Dutch | Thai
I would identify myself as a straight Dutch/Thai mixed citizen of earth. My parents met in Thailand. I believe it was on an island called Koh Samet. My Father is Dutch, and my Mother is Thai, both born and raised in their native countries. My Dad was a tourist guide in Thailand, so he worked there. At the end of every tour he had a period of rest on the island Koh Samet and that is where my Mother worked. My Mother came from a village near Koh Samet.
My Father was a cultural anthropologist, so he is very open-minded about different cultures. My Mother is also open-minded but a little bit less lenient towards the Dutch culture, but she did accept her life and the culture here. She moved here for our (my sister and I) sake. The reason was because of the opportunities and chances that we could get here in the Netherlands and not in Thailand. Though we live in The Netherlands I think the values I learned at home are a little more Thai oriented. Combined with the values we got taught at the Dutch school it makes us perfectly double. My Mother and Father did have their differences about how certain things had to be, like what kind of study we had to do or how we should act at home etc. They managed because they talked about it together and after some discussion decided what would be the best course of action to take.
I never talked about interracial relationships with my parents, but I believe love is not something you can but in a box and make rules for it so if your partner is from another ethnicity, culture, gender or whatever I don’t care as long as the couple is happy. Of course everyone has their own opinion about what love is and what it is meant to be. I think my parents being together was such a normal thing for me that I never really thought about what other people think about it. In my case my culture does have an effect in choosing a partner, to some extent. I have had bad experiences with girls in The Netherlands, calling me names because I look Asian and mocking me for it acting like I was some kind of creep. This resulted in me not being interested in Dutch girls at all. Even though I know that not all Dutch girls are the same as those people I met in my younger years, I notice that I tend to be less interested in western looking girls. Besides the past experience I just do not really like how the Dutch or western looking girls act. It is kinda difficult to explain but I do think that it has something to do with the cultural difference. I think Dutch and western girls can be a little bit overwhelming sometimes.
Being mixed-race makes it easier to connect with people. Because of having experienced two cultured I am able to understand people from both western and Asian cultures easier which makes it easier to be on friendly terms. Also, in Asian countries I always had a positive experience because the people I met tend to be interested in half Asian people with European blood so Asian people tend to be friendly towards me.
When I was younger there were people who always had something to say about my ethnicity and used it as arguments to explain why I could or couldn’t do certain things in a very generalising way. They mocked me for my Asian looks and the for them strange vibe I had so dealing with that was quite challenging when I was younger. I still meet these kind of people from time to time but I know how to deal with them in a friendly way and the people around me are not like that so I overcame the challenge, I guess.
Food and music help me to connect with my culture. My Mother always cooks so we eat Thai food a lot. But I also like Dutch liquorice (drop) which is typically hated by a lot of Asians. My Mother listens to Thai music when she cooks so I hear Thai music often. I like music, so I also searched for Thai songs and listen to them when I feel like it. I also know some old Dutch songs and listen to those too. The language I use most is Dutch. Sadly enough my Thai is really bad because of insufficient use but I would like to learn and master it in the future. I was born in Thailand and moved to The Netherlands when I was about 5 years old. We have visited Thailand a lot to meet my Mother's family and that is how I learned about the culture until now. I would like to live in Thailand for a longer period of time instead of just visiting as a tourist but that is something I can still do in the future.
It is weird to say but I think I just recently started to think about my mixed-race ethnicity. I think that the household I grew up in has taught me how to deal with being a mixed-race and that even though there are challenges and difficulties you have to overcome, there are also benefits to being mixed-race. Though there were cases where my mixed-race ethnicity made me lose some of my self-esteem when I was younger I had and still have a very positive outlook on mixed-race ethnicity. I am satisfied with the life I have right now so I have never really thought being reincarnated. However if I had the opportunity I would like to experience what would have happened if I had grown up in Thailand and never moved to The Netherlands.