MISTI Blogs

One thing European countries don’t lack are friendly birds. One thing Scandinavia lacks is Asian people. Is that too blunt? The people here certainly don’t think so! 

Growing up in New York City, I was surrounded by Chinese people wherever I went. There are pockets of Chinese culture in nearly every borough of the city. I was taught to be cautious outside of those pockets, that anyone who pointed out my skin color or ethnicity could be racist, that I could be the next victim of a hate crime. Scary stuff, right? Imagine my face when I came to Denmark and heard these questions and comments being thrown around like it was nothing?!

But like, it truly is nothing… nothing but curiosity and shock. Hearing “Chinese or Japanese?” yelled from across the street by a random man. Hearing a group of teens biking by go “Oh my god, Chinese people!” Seeing a Chinese couple’s eyes light up in joy as I ordered my meal in Cantonese, a dialect commonly spoken in Southern China. 

The first time those comments happened while abroad, I instinctively whipped my head around, ready to put up a fight. But after some reflection, I realized it truly wasn’t that deep. It wasn’t “a hate crime in the making.” It was simply people expressing what they saw through their lens, trying to understand. Like me slowly adjusting mine since I’ve arrived.

With the general lack of Asian faces around and the state of our nation, it’s become difficult to answer the question, “So where are you from?” When I took a weekend trip to Aarhus (another city in Denmark) and checked into my hostel, I was presented with this very question. The front desk receptionist clearly saw that I looked Asian yet spoke English with an American accent. Obviously, this was also for paperwork, but in a weird train of thoughts, I ended up telling them Copenhagen. The train of thought went as follows:

• Do I say Copenhagen because like, that is where I live right now?
• Do I say Chinese, despite that the only other Asian faces I’ve seen around are MISTI students and the very nice couple that runs the sushi restaurant down my block?
• Do I say American, knowing our current government is perceived so negatively, and watch the pity fill their eyes?
• Do I go more specific, and say New York City or Boston, in case they clocked my accent as American from the start?
• Or do I just stutter awkwardly as I struggle to pinpoint exactly which answer they want to hear?

I find that this question to be less of a problem in the workplace. I currently work with a very diverse group of people at the start-up accelerator where my company is hosted. This makes the people here more likely to ask and listen instead of assuming one’s identities. For example, during one of my first conversations with my coworkers, I had just assumed he was just another Danish masters student doing his thesis. However, we quickly learned that we were both from the Americas and bonded over how different life was here versus back at home. He was very curious about why I had chosen MIT and what brought me to Copenhagen to work at this little start-up. I felt really happy to get to know him, since it felt like a bit of familiarity in a new environment. 

One of my biggest fears was actually being in a very professional company, since I am someone who loves yapping and getting to know people. During our MISTI training, I was warned that Danes tend to have their own tight friend groups and strict work-life balances. One super awesome thing is since my company is so international, they are one of the closer-knit ones at the accelerator, so my fears were quickly resolved. We often hang out after work and enjoy taking a slow lunch and coffee to catch up on each others’ lives. I often joke to my boss that I am not the best representative of an American, or even an MIT student. Like, I still get excited when we get burgers for lunch, but don’t exactly have a strong sense of national pride. I wear my brass rat to work sometimes, but don’t share the same level of professionalism as other MIT students working in the same space. Regardless, the team has been so chill and accepting of my silly American ways and chaotic quirks, and perhaps even finds me a humorous addition to their otherwise meeting-filled workdays. 

All jokes aside, I hope that by the end of this summer, I find myself in an identity that I can feel proud of. I want to be able to tell people about how being raised Chinese affects me, how being an American affects my perspectives on the world, and obviously, how my love for science has brought me to Copenhagen. That means being able to embrace my ethnicity, even as a minority in Denmark, or being able to represent a nation that I don’t have to be asked if I’m taking refuge from. But for now, I am just another student, another intern, another scientist, doing my little 9-5. And I think that that’s enough of an identity for me until the circumstances change.