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A childhood belief about nationalities

My (French) mother told me that every third child born into the world was Chinese. Being a third child of entirely Caucasian appearance, I naturally assumed that I was in some way Chinese, and that this would begin to show when I was a bit older. This led to many hours at the local library researching my "heritage", and a lifelong love-affair with Chinese food. I even had a Teach Yourself Mandarin record (45 rpm) with a little booklet containing realistic interactions from Chinese households for me to repeat. Most of these seemed to involve Mrs Wu scolding Mr Wu for not helping more around the house. I was about nine years old before I realised that however hard I studied I would never actually be Chinese. Now in my mid-40s, I'm still coming to terms with the disappointment.

Anon

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