mistaken identity
Annie Lin | Thursday, July 15, 2010 at 12:13AM 
Native: Hello, welcome to my country.
Annie: Hello!
Native: Where do you come from?
Annie: America.
Native: (looks confused and thinks to himself/herself…really? She looks like an Asian. Better ask again to make sure I understood her.) Where?
Annie: San Francisco.
Native: (in a confused tone) Oh.
Annie: But I was born in Taiwan.
Native: (Ha…I knew it! And smiles.)
This is a typical interaction I have with the locals in all the Asian countries we have visited so far. People don’t seem to believe that I’m from America and it puzzles them until I say I was born in Taiwan. Then there’s usually a sigh of relief that the mystery has been solved. Next time they ask I should just say I’m Taiwanese, which would lessen the confusion.
Or my favorite interaction so far is with a tour guide in Battambang. We were on the bamboo train and stopped for a break. I got food poisoning a few days ago and was still feeling the bug. My stomach was hurting and I needed to use the toilet so I asked Jon to find out where I could find one. He approached a tour guide. The tour guide looked at me and said to Jon...”but she’s Asian.” I’m not sure how being Asian had anything to do with locating a toilet. I thought it was hilarious.
I don’t usually get asked this question having grown up in the states since I was seven so I’ve never really thought much about it. Do I consider myself Taiwanese, Taiwanese American, American Taiwanese, or simply American? I don’t know. I am proud to be born in Taiwan and only when someone assumes that I am from China do I make it a point to correct them. To me there’s a difference between those two countries.
It’s not entirely accurate to say I’m Taiwanese since I grew up in the States and have adopted many American values. Nor am I just an American as that would be denying my heritage. I guess I’ll settle for Taiwanese American if I must chose an identity as that would most accurately describe who I am. So next time someone asks me where I am from I’ll say Taimerica. That will really confuse them.
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