What I find the most upsetting about living in Japan is how often I get mistaken for an American at school. I understand that there are only three Canadian students in my entire school, and besides the one Russian guy, all the other white kids are American. I understand that I am a minority. But still.
Somehow teachers never seem to forget about the Malaysians, Vietnamese, and Thai students at my school, and there are so few of them as well. Despite the fact that the Malaysian students usually just speak Chinese with the Chinese kids would make you think that the teachers would mix them up too.
But they don't. Somehow the Canadians are the only ones who get forgotten. Is it because I'm white and speak English. Is that it?
Grouping me together with the Americans is like me grouping Japanese and Korean people together. It's exactly the same thing. They kind of look alike, and their culture is sort of similar, right?
Except that Japan and Korea are a world apart. Japanese people and Korean people look so different from each other. Their languages sounds completely different. Their customs are different. Their people are different.
So why is it so hard for my teachers to understand how ignorant it is for them to ask me about America? I've never lived their in my fucking life. I can't tell you how X, Y or Z is in the US. I can barely tell you how it's like in Canada.
Canadians and Americans might look alike on the surface. We might speak the same language. But we're not the same. We have different customs, different cultures, different histories.
So next time you ask me what life is like in America, be ready for me to ask you what it's like in Korea, because you clearly won't understand how I feel otherwise.
Somehow teachers never seem to forget about the Malaysians, Vietnamese, and Thai students at my school, and there are so few of them as well. Despite the fact that the Malaysian students usually just speak Chinese with the Chinese kids would make you think that the teachers would mix them up too.
But they don't. Somehow the Canadians are the only ones who get forgotten. Is it because I'm white and speak English. Is that it?
Grouping me together with the Americans is like me grouping Japanese and Korean people together. It's exactly the same thing. They kind of look alike, and their culture is sort of similar, right?
Except that Japan and Korea are a world apart. Japanese people and Korean people look so different from each other. Their languages sounds completely different. Their customs are different. Their people are different.
So why is it so hard for my teachers to understand how ignorant it is for them to ask me about America? I've never lived their in my fucking life. I can't tell you how X, Y or Z is in the US. I can barely tell you how it's like in Canada.
Canadians and Americans might look alike on the surface. We might speak the same language. But we're not the same. We have different customs, different cultures, different histories.
So next time you ask me what life is like in America, be ready for me to ask you what it's like in Korea, because you clearly won't understand how I feel otherwise.
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