Cultural Mutt

My dog Boaz is a mutt. It took me awhile to admit this but it is true. I was told when I bought him in China that he is a Bichon Frise. He does have the personality of a Bichon but many people think he is a poodle. I really don't like it when people say he looks like a poodle. I am not all that fond of poodles.

Boaz doesn't seem to mind that he is a mutt. Ignorance is bliss I guess. He is such a happy-go-lucky dog. Not much gets him down. (Can you tell that I miss him? :)

Anyway, the other day I realized that I too am a mutt. After all, I have lived in four countries and have traveled to numerous others. I have lived in the Philippines for 2 years, Ecuador for 6 years, China for 8 years, and the rest of the time I have lived in the US. I have spent more than half of my life overseas. I have to admit that I like living overseas...it suits me.

The reason I realized that I am a mutt is because I look like an ordinary American but I don't always feel like I am. I don't feel like a Filipino or an Ecuadorian or Chinese for that matter either. There is a mixture of all the places and cultures that I have lived in that have impacted the person that I am today.

In China, people usually expect me to be different. After all, I am a foreigner. I look like a foreigner. It usually surprises the Chinese that I can act pretty Chinese. They often tell me that I don't act American at all. They say that I am more Chinese than they are. In a way, they are right. When I am in China, I can be very Chinese. It is not an act. Chinese culture has become a part of who I am. There is a whole different side to my personality there that does not come out here in America unless I am talking to another Chinese friend.

When I interact with American friends, I interact differently with them than I do with my Chinese friends. There are different cultural norms amongst Americans than there are amongst Chinese. I find it interesting that I can switch between these comfortably without even really thinking about it.

My dog Boaz doesn't seem to mind that he is a mutt but I sometimes do. I wish that I felt completely at home in my own culture. The problem is, to some extent I am comfortable in my own culture but that culture is different from everyone else around me because it has been shaped by all the places I have lived. I am so thankful that while I may feel at times like a cultural mutt, our Father understands and knows me. He knows all the cultures that have gone into shaping who I am today. He gets me.