You Know You're Nigerian American When...

You know you are a Nigerian American when...

You have to constantly repeat yourself because of the accent barrier  between you and your parents

You constantly get the talk about the importance of an education and your parents make summer plans that are educational

You travel to Nigeria and your relatives tell you to stop talking like an American

 You can fake a pretty good Nigerian Accent

You go to school and your Black American friends are shocked to discover that you are Nigerian

You have two versions of your name, the CORRECT pronunciation and the AMERICANIZED pronunciation

You fully understand the wrath that comes with forgetting to greet your parents in the morning

You have a Nigerian name whether middle or first, that involves God or has some other deep meaning

You can pretty much detect what your parents are saying when they speak their language but can barely speak it yourself.

You eat rice and stew at least 4 times a week

Your parents refer to your disrespect as "cursing them out" despite the lack of actual cuss words

When your parents want to call you, they run through the list of all your siblings first

You are aware that "me and you will wear the same pant today" means you are really in for it

Your folks are exceptionally skilled at creating their own sound effects and vocab words such as gboza! (for  explosions, or to add dramatic effect to a slap), yama yama (something that is cheap or foolish), or mieh mieh mieh (To indicate that someone is moving a bit too slow).

You are a hostess for someone's traditional wedding and must wear a gele, and are a hostess for someone's church wedding and must STILL wear a gele

You factor "African Time" into your schedule and know that if they say an event starts at 3pm it doesn't really start til 5.

 You attend a party and receive any of the following as a party favor: a) a cup/glass ; b) a bowl ; c) a tray; d) a bag; e) a handkerchief ; or f) a clock

Your parents refer to their childhood in Nigeria with phrases like "I had to wake up early to go to the farm", "I took first in my class", "I wouldn't dare talk to my mother like that, she would design my face" or " I left my parents for school at the age of 12"

You understand that when they say:

"you are opening eyes on me?!"
"why you dey close eye?!"

Both phrases indicate that you are catching an attitude.

You are given parables like:
"those whose palm kernels have been broken by the benevolent spirit should not fail to humble to their God"
"you gather water while it is still raining, not after it has stopped"
 "the goat has grown tired of chewing grass"
"There is a limit to the amount of sand you can put in a blind man's food before he realizes he is no longer eating rice"

Lastly, you know you are Nigerian American if..
you have a blend of two starkly different cultures and carry a pride and awareness of  both--at least half of the time.