I grew up pretty evenly between New Zealand and North America. So I absorbed much of both.
I did the whole cultural melting pot thing in American high school, and university, but finished my university back in New Zealand.
If I wasn’t longing for one I was longing for the other, my other culture that is.
On my mother’s side was the closeness and affection of whanau, family. On my father’s side was the strength of individuality, which I reveled in too. Often confused when I was young I came to terms with my “biculturalness” one day when I realized I was just me.
I related to Tiger Woods’ refusal to be pigeon-holed, I liked that. But I also felt strongly that I didn’t want to loose my Maoriness, or see my children grow up without it. There was an unbreakable bond, which, like oxygen, I couldn’t be too long without. When I met my beautiful wife, a Hapa herself, Maori/Welsh, I knew I never would be again.
Fortunately I have many friends who are Maori/European, which is not so uncommon, and when I am amongst them that is when I feel truly “at home”. But in saying that when in the States with family and old school friends, I’m home there too.
I like to say, we are the future, a trend that will never be reversed. I tell my kids that. We are unique, but we are also the same, we make a statement that love concurs all and we are the result.
Hapa Voice 