In order to know myself and to know others, in order to separate out the cultural expectations from the west and the east on who we are and how we should be as Asian women, in order to shrug off the responsibility imposed by being presumed to be representative of all Asian women, in order to see other Asian women as they are and not how I think they should be, I think it is important to hear from other Asian women's voices from all over the world, in various different stages of their lives talk about their identity and how it touches on various aspects of their lives. I think this is essential to truly understand the cultural heritage that is part of me and how to respectfully find and perhaps rebuild a cultural identity that belongs to me instead of accepting the consensus that I am a perpetual foreigner in every land. I believe that listening to and talking with as many Asian women as I can will help me not feel so alone, unknown and isolated, it will help me define who I am as an individual Asian woman, rather than be defined and it will help me to preserve what has been handed down to me in blood and bone and song.