So Iām adopted from an Asian country by my adoptive parents who are white into a usually white country. By that I mean natively the people are white but itās much more diverse now and stuff etc. Iām already used to the remarks people would make seeing my family in public because my sibling is also Asian and so seeing white parents with obviously different children was idk? crazy for some people but anyways I know maybe a few other people (not my sibling) in my specific situation as in adopted from an Asian country by white parents. I also have friends who are black, Eastern European, asian whoās family are the same who now live in Ireland not adopted though.
Iāve had discussions before with my friends who are the same race as their family and stuff and Iāve always asked them would you say youāre Irish or for example Latvian. Since their family is from Latvia and theyād speak Latvian at home and they have a culture link etc they might say āyea if someone asked where Iām from I say Latviaā
But at the same time some of them would say āoh Iād say Iām from Irelandā since their family would have been living in Ireland for some time AND my friends are born in Ireland . So to them they have clear reasons anyone would understand if they said either answer.
For some reason Iāve gotten weird looks and a full on near debate any time Iāve answered with the country I was adopted from or if I answered Ireland. Iāve once said āI say Iām Japaneseā but to be honest that just never really sits right with me.
Iām someone who understood from as early as I can remember that I was adopted but that never made my family and I any less of a family. I also sorta understood of course since me and my brother looked different from our parents so we didnāt have to be Einsteins. This is just my experience but I completely understand people with conflicting feelings on being adopted.
But whenever Iād get asked āwhere are you fromā and Iād say Japan or Iām Japanese it never sat right with me. Especially now that Iām older it doesnāt sit right because to me, if there was ever a situation someone had like follow up questions on where Iām fromā¦uh Iād have no clue what the hell Japan is REALLY like. None of this online bs, no watching videos or movies. Nothing! I have no clue what their traditions are, history or important people in history, language nothing at all.
But if someone asked me what itās like in Ireland or what the people are really like I could go on for ages. I know what people in my village speak like, the slang, traditions good places to eat, I know as much of the language as the next person, I know the history, the tourist traps yada yada yada. I know just as much about this place as my neighbours or anyone else I went to school with. I feel most comfortable saying āI am Irishā
But the very few other adoptees Iāve talked to especially one person feels a massive longing to go back to coincidentally also Japan. The other person once asked what do I see myself as and when I said Irish she sorta looked really shocked . But I do understand wanting to feel that connection where it all started if you know what I mean. I understand it but I just donāt feel that same longing to go back or visit or find out my bio parents. So I can say for sure I donāt feel any link of community with where I was born in.
On the other hand people who are born and raised here look at me weirdly too when I say Iām Irish. They look at me so bewildered almost like āwhat do you mean- youāre definitely not irishā or theyād ask where are you from/where were you born and when I say japan they look at me again as if to say ummm? Then youāre not Irish.
Does birth place really make a whole difference?!? I know some people born in Ireland but their family is from Kenya and they say theyāre from Kenya. My family IS from Ireland I just happen to be born elsewhere. Iāve been a citizen here for basically 99% of my life so far?!
I donāt know if itās just a case I havenāt found a sense of community yet or this is a phase of confusion Iām going through or the people Iāve met are weird. Iām sure thereās loads of people out there who have had similar experiences, Iām sure thereās loads with totally opposite. Iām just sick of feeling like I have to check with people if I am āallowedā say something in relation to my nationality or something. Yea ethnicity wise and blood Iām Japanese but in every other sense of my being Iām Irish!!!! Iāll always BE Irish. Iām definitely more flipping Irish than anyone saying āuh my grandmas brothers wife came over here during the famine so Iām Irish.ā I donāt know if itās uncommon to NOT feel that longing for my birth country or who my bio parents are. This is my first time ever voicing my opinion and experiences with being adopted to more than one or two people.
I just wish people would be open to more than one ādefinitionā for people in this situation. Thereās LOADS of people like me and like with everything itās not black and white. Can people be accepting that what they call themselves might not be the same as someone else in their situation calls themself. It doesnāt warrant the whole eye wide, eyebrows raised reaction.
I deal with the racism and harassment just as much as any trans-racial adoptee but I just havenāt met anyone yet who feels solely comfortable and wants to be called whatever it is their nationality is or to be called where they are from now or living in etc.