My 5 H's

5 H’s is a tool to help us share more of our story with others. Each of the interns shared his/her heritage, hero, highlight, hardship, and hobby with the group as a gateway to know each other better. I shared mine this morning, and this is along the lines of what I said (keep in mind this is a transcription of a speech, not an essay). 

Heritage

As y’all know, my name is Anne. My last name is Hsia, which it means summer in Mandarin. My mom and dad are both from Taiwan, immigrated to the US, met at church, and I was born in California, which makes me a California girl. I grew up in the Silicon Valley, the area between San Francisco and San Jose, and I never realized how deeply rooted I was in my cultural background until Intern Retreat Weekend earlier this month.

My parents raised me very Asian. They wanted me to retain a lot of Chinese culture, including the language, so they only spoke Mandarin to me growing up. So I went to the first day of Kindergarten not knowing any English. This makes my first language Chinese, but my heart language has transitioned from Mandarin to English over the years.

And if you have any questions about Taiwan or life on the West Coast, please ask questions. Boba, or bubble tea, is from Taiwan. Taiwan is a tiny island off of China, and Taiwan is NOT China. (We can talk about this later.) California is snobby and has 3 kinds of trash cans everywhere.

The Asian culture that I was raised in isn’t worse or better than American culture, but I just wanted to point out the differences that make me who I am.

Asian culture of keeping your head down, working hard, not ruffling feathers. There’s

• Conformity: I was born left-handed, but my parents made me right-handed so I wouldn’t fight with people I sat next to when we ate dinner at round tables (typical at large Chinese family dinners).
• Unspoken expectations: just work hard and do what you’re told. When people find out that I graduated with three majors, everyone always asks, “Why did you do that?” My fun answer is that I was too indecisive to pick one, but part of the reality is that I got my Electrical Engineering degree for my dad, my Math major for my mom, and Music for myself.  And by God’s grace, I graduated with all three in four years, and God blessed me with an incredible experience studying all three subjects. But this goes to show that we just work hard.
• Respect for elders and those in authority: not speaking to them unless spoken to. When I was little, my family would always go out for Vietnamese noodle, which I did not like. Every time I voiced my dislike, my dad would respond, “小孩不是人。” This literally means that children aren’t people [it took me awhile to explain this concept]. But the message behind this is that children don’t have a say, and you’ve probably noticed that I don’t really voice my opinion unless asked directly.

Hero

One of my heroes is my mom, for being a very wise woman of God. I’m very blessed to have parents who raised me up in the Lord. I have a younger brother who is 2 ½ years younger, and we’re very competitive but also very close. I say I love him but don’t always like him, but it’s a blessing growing up rooted in the Lord. My mom is very no-nonsense, which I love, and she is an example of someone who pursues God and listens to the Spirit amidst outside pressure. We look very similar, and people often ask if we’re sisters, because Asians apparently don’t age.

My other hero is Jeremy Lin: a Christian Asian American NBA player, who is most famous for Linsanity back in 2012. I don’t know him in person, but his parents are also from Taiwan and his hometown is 5 minutes from mine.  

What inspires me about Jeremy is the way he uses the gifts and talents God has given to make God famous. Although he is by far not the best basketball player in the NBA, he does an Asia tour every year where he meets fans, coaches children, and gives his testimony about how God has been working in his life over the past year. God has given him such a unique platform to talk about his faith to Asian basketball fans who would otherwise not hear about the God we serve, and it's so cool seeing how he has taken full advantage of that to share the Gospel. His vulnerability and humility in sharing the raw emotions and trust in God during tough times is something that I really look up to.

Highlight

My life highlight is studying abroad in Australia. I was in Brisbane for four months my junior year of college, and it wasn’t a typical study abroad experience because I had extended family in the city who treated me like their own daughter. I experienced so much love and generosity from them. I was also on the semester system for the first time (which as super easy), went to the beach every other weekend, and hugged a koala, which was on my bucket list for a really long time.

While in Australia, I got to attend Hillsong Church on a weekend when I was missing home.  The sign above the sanctuary said “Welcome Home.” I got very confused and thought, How can I be welcomed home to a place I’ve never been to? At that moment, God spoke to me that my home is where God’s presence is, wherever in the world that may be.

Going to Uganda last summer was also a highlight; I love living in different cultures, and I’d love to talk more about it if you ask!

Hardship

I had a really hard time coming up with a hardship in my life, because God has always taught me so much from the bad things. But one of the hardest seasons in life was when my

grandmother (dad’s mom) moved in with my family.  She lived in Taiwan on the second floor of an apartment with no elevators, and she was getting old, so I think we decided to bring her to the US to take care of her. She is a believer, but she also had Alzheimer’s and dementia, and when she hit a hard spot, she would stay up at night and pray, which turned into cursing the people who had hurt her in the past. As a result, my dad could not sleep well and he fell back into depression. There was a lot of tension in my family. Plus, my uncle (mom’s brother) also lived with us; there was just a lot of people and not a lot of space.

I think this also shows the Asian value of family, and how we take care of each other. People here freely say they love each other; well, my parents say they love me, but it’s quite rare for Chinese people to admit they love you. They will show it in their actions, like my family. My parents showed a lot of love: my mom for the sacrifices in caring for my grandmother (her mother-in-law), and my dad for the generosity he showed my uncle (his brother-in-law). I guess this is love, even though not everyone got along.

*Phew. Took a deep breath*

Another hardship has been moving here to Orlando. When I learned that the US is only 5% Asian, I was very surprised. The Bay Area is majority Asian, and I’ve never been in a place where I am the only Asian American. It has also been challenging relating to everyone because I was not brought up in the American culture, but God has been good and given me a lot of peace through this transition.

Hobbies

I enjoy creating, just like my Creator. I love making music with other people (I play piano) (which I think has been a hard thing for me coming here because I didn’t bring a piano from CA). The Maker Lab was my happy place in college 😊 There are a lot of really cool tools, like the laser cutter, sticker maker, and 3D printer to use and make anything and everything. I also love to bake and cook and make food for other people. I play Ultimate Frisbee! I have a disc, and if anyone wants to throw, I’m always down, and there’s so much green field here.

So that’s me. You probably haven’t heard me talk that much, but I’m happy to share more. Just ask :)