Interviewee: 2-02
Page #: 18
Quote:

uh… he doesn’t like American culture at all. The way we act is completely different. I guess that’s mainly what’s – it’s what’s kind of turned me off from FOBs. From what I can tell, it’s like… how should I say this? I don’t think he’s really Chinese. All he knows is like the pop culture stuff. He doesn’t know the traditional stuff. It’s like, so for traditions, he’s like “Oh dude, what is it?” And you know “Dang, you don’t know the tradition behind this? You don’t know the story?” He’s like “No, what is it?” It’s like, I’ll start explaining it, and he’s like “Oh, I’m listening to Jay Chow now, bye!” Whatever dude. For me, a lot of FOBs or wanna-be FOBs they don’t… really consider the traditional with the contemporary. My parents really tried to mix the traditional with the contemporary. So I’m more familiar with the tradition.

DL: So, what exactly is a FOB? You’re saying “FOB”—

2-02: “Fresh Off the Boat?” It’s someone who, for me – like, my definition – it’s someone that just focuses on the, like the pop-culture of Asia, and doesn’t really know the tradition behind everything, like the traditional values, the tradition cultures – wouldn’t know the folk stories and stuff, all the legends and stuff. All they’ll be focused on is which pop-star is the best, which pop-stars are the hottest or something, “have you seen this Asian drama?” No offense against the Asian dramas, because they’re actually really sweet, I watch them myself. But they’ll be like focused on that. They’ll also, to me – my definition of FOB is someone that doesn’t embrace other cultures. Like, FOBs in my opinion are inherently, like – push away people from other cultures. Like, that guy I know, he only associates with other Asians – no white friends, I think. I’m pretty sure he doesn’t hang out with any white people at all. I see them as kind of exclusive, and not open to other people, which annoys me. But then again, my definition could be pretty skewed against this one kid. Whoever’s gonna listen to this, or read this, do not get insulted. I’m not insulting you. Okay. It’s like, I think you should strike a balance between the contemporary and traditional, and you should also be like open to other people of other races. My parents taught me, you know, it doesn’t matter who your friends are, just make sure – whatever they teach you, you know, keep an open mind. It’s like, the FOBs – these people, I don’t think – I honestly think that they don’t have an open mind. And not to be racist, but the Koreans on this campus – a lot of them are really, really exclusive, so I don’t consider them FOBs, but then… the problem inherent with that is I’m not in the group, so I can’t judge – I shouldn’t judge them… but I do. I know several Koreans, and I talk with them – they’re really easy to talk to. And I don’t consider them FOBs, but like… they’re not… I guess the most extreme ones are the ones that are really exclusive and don’t accept other people, don’t try to pay attention to other people.