Molly Yeh’s Parents Raised Her to Be Proud of Her Culture

Molly Yeh was once a proud New Yorker born to a Chinese father and a Jewish mother, but now she has moved to her husband Nick Hagen's parent's farm in the Midwest. 

Now that she lives in a community of Norwegian ancestry, Yeh has soaked in parts of that culture too. 

During an interview with Jewish in Seattle Magazine, she talked about how her parents and upbringing helped shape her into the person she was today. 

Molly Yeh's Parents Didn't Take the Hands-on Approach

While Yeh is proud of her Chinese and Jewish roots as an adult, she recalled that her parents did not actively introduce her to food, music, and other aspects of their respective cultures. 

Both of my parents had a very hands-off approach in introducing me to things like food and music and their respective cultures. They were always super chill, as long as I did my homework. 

Still, their hands-off parenting style did not mean that they weren't supportive of their daughter.

In fact, the doting parents saw that she had all of their support when she wanted to try out new things or hobbies. 

Then again, even when she did not follow the rule book, so to speak, they were okay with it. 

"When I was a picky eater, didn't want to practice my music, and kicked and screamed on the way to Sunday school, that was all generally OK too," she explained, "because I think my parents realized that eventually I'd come around."

Molly Yeh Was Grateful for Her Parents

Now that all was said and done, Yeh, as an adult, was grateful for her upbringing because ultimately, she got to make all of her choices on her own. 

She didn't have any bad memories from her early years.

Her parents never forced her to sit at the dinner table until she finished her veggies or to stay in the practice room until she learned a passage of music. 

Yeh's parents had always stuck to the idea that their cultures were "super cool."

However, they never imposed cultural expectations upon their children. 

Now that Yeh had a better understanding of the world around her, she became the person who put the most amount of pressure on herself to carry on these traditions and cultures.

Life In the Midwest

Further along in the interview, she shared her living experience on a beet farm in the Midwest.

This was apparently the first time in her life that she was not residing around a sizeable Jewish community. 

She had a minor culture shock of sorts when she realized that not everyone knew Jewish traditions by default.

Unlike the bustling city, getting to know people in a small town was a bit challenging for the blogger turned reality star. 

Thankfully, the town was very welcoming of her, and the people were actually curious about what it meant to be a Jew.

"A lot of people show curiosity about my Jewishness, which is great," she explained, "because it's forced me to learn even more about it so I can not look like an idiot when I'm answering a bunch of questions about, say, Sukkot."