i stick out like a gold fish
"you seem more red now, or even browner, than other asians in class."
it was alice, in her very little but sweet voice, wondering why my skin color has been turning darker compared to our other asian classmates even now that it is winter. funny that she noticed because yes, although it is still winter here in europe, i think i am getting a little bit darker than the usual tones of yellow in autumn. oh, how i love it! i stick out like a gold fish bobbing on a white sea in the metro every morning.
i wonder though that depending on the season, some of the people whom i have met here in brussels last year have mistaken me to be either mexican (in winter), indonesian (in spring), japanese (in summer) or thai (in autumn). there was only one guy who got it right after three guesses. we met in a dark and stuffy bar here in the city two weeks ago, did what people do in dark and stuffy bars, and before asking whether i have a boyfriend as well as my number, he asked whether i was...
"...francais?"
"non" was my reply.
"...nederlaands?"
"nee" wrong again.
"...filipino?"
"anak-ng-tipaklong!" (son-of-a-grasshopper!)
he got a nice kiss from me for that one.
oh by the way, he's spanish, which of course i couldn't have guessed right anyway.
listening to: nothing
this is marc's version of the truth, sometime at 7:02 PM
if you can't live with it, he can.
2 Comments
since i am ethnically chinese, it's almost a lie when i say i am filipino, but that's how i identify. when people ask me this question, they mean, they can mean several things, but usually, what is it that you look like. however, they also want to know what is your birth origin or cultural heritage, which is ultimately why this question is STUPID. :)
I always answer "I was born here (US) but my parents are from the Philippines" because I know they're trying to figure out why I speak the way I do and why I look the way I do.
Fair question... I love to ask it myself. The thing is -- what's the INTENT of the question, to learn or to be an *sshole?
Love reading here... :)
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