By Sophia Whittemore
AsAmNews Staff Writer
I visited a Chinese restaurant in Spain, and we chatted with the family restaurant owners. The entire family sat in the back comfortably while we waited for our meals. The kids spoke rapid-fire Spanish while the parents who’d just moved there were still getting the hang of it. It mirrored the same patterns of many immigrant families. The kids have it easier picking up a new language than the adults do, and learning an entire new country’s customs is a slow, but steady, journey. On the table beside the steamed fish and fried rice, there were traditional black olives and tumblers of Spanish apple cider. A blend of food and countries.
It turns out that there’s a trend in Asian Latinos, or Latin Asians, a community of people who were born into Asian-identifying families and then moved to a Spanish-speaking country. The community that grows up there has a unique heritage.
As the video above shows, the Latin Asian community portrays a rich blend of cultures. Traditional Asian dishes can be mixed with various other Latin American cuisines to create entire new flavors. There’s also some struggles too. As the Latin Asian YouTuber above explained, despite being Korean, he was often referred to as chino or “Chinese guy” no matter what he tried. But he still finds his experience more positive than anything, allowing him to make friends with the Latin community and speak multiple languages at home and abroad.
At the end of it all, the Latin Asian community is here to stay and share their unique cultural experiences worldwide.
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