11/05/2022
Beatriz
Beatriz was born in Botucatu in São Paulo State but moved to Marechal Cândido Rondon-PR when she was 2. Her mother is of Japanese descent and her father is of Ukrainian-Polish descent, although both of them were born in Brazil. Although she has never been to Japan, Ukraine or Poland, she felt the mix of cultures within her household. Her family grew up a long way from both sets of grandparents, but there were clear food traditions passed down between the generations and across cultural lines. Her mother, who speaks Japanese and grew up eating Japanese food, after meeting her husband and his family also learnt how to make Ukrainian food. Beatriz feels as though that cross-culture connection is ever-present in herself.
Beatriz describes Marechal C. Rondon as having many German immigrants the culture is heavily influenced by that. She talks about only knowing of 2 or 3 Asian families and, as a result, she never felt like she fitted in. She remembers wanting to move somewhere else from at least the age of 11 despite not being fully cognizant about her culture and ethnicity. She simply believed that Marechal C. Rondon wasn’t the right place for her. The point she began to think more about her heritage was when she joined university, in Curitiba- PR, and took more notice of comments particularly related to the fetishism Asian women. Despite this, she loves the fact that she has multiple cultures to draw from and feels lucky to have grown up in such a multicultural environment.
