It’s HERE! Today is May 1st, the first day of Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Month.

To start our lessons, this is a map of Asia.

Asia is a CON-TI-NENT. A continent is larger than a Country.

If you look closely you will see a lot of different colors on this map. Each of these is a unique country that is found on the Continent of Asia. Mind Boggling I know.

Many people often only think of East Asians (China, Korea, and Japan) as Asian American, but being of Asian descent means your ethnicity can stem from any of these unique countries.

When speaking of AAPI people, please do remember that Asia is not a monolith. It is full of rich cultures, peoples, and histories. We could spend an entire year learning about all of the different countries and their histories and still not have time to learn about everything.

Please recall, I am of Korean descent.

So much of what I will share will stem from the East Asian American histories as these are the ones I most relate with. But I will try to share from others as well.

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For those wondering, the United States of America cannot be found on this continent, sorry if you were looking for it here!

The country of the United States of America is actually on the North American continent. (Which is far away from Asia.)

America is completely different from Asia and so too is the experience of being an Asian American. This is often confusing to non-AAPI people. When we talk about the Asian-American experience, we mean the experience of being a person of Asian descent living in the United States of America. So, please don’t ask us about Korea, or India, or any other Asian country when discussing AAPI matters, as we are Americans.

When trying to find out where people who are Asian American Pacific Islanders are from, please refer to the North American continent and the country of United States of America.

In example, if you are asking this gem of a question, “where are you from?” Someone who is AAPI, might answer “Oh, I’m from California,” or “Arkansas,” or even, “That’s really not any of your business.”

And do remember that if you tell an AAPI person to go back to their country, they probably won’t be in a hurry to walk away. Since they are already in their own country!

Very cool, I know!

This has ended lesson the first.

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Stay tuned to learn more about our history here in America, some of our amazing heroes and heroines, and jokes. Because we all need those.

It’s gonna be MAY.