BELLAIRE • MEMORIAL • RIVER OAKS • TANGLEWOOD • WEST UNIVERSITY

Where are you from?

By Elisha Rabley, age 12 | January 1, 2018

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BEST OF BOTH Elisha Rabley, a seventh grader at River Oaks Baptist School, says being biracial gives her the best of two worlds.

All my life, I have been confronted by curious questions like, “Where are you from?” Most people don’t mean harm, and I don’t take offense. I am half-English and half-Chinese. I have my dad’s fair skin but Asian eyes and hair. I am also petite, but get freckles in summer.

I don’t mind being biracial. I like how it makes me unique. When I was little, I enjoyed Chinese New Year celebrations every year. My grandparents are Methodist, so I don’t know much about Buddhism or Taoism. However, I would dress up in qipaos and receive red packets of money from them for good luck. They would invite us over for a huge meal. We don’t live near them any longer, but my mother tries to continue the tradition. She skips the red packets and takes us for dim sum instead!

My mother tries to impart traditional Asian values like respect for elders and a hard-working attitude. We were backing out our driveway recently when we saw our elderly neighbor carrying grocery bags from her car. My mother made me get out to help her, even though we were running late. She is also very strict about grades. And my sister plays both the violin and piano.

My English side of the family is stoic, uncomplaining and humorous. My grandmother taught me to knit, sew and bake pies and scones. We play English games like Nelson’s Eye, call the trunk of the car a “boot” and call soccer “football.” When younger, I read books by authors like Julia Donaldson and Enid Blyton. I once made my pumpkin into “The Gruffalo” in third grade for a book project, and no one knew who he was!

My English family does everything from scratch and is thrifty. I have learned that it is Very Impolite to leave the table without being excused, start a meal before everyone else and take more than one piece of chicken off the platter.

Nowadays, people think it is rude to ask someone where they are from. I don’t mind being asked because I have so much to say about my two wonderful worlds.

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