Hey, foreigner

I've been accused of having the swine flu twice now to my face. Once by a random old guy in an elevator, and the other time by a new student of mine.

The first time I just laughed, and the second time I began to get annoyed. It's ridiculous to think that just because I have white skin I'm infected with a disease that's being absurdly over-hyped by the media. I felt that both my student and the old man were ignorant, and I wrote them off accordingly.

It took me about a week to realize what was happening though: for the first time in a long time, I was on the receiving end of misguided distrust of foreigners. Well, actually, I take that back. I'm on that side of things a lot over here.
Nah, I take that back too - it's not a lot, just sometimes. Sometimes kids will look and scamper away from me like I'm the giant from Jack and the Beanstalk (this is a fear I like to perpetuate by walking into my younger classes and saying in a really deep voice "FEE FI FO FUM, I SMELL THE BLOOD OF AN ENGLISHMAN'). Old people like to do that too, but more with their eyes and less with the scampering. It's usually just looks when it happens, nothing verbal ever. My old co-worker told me that one time he went to a spa and some Korean guy sitting across from him said, "This is Korea," as if my co-worker had no business being here.

Does it bother me? Only sometimes. Like I said, no one's ever said to my face, "Hey, Americans suck. Go back to America" or "You're a foreigner. Foreigners are bad people."

I just keep in mind where I came from, and how it's often much worse there, and I don't feel sorry for myself anymore, just sorry for the foreigners back in my own country who have to put up with the same crap, but on a much higher level.