That last post reminded me of the oddest and most annoying conversation I've ever had about my origins. It was with a German guy who I met while I was living in Lyon, France. The conversation was in English and went something like this :
- Where are you from?
- Singapore, but I live in Australia.
- No, where are you from originally?
- I was born in Singapore.
- Yes, but where are your parents from?
- They were born in Singapore.
- What about your grandparents?
- My grandmothers are from SE Asia, but my grandfathers were from China.
- Oh, so you're from China!
There was sure no fooling this guy...
- Where are you from?
- Singapore, but I live in Australia.
- No, where are you from originally?
- I was born in Singapore.
- Yes, but where are your parents from?
- They were born in Singapore.
- What about your grandparents?
- My grandmothers are from SE Asia, but my grandfathers were from China.
- Oh, so you're from China!
There was sure no fooling this guy...
Well, just remember that most people in the world doesn't have background as interesting as yours :D. (But its true that that would have been annoying, and there are politer ways to ask for that information.)
ReplyDeleteIn the US it's common for people to ask people who don't fit into a white-black dichotomous view of race and ethnicity, but who respond to "Where are you from?" with a location inside the US, something like "Yes, but where are you FROM from?". If the answer is still inside the US, the asker might say something like "Okay, but what ARE you?"...
ReplyDeleteMy background's *nowhere* near as interesting as yours, Hilario!
ReplyDeleteI wanted to tell him that I'd only ever been to China once when I was young and that I felt no special connection with China, but I didn't think it was worth it.
Hilário thinks that Amos is very interesting :].
ReplyDeleteYeah, a lot of people have very simple world view... but then unless they are have malicious intentions, it is good to educate others.