Ethinic Confusion.
Currently listening to: 'Hey ya' - Outkast.
I am 100% CHINESE. If I got a penny everytime someone asked me if I was thai/malaysian/filipeno/burmese I would be a very rich girl by now. Not that I am offended or anything like that, but its just very strange, and.... well okay.... a BIT annoying. I've had total strangers (mainly gwailos - if thats any indication of their integrity) approach me and ask me if I am thai. "No." I'll say and quickly shuffle away.
Its an honest mistake really, I can't help it I am naturally brown. I was born like this. The strange thing is though, I am the only one in my family who has a dark complexion. Sounds a bit dodgy? I would think so too, if it wasnt for the fact I look like a female version of my father.
Many people find it hard to tell one asian face from another. I generally thought I was a pretty good judge of asian ethnicity - that was till I took this test. I got 6 out of 18. Bah! Who am I to judge?
When I lived in HK the colour of my skin bothered me. Thats because there, its more socially acceptable to be of a lighter skin colour. In fact, the whiter the better. If you go to the supermarkets there in the toiletries aisle you'll find a variety of moisturers claiming to whiten your skin - its THAT common. At family gatherings the subject of my skin colour would come up: "Oooohhhh...youre so black, you shouldnt go out in the sun so much, Aiyah..." and my grandma would recommend me some creams I could use to 'bleach' my skin to a more acceptable whiter colour.
I call it 'The Hong Kong Micheal Jackson Syndrome'. I can't think of another city so obssessed with being 'white' to the extent that on sunny days an umbrella should be carried to block out those evil sun rays. Its a chinese thing I think, a tradition carried on from back in the day where the royalty were 'white' as they sat around all day in their mansions and the labourers were brown as they worked in the fields. As if the whiter you were would ultimately determine how much better you were than others.
Here in Australia its a different story. On the sunny west coast, I always get compliments about how nice my 'tan' is. In this part of the world where surfing, sunbaking and playing one day cricket is commended, it seems everyone is working on their tan. Everyone that is; except me. My friends are jealous. They pay to go to the solarium. I dont even have to go outside to get a tan, its like I have some inbuilt tanning mechanism and even in winter I look like I've been hanging out in 40c degree weather.
I have a friend who goes to the beach almost everyday to work on her tan - they even have competitions on who can be the blackest. I tell her that by the time shes 30 shes gonna look like the 'Crypt Keeper' - its true but hey, we all gotta work on our tans...in Australia at least.
I am 100% CHINESE. If I got a penny everytime someone asked me if I was thai/malaysian/filipeno/burmese I would be a very rich girl by now. Not that I am offended or anything like that, but its just very strange, and.... well okay.... a BIT annoying. I've had total strangers (mainly gwailos - if thats any indication of their integrity) approach me and ask me if I am thai. "No." I'll say and quickly shuffle away.
Its an honest mistake really, I can't help it I am naturally brown. I was born like this. The strange thing is though, I am the only one in my family who has a dark complexion. Sounds a bit dodgy? I would think so too, if it wasnt for the fact I look like a female version of my father.
Many people find it hard to tell one asian face from another. I generally thought I was a pretty good judge of asian ethnicity - that was till I took this test. I got 6 out of 18. Bah! Who am I to judge?
When I lived in HK the colour of my skin bothered me. Thats because there, its more socially acceptable to be of a lighter skin colour. In fact, the whiter the better. If you go to the supermarkets there in the toiletries aisle you'll find a variety of moisturers claiming to whiten your skin - its THAT common. At family gatherings the subject of my skin colour would come up: "Oooohhhh...youre so black, you shouldnt go out in the sun so much, Aiyah..." and my grandma would recommend me some creams I could use to 'bleach' my skin to a more acceptable whiter colour.
I call it 'The Hong Kong Micheal Jackson Syndrome'. I can't think of another city so obssessed with being 'white' to the extent that on sunny days an umbrella should be carried to block out those evil sun rays. Its a chinese thing I think, a tradition carried on from back in the day where the royalty were 'white' as they sat around all day in their mansions and the labourers were brown as they worked in the fields. As if the whiter you were would ultimately determine how much better you were than others.
Here in Australia its a different story. On the sunny west coast, I always get compliments about how nice my 'tan' is. In this part of the world where surfing, sunbaking and playing one day cricket is commended, it seems everyone is working on their tan. Everyone that is; except me. My friends are jealous. They pay to go to the solarium. I dont even have to go outside to get a tan, its like I have some inbuilt tanning mechanism and even in winter I look like I've been hanging out in 40c degree weather.
I have a friend who goes to the beach almost everyday to work on her tan - they even have competitions on who can be the blackest. I tell her that by the time shes 30 shes gonna look like the 'Crypt Keeper' - its true but hey, we all gotta work on our tans...in Australia at least.
