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Aug 30 2004 4 Comments

Z for zillions

Zillions being the number of times (give or take a few) that I’ve been presumed to be an American. Whether it be a casual question along the lines of, Do you have those in America?, or around the holiday period an attempted conversation starting, Are you going back to America?, my foreignness and Caucasian persuasion lead many Japanese to immediately assume I hail from the US.

Now whilst I have to admit it doesn’t take much time (or indeed effort) to set them straight, it can get a little annoying at times. And considering that I dress the English way when I go to work, how on earth can this mistake continue to be made?

city_gent.jpg

Ok, admittedly I don’t always go to such elaborate lengths when getting ready for work, but I do occasionally make the effort. Yeah alright, that’s not true either. Being caught walking the streets in a bowler hat and a newspaper tucked under my arm would leave me extremely embarrassed to say the least.

But I do possess sideburns. Surely a sign if ever there was one that I’m British.

No?

Categorized: General

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. CTDeLude says

    8/30/2004 at 11:11 am

    Well, I have sideburns too, and I am distinctly American.

    I say you’re sweet out of luck my friend.

    And I must say, finally seeing this, the end of A Through Z Japan, it was a masterful effort and well worth praise.

    Reply
  2. Lee says

    8/30/2004 at 12:23 pm

    Well, there goes my sideburns theory!

    And thanks for the kind comments. As I was away for a month (having just returned) the A to Z covered the time I was away perfectly. Typepad’s ‘future’ publshing option really came into its own for that.

    Reply
  3. Simon says

    8/31/2004 at 12:56 am

    When I am in the US, loads of Americans assume I’m Australian.

    Perhaps there’s some special rule that says that you must always get foreigner’s nationalities wrong.

    S

    p.s. I have sideburns and it doesn’t seem to help either 🙁

    Reply
  4. Toni says

    8/31/2004 at 5:45 am

    Eh, I’m used to mistaken identity. As I child, I had to endure years of people asking me, “Are you Chinese/Japanese/Korean/Vietnamese/Thai/Hawaiian?” Only once did someone correctly figure out that I was of Filipino ethcnicity.

    Reply

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