Proud of being a Chinese

For 20 years, I lived in Anglophone countries as "Zhai Qi" or "Qi Zhai". I love the simplicity of my two-syllable name, with its alphabetic gaggle, because it identifies me as uniquely Chinese. However, on some occasions - like during client meetings in Ohio - I did feel things would have been a lot easier if I had an English moniker.

Yet, "Mary" or "Samantha" never felt right, so I stuck with the only name I know. At times, it was a struggle: "Q-I, like IQ spelled backwards." "No, my parents didn't name me 'seven', 'taichi', or 'gas.' There are a lot of homonyms in Chinese."

"Think of the 'Zh' as a 'J'."