Everyday I hear something worth noting, but I always forget. Last week in the market a man asked: "are you a foreigner?" "yes." "so you are not a chinese?" "no, I am American." "oh. (smile and thumbs up followed)" I do get mistaken for having Asian affiliations, but I have never been asked quite like that before. David sometimes tells people I from the Northwest (near Russia), they believe him, or he says I am part of a minority group in America (descendants of American Indians, he means) and they leave it at that. I don't mind the confusion, it can be beneficial at times to not immediately be pegged as completely foreign.
other conversations i hear almost daily in regards to parenting: this is a real conversation:
"she's cold" (a Chinese lady talking about sophia)
"no, she's not" (me)
"she's cold"
"no, she's not"
"she's cold"
"no, she's not."
this was one lady, not three different people, she walked down the aisle next to the stroller with me telling me this. Today a different lady told me Sophia was cold and that she was going to catch a cold, she needed on longer pants (it was probably 75 outside, in the morning, and we were in the supermarket). With fall approaching, I can't wait to hear the scoldings I will receive, not to mention that all of the local children are potty trained in their first few months of life (a very difficult and time consuming task that only works if you have someone holding the child all of the time) so i am sure i will soon began to hear about the fact that Sophia is still wearing diapers. the joys of parenting cross culturally.
