Hello!
I’m Loue from South Africa, now living in Osaka, Japan with my Fijian husband. I’m new here on Cafetalk and excited to share something very close to my heart: Cultural Identity.

Many people feel like they don’t truly belong anywhere — and often, they don’t realise this feeling is deeply connected to their cultural roots.

This is especially true for people whose parents are from different countries, or who live far away from their homeland. Children who look different from others around them often feel this strongly — sometimes they’re even bullied because of it.

When someone struggles with cultural identity, they might:

• Accept only one part of themselves and hide the other.

• Reject all of who they are and try to be someone else.

• Or feel lost — never quite feeling at home anywhere.

How we face this depends on our age, our season of life, and whether we choose to face it or keep running away.

My own story is a bit different. I grew up as an Afrikaner in South Africa during apartheid — a very mono-cultural society, a little like parts of Japan today. Even then, I sometimes felt I didn’t fully belong.

After high school, apartheid ended and my world changed. I was suddenly surrounded by people from many cultures. I started to feel ashamed of being Afrikaner, because I saw how apartheid had affected other people’s lives. When my English improved, I even tried to hide my background.

At that time, I worked in a Christian ministry using musical theatre to talk about cultural identity in communities. Through performing, I had to face who I really was — and asked God to show me how He sees my people. I studied our history — the pain, but also the gifts we can share with others.

This journey opened my eyes to how deeply people can struggle with cultural identity. In South Africa, many people have bloodlines from Europe, Africa, Asia, and the islands — mixed through colonisation, slavery, and migration. Many don’t fit into a simple box. This can bring pain — but it can also bring beautiful gifts.

If you feel unsure about part of who you are, I encourage you: give yourself permission to explore. Take time to learn about your roots. Look for the special gifts that come from the mix inside you.

One simple way to start: do something you enjoy. If you love cooking, try a dish from that side of your family. Start small, and grow from there.

This is the message I want to share. For some people, cultural identity is something they never think about — but for others, it’s a hidden struggle that touches many parts of life.

If this speaks to you, check out my lessons. Let’s start a conversation, and discover and celebrate who we are — fully.


P.S. If you’d like to hear more, listen to the “We Talk Story” podcast. There, people share their stories about cultural identity and the challenges they’ve faced.