Mixed-Race Families, Tell Us How You’ve Blended Your Cultures Posted by Victoria Vouloumanos Last Updated: September 24, 2023 Mixed-Race Families, Tell Us How You’ve Blended Your Cultures Hi, I’m Victoria, and I’m Greek and Korean. It’s nice to meet ya! As someone who’s mixed, I’m curious to know how you and your family or you and your partner have blended cultures and traditions over the years. I’ll start. My dad is Greek Orthodox; my mom grew up without religion. (Now, if you’ve seen My Big Fat Greek Wedding, you know where this is going.) Since my dad preferred to be married in a church, my mom got baptized so they could have a Greek Orthodox wedding ceremony. However, during part of their reception, my parents both wore traditional Korean hanboks. And though they originally booked a DJ for their reception — a friend of my dad’s who happened to be Greek — they also booked a Korean band (admittedly at the behest of my maternal grandfather, who wanted to see some Korean rep). When it came time to raise me and my sister, they played it by ear. Greek naming tradition dictates naming your first son or daughter after their paternal grandfather or grandmother, respectively. (The second is to be named after their maternal grandparent, and so on.) Neither of my parents cared to follow that, so they tweaked the tradition and used my paternal grandmother’s name as my middle name. Similarly, my sister and I were baptized in the Greek Orthodox Church. I had a Baek-il (a Korean 100th-day celebration); she didn’t. We’d celebrate Orthodox Easter with only my dad’s side since my mom’s parents are not religious, and my parents would host (a gigantic) Christmas at our house with a massive, rotating menu that both sides attended every year. More casually, we regularly ate Greek and Korean food. My maternal grandmother would make me and my sister kimbap nearly every day after school. My paternal grandmother bakes koulouria every time my sister and I come over — enough to give us a giant Ziploc baggie full of ’em to go, too. As a child, celebrating both cultures seemed natural and seamless. As an adult, I see that my parents made an effort to integrate their traditions and embrace each other’s cultures. Given the feeling of not being enough many mixed kids experience, I appreciate having that connection to both of my cultures. Honestly, I think it helped that both my parents came to the US as kids and are family-oriented. Though they may have been unfamiliar with each other’s traditions, they both value and understand the significance of culture and family. Now, I want to know about your experience. In the comments below, tell me how you and your family or you and your partner have blended cultures over the years. Has it been easy? Have you discussed it in-depth, or has it been a simple decision? Has it required sacrifice or patience? Would you do anything differently? If you prefer to share your story anonymously, you can do so through this Google Form. Feel free to attach an image of y’all if you’d like, too! You could be featured in an upcoming BuzzFeed Community post. I look forward to learning about your traditions! Source link Previous Article 17 Safe Things That Are Labelled As Dangerous Next Article Usher Headlining Super Bowl LVIII Reactions
Hi, I’m Victoria, and I’m Greek and Korean. It’s nice to meet ya! As someone who’s mixed, I’m curious to know how you and your family or you and your partner have blended cultures and traditions over the years. I’ll start. My dad is Greek Orthodox; my mom grew up without religion. (Now, if you’ve seen My Big Fat Greek Wedding, you know where this is going.) Since my dad preferred to be married in a church, my mom got baptized so they could have a Greek Orthodox wedding ceremony. However, during part of their reception, my parents both wore traditional Korean hanboks. And though they originally booked a DJ for their reception — a friend of my dad’s who happened to be Greek — they also booked a Korean band (admittedly at the behest of my maternal grandfather, who wanted to see some Korean rep). When it came time to raise me and my sister, they played it by ear. Greek naming tradition dictates naming your first son or daughter after their paternal grandfather or grandmother, respectively. (The second is to be named after their maternal grandparent, and so on.) Neither of my parents cared to follow that, so they tweaked the tradition and used my paternal grandmother’s name as my middle name. Similarly, my sister and I were baptized in the Greek Orthodox Church. I had a Baek-il (a Korean 100th-day celebration); she didn’t. We’d celebrate Orthodox Easter with only my dad’s side since my mom’s parents are not religious, and my parents would host (a gigantic) Christmas at our house with a massive, rotating menu that both sides attended every year. More casually, we regularly ate Greek and Korean food. My maternal grandmother would make me and my sister kimbap nearly every day after school. My paternal grandmother bakes koulouria every time my sister and I come over — enough to give us a giant Ziploc baggie full of ’em to go, too. As a child, celebrating both cultures seemed natural and seamless. As an adult, I see that my parents made an effort to integrate their traditions and embrace each other’s cultures. Given the feeling of not being enough many mixed kids experience, I appreciate having that connection to both of my cultures. Honestly, I think it helped that both my parents came to the US as kids and are family-oriented. Though they may have been unfamiliar with each other’s traditions, they both value and understand the significance of culture and family. Now, I want to know about your experience. In the comments below, tell me how you and your family or you and your partner have blended cultures over the years. Has it been easy? Have you discussed it in-depth, or has it been a simple decision? Has it required sacrifice or patience? Would you do anything differently? If you prefer to share your story anonymously, you can do so through this Google Form. Feel free to attach an image of y’all if you’d like, too! You could be featured in an upcoming BuzzFeed Community post. I look forward to learning about your traditions!
