("Halfy" being my preferred affectionate term for being multiracial)
I had a really striking moment the other night on my way back to my apartment: I got into an elevator with 2 Taiwanese people, whose conversation stopped immediately upon noticing that I was a foreigner. We all left the elevator; they turned left and I turned right. As I was walking away, one said to the other (in Chinese) "foreigner." I'm used to that, and it's ok.
Then I walked back to my apartment, and ended up a few steps behind a white couple speaking English who apparently live in our building. I said mumbled a quick thanks to the guy who held the door open for a second so I could pass through. And then he kept talking to his girlfriend like I couldn't understand what they were saying.
I had kind of expected being too white to fit in here. And I already knew I was too Asian to be completely standard at home. But in the span of 3 minutes, that all displayed itself in shocking clarity. It's not bad or racist or a problem, really, it's just noticeable.
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1 comment:
I felt exactly the same way in both Taiwan when I was there, as well as Hong Kong. Interesting that Singapore was just the opposite experience for me, possibly due to English being the primary language there.
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