“Who are you?”

In a split second I realized I was looking for the one answer that would make the most sense to this monocultural inquirer. No matter how I choose to answer, the inevitable follows:

“Are you American?”
“No, I am Pakistani.”
“But you have an American accent. Did you grow up there?”
“No, I didn’t grow up in America.”
“So, did you live in America?”
“No, I have never lived in America for more than a month at a time.”
“But your English is very good.”
Not knowing how else to respond I mumble, “Thank you.”
“Where did you learn it?”
“Pakistan.”
“You learnt to speak English with an American accent in Pakistan?!?”
“Yes. I attended a Christian international boarding school.”
“Pakistani Christian, now that’s not very common, is it?”
“No.”
“So, are your parents Christian?”
“Yes, I am a third generation Christian.”

Just when I think its over, another set of questions begin:

“So what brings you to Canada? Australia? England?”
“What other countries have you lived in?”
“What other languages do you speak?”
“Where are your parents? Your siblings?”
“Is their English as good as yours?”
“Where is home?”

Clearly I am not American, Canadian, Australian or English. My black hair, brown eyes and dark skin give me away so much so that a passer by could categorize me as Pakistani or Indian. But trouble is I don’t fit neatly into any category. I don’t have any recognizable markings that establish which slot is most suitable for me. By the end of the questions I am left to wonder whether there was any genuine interest in me or simply a valiant effort of categorization.

In our increasingly mobile world multiculturalism confronts people on a daily basis with the question of identity and belonging. This crossing of cultures creates a heightened need to categorize and differentiate between others. Not only does it sort “them” and “their” ways into neat packages but also gives “us” a better sense of who “we” are and what “we” stand for.

My multicultural identity is a product of having checked baggage into 15 airlines, walked through 25 airports and called four continents home. But it’s more than just traveling and seeing the world. It’s about being a global nomad in which I have integrated elements of all the cultures I have inhabited and been exposed to into one culture and made it my own. It’s about having to look up time zones before making phone calls to family and friends. It’s about having friends from 40 odd nationalities and sorting them by continent. It’s about being able to interact and relate in varying degrees with monocultural and multicultural people alike. It’s about having been just about everywhere but not fully belonging anywhere. In essence my multicultural identity is the result of the innumerable influences in my life such as my family, close friends and life experiences.

Over a lifetime of crossing cultures, races and creeds I have grown more aware, accepting, adaptable and teachable. Though I may not have the ability to relate fully and completely to my birth culture, or any one culture for that matter, I don’t consider this a loss. These very cross-cultural exposures and experiences have made the fabric of my life all the richer and stronger. To me, this variety of experiences with people from an equally wide variety of cultures, accentuates the fact that together we all have shared the emotional threads that hold us to those common experiences and places regardless of our national bonds. Beneath the customs, lifestyles and mindsets, we are all the same for we express the same feelings of love, hate, fear, doubt, joy and so on.

The word multicultural advocates coexistence. Though it may seem a new phenomenon it has always been a part of our humanity. Christianity itself developed from a monocultural sect of Judaism into a multicultural universal faith. Jesus Christ demonstrated inclusiveness by bringing a single message: the love of Christ for every tribe, tongue and nation.

As a woman of faith, I have come to realize that ones true sense of identity and belonging rests solely in Christ. With every transnational move and multicultural experience I have become increasingly more aware of this truth. I am more able to loosen my grip on this strong need to identify and belong. I have yet to describe my multicultural identity without raising questions and I have yet to find a place that encompasses every part of me enough that I can call it home. This lack of identity and sense of belonging isn’t loss, but gain. For to me, it represents my awareness of something larger than life; something more than what meets the eye. My inability to identify and belong anywhere on this earth reveals that this world is not supposed to be my identity and nor is it to give me a sense of belonging. Heaven is where I will one day feel complete. Until then, I am to live out my multicultural identity in all its fullness as an ambassador for Christ.