After reading the a blog post about Australian Born Chinese (ABC), I sat in the tram today and tried to pick out who was an ABC, and who was an asian international student, just by looks. And somehow, it is possible to tell an Aussie-Asian from an Asian-Asian. What puzzled me was that I wasn't able to pinpoint what that differentiating factor is. And so I am forced to make some grossly generalising assumptions.
Perhaps it's the dressing? Perhaps Asian-Asians wear stuff that I know they can only get from Asia, while Aussie-Asians dress like your regular aussie. Something along the lines of skinny jeans in boots, with many light layers on top. Coupled with chunky necklace and heaps of mascara. Asian-asians on the other hand are more fond of just one thick jacket, and a light tee inside. I mean, if you are just going to spent four years in a cold country, why buy many light sweaters (which are still too warm to wear in the tropics) when you can just buy one massive jumper, and dump it once your graduate. And of course in some obvious cases like hello kitty handphone accessories that blink, it has to be bought and made in Asia. Or sold in chinatown, which doesn't seem to be the hangout place for Aussie-Asians.
Maybe it's the way they carry themselves? Aussie-Asians have the "this is my country and I'm very comfortable here", and have a more open body language while Asian-Asians look slightly more defensive and have a "shit don't deport me" look.
Or is it facial features? Do Aussie-Asians have a particular look? In such a multi-cultural society like Melbourne, can we judge a person's nationality just by the way they look? Could an Asian-Asian fool you into thinking they are Aussie-Asian and vice versa?
Nonetheless, I was quite pleased that a guy I spotted as definitely Aussie-Asian picked up the phone and answered it in the most natural aussie accent ever. Definitely Australian.
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6 comments:
Hey C
yep, it's Namaste...it's a pretty awesome word.
as for spotting the AussieAsian vs the AsianAsian, it's pretty similar to the AmericanAsian or CanadianAsians....
I think it's for the same reason that I sometimes stick out like a sore thumb when I'm in Taiwan. It's a different dress...different walk. Different attitude that is reflected in the way we hold ourselves.
Interesting....definitely intersting.
Oh and I miss you too!
What kind of Asian did you think I was at the very first moment you met me?
A don't-know-where-the-heck-he-is-from-Asian?
Haha...yeah both of your have really interesting backgrds - french canadian taiwanese and Dutch Hongkonger - for dinner conversations i always go.."hey guess what..i know these two dutch and french canadian kids!"
Ryan - you introduced yourself as dutch the minute i met you so there wasn't even time for the "where is he from asian" question to pop in my mind. hehe
I bet that deep within your heart you thought I was Korean....
haha...no? Def not korean. Hong Konger maybe...have alot of people been saying you look korean?
You totally get the same thing happening in a place like Sri Lanka... I found myself being able to work out instantly whether someone was:
1) From Colombo (the capital, and much more westernised than the rest of the country)
2) From the rest of the country
3) Sri Lankan who lives overseas
I think you're right, it's a combination of clothes choice (you'd be amazed how much that alone varies between Colombo and the rest of the country) and body language.
So, Sri Lankans outside of Colombo dress in this fairly conservative kind of old-fashioned and sometimes village-ish way. Sri Lankans who live overseas either wear some kind of tourist wear (like shorts and a T-shirt) or something that wouldn't look out of place in Melbourne during summer. Colombo people, however, wear this bizarre fashion which is unique to that very city... when I say this, it's Western dress, jeans, but just not very fashionable...
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