Miss Gioia

Sunday, March 11, 2007

On Display

On Sunday, I took a little bike ride to get an adaptor plug for the new dryer. Apparently Whirlpool dryers sold for use in China come with European plugs. Yeah, I don't know why either.

On my way to and from the hardware store, I had several people do a double take as I passed. Usually, they would then break into a smile and say "Ni Hao! Where are you from?" Because I, apparently, am an oddity.

At one stoplight, a middle aged man and I had a conversation (in Chinese) that went something like this.

Him: Hello. Are you European?*

Me: No. I am from the United States.

Him: Where in the United States?

Me: Chicago.

Him: Where do you live?

Me: In a neighborhood up ahead.

Him: What are you doing in China? What is your business?

Now don't get me wrong - he was a friendly guy. But imagine if the same scenario occured in Chicago, for instance. Say a caucasian man does a double take upon seeing an Asian lady walking down the street and proceeds to ask all sorts of personal questions JUST BECAUSE SHE WAS ASIAN. Where do you live? Why are you in the United States? What is your work?

Some days, it is just plain weird around here.

*I don't fault the man for thinking I was European. I was, after all, on a bike with a bunch of flowers in the basket. He should have looked at my shoes though.

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1 Comments:

Blogger Johnny said...

Hey, *I* want to ask those questions of you!

March 12, 2007 6:02 PM  

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