Sep
4
“I moved out after high school and found that I no longer ticked the box for ‘speaking a language other than English at home’. Along with miscellaneous other treasures, I’d lost my NESB identity in the move. I started teaching my lover Shanghainese, with as little success as my mother had had in teaching me Mandarin. Most of my sharehousing friends saw their parents once a month, once a year if they lived interstate or overseas. I visit weekly, and if I miss just a month, I notice the words going blank. My queer community celebrates the idea of ‘chosen families’. But my chosen family can’t keep my language in my mouth.”
the name and the face, juliana qian//overland
this article is really great
