Being a little Asian girl in Asia

I woke up with this link in my inbox from a fellow friend  'Asian's living in Japan' today and I was instantly inspired to write a post about my experience in Asia. This girl writes about how it feels to be a foreigner with an Asian face and her experiences on what she faced during her time in Japan.

Mine is similar but I have a little couple idiosyncratic occurrences I would like to remember if I decide to come back to Asia for another long term stint.

I have been in and out of Asia for the past 5 years whether that be in China or Japan. I started in China and that was a rough path all on its own. On top of all the cultural differences but being Chinese Canadian who only speaks Cantonese and not Mandarin imagine if I didn't speak Cantonese either...it didn't play any part where I was anyways.

When I was in North China I faced Chinese people instantly assuming that I was Chinese and that I would play the translator. I wasn't offended by this. (I am Chinese) Though...consistently arguing with little old ladies about prices who wouldn't try to adhere to my foreignness. They hand me a piece of paper expecting me to write kanji for them.

The same mind numbing recycled conversations in taxis for the duration of my time in China. (over a year)

Q: Where are you from? Korea, Japan, Thailand, Vietnam....
A: Canada.
Q: Why is your Chinese so bad? Are you slow?
A: I am born in Canada.
Q: Didn't your parents teach you Chinese?
A: I speak Cantonese.
R: I don't speak Cantonese. OR What's Cantonese?
Q: So where are you really from?
A: *insert annoyed grumblings*

On the flip-side, I don't have to face the 'please take a picture with us' because of the colour of my eyes and skin. Or get random English words yelled in my direction.

I suffered the same culture shock with glazed over eyes wearing rose coloured glasses of a foreigner in Japan. Except, from the moment I stepped off of the plane I was instantly transformed into a Japanese person. Interesting, I wish I had read about this in the 'What to expect' pamphlet.

I was expected to speak Japanese fluently and translate at every dinner table I have ever sat down at.(though my friends are all wonderful Japanese/Chinese speakers!) I blend into a crowd better than any invisible super villain. What should I use my powers for, for evil of course. :P

Luckily for me as a native English speaker it wasn't as difficult to for me to find a job in Japan unlike China. Where in they wanted to pay me less money than my fellow Caucasian colleagues... >.< When I showed up at certain schools in Japan or sat down with students for the first time they would instantly greet me in Japanese and compliment me on my English. This isn't really something I complain about because it doesn't really offend me but explaining how I am a Gaijin or Waiguo ren gets quite tiring. 

Lastly for me if I want to date anyone I am pretty much out of luck. I am too western for any local Asian and they are looking for either the tradition type or something more exotic. Foreign guys want to date local girls (yellow fever isn't on my side) I fit into the majority and if they had wanted a westernized girl they would have found one at home. Anyhoo, my dating pool has shrunk significantly. Though I come from a city of a million and have lived in Asian cities that are half the population of Canada. Sadly my ratio to find anyone to date is next to nil.

I'm going to take my chopstick skills to Europe.

Jenny, over and out.