Dear Asian people,
I’ve never been shy about this on my blog. I, Lauren Rae Orsini, am a weeaboo. But now that weeaboos are having a sort of anti-heyday, I think I should clarify a bit more about what I mean.
It’s not that I don’t try to be appropriate. Let’s take an outing I went on last week. I was with a group of friends from graduate school at a Korean restaurant, my first time attending there. One friend had invited his Korean friend to attend, since she loved the restaurant, too.
Now my friends from graduate school know my deep and terrible secret. After I once lent him my spare pair of chopsticks at lunch, one of my friends congratulated me on being more Asian than he was. (Is it bad that I took that as a compliment? Of course not, you guys are awesome!) So they weren’t surprised when I got excited to see the hot pot placed in the middle of the table.
“Do you like Korean food?” the new girl asked me.
“Well, I haven’t had it. I just, remember seeing this kind of thing in a… TV show I like,” I said. I immediately knew this was the wrong answer.
“Oh, what TV show?” she asked.
“Lauren loves Japanese cartoons,” one of my grad school friend chime in good-naturedly. “She thinks she’s Asian or something.”
I insist I only like them a little, that I don’t think I’m Asian, etc. Conversation moves on.
Then, we decide to pick up some dessert from a nearby grocery store, that carries distinctly Asian specialty foods. I cook a lot of Japanese food at home, so I start picking up ingredients.
“What’s all that for,” asked the new girl.
“Oh… well, sometimes I like to cook international foods,” I said. That’s normal, right?
“Lauren loves Japanese food,” my friend adds, too-helpfully.
I haven’t seen that girl since and by now I’m certain she thinks I’m appropriating Asian culture. I feel awful, perhaps like a dog who has been caught eating cat food? Or more accurately, like a white person stealing yet another group’s culture.
Perhaps, outside of my blog, you could say I’m one of those “self hating weeaboos.” I can’t help who I am and what I like, but I do my best to make sure my lifestyle doesn’t offend you.
I think a lot of us weeaboo are full of shame. We keep to ourselves and downplay our interests. (Then again, there are those that do that opposite… and I really can’t speak for them.) I hope that you will forgive us for appreciating your fantastic culture and take it like the compliment it’s intended to be. Honestly, we think you guys are great! So don’t judge. In return, we
will not assume that, because you are Asian, you are interested in the same things as us.
will not force you to become our unwitting language partners in the Asian language study of our choice.
will not creep on you or give you any unwanted attention. It’s your culture we’re crazy about, not you per se.
Love and appreciation,
Lauren
