Well firstly I’m not sure if this is the right place to post this lol, sorry comrades I’ve not used Lemmygrad so frequently and I kinda don’t want this on my Reddit account.
So I’m a Viet studying abroad in Germany, residing in the former East. One free Saturday a while ago me and the countrymen were going to Halle and suddenly a woman appoached us, first speaking in English but then switching over to German once she realized I spoke the tongue. At first she asked how many COVID shots I’ve taken (prolly cause we were wearing face masks). I was about to answer when I noticed the ‘End CCP’ leaflet on her hand (lol can’t even get the name right eh). Then I said ‘Ich interesse mich nicht dafür’ (‘I’m not interested’), whereupon she flipped pretty hard lol.
She proceeded to ask us what we’re doing in this country, and then harangues us about how we have to ‘play with’ (‘mitspielen’) since we’re ‘now in the West, not China anymore’ (democracy much?). Then my friend just said that we’re Vietnamese and then that actually shuts her up for good, prompting her to leave without saying a word.
Smh shoulda blasted Red sun in the sky.
And that makes me think a lot: Do those ‘anti-authoritarian warriors’ realize that it’s pretty racist to assume and pidgeonhole ethnic groups like that, and that it’s un-democratic if people all have to ‘play with’ in a ‘free’ society?
Pretty unbecoming and contradictory of their ‘goals’ huh.
Also got “Nihao”'d multiple times here, beautiful country.
(Once again sorry if this isn’t the place to post stories/rants).
Ok your last sentence kind of just reminded me of this time when I was walking down the street with my sister in the UK and some random white guy driving past said nihao to her.
As a male I never get any attention or whatever, I didn’t even notice. She of course noticed and said its basically a weekly occurance. Apart of me like to give these people leeway in assuming certain things, because in the place I am living it is mainly international chinese students. But regardless, we are not chinese. I’ve been mistaken for chinese multiple times too, by actual Chinese people. But again, I’d like to think its cultural exposure. In my home country of Malaysia, I was (mostly) never mistaken as a Chinese-Malaysian, but also there is also extensive interracial marriages (and I also have some chinese ancestry) and sometimes it is visually hard to discern.
It is ridiculous regardless that you have to face this, but again it just proves that ‘race’ is a social construct in its interpretations and experience. Something very obvious to any minority living in the West, or even if you have lived in multiple different countries (or if you are just not a Westerner, to be honest).