All mixed up…

This week I decided to write about mixed-race children. I’ve always thought that mixed kids are the most good looking kids you can have, simply look at Keanu Reaves, Halle Berry, just to name a couple. And I’m surrounded by friends who are mixed – Laura (Chinese / Malaysian / New Zealander), April (Filipino / Australian), Lin (Singaporean / Dutch)… So I’m very excited that my kids will fit into this category of good looking people and I expect nothing less than giving birth to a super model in less than 5 months!

And as far as we’re both aware, we are as pure bred as they come. I’m 100% Chinese and David 100% Dutch. And for my side of the family, this is the most mixed-race child to join the family (I do have a cousin who is ¼ Indonesian) so everyone is psyched about the half ghost baby. Oh, and I should explain: when Chinese people first encountered Europeans, they thought that their skin was too impossibly white so they must’ve been ghosts. The name stuck, even till now, and most Chinese people will still refer to Westerners as ‘ghosts’. My grandma, for example, likes to call David ‘ghost boy’. It’s not meant to be derogatory but rather an endearing term. For Chinese people (and Asians in general), pale skin is sign of wealth and health – as only farmers and labourers should be tanned. Which explains my mum’s comment about soy sauce (see my last blog entry)!

And this brings me to some of the questions that we’ve had from David’s family about what surname the baby will take and what nationality he will have (we’re in an even number week, so it’s a ‘he’). We’ve never really discussed the surname as we’ve both always thought that the baby will have David’s surname. It’s not common in Chinese culture for the child to take the mother’s surname. Although, all married women retain their own surnames, rather than changing to their husbands’. And in terms of our baby’s nationality, he’ll of course be an AUSTRALIAN. As far as we know, he won’t be qualified for dual citizenship (definitely not part Chinese citizen and most probably not part Dutch either). I’ve long given up my Chinese citizenship but as long as David remains Dutch, our children will qualify to carry an EU passport. As for me, just like any non-Chinese citizen, I have to apply for a visa when I travel to China. But as soon as I enter the border, I’m required to give my Chinese name as I’m of Chinese ancestry. Isn’t that odd? When my sister first travelled to China, my parents had to come up with a Chinese name on the spot as they’ve never given her one!

And the exciting new for this week – week 18 – is that I felt the baby move for the first time! And so did Dave! I was lying on my back watching tv when all of a sudden there was this ‘flipping’ movement in my lower abdomen. So I quickly grabbed Dave’s hand and he felt the next movement too! It was so amazing – our baby was doing some complicated gymnastics routine at such a young age! Do you think they’ll let he represent China, Holland AND Australia in the 2012 Olympics?

Until next time….