Candy, Bonnie and Fortune and why Annelien is jealous of their names

Annelien is jealous of Candy, Bonnie and Fortune. Why, are you asking? When you move to a new country, you want to explore your new environment in a way that feels safe and nurturing to you. You want to express yourself. And, of course, you want to make sure that people can write your name. Annelien wanted to change her name for all of the above reasons. And the last one was probably most important to her. I sort of understand why it’s so important, because people sometimes call me Tonya. No one wants to be called that way, believe me.

But why is Annelien jealous of Candy and her friends? I am not talking about Candy with the big teary eyes, sitting on a beautiful white horse, waiting for her evil stepmother to come along. I know you remember her from your childhood. I loved her too. But today, I am talking about Candy, a bright, young, liberated Chinese friend of ours. Uhm, ok, her real name is not Candy, but let’s just call her Candy for now. In China, her real name is Bing – uhm, again, her real name is different – and when she came to the US, she changed her name like every Chinese immigrant. Or better, she chose a new name and now she actually has two names. A new name can mean freedom, a new life, a new world. And to many, despite undeniable flaws, the US is an empire of unbridled liberty, which allows them to choose names that are as diverse as their personalities. Woody, Elvis, Lucky, whatever you feel like. Because Annelien’s name is sufficiently easy to pronounce and the characters in Dutch are the same as in English, Annelien seems not to be socially eligible for a new name. She tried to change her name to Anneline and everyone got really confused, including herself. So she changed it back and now we’re again Annelien and Tanja. Or Anna Lee and Tonya, if you like.