AAIFF '09

wow, what a week! again, i really have to say, this nyc adventure never ceases to keep me on my toes. i started off the week with a sigh of relief that our series of visitors has come to a pause (don't get me wrong, i love visitors - refer to earlier posts) and that i can get back to a more regulated schedule of running, reading, studying and job searching. then, out of the blue on monday, i got a call for an interview for an internship at a post-production house that cuts movie trailers. long story short, i started to intern last week (the schedule is twice a week), and although i've only gotten a light taste of what the job entails, i'm already liking the place, the people and the projects a lot :)

anyway, this post is really about AAIFF '09 (the asian american international festival '09). check it out here. my plan was supposed to volunteer for the festival thursday through sunday, but the start of the internship changed up the plan a little bit, so i only got to volunteer yesterday and today. what a fun experience it was! the volunteers' responsibilities are pretty basic - guide the flow of traffic, direct guests and festival attendees to the theater, take tickets, answer questions, etc. the perks of volunteering are many fold - one being that we get to watch the films themselves. i wish i could have seen more films than i did, but the ones that i watched were all pretty great.

it is really wonderful to see that these films are addressing so many facets of the asian american and/or asian immigrant experience. i remember growing up in the bay area, and never really identifying with being "asian" as a group of people because with so many asians in california, it is only natural to be more specific about what kind of asian one is. however, when i went to college in the midwest, suddenly black hair and yellow skin became the ethnicity of asian, and for the first time, i had to learn to see that someone may not see any differences between the different asian cultures and that being 'asian' is a possible identity in the american society. that, of course, took a lot of getting used to (especially with the joint lifestyle changes that going to college half way across the country brought). then i got so used to being called asian and seeing the asian american studies major at school that when i watched these films about the asian american experience, it was so refreshing to see writers and directors narrate such distinct and unique stories of what it means to be asian or asian american.

asians come from so many different parts of the world that i can never say that i fully identify with what it means to be anything besides a first generation, taiwanese american who was born in the philippines, lived in taiwan and moved to the states at the age of 10. i think that it is so important and crucial to make sure that these unique experiences are shared; that we never forget the differences in the asian cultures. yes it is true that the reason we do dub ourselves as 'asian americans' is to give power to a group of minorities, and that that power comes from joining together and fighting for equality and recognition. i do believe in the power in numbers, but i also believe that what makes this 'asian american' minority group powerful is the different histories, cultures, traditions and experiences that our ancestors, we and future generations bring to the table.

the asian american (or in my case, chinese/taiwanese american) experience will always be evolving. what it means to be an asian immigrant is completely different from what it means to be a second generation asian american - there will never be one identity to latch onto. yet, i think that is the beauty of it all. it is the ability to keep an open mind about our cultures and heritage and to want to learn more about each other. evolution means redefinition, and i see this perpetual force to redefine ourselves as constant growth.