My name is Nicole Nejati. I’m 26 and I currently live in San Francisco, California. I’m originally from Chicago, Illinois.
I love being Hapa! I am Filipina and Persian, my mother is Filipina and my father is Persian.
My maternal grandparents are from Ilocos Sur, Philippines and not only spoke Tagalog, but also Ilocano, one of the many dialects in the Philippines. I’ve visited the Philippines only once, but am planning on visiting again soon!
My paternal grandparents are from northwestern Iran in between the Qazvin and Zanjan provinces and spoke Farsi (Persian) and also Turkish! I grew up visiting and traveling around Iran frequently and in turn learned to speak Farsi fluently.
Everyone always thinks that I’m Latina because I also speak Spanish. Sometimes people get the Filipina part right, but almost always guess some sort of Hispanic. I grew up in a diverse suburb of Chicago and never felt out of place although my brother Kevin and I were quite the anomaly growing up!
I’m happy to be living in California where there are more Filipinos, Persians and Hapas around who can share my similar experience!
Hapa Voice 
Hi Nicole! We share similar backgrounds! I’m half Filipina and half Bahraini. My moms family is from Illocos Norte in the Philippines. It’s great to see we share similar experiences:) people too think I’m Hispanic because I speak Spanish too. I speak Arabic and hope to learn Farsi one day.