Where do People Think You are From?.....

[deathbydalbhat 0]

I imagine it will be fun when K gets here and starts answering that question - most Americans except for dharma bums, serious stoners and peakbaggers have no clue where Nepal is until you mention Everest and then they say 'oh, ok'. My mom still asks me, after I've been there twice, 'so, when are you going to India again?' which makes me wanna ... when I came back from my last trip my co-worker asked 'How was Tibet?'

*sigh*

Word to the wise: many Nepalis will get as pissed off if you call them 'Indian' as if you call someone from the UK 'Australian', and many carry 'khukris'...

Edited February 7, 2007 by deathbydalbhat

[Mark UK 3]

When we applied for our marriage license, the lady at the courthouse thought I was Scandinavian because I had a fair complexion and light hair (I have sandy hair but it looks light when compared to most people around our area who all have dark hair for some reason).

One person I work with wasn't able to tell the difference between an English and Australian accent.

Apart from that, everyone knows I'm English. Apparently, I have a very pronounced and elucidated English accent. I didn't think I had a very strong one, personally.

[antda 13]

Hi Everyone,

Good lick on all of your immigration journeys! In answer to the original message on this message thread, the short answer is, well, people think I'm from Canada, which I am really from.

I've felt more welcomed here in America than in anywhere else. I have not experienced any discrimination, other than the typical "Where are you from?" question, which I reply "I'm from Canada (the place where I've grown up for most of my entire life and have citizenship in)". However, I don't look like a "typical Canadian", which leads to a few puzzled looks and surprised reactions and more questions about "Where are you really from", which I again reply, "From Canada". But I guess after hearing that I can speak English in a perfect "Canadian accent" (if there is such a thing as a Canadian accent, which really sounds like an American accent), seeing that I write/spell in "Canadian English", have knowledge about quirky Cannnucky stuff, and have a Canadian passport, they just accept me as "Being from Canada" (and yes, for general conversations, I get asked about comparisons to life in Canada versus the USA).

The funny thing is that I experienced a lot of discrimination in Canada than I did here in America, since in a person in Canada is expected to keep their original cultural identity (the place where you are born) and one isn't expected to be Canadian if they were not born there. Whereas here in America a person is just expected to be American, regardless of where they came from. America= The "Melting Pot" (where everyone is American) Canada= The "Multicultural Moasic" (where everyone is wherever they immigrated from).

Still, I am looking forward to becoming "American" (but then again, the people around here don't really care what I am. Maybe it's because I am close to the Canadian border and there is some Canadian influence around here. Also, the people around here are friendly small town folks and have better things to do than to discriminate.).

No matter what, discrimination and prejudice is wrong! After all, it is the inside that counts, not the outside!

Ant

Just interested to know whether anyone else new to the US has had a variety of assumptions about where they are from? Im from London and its clearly obvious I am from my accent, however, Ive been asked if I am Australian, Welsh?, South African, and today, wait for it....Norwegian !! Now dont get me wrong, I realise that not everyone is familiar with an english accent, but I have always been able to tell the difference between Americans, Aussies, South Africans etc so I can never understand why it doesnt work both ways?

[AussieAmerican 0]

I'm an Aussie, but being from Adelaide + the Outback I guess sound a little English... At least that's what people guess. I'm either from England or New Zealand!!! The occasional person will get it right.

I always thought I spoke rather clearly, but after a lengthy conversation of "where is the mall?" back and forth before the lady realized what I meant, I guess I do sound weird! LOL

[Autumnchik 6]

One of my male employees once asked me in a perfectly serious tone of voice what language people spoke in England. He genuinely didn't know. He said "do they speak French there then, like in Canada?".

This made me smile and think about what I (the USC) often hears when I tell people my fiance is Canadian. "Oh it must be so romantic to have him speak French", "Awesome that you are marrying a French Canadian", "does he speak English well?", etc. etc. etc. HELLO! He is from British Columbia. Some people just give me a blank stare when I mention that not all of Canada speaks French as a primary language. I also have to do a geography lesson quite often. I moved to New Hampshire from Georgia this summer. A lot of friends/old acquaintances who know Ron is from BC keep saying how wonderful it is that I now live so much closer to my honey. Yes, I AM only an hour and a half from the Canadian border, too bad it is the WRONG SIDE OF CANADA!!!

I also get, "Oh I love that Canadian accent, I can't wait to hear him say 'eh' and 'aboot'" .... well, keep on waiting because I have never heard him say those things so good luck if you expect to He just disappoints my friends that want to hear that "typical Canadian" accent

[Dodger 0]

Just interested to know whether anyone else new to the US has had a variety of assumptions about where they are from? Im from London and its clearly obvious I am from my accent, however, Ive been asked if I am Australian, Welsh?, South African, and today, wait for it....Norwegian !! Now dont get me wrong, I realise that not everyone is familiar with an english accent, but I have always been able to tell the difference between Americans, Aussies, South Africans etc so I can never understand why it doesnt work both ways?

I am South African and people think im a Brit or an Aussie.. lol, when i tell them Im from S.A most Americans here in Texas dont realise its a country on its own! and Ive been asked often how its possible im white and im from Africa!! makes it allot more fun dropping by the local Taco Bell!

[anya-D 8]

This is fun

I'm Thai but I look like i'm from Hawaii or some people would say Pacific Islander.... umm... Alot of my Thai friends said they couldnt tell that I'm Thai at first until I start talking Thai with them. sometimes on the plane back to Thailand i'd be asked if i'm from the Phillippines (eventhough the plane headed to Bangkok, Thailand!) And when i was in Mexico people sometimes speak spanish to me

some of Americans i've met here doesnt even know where Thailand is... so I just told then we are kind of south-west of Vietnam and they are AHH OHHH.. right....

[JayJay 4]

Oh you guys are a hoot

Being asked 150 times a day where you're from really does get to me also, because it's like looking at someone and saying "You're fat, aren't you....I noticed because when I walked past you, you looked bigger than me and I'm quite thin. Did you get fat recently, or has it been something you've been struggling with for a while? Are you pregnant perhaps?" Ya know? Sometimes, it really is borderline rude!

Honestly, sometimes I just feel like saying "I'm from England. Where do you come from? Because by the way you're slurring, I can tell youve either been drinking or have a speech impediment. Probably just a symptom of living in this town, I know, but I figured I'd ask anyway." or maybe "I'm from England. Where are you from? I thought I'd ask because you really do have a terrible case of B.O. and wherever you come from, you obviously haven't yet learned how to turn a tap on and off or use soap. no - don't start questioning me about British Monarchs - just go and have a bath."

Plus, I never hear anyone in the UK asking an American where he or she is from - they already KNOW because that person has an AMERICAN accent. Amazingly enough, the average English person can also distinguish between people of different cultures and where they come from, and know a whole bunch of different accents like, for example, South African. It really is tremendously frustrating that the largest "superpower" on earth has so many people in it that don't even know there's a world outside their continent. of course, there are a great many of these 300 million people who know exactly what's going on - but for a country to be referred to as a "cultural melting pot" and for so many of the peeps not to know the most simple accents worries me a lot...

C'est la vie - I have many good friends. I'll just have to start making up better stories as to where I come from and grin and bear the "your English is wonderful - have you been out of the USSR for long?" comments. I'll be like Richard Brautigan and start telling everyone I had a fight with a dragon and broke my leg as a result of that instead of the truth: he slipped and fell on a root. Much more interesting.

Edited February 8, 2007 by JayJay

[goldie 0]

I am from switzerland, and most of the people dont even know it exists! most then ask me, oh sweden, nice... i say , no switzerland, between france, germany and italy.... then they say, oh, so you talk german, right, i say, not realy, ist a slang... that confused them even more..

i would say 90 % of everybody i meet, like cashiers or so ask me where i am from.. it sucks. i only go to the self check outs now, if posslibe... or just say, as american as possilbe: thanks, bye, same to you..... i wonder if i ever get read of my accent.....

[Kathryn41 3,205]

Usually, if someone hazards a guess of where I am from they do guess Canada - and a few have teased me when I have said the proverbial 'eh' - but the majority of people ask me where I am from instead of guessing. Since I do work at an historic Southern plantation dressed in Civil War garb I get fun out of telling people that I am from so far north I don't even qualify as a Yankee. Most of them laugh when I say Canada, but one woman said before I could continue "Oh, I knew you were from Virginia!" Geeze! And this is THEIR history!

[Lisax 0]

I started college over here in US in January and my new Math teacher thought I was Irish, I couldn't sound further more from Irish , I'm from Essex, England, and if you live in England and know of people from Essex, they don't sound Irish! lol

[Anna C. 4]

Now that I work I am constantly asked where I am from. Mostly they ask me if I was British or Irish, number three on the list is Sweden. I really wonder why they think I am British, am I not supposed to have a German accent????

The worst thing that happened to me was that a coworker said oh Germany, ya I know that, right next to Egypt. I tried to explain to her that Egypt isn't exactly right next to Germany, told her our border states and that it takes a 3 hour flight to Cairo, and that it happens to be Africa and *NOT* Europe. Some people never saw a map I guess.

[KiminON 0]

i've got everything from british, aussie & south africian. no correct guesses yet.

i'm just glad i still sound the same! haven't used y'all yet and when i start, i know it's time to go home for a visit.

k

[brtlmj 0]

Now that I work I am constantly asked where I am from. Mostly they ask me if I was British or Irish, number three on the list is Sweden. I really wonder why they think I am British, am I not supposed to have a German accent????

Waaait a second I spent quite a few years in Ireland so I may have picked a bit of Irish accent - and people usually think that I have a German accent. There may be some similarities...

Bartek

[Nicole72082 0]

My fiance is from Scotland and I've learned from him that many of us Americans are clueless about things!

First off, everyone just says he's english or irish, sometimes even australian. Which, to me and the area I've been raised, besides tv, how else would we really know? We haven't ventured out just yet. We just seem to group things together when we don't take the time to notice the little differences. It's funny, because he'll point out how different his friends, family, or co-workers speak from him, just because they were brought up in a different towns in Scotland. I can't imagine trying to notice a difference between someone from eastern and western Oklahoma.

Another thing is geography. One visit, he got this big map out and kept showing people where exactly he was from. lol

The saddest part about it is when the only foreigner in the room is the one who knows the most about American History!