends who are mixed with this or that. At the same time, we will always be seen differently no matter how far technology or stuff like politics changes and improves. I guess we are yet to find out. I would like to think it is going to be better but who knows. We should embrace who we are and our backgrounds because it is what makes individuals unique. With so many humans in the world, I guess we should try our best to be unique and be proud of our heritage, no matter where we come from, class or whatever.