My questions, in truth, were actually kind of a troll. Your father would totally get it.
You see, Taiwanese people ask many of these standard questions to every single foreigner they encounter in Taiwan. I’ve lived her for over 20 years and I STILL get asked many of these questions!
Are you American?
Do you like rice?
Do you like Chinese food?
Can you use chopsticks?
Do you have a Taiwanese girlfriend?
Are you an English teacher?
How much money do you make?
So, I thought that I would return the favor and ask you some of these questions just for fun. Thanks for playing along.
Oh…white rice tastes WAY better than brown rice, but my wife only allows me to eat brown rice because it’s “healthier”!
Let’s see…in the South…well that would most likely be in the Carolinas. Your father’s profile says “land of tobacco and bad sports franchises”. Also, your Dad likes guns and your mother is also strapped, so that would have to be North Carolina, probably the Charlotte area.
If that’s the case, then I’m certain that you get a ton of ignorant white folk type questions such as, "Do you eat rice for every meal? “Do you eat cats and dogs?, Do you know Kung Fu?” and they also probably mix up Taiwan with Thailand and think that you’re probably from China as opposed to Taiwan?
They usually just assume that I’m American and that I can’t use chopsticks so I don’t get asked those questions, but I’m sure it’s no different to white people assuming all East Asians are Chinese and that they all use chopsticks.
I’ve never been asked if I like rice, to be honest. That sounds clueless even by the standards of some of the questions I get asked in Taiwan!
The other questions are bang on though. I always receive incredulous responses when I tell them I don’t have a Taiwanese girlfriend and that my salary “isn’t very high”, because apparently all “foreigners” in Taiwan are irresistible to local women and make a ton of money. We also can’t handle spicy food.
Reminds me of a story. Another daughter made herself our system administrator and changed the wifi and computer passwords after I put a password on to keep them from using the internet too much. She was 10 and essentially locked me out of all the computers and the wifi. I walked up to her and said " first of all…respect…(fist bump) that was a boss move."
“2nd of all " I said dad always wins”. Then I pulled the breakers for the entire house and took a nap.
Yeah it’s ‘retardation level 8’ when they go back to the American topic two questions later. Although America obviously covers the whole western world in some peoples heads…
I don’t have it much better. In my case, people are always doubting I’m American. “You aren’t a real American, are you? Where are your ancestors from? You look Italian.”
Haha I can’t shake it off . If I wear a baseball cap and sunglasses…fuggedaboutit. Wonder why I look like a ‘real American’ and what they think a real American is lol.
