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[QUOTE=OLChemist;1604200]
When I started my postdoc, before I all my paperwork was even done, I learned that the piece of information that had proceeded me was that I was "part-Indian." The secretary who was helping me get settled confided that she had been looking forward to meeting me because she had always been interested in "Indian spirituality." Not because of my research, not because I make a killer chocolate cake, not even because two of the scientists in the department I had just come from had just won the Noble prize... She wanted to know me because of who my grandmother had slept with.
You make a killer chocolate cake?? Yummy.
I grew up learning both people's histories. I lived with stories that no one should ever have to tell children, because we had to remember who our ancestors were and what they had done. I grew up with shame, pride, language loss and conflicting world views.
I also learned the history from both sides, and still see things from both points of view. A friend and I were having a conversation one day, about world events, and she told me she thought I was "culturally bi-polar". After thinking about, I think she is right. I learned at a young age that there are always different sides to a story.
When I started my postdoc, before I all my paperwork was even done, I learned that the piece of information that had proceeded me was that I was "part-Indian." The secretary who was helping me get settled confided that she had been looking forward to meeting me because she had always been interested in "Indian spirituality." Not because of my research, not because I make a killer chocolate cake, not even because two of the scientists in the department I had just come from had just won the Noble prize... She wanted to know me because of who my grandmother had slept with.
You make a killer chocolate cake?? Yummy.
I grew up learning both people's histories. I lived with stories that no one should ever have to tell children, because we had to remember who our ancestors were and what they had done. I grew up with shame, pride, language loss and conflicting world views.
I also learned the history from both sides, and still see things from both points of view. A friend and I were having a conversation one day, about world events, and she told me she thought I was "culturally bi-polar". After thinking about, I think she is right. I learned at a young age that there are always different sides to a story.
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