I am Canadian!

I had an interesting conversation with a guy in my class last week.  It started like this:

"Where are you from?"

"Canada."

"Oh, but you don't look Canadian!"

"Right.  My ethnicity is Chinese, but I am Canadian."

It's funny how I always take for granted back at home that people understand that being Chinese doesn't mean that I'm not Canadian. What is the definition of a Canadian, anyway?

My classmate apparently has different ideals.  He told me that I should respect and acknowledge my ethnic heritage: "If your Dad is Chinese, you should say that you are Chinese."

Am I ashamed to be Chinese? Of course not!  I'm proud of who I am, my background, my family heritage.  However, my first time visiting China was not until this summer, and I was born and raised in Canada, with English being my mother tongue.  I suppose I could say I'm Chinese-Canadian, but why should I have to defend my reason for calling myself a Canadian? Legally, my birth certificate clearly states that I am Canadian. 

It is definitely an experience having to constantly explain to someone that I'm Canadian, followed by, "Oh, and I'm Chinese," since this will most often be the next question (or else the person will walk away looking slightly confused).   Many people who have not traveled to Canada don't have an understanding of just how multicultural our nation is.  And with that, I present to you a personal favourite Russell Peters clip (I hope you appreciate his humour!)...