Yesterday, I went to eat by myself at a noodle place. So I was wearing glasses (which seems to hide my eyes enough to deceive people at least at first glance that I am Chinese) and this middle-aged couple and college age son sat down next to me. The server who had seated them next to me seemed completely comfortable with who I was. (I’m pretty sure she’d seen me come enough with the foreigners that she knew what category I fell into). But the couple wasn’t so sure. I reassured them in Chinese that they could sit next to me after the mother asked. I ordered my dishes in Chinese, and the couple still seemed uncertain. The woman kept staring at the side of my face when I turned to look at some paperwork I had brought. I wanted to laugh, but decided to hide it. She clearly wanted to ask where I was from, but didn’t know how to say it. The son was clearly a new student because he didn’t know where the chopsticks were in the restaurant. I showed him and explained in Chinese. She took a good stare at my face every time I looked at my bowl of noodles. I decided I’d rather not explain this time, so I kept quiet, and they seemed busy enough slurping up their noodles. I wondered what they would say about me once they got out of my ear-range.
It’s entertaining to be on that border of people’s perceptions of Foreigners and strange-looking Chinese.
Sometimes I forget about being an obvious foreigner until I join up with Ben, Beth, or Nick, because their light hair and complexion elicits an English phrase from every passerby.
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1 comment:
I now understand the subtle racial switch. Your cousin Noah got a buzz cut this summer and he looked very asian. When his hair is long, he looks caucasian.
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