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tiffanybiz
Newbie
Joined: Nov 12, 2006
Posts: 1
Status: Offline
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 Posted:
Nov 12, 2006 - 05:48 PM |
 
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| Post subject: Any ABC, CBC, etc guys in shanghai meet the same situation? |
Everytime I say I am American. People here will be very suspicious, they think I am Chinese then I should repeat the explaination:my parents migrate...
Do you meet the same situation? What's your response then? |
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CoffeeHawk_0
Board Buddha
Joined: July 14, 2005
Posts: 14380
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Nov 12, 2006 - 05:53 PM |
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...an american of chinese decent |
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lijunj
Reacher
Joined: Nov 18, 2002
Posts: 339
Location: Kerry Center,Shanghai
Status: Offline
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Nov 12, 2006 - 06:39 PM |
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speak your mother language to them next time. |
_________________
Your friend in Shanghai |
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HH
Reacher
Joined: Oct 08, 2006
Posts: 208
Status: Offline
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Nov 12, 2006 - 06:54 PM |
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haven't really had this problem here, even though I can't speak chinese. It seems to be more accepted in Shanghai where non chinese speaking chinese can come from Canada, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, etc....In HK, it seemed more insular with everyone there assuming that any chinese looking person should be able to speak fluent cantonese. |
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YariGuy
LoopKicker
Joined: July 13, 2004
Posts: 874
Location: Puxi
Status: Offline
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Nov 12, 2006 - 07:05 PM |
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frenchlover1999
Shanghai Royalty
Joined: Sep 18, 2004
Posts: 8730
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Nov 12, 2006 - 09:52 PM |
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If you think of yourself as an acronym, what do you expect? |
_________________
That was no shark. That was my personal submarine. But enough of this polite conversation. What is the purpose of your visit? |
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CoffeeHawk_0
Board Buddha
Joined: July 14, 2005
Posts: 14380
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Nov 12, 2006 - 10:23 PM |
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yes, instead, think of yourself as a pseudonym, you'll get a lot more respect |
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yu888
Board Deity
Joined: Jan 25, 2003
Posts: 17971
Location: ZhongShanParkArea SH
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Nov 12, 2006 - 11:04 PM |
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mswp
Rocker
Joined: Mar 06, 2005
Posts: 724
Status: Offline
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Nov 12, 2006 - 11:45 PM |
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I've had an ABC staying with me. She speaks OK Chinese - certainly better than me. But if I say something -- even if it's only "ni hao" people will say "Oh, you speak chinese so well!" But with her, the look she gets is more like "What's wrong with you? You're Chinese is terrible."
It's like everything else about China opening, it's going to take a long, long time for a lot, lot of people to experience things outside of their concepts of reality.
Personally, I envy those of you who can be invisible when you want to be. I guess there are trade-offs. |
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yu888
Board Deity
Joined: Jan 25, 2003
Posts: 17971
Location: ZhongShanParkArea SH
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Nov 12, 2006 - 11:52 PM |
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never truly invisible... most ABC's dress and behave much too differently not ot be noticed, but yes, certainly LESS visible. |
_________________
Thoughts & updates about Shanghai On my Blog for more details:Random Thoughts about Living in Shanghai...and more |
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hurugogogo
Lurker
Joined: Oct 29, 2006
Posts: 22
Status: Offline
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Nov 13, 2006 - 12:19 AM |
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Haha, I agree, it's certainly easier for me to escape the attention of those guys around the old XY market. A Swedish friend of mine was once followed by this guy for over 20 min. Eventually, this really mild-tempered friend of mine had to turn around and firmly (with some mean facial expression I guess) said to the XY guy " A no means a NO!" |
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guel27
Board Royalty
Joined: Oct 10, 2005
Posts: 7462
Location: iwahig
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Nov 13, 2006 - 11:59 AM |
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Are you originaly from china? because even though your parents migrate to america or you were born in america, or you do not know how to speak in chinese because you grew up in america, you are still chinese. its in the blood, not in the place. |
_________________
umamin ka na kasi, halata naman e |
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hurugogogo
Lurker
Joined: Oct 29, 2006
Posts: 22
Status: Offline
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Nov 13, 2006 - 06:36 PM |
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I don't think tiffanybiz is "originally from" China as she is an ABC/CBC! She was born outside of China, so how can she be "from" China? |
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guel27
Board Royalty
Joined: Oct 10, 2005
Posts: 7462
Location: iwahig
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Nov 13, 2006 - 07:09 PM |
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im not saying it, i am asking it. |
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umamin ka na kasi, halata naman e |
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seph_07
Fire-eater
Joined: June 23, 2006
Posts: 2744
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Nov 14, 2006 - 11:10 AM |
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also experienced it many times. then when i try to tell them in english that i am not chinese, it's like they will tuen into a red tomato. no big deal for me being mistaken as one, you have the luxury of playing like a real chinese sometimes especially when you can speak putong hua. |
_________________
how many brothers fell victim to the street... |
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shanghaithunder
Raver
Joined: Aug 08, 2004
Posts: 493
Location: Jing An, Kailua, Nor CaL
Status: Offline
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Nov 19, 2006 - 04:18 PM |
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I like being a banana. Sure I get looks and attitude all the time when I speak my crappy Mandarin and get shut out of English teaching jobs even get totally ignored when with my Caucasian friends because of my Asian appearance but nothing we can do about it. Just keep studiying and suck it in. At least I don't get assaulted by all the DVD and wristwatch hawkers and never get a second look when on the bus in a local neighborhood. |
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bluemin
Seeker
Joined: Oct 13, 2006
Posts: 53
Status: Offline
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Nov 19, 2006 - 04:43 PM |
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in Canada, my Chinese friends would insist 'yes you're from Singapore, but you're still Chinese!' and they completely took me in as 'one of their one'. in China, it's a bit different, half the time people reject diaspora folk as 'not really Chinese' while others take pains to convince us that we are still 100% Chinese. similarly the other way round, some people strongly identify themselves as Chinese, but others don't see themselves as being part of a diaspora at all, but simply a citizen of whichever country they grew up in.
as guel27's comments suggest, this question opens up a whole can of worms about what ethnicity means. is about blood? culture of upbringing? sorry if i'm getting deep, hazards of writing too many essays in uni... like shanghaithunder, i like being a banana myself, and i say for personal purposes, you can just tell people that you're Chinese American. that's what ABC suggests after all, doesn't it? some people may say all bananas are in between but who cares what other people say, as long as you know who you are and are comfortable with it. |
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yu888
Board Deity
Joined: Jan 25, 2003
Posts: 17971
Location: ZhongShanParkArea SH
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Nov 20, 2006 - 12:39 AM |
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clc349
Rocker
Joined: Mar 20, 2003
Posts: 674
Location: California, USA
Status: Offline
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Nov 20, 2006 - 02:55 AM |
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tiffanybiz's English's bad... I was also wondering if she's emigrated to US... granted, just because one's born and raise in US doesn't mean s/he writes well. |
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HH
Reacher
Joined: Oct 08, 2006
Posts: 208
Status: Offline
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Nov 20, 2006 - 09:38 AM |
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that almost certainly marks her out as American....but seriously, if you don't speak good english and don't speak chinese and claim to be an ABC, what language do you speak fluently? Cantonese? |
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lucyna
Veejay
Joined: Aug 03, 2006
Posts: 2166
Status: Offline
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Nov 20, 2006 - 09:51 AM |
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| bluemin wrote: |
in Canada, my Chinese friends would insist 'yes you're from Singapore, but you're still Chinese!' and they completely took me in as 'one of their one'. in China, it's a bit different, half the time people reject diaspora folk as 'not really Chinese' while others take pains to convince us that we are still 100% Chinese. similarly the other way round, some people strongly identify themselves as Chinese, but others don't see themselves as being part of a diaspora at all, but simply a citizen of whichever country they grew up in.
as guel27's comments suggest, this question opens up a whole can of worms about what ethnicity means. is about blood? culture of upbringing? sorry if i'm getting deep, hazards of writing too many essays in uni... like shanghaithunder, i like being a banana myself, and i say for personal purposes, you can just tell people that you're Chinese American. that's what ABC suggests after all, doesn't it? some people may say all bananas are in between but who cares what other people say, as long as you know who you are and are comfortable with it. |
I love your words.  |
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didarx79
Raver
Joined: Mar 23, 2005
Posts: 412
Location: Shanghai
Status: Offline
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Nov 20, 2006 - 10:06 AM |
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My Chinese is fluent, but I still cannot get rid of an accent. Most people think that I'm singaporean because of the accent, and that I don't look like local Chinese. But once they find out that I'm American, then they would switch to "oh, then how did your Chinese get so good?" 
I agree that being Overseas Asian in China, even if you're not Chinese, you do get choose to whether or not you want the attention, which is not an option for non-Asian. |
_________________
6+ years in Shanghai, I can't seem to leave this spoiled pampered lifestyle. |
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HH
Reacher
Joined: Oct 08, 2006
Posts: 208
Status: Offline
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Nov 22, 2006 - 11:39 AM |
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Thats a big plus when you are in place like Nanjing Rd, and also at the train stations in rural china, no one bats an eyelid if you push and shove with the rest of the locals. |
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kuldaen
Veejay
Joined: June 06, 2005
Posts: 2060
Location: Somewhere in Shanghai
Status: Offline
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Nov 22, 2006 - 01:15 PM |
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I get the triple take...
...I'm Australian, You don't look Australian,
......I'm Vietamese, You don't look Vietnamese (what the?)
.........Okay my grandparents are from China... See you're chinese just as i thought. |
_________________
Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; I'm not sure about the universe |
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dr3x320
Rocker
Joined: Nov 21, 2006
Posts: 637
Location: Boston + Pudong
Status: Offline
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Nov 22, 2006 - 01:40 PM |
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Think I can top this, Dad was born in Pudong, Mom from Shanghai, both Chinese descent, They married and had me in Sweden, moved to NYC, USA and lived there since I was 3 till now, 23yrs in USA and speak more ABC/Native/whatever English with no accent, even people on the phone who meet me for the first time can't believe my english is fluent. It's hard to be an "Asian-American" or of Chinese Descent but not speak or barely speak chinese, I can't speak mandarin, but poor shanghainese, too embarassed to actually  .
I've been called Korean 3 times by Taxi drivers, I have to resort to having my mother write down the home address I live in Shanghai to show the Taxi Driver b/c they don't understand me,  . Just have that Korean look I spose |
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