Race:
In terms of race, I think I have quite a unique background. My parents are both Southern-Chinese people who migrated to Australia. I was born in Sydney, raised in Northern China (Beijing and Tianjin), and then returned to Australia for the commencement of high school (seventh- grade). This is why I never fail to attract attention, at least initially- in China, I look and dress different than the others since the influence of the Western culture; in Australia, I have some habits and things that I'm good at that most Australians don't do or are not good at, such as piano or the ability to drink. (Legally, under private property, of course). In America, my accents and my uses of slangs and shaving 1/3 of my eyebrows off also made me distinctive. To be honest, I quite enjoyed that. Every time when I go to a new place with a bunch of people I don't know, my priority, almost sub-consciously, always want people to know that I'm not a 'Asian', and that I am 'Aussie', because that sounds cooler, I guess? I try to do that through slightly exaggerating my accent, etc. I also noticed the attitude change from people, too, once they realised that I'm from Australia. Their attitude towards me often changes, from a 'you're just a normal Asian trying to compete against our people for jobs' to 'oh, you're Australian? That's kinda cool!'.

Class:
Class wise, I have realised a few things about myself, as well. I was born in a pretty wealthy family- my dad worked hard and got fairly good jobs (CEOs, CFOs) and I'm pretty well educated, from schools, parents, literature, travels, etc. I didn't really realise the idea of class until the DC trip I just went on. Walking into those high-class clothing shops, they people who work there treat you in terms of class. If you are an African American who walks in there with an old tracksuit and start asking for discounts, the sales won't really treat you with respect and maybe counting the seconds until you lease. But if you're a white or an Asian person who are wearing fashionable clothing with brands on them (Ralph Lauren), and you ask very specific questions about clothing to show your knowledge towards it, while never even look at the price tag, it seems like your social status will raise a few degrees and those sales people will treat you with passionate services and total respect.

Fortunately or unfortunately, the second description exactly portrayed me and Luis during the course of this trip. Fortunately because we both came from wealthy families