DISCLAIMER: I don't claim to represent the experience of all Asian-Americans traveling in Asia--just mine ;)
So if you recall from the first post, I spent about a paragraph harping on how you get treated differently as an ABC in Asia (plus there's the blog title) than as a Westerner, but I have yet to actually mention how things might differ, so I thought I would make that the topic for the day. Keep in mind, this is from the perspective of an Asian-American who has a pretty poor grasp of her own language so while lots of Asian-Americans out there can speak their native tongue perfectly fine, I am not one of them, so I may have language issues other Asian Americans won't face.
Even Before You Leave the Country
Chances are, if you are an Asian-American on an Asian airline, they will speak to you in the native tongue of the airline. When my Chinese class went to Taiwan, we took EVA Air (a Taiwanese company) and the flight attendants spoke to me in Mandarin; likewise when my SATA (study away) group went to South Korea, we took Korean Air where they spoke to me in Korean. The funny thing was that, both times I was with a pair of my non-Asian friends, and while the flight attendants spoke to my friends in English, when they turned to me, they would automatically switch. Now if you can speak the language that's totally fine; if you can't that is also totally fine (if slightly embarrassing), as they speak perfectly good English. You can take it both ways--if you're really serious about language study, it is a good chance to practice your Mandarin (or Korean) with native speakers, if you really have no clue what's going on though, don't be afraid to say so. I admit, as an ABC it's kind of embarrassing to tell someone that I speak little Chinese but, while the flight attendants might be a little surprised, they are hardly going to judge you for it. So don't be afraid to speak up, whether that be to practice your language skills or to admit to your lack of comprehension.
Eating Out
When you eat out with a bunch (or a few) of your non-Asian friends, expect to be the spokesperson for the meal. In some places, such as busier cities like Taipei and Seoul, there will probably be quite a few places where waiters and waitresses will be more than happy to practice their English with you--even if you speak to them in their native language. For the most part though, they will probably stick with their native language and in more rural or traditional locations they might not even know English. So as I mentioned, expect to be the spokesperson because servers will automatically turn to the Asian of the group should they want to communicate with you. When my Chinese class was in Taiwan, it was okay since our professor was with us for the most part, so our professor did all the talking. In several instances where our professor was otherwise engaged or was not present, the waiters would then turn to one of the five Chinese students. When I was in Korea, I had this one friend who usually did the ordering and, even though she was speaking perfectly comprehensible Korean to call over the waiters and order, afterwords the waiter would turn to me to confirm the order, say that they were out of something, or just to address whatever. Though I found it amusing, it can actually be frustrating for both the Asian and the non-Asian friend so again, either use it as an opportunity to practice your language skills or pass it back to your friend.
Shopping
This was an interesting one. In both Taiwan and Korea there are a lot of these shopping districts with small scale stores usually selling clothes--that are of good quality mind you--for pretty cheap. Clothes can be pretty cheap in Taiwan and Korea. Bags too. Anyways, as I said, this was a pretty interesting experience. In Taiwan I didn't really have much of a problem since I can communicate in Mandarin a lot better than in Korean. In Korea however, my Korean is decent enough to understand prices and to say that things fit okay or were too expensive (hooray for haggling!), but here's the interesting thing. 명동--Myeongdong--is Seoul's famous shopping area and as I was shopping there with my friend one day, a store employee was asking me a question in Korean that I did not understand and when I stared blankly at her, she switched to Chinese. What? Myeongdong gets a lot of Chinese tourists so actually a lot of store owners can speak Chinese (in some cases, better than they can speak English) (strangely enough however, when I spoke to that store employee in Chinese, she answered in English. Huh) Another time, I was shopping in 이대--Edae--by myself and maybe it was because I was alone (Koreans usually do things as a group) or because it was a Thursday afternoon (so the traffic not as busy), so it was easier to tell that I was a foreigner, but most of these store owners would speak to me in English, until I answered in Korean whereupon they made the switch too. (This one poor guy started by trying to guess where I was from, starting with Hong Kong, Taiwan, and China, then trying Singapore and Malaysia before I decided to just put him out of his misery by telling him I was from America, whereupon he seemed pretty surprised). It was just funny because prior to all that I had been spoken to in Korean, in the streets, at restaurants, at school, and all of a sudden these shop owners just knew. I will say though that at e-mart (which is like the Korean equivalent of Target) I've been able to pass off as Korean (haha) and I've noticed at checkout that they'll ask if I have a rewards card (in Korean of course), a question that doesn't get translated over when they deal with English speaking customers. It all depends on the places you go I guess.
So there you have it, a little glimpse of what it means to be Asian-American in Asia. On the one hand, it can be a great opportunity for whipping out your Mandarin or Korean or what have you and I admit, sometimes I go along with it. I mean I certainly don't say that I am Korean, but I don't tell them that I'm not Korean either. Also in terms of shopping, I have noticed that here in the States I have been followed around by store employees before (I don't know if that is because I look young or like a delinquent or if it is because I am Asian), but that did not happen to me in Korea, while my non-Asian friends have been closely watched and followed while they were wandering around the stores in Korea. As amusing as I make this mistaken identity crisis out to be however, sometimes I do get frustrated and I can't help but think, I don't even look Korean! I'm not sure if it is because I am Asian so they automatically assume that I am Korean or if they just assume that I can speak Korean (there are a lot of Chinese exchange students who come already being able to speak Korean fairly well). The first few times it happened, it made me anxious in fact because my Korean was pretty limited, but once I started learning more and being able to understand more, it wasn't so bad.
So moral of the day? Practice makes perfect, practice means confidence, so practice practice practice!
To switch it up a little today, instead of Everyday Chinese you get...
Everyday Korean! Konglish Edition
- 콩글리스/콩글리쉬 (formally known as 한국어식 영어) (konggeullishi, formal: hangukeosik yeongeo) - Konglish, formal: Korean (language)-style English
- 버스 (beoseu) - Bus
- 쇼핑 (syoping) - Shopping
- 커피 (keopi) - Coffee*
- 텔레비전 (tellebijeon) - Television**
- 핸드폰 (haendeupon) - Cell phone (Haha, get it? As in hand phone?)
*There is no "f" sound in the Korean alphabet so the Korean "p" ㅍ sound is used instead
**Likewise, there is also no "v" sound in the Korean alphabet, so the Korean "b" ㅂ sound is used
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