We don't all look alike!

Okay, so, this morning, as I was walking to work, I had a most interesting experience at which I couldn't help but laugh! I had just gotten off the bus and was crossing the street to get to my office, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban in my left hand and my Chinese takeout purse in my right hand. There was a car waiting to make a right turn. Right as I approached the car, the driver (a woman), called out to me, "Is that a purse?" "Yes, it is," I replied. She said, "I love your purse! I want your purse!" to which I just laughed and smiled. Well, she made the right turn after we'd crossed the street and pulled over and had her passenger side window rolled down and she said, again, "I love your purse!" And the next thing she said to me astounded me. "Did you get it in your country?" To which I replied matter-of-factly, "No, I got it in Seattle." She said something unintelligible and drove off. I hope she was embarrassed!!!

I could not believe it!!!! I should've said, "Actually, yes, I did get it in my country--the good ol' U-S-of-A!"

In some ways, that ignorance isn't too different from every experience I've had in Europe, being mistaken for Japanese.

The first experience was in the summer of 1991 when I went on my four and a half week trip with some people from my high school. Everywhere I went with my friends (2-3 other Asian Americans), we were mistaken for Japanese, and not a one of us was Japanese! At first, it was kinda funny, but it got irritating after a while. I will never forget the moment, halfway through our trip, when we were walking back to the hotel and some Italian soldiers said to us, "Konichiwa" and my friend, Dora, whipped around and yelled at them, "We're NOT Japanese!" That was funny. =)

Then, the next time I got mistaken for Japanese, I didn't even know about it. What I mean is that it wasn't done to my face. I was in Spain for New Year's Eve in '99 with 5 New Yorkers. The last day we were there, on our way back to Madrid, we stopped in Granada and went to La Alhambra. We went through the Alcazaba and I was, of course, taking pictures of everything. (Although, I took far more pictures the second time I went in '03!) Towards the end of the tour, there is a fountain, the Fuente de los Leones and I wanted a picture of it. There were 4 people standing there and I figured that I'd just sneak in front of them, quickly snap the picture, and then quickly get out of their way.

So, I did.

Well, it turns out they didn't quite appreciate that. How did I find that out, given that I had already walked off?

One of the gals in our group, Tatiana, was standing behind these 4 people. As it turns out, they were Italian. Well, it was too bad for them that the tiny little Columbian woman behind them is fluent in Italian! (Tatiana grew up going to Italian schools from K-12 in Columbia and is fluent!) One of the men said to the other 3, "Those Japanese are always getting in the way." Tatiana said to them, in Italian, "First of all, she's Chinese, not Japanese." If I recall correctly, they were quite taken aback! She then said to them, "And secondly, she's not in your way! And she is my friend!" (This was cool to hear since I'd only just met Tatiana for the first time a week and a half before! But, we totally connected and bonded, especially on the drive from Madrid to Marbella and sharing a room for a week!) The guy extended his hand and introduced himself and Tatiana put up her hands and walked off. Go Tatiana!!! =)

The next time was when I was in Italy in 2001. (What is it with the Italians?!) Big Mel and I were walking towards the Uffizi Gallery and we passed 3-4 Italian guys and one of them said to me, "Konichiwaaaaa" and I turned around and said, "I'm NOT Japanese!" And then he said, "Ni hao!"

I guess I can't really fault them for not being able to distinguish Chinese from Japanese and so on and so forth. After all, it's not like the Asian population is quite as large as it is here. (Although, there are Chinese restaurants everywhere! We saw one in Venice, Florence, and Rome!) And, the majority of Asians that they're exposed to are Japanese tourists.

But, ohmigosh!!!! Can they not understand, by the way that I speak English, and by the fact that I was with a petite little, red-headed, blue-eyed, Caucasian, that I'm not from Asia?!?!

I suppose it's kinda like how my parents, even though they're fluent in English, can't understand British English to save their lives! hahah =) After seeing Sense and Sensibility in the theater with them, I swore to never do that again!

Anyways....these are my ramblings from today....so far..... =)