What’s your real name?
Sometimes they just don’t get it.
“What’s your real name?” Jenny asks.
“uh… Jason.”
“No! Your real name!!!” she repeats.
“uh… yea, Jason.” I says. “That’s my real name.” I even pull out my wallet to show my Korean resident card.
“He’s not lying!” Jenny yells to the class.
“Really?” says Lex.
I bet all these kids thing that everyone is named by their English teacher.
But you’re from Korea
I was explaining to my students about how I was born in Canada and stuff.
“So I was born in Canada and stuff” I said to the class. “Yes, Johnny?”
“Teacher, when did you go to Canada?” Johnny says.
“I didn’t have to go, I was born there.” I reply.
“No Teacher, you were born here. You moved there right?”
“No. I said I was born in Canada.”
“No way. You were born here. You’re Korean.” he persists.
“No, no, I was born in Canada. CANADA.” I point to a map of Canada I posted on the board. “CANADA.”
He finally rescinds his argument, and leans over to Lisa and says “I don’t get it. He looks Korean. How can he be born in Canada?”
Finally, Jack says “His parents Korean, STUPID! JEeeez”.
“So where are your parents Teacher?” says Johnny.
“In Canada.”
“Why?”
“They live there now.”
“…oh. Why? Why don’t they live in Korea?”
“They like it there, I guess.”
“Why, teacher?”
“…”
I’ll say, it’s hard to sum up my experience as a Korean-born-Canadian in Korea. If I had to, I’d say it was complicated. My cousin Kim’s in Japan and she uses the term Stealth Foreigner. Which is kinda nice. I don’t get hounded by Korean students excited to see someone with round eyes.
(I’ve also been thinking about easing off the off-beat jokes. Round-eye isn’t funny to everyone. And if I’m to be a teacher one day, I can’t ban my kids from the internet. THey’ll be able to see all my escapades, and dirty jokes. *shrug*)
I got talk to often in Korean, but my Korean’s come along quite a bit. I’m confident enough usually to stores and shit. I never liked going in and speaking English to the peoplek working there.
Simple things, like asking to try on a pair of pants, woudl result into a conversation about how and why I don’t speak Korean and such. Hated doing that all the time. Don’t know why. Maybe I feel like they have less respect for me because they think I should know Korean. Though I never really got any flack from anyone. The only person who did give me flack was the very first Korean grandmother I spoke to on my flight over here.
“You’re a Korean person, you should know how to speak Korean.” she said.
“But I’ve lived my entire life in Canada.” I replied in horrible Korean.
“Still, you sohuld blah blah blah something something parents something blah something.”
That was right after I helped her put her bag into the overhead.
June 28th, 2006 | Life, Life in Korea
stealth foreigner! ha!! I like that!
Comment by EJW — June 30, 2006 @ 9:47 am