Salsa Blogger

Growing up as an ABC (American Born Chinese) I received a mixed upbringing of American and Chinese culture. On one hand I watched Saturday morning cartoons, played soccer, and grew up to be a Professional Hip Hop Dancer. On the other hand I grew up eating exotic food like Shark Fin and Bird’s nest soup, and experienced Chinese New Year’s with lucky money in a red envelope, a clementine, and a Mooncake.

I grew up in the wealthy neighborhood of Potomac, MD where all the kids had everything the nintendos and powerwheels their heart desired. My family was upper-middle class yet as a Chinese family we maintained a Frugal Mentality, we didn’t buy lots of toys or trendy clothes like Cross Colors and Hypercolor. My family was not emotionally expressive (the first time my parents said “I love you” was my freshman year in college). On the more American side my parents did not push their children to get straight A’s in school, or towards being Dr.’s and Lawyers.

Fast forward 15 years I’ve become a Hip Hop and Salsa Dancer and Teacher (relatively unheard of in either community 10 years ago but now ever more so common). I’ve spent spent 30 years as an American and Asian-American. I lived in Asia in Hong Kong and Beijing for half a year. I studied abroad in Spain for 2 months and have been immersed in the Latino culture for 5 years since I’ve started dancing Salsa. I’ve dated Asian, White, and Latina women. I’ve crossed racial and cultural boundaries and made some observations on the cultural differences between Asians and Latinos.

My conclusion is that most Asian cultures are cold, emotionally repressed and stoic. Latino culture is very warm, passionate, and expressive. (As a side note from personal experience I believe Filipinos to be the warmest Asian culture followed by Vietnamese). To be fair there are many positive attributes to Asian cultures but I’m focusing this post on why I appreciate Latin culture so much having been raised in a highly Asian influenced upbringing.

To continue my discussion from the previous blog, Latin music such as Salsa, Bachata, Merengue is very Romantic, Passionate, and Festive. The majority of Asian dance styles are solo, and while there may be some with festive music, there are none with such intimate partner dancing. Latin music makes you happy and want to dance, it makes you want to interact, make friends, and make love. In the past 5 years I’ve become more comfortable with letting my emotions out, more confident with women since I’ve gotten so much experience partner dancing and witnessed how to be more open with others. I love the expressivity of Latin culture, music and dancing.

All in all I’m grateful for my upbringing because it has made conscious of the great qualities in Asian as well as Latin cultures. I’m grateful to be have the opportunity to explore different races and cultures. The more you open yourself up to the world, the more you realize about yourself and others.

-Chi

Post Footer automatically generated by Add Post Footer Plugin for wordpress.