BBC
That's me.
Printed in bold on my birth certificate.
When I was younger, I always wondered what BBC actually meant - British broadcasting centre? Haha.
Now I know what it is, what it means: British born Chinese.
I used to hate the term bbc. It meant I wasn't a pure British or Chinese- I wasn't properly either one of them at all.
Looking back, that hasty decision of defining the term bbc as being automatically negative was unjustified, however, it was still rational in terms of how I used to consider myself- being Chinese in England, out of place and different.
When I was younger, my parents had to practically force me to go to a supplementary Chinese school on Sundays. They used all sorts to bribe me or motivate me- taking me to the sweet shop if I did all my homework and achieved a reasonable grade. I often said to my parents “why do I have to learn Chinese and my friends don't have to? They get a whole weekend off and I only get one day off. It's not fair”.
Now I know that after all the hassle of Chinese school and tantrums, that the only person who benefited was me. I passed my Chinese GCSE and Chinese: English community interpreting Level 3. I can now fluently speak Cantonese as well as English, this means a lot to me- I am a piece of my roots and culture carried into the future.
I am both cultures mixed into one, I can understand both the English and Chinese cultures- they're attitudes and beliefs in certain issues. I know when to speak when not speak and what to speak about without offending either cultures.
Loads of my friends that are just like me- bbc, they share a part of my life in manchester. I met most of them via my Chinese school so I am grateful to my parents for asking me go to Chinese school, otherwise I wouldn't be able to speak fluently in another language or have more friends like me.
Many people may think it must be hard trying to balance both my groups of friends- the Chinese group and the british group, they are wrong. Both groups of friends get along and basically are like one big group which is good because then there is no need to choose between groups.
The Chinese Community
Do I count as being part of it?
What do you have to be like to be part of it? Highlighted hair, fashionable clothes, good at maths? Talk 100% Chinese? Listen to Chinese music?
The truth- you and I are a part of the community. Even if you aren't Chinese, you ARE still part of it. Just by reading this, you are taking an interest in the Manchester Chinese community. Perhaps you often eat out down in Chinatown, go there to sit at the porch benches or go out and celebrate Chinese New Year together, it means you are an element of the community. Community means everyone together- no matter age, race or gender; simple as.
Me, being part of this Chinese community makes me think, I am glad to always have this society of people to socialise, learn from and give or receive help from. I definitely have a sense of belonging to this community- it brings a tear to my eye *sniff*.
I am a part of the Chinese community, I know this because I care about and take an interest in Chinese culture just like my friends: Shaz and Danyal (Asian), James, and Ben (Jewish), Joshua and Abby (English) - they all share my fascination with Chinese- so much so that we all went on a trip to china to teach English and promoted the British culture.
So what am I? Am I a British trapped in a Chinese body~? Am I a person that's denying, forgotten or ignorant of my real roots and identity? No. I'm just BBC.
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