John Wang Blog 2

I was born and raised in the United States. My family is from Taiwan, and before that, China, and before that, Mongolia. I come from a lineage of warriors descended from Genghis Khan and before that, his ancestors. The same warrior’s blood that has flowed in my ancestor’s veins, my veins, and will flow in my son’s veins, has largely been responsible from changes in location of where my family is from. After the Mongolians conquered China, my family lived in China for a long time and owned a lot of land for many generations all the way up to WWII and then the Communist takeover of china. My grandfather was one of the last officers off the mainland and he was responsible for covering the president’s escape and escorting the president to Taiwan. My father was born in Taiwan where he was raised. My mother’s family also had fled to Taiwan in order to escape the communist takeover. After serving in the military in Taiwan, my grandparents and father decided it was best for him to immigrate to America. If my family returned to China, my grandfather would have been imprisoned and likely executed. He’s actually still a wanted man in China. America was the land of new opportunity and gave hope to be able to regain the old quality of life my family had enjoyed. My mother and her parents made a similar decision after she had finished college in Taiwan. My parents came to America and met in graduate school, got married and had my sister and me. If you ask me what nationality I am, I will say Chinese. China is my “lao jia” which roughly translates into old home and will always be where I’m “from from.” America is my home and is where I have pledged my allegiance.