I am of Chinese, Japanese, Italian, French, German, English and Spanish descent!
My Japanese grandma met a US merchant marine while stationed in Yokohama and the rest was history! My European mixed grandpa’s nickname was “chico” because he was a 6 foot 5 giant!
My Chinese mother initially met my dad while she was waitressing at her dad’s restaurant in Portland, and they started dating 5 years later when they both ran into each other at a sushi bar.
My Chinese grandpa was a Japanese POW, so it was difficult for him to accept my Hapa-Japanese dad but he eventually grew to accept him as part of the family.
I grew up in a predominantly Asian community in Southern California, so I felt at home with who I was. However, when I went to college everyone was white and called me out on my Asian ethnicity like it was a neon blimp in the sky. That was my first true experience feeling like an outsider, but it also allowed me to share my story and I learned that people really just are curious. However, some people would make fun of me for having “Asian eyes” and I thought it was the most immature thing coming from people in their early twenties!
I studied abroad in Vietnam, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Singapore, Taiwan and Hawaii and all the locals thought that I was a native. They would try to speak to me in their language, and I would shock them when they realized I was a foreigner! I felt like a chameleon that could blend into any Asian country!
I don’t have any Asian friends since they are a rarity where I now live. I sound very Italian when I speak, and it tends to throw a lot of people off. They think that I am a 6 foot white dude until they see me in person. In my dating life, I tend to get along better with white and African American girls for some reason. However, I am attracted to mixed girls so I am definitely a smorgasbord when it comes to the dating :D
Hapa Voice 
Wow!you descent from many different backgrounds!
Was your dad raised in Japan?
But also it must have been bit difficult for you regarding your family’s history,with your chinese grandpa getting to terms with your dad’s japanese ethnicity…How do you feel about it?
I come from Poland where war made a big toll on peoples lives.
One my dad’s side,his grandpa was fighting to free Poland from Soviet influence and was killed by them,but on my mom’s side my grandfather was a communist,so he waited for Soviets to take over Poland.I’m not proud about the second one!
And now that I married Japanese,he told me ‘But my country was in Axis,they were against your country,don’t you mind?’.
In my opinion,now it’s time to make our own history.It’s true that war happened and our grandparents still remember.But we were not born to hate,and most important is the person’s character!
Anyway,thank you for sharing your story !
I can definitely understand where my grandpa came from with his opinion towards the Japanese. The only reason he survived POW camp was that he could play an instrument and was used as entertainment for the Japanese soldiers. They tortured him regardless, but he escaped at night when the soldiers were sleeping and got onto a ship as a stowaway to India shoveling coal. Since I never have lived through a war I couldn’t imagine the hate and torture one has to go through, but since we are a new generation it’s totally up to us to make our own history. Thanks for reading :D