My life as a Cambodian By: Maleena Mel

Maleena Mel

Benchmark/ Gold Stream

My life as a Cambodian

"Omg look at that Chinese girl hair. That shit long."

"Thank You, I Said"

"The lady have to hurry up with my food mane, she is taking for ever…. Ayo Chinese girl can you

Speak Chinese and tell them to hurry up with my food because they taken forever."

"Not to be disrespectful but I aint Chinese… So can you get my race right because its annoying me."

"What?"

"You herd what I said"

"Oh This Chinese girl really tough… She sounds a little black…."

"You mix wit black, Because You sound like it"

"Look listen, I aint Chinese, nor black, I am Cambodian."

The girl looked at me really hard, and she looked really mad. So I asked her what was she looking at and is she "okay? What is a Cambodian?" I didn't explain to her what Cambodian was, so I just kept it as that and I just left and walked out of the Chinese store. Later on that day when I was walking to my cousin house my grandmother had called me. My grandmother dosen’t understand English. Really so I was speaking to her…

"Hello?"

"Gah Lena, Tewh Nah?" (Where are you going?)

"Yom Tewh Tih Monica" (Im going to Monica house)

"Tewh Twuh aye?"(Why are you going there?)

"Yom Ock Sop" (Im bored)

"Okay, Mow Tieh Mouwng tuwp" (Okay come home at 10:00 o'clock)

"Okay"

A little girl had asked me was that Chinese I was speaking. And I told her no. She said why were you talking so fast? I told her to go home because didn't your mom ever tell you not to talk to strangers? She said okay Chinese lady.

When I got to my cousins house she had a friend over and she was Puerto Rican, and when I was talking to my cousin mom her friend said were you speaking Chinese, I told her your like the 3000^th person who asked me that. Than she said are you? I responded back no, do I sound or look like I'm Chinese. And she had the nerves to say yes. I told her where was she at, and she said Monica’s house. So I asked her what was her race? She responded back Cambodian. Than I asked her this is a Cambodian home right? And she said yea. So I said now think about the question you just ask me? Than she was like oh? You still sound like your Chinese because you talk just like them, fast and never take a deep breath. I replied back with anger. So I just kept the conversation as that. My cousin tried to not make it as a big deal, but all I see is a woman that was trying to be funny. When she wasn’t. I had told Monica that it was not funny and she tried to be funny, and when it comes to my race, culture, and language I speak. People like her should not just say things out of there mouth like she did because people like me wouldn’t like it. Later that day I ignored her friend all day until finally as soon as I was getting ready to leave she came out of nowhere and apologized to me and told me that she was wrong for doing what she did, she thought it was funny but than it wasn’t because she didn’t know I would of taken it that way. I told her I take things like that seriously and she dosen’t even know me so she shouldn’t just come out of the blue with it. Afterwards I just went home and slept.