為活動而寫，實在想不出題目

今早才發現有個活動，隻要是原創就能參加。俺蠢蠢欲動地想插一腳，劃拉了幾筆，也想像俺偶88queen那樣拎出個單詞，詞組啥的演繹一番，可硬找不出一個有文化的字來。大家湊合著看吧，不看也中。我自己硬著頭皮都讀不下去地講。你說這都是一個壇子的人，怎麽差距就這麽大涅？


At Home Depot today, the window treatment section, the gentleman I was talking to asked me if I was a Japanese. A question I often have been asked. The answer I give depends on my mood. If I am in good mood, I smile and say no. If I am in a hurry, I say a quick no without any facial expression. If I am in bad mood, I say a cold yes and put on a snobby look. Well, this is called killing two birds with one stone. I try to scare American and give Japanese a bad name.

The gentleman I was talking to today is very old, in earlier 70s, I would guess. I was tired and not in a pleasant state of mind, but he was very friendly and it was me who needed his help. So when he asked this question, I smiled and said no. Naturally he suggested Chinese, I smiled and said yes. He kept pursuing by asking which part of the China I came from. I explained to him. He smiled and said that his wife was from Shanghai. It turned out his wife of 40 years was a student in an American college back then, he was a young man from German immigrant family went to Vietnam and back. He was so struck by the slim figure and the tiny waist of Vietnamese women, (寫到這裏，不禁想起小千的窈窕身段.）he wanted someone that size. It was very hard to find someone like that in German community until one day he met this Chinese woman. Families on both sides were not happy about their union. Please remember that this is more than 40 years ago when interracial marriage was a rare thing.

I am often mistaken to be Japanese by people other than Japanese. American think I am a Japanese simply because they can't tell the difference between Chinese, Japanese and Korean. To them, it is just a random guess. Koreans think I am a Japanese because of my light skin tone . When we went to Alaska cruise, we met a lovely Asian family. They are Singapore Chinese now live in Vancouver, Canada. They also think we are a Japanese family.

However, the real Japanese can tell that I am not one of them by just one glance. When I was in Hawaii, walking on the famous street along the Waikiki Beach. Most stores there are operated by Japanese sales people. By one look, they know I am not a Japanese, and I know that they know I am not a Japanese, and they know that I know the fact that I am being treated differently because I am not Japanese. All these wordless motions are exchanged between parties in that one subtle glance and under that polite greeting. It is a very interesting phenomenal.

By now, I think you probably figured out my attitude toward Japan and Japanese. But I still want to say it, just for the record:此處刪掉八個字。