Stranger in a Strange Land
Monday, April 28th, 2008My wife and I were recently driving through a typical suburban neighborhood when we saw a blond woman pushing a stroller down the sidewalk. My wife was captivated by her to the point that our conversation stopped. Before I could ask her what she was looking at, she said something like, “우와, 여기 미국 사람 있네.” And then she laughed because she realized that obviously 미국 사람 should be here as this is 미국!
When we travelled to Korea last year we had a similar experience. We were at a museum and it was full of middle school and elementary school children visiting on a field trip. I think we were in 경주; that seems to be the place to go for extended school field trips. While my dad was enjoying saying hello to all of the students and his new found celebrity status my wife and I were commenting to each other that it was amazing to see so many Korean students visiting America! That bit of insanity only lasted a second before we both realized that we were the visitors.
But even here in America sometimes it is easy to forget my native culture and feel completely at ease in the grocery store when the bus of Japanese or Korean tourists take over on their way to Yosemite. When I lived in Korea I could spot a foreigner a mile away. They were pretty hard to miss and then I would realize with a bit of unease that, “hey, that is me.”
The diversity of America is such that people who do not know that my wife is not an American by birth assume that she has always lived here. A foreigner in Korea does not typically enjoy that kind of anonymity. Even so, I was happy to know that a Korean in America (or Korea) can feel the same cultural disconnect as I have experienced. Is it universal? Has anyone else had a similar experience?
Posted by steved in Steve's House |
April 28th, 2008 at 8:37 pm
I was teaching a class of primary school kids in 上海 when a group of similar aged kids visiting from England came. Everyone made such a fuss about meeting them that I started to feel a bit nervous meeting them!
April 29th, 2008 at 1:13 pm
i’ve experienced this! After living in Korea and going back to America, I was amazed for a whole week tat there were other people than Koreans around.
I think this has to do with the homogeneity of Korea. After seeing so many Korean people for such a long time, and then making a transition afterwards, it definitely takes some time to get used to.
April 30th, 2008 at 6:57 am
We took our (then) 5 year old son to Korea a few years ago. On the bus from the airport into Seoul he said, loud and clear, “Wow, there are a lot of Koreans in Korea!”
Talk about making an impression in your first hour in a country!
May 3rd, 2008 at 1:30 am
I travel back and fourth between the US and France frequently (used to live in France). I notice that it takes me a while for it to “sink in” that I’m in one place or the other. Last time, I remember turning on the TV after just arriving in France and remarking, “Wow, French language programming!”.
Even though I don’t look so different from the people there, I still stand out somewhat, because it’s not very common for Americans to be in that particular town on a long-term or repeated basis (Marseille).
The strangest experience was when I travelled to Algeria once (my husband is Algerian), and was shocked to find out that *everyone* knew I was there. The mentality there is kind of like a small town even though it’s a large country, so everyone knows something about most families living there, and their connections. Months after being there I met someone who lived on the opposite side of Algeria, and she remarked, “Yes, I heard that you had been visiting.” That was creepy-feeling.
May 5th, 2008 at 4:50 pm
wow… that sounds kind of scary that someone across the country would know you were in Algeria… :shocked:
May 8th, 2008 at 7:50 am
I enjoy (if this is the right word) a homogenous surrounding here in Minsk, Belarus. I turn my head at every asian, although the last year and a half not so frequently - our republic established a strong partnership with China and therefore these guys can be met almost every day in the city centre. Still I react when a black student passes by. When I was in Dublin last summer I could appreciate the diversity and found it more appealing when there are all races on streets: I felt more freedom and it was indeed curious: here is a persian shop selling only native products, there - polish (i can look in and listen to their conversation and catch the sense cause i can speak belarusian).
A major advantage for a person of a mixed european-asian ethnicity like me)))) - abundance of colours…
a note to Dublin randonnee: only ONE korean restaurant spotted (and it was a take-away), the other one was a sino-korean, so it doesn’t count)
May 9th, 2008 at 11:03 pm
That is awesome! I did the same thing when my wife and I went to my brothers wedding in Denver. The funny thing is that I am the 미국사람 and my wife, 한국사람, didn’t even bat and eye. I guess she is used to seeing my ugly face around the house!