fedification.com

Mae Hong Son, Thailand – When my grandmother, who is ethnically Japanese, visited Japan many years ago, little boys whispered “gaijin” as she walked down the street. Coming to Thailand for the first time, I assumed that I would be seen as a foreigner, maybe people would be able to tell by the way that I dress or walk, perhaps by my facial expressions or comportment. In any case, I certainly didn’t expect to be mistaken for a Thai person, which happens not just once or once in awhile, but several times each day. I’m handed the non-English menus, offered rapid-fire explanations in the mother tongue, and met with the wai, the Thai greeting of a bow with hands pressed together. I must look like an idiot Thai girl, staring blankly at menus and stumbling through the language, until my bewilderment betrays my foreign origin. “Ohhhhh, you look Thai, you look Thai! Not Japanese, not American,” they say, laughing, when I explain that I’m half Japanese-American (nobody here or at home seems to care about the other half). Inevitably, when I’m ordering food, this is followed by a strict warning that the food is spicy and then a bit of skepticism when I try to reassure them that spicy is okay. Recently, I’ve learned a new phrase to assuage any fears that I might send a dish back – Chan Chop (“o” pronounced like “oh) Gin (“g” pronounced like Guinness) Pet or I like to eat spicy food. Hopefully, this will inch me a little bit closer to keeping up the charade. And even if you’re not mistaken for Thai people it might come in handy for any foreigner who just wants some good food.