Deja vu

[venaja]

AHAHAHA. A girl I met in Japan asked where I was from. Lately, I've been babbling the same answer, "I'm from Oklahoma. You know, the state just north of Texas." No one outside the region seems to know where Oklahoma is. In Europe, it's often mistaken for Yokohama. Anyway, the schoolgirl I was chatting with gave me a wide-eyed look and breathed, "

Comments

[evelynne]

Snort.

It's funny, my friend Will, who lived for over five years in Japan, said that most Japanese tend to think of Americans as coming in a lot of different colors. Maybe they have a harder time with the ones that look Asian, but can easily accept an African-American.

If I may get tangential:

I'm fascinated by how you can look at two people of Asian descent (or African, for that matter, and even white people) on the street, the same age even, and identify which one was born and raised in America and which one is the immigrant. Without either one of them saying a word, even. It's not a distinction I'd expect a European to be able to see, though.

BTW, while I am picking on Europeans, I wanted to ask if you've read this. Some of the less political snarking is really funny. Such as:

European: Of course, Birmingham has an elite who travel all over Europe. But only one-sixth of all Americans possess a passport,Lileks: That’s because our nation is HUGE, pal; of course Belgians all have passports; their country is the size of

[aritei]

HA! That quote is hilarious. I can't get the rest of the page to load though. I found myself making similar apologies in London. Funny how those Brits like to call Americans insular. Have you heard of "The Clumsiest People in Europe"? I heard an excerpt on NPR about a week ago and couldn't stop laughing.

Anyway, I'm kind of curious how people decide who is American and who is Asian. People have never guessed I was an American while I was in Europe, but in Japan, it was obvious I was from the States. In Taiwan, despite my best efforts to blend in (parasol, long pants in sweltering weather, and even fobby peace signs in several pictures), several people initiated conversations with me in English.

[evelynne]

Oh, it's a book! I'll check it out. I found some excerpts here and I can hardly believe anyone could have that much scorn for other people/countries! Wow!

It's hard for me to put a finger on what screams "American" to me, but I agree with venaja that clothes, hair, and makeup are part of it. I think it's also mannerisms -- Americans have a sort of openness to them. Their strong individualism shows on the outside, I think. I'll have to try to pick it apart more -- it's something that interests me a great deal.

[venaja]

It's all in the clothes and makeup. No kidding. I think even among people in Asia, clothes and makeup are the top ways to tell where people are from. A high schooler from Japan is not going to dress and look the same way as a high schooler from China, for example. In Europe, though, Asians are so rare that almost all of them are immigrants. Other than that, there are slight behavioral marks you can see: the way a person carries themself, the kinds of personal distances they need, and how they interact with people.

As for the article, it always, always annoyed me how people take things that are founded wholly in practicality and use them as evidence for moral superiority. Belgians have passports because foreign countries are a stone throw's away. (Seriously, it's really easy to say "I've been out of the country" when it only takes an hour to get there. Most Americans have never been out of America. Why? It takes as much time to travel through it as it does to get through all of Europe.) The average Minnesota will see more

[mywornoutmasks]

Hahaha! That's beautiful!

[willyumtx]

http://www.elyrics.net/go/e/eric-clapton-lyrics/tulsa-time-lyrics/

[venaja]

Traitor.

[willyumtx]

Be careful. I'll use my "whack ass ninja" powers to whup your ass.

[venaja]

This meme will spread like wildfire throughout LJ and the world and I will be solely responsible for it!