It was 2012. My students were writing little letters describing their lives in Niger. One of my students wrote about how when she entered the market with her parents people would start calling to her, "Chinoise! Chinoise!" A fairly easy mistake for them to make but rather annoying to this little girl who was very proud of the fact that she was Korean. Since that time, I've heard about others walking through the market who, despite their white skin, are referred to as "Chinois!" So there I was walking through the market this morning when one of the traders began speaking to me:
How awesome is it that instead of calling me "Chinoise!" he just started talking to me in fake Chinese! And why oh why, after spending an entire childhood perfecting the art of speaking fake languages, did I not think fast enough to respond with, "Chong chu chit chi."? We could have been having our own fake language conversation and that, my friends, would have been nothing short of hysterical. If it ever happens again, I'll be ready to be the whitest Chinese lady ever!
hahaha - too funny! Chantelle, Rebecca and I were in the market once and a vendor asked us what nationality we were - we asked him what he thought .... his response? "Japonais" .... ???!?!? um, no!
ReplyDeleteI would have loved to have seen this guys face had you responded to him in fake mandarin! :) I hope I'm with you if it does happen again ... I'll chime in with my fake Japanese!
Here's to next time! It's gonna be great! :)
DeleteI like that "Whitest chinese Lady ever"..Just some experiences I don't get from shopping in superstore in Red Deer:)
ReplyDeleteYou're missing out, Ronda! :)
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