Quote from: JNM on December 05, 2016, 11:29:43 amQuote from: yirj17 on December 05, 2016, 10:54:48 amPeople are shite. Grown ass adults are shite. Foreigners pestering me "where are you from?" after I've already spoken enough to show an American midwestern accent and said I'M FROM THE USA. "Oh, but you look [insert Asian ethnicity here]." "Oh but where are you really from?" Cause apparently the default American is just a white person. Things like this make me more than content to remain on my island. Honestly, the last two weekends I have dealt with this rubbish. I often get asked, "Are you [European ethnicity]?" and have no hurt feelings whatsoever.Are you then toldQuote"Oh, but you look [insert other ethnicity here]." "Oh but where are you really from?" ?
Quote from: yirj17 on December 05, 2016, 10:54:48 amPeople are shite. Grown ass adults are shite. Foreigners pestering me "where are you from?" after I've already spoken enough to show an American midwestern accent and said I'M FROM THE USA. "Oh, but you look [insert Asian ethnicity here]." "Oh but where are you really from?" Cause apparently the default American is just a white person. Things like this make me more than content to remain on my island. Honestly, the last two weekends I have dealt with this rubbish. I often get asked, "Are you [European ethnicity]?" and have no hurt feelings whatsoever.
People are shite. Grown ass adults are shite. Foreigners pestering me "where are you from?" after I've already spoken enough to show an American midwestern accent and said I'M FROM THE USA. "Oh, but you look [insert Asian ethnicity here]." "Oh but where are you really from?" Cause apparently the default American is just a white person. Things like this make me more than content to remain on my island. Honestly, the last two weekends I have dealt with this rubbish.
"Oh, but you look [insert other ethnicity here]." "Oh but where are you really from?"
Quote from: yirj17 on December 05, 2016, 10:54:48 amQuote from: CO2 on December 05, 2016, 10:40:53 amQuote from: HaLo3 on December 05, 2016, 10:39:36 amI hate when the students let out these long drawn out groans when I tell them to open their notebooks. I mean come on, it's school. Of course you are going to have to do some work for crying out loud.Kids are shit.People are shite. Grown ass adults are shite. Foreigners pestering me "where are you from?" after I've already spoken enough to show an American midwestern accent and said I'M FROM THE USA. "Oh, but you look [insert Asian ethnicity here]." "Oh but where are you really from?" Cause apparently the default American is just a white person. Things like this make me more than content to remain on my island. Honestly, the last two weekends I have dealt with this rubbish. I hate that. I know it's just because they are super ignorant, so most of the time I let it slide, but the worst is when people narrow their eyes after you respond like you're lying after and press you further, as if they think they have a better idea of where you're from than you do. I've had people ask me "then where are your parents from?" "America" "then your grandparents?" "America and Canada..."I don't get annoyed anymore when people don't think I'm from the USA at first glance, but how they respond after I tell them is the problem. Only once have I had someone actually apologize for making an inference based on my skin color/stereotypes, a nice old Japanese man actually said sorry when he realized he had picked me out of a group of Americans as the only non-American, and his wife continued to chastise him after for not knowing any better.
Quote from: CO2 on December 05, 2016, 10:40:53 amQuote from: HaLo3 on December 05, 2016, 10:39:36 amI hate when the students let out these long drawn out groans when I tell them to open their notebooks. I mean come on, it's school. Of course you are going to have to do some work for crying out loud.Kids are shit.People are shite. Grown ass adults are shite. Foreigners pestering me "where are you from?" after I've already spoken enough to show an American midwestern accent and said I'M FROM THE USA. "Oh, but you look [insert Asian ethnicity here]." "Oh but where are you really from?" Cause apparently the default American is just a white person. Things like this make me more than content to remain on my island. Honestly, the last two weekends I have dealt with this rubbish.
Quote from: HaLo3 on December 05, 2016, 10:39:36 amI hate when the students let out these long drawn out groans when I tell them to open their notebooks. I mean come on, it's school. Of course you are going to have to do some work for crying out loud.Kids are shit.
I hate when the students let out these long drawn out groans when I tell them to open their notebooks. I mean come on, it's school. Of course you are going to have to do some work for crying out loud.
Quote from: sevenpm on December 05, 2016, 12:00:27 pmQuote from: yirj17 on December 05, 2016, 10:54:48 amQuote from: CO2 on December 05, 2016, 10:40:53 amQuote from: HaLo3 on December 05, 2016, 10:39:36 amI hate when the students let out these long drawn out groans when I tell them to open their notebooks. I mean come on, it's school. Of course you are going to have to do some work for crying out loud.Kids are shit.People are shite. Grown ass adults are shite. Foreigners pestering me "where are you from?" after I've already spoken enough to show an American midwestern accent and said I'M FROM THE USA. "Oh, but you look [insert Asian ethnicity here]." "Oh but where are you really from?" Cause apparently the default American is just a white person. Things like this make me more than content to remain on my island. Honestly, the last two weekends I have dealt with this rubbish. I hate that. I know it's just because they are super ignorant, so most of the time I let it slide, but the worst is when people narrow their eyes after you respond like you're lying after and press you further, as if they think they have a better idea of where you're from than you do. I've had people ask me "then where are your parents from?" "America" "then your grandparents?" "America and Canada..."I don't get annoyed anymore when people don't think I'm from the USA at first glance, but how they respond after I tell them is the problem. Only once have I had someone actually apologize for making an inference based on my skin color/stereotypes, a nice old Japanese man actually said sorry when he realized he had picked me out of a group of Americans as the only non-American, and his wife continued to chastise him after for not knowing any better.If I don't sense ill intent or malice behind the questions, I don't mind if it's an honest mistake or even badly phrased. I can tell when a person is genuinely just interested versus trying to label me as "other"
Quote from: chupacaubrey on December 05, 2016, 01:17:05 pmTried showing a movie to my third graders, as that seems to be the trend around school and I knew I had no chance at trying to learn 'em anything if they're watching fail videos in all their other classes.So of course I get the "no you must teach" spiel. Okay, fair enough. I whip up a set of riddles. They dig those. Then I'm told, "Oh I think these are too hard for them." Of course. I have zero problem (actually I like it) when a competent and motivated co-teacher makes suggestions, or even flat-out vetoes something I want to do, as long as they're a good teacher themselves and it's actually a good idea. But when someone assumes they know the students' abilities more than any foreigner ever possibly good and is super nitpicky even with a competent NSET, that's just terrible.
Tried showing a movie to my third graders, as that seems to be the trend around school and I knew I had no chance at trying to learn 'em anything if they're watching fail videos in all their other classes.So of course I get the "no you must teach" spiel. Okay, fair enough. I whip up a set of riddles. They dig those. Then I'm told, "Oh I think these are too hard for them."
No, going to the gym is literally the best stop-smoking help you can get, that doesn't involve nicotine. When I have a good workout, I usually don't get cravings for at least an hour or two after I finish. If you combined that with active effort and desire to quit, you'd be in a really good position to be successful. Plus, giving yourself 'lots of treats' when you're trying to quit smoking means you're going to be snacking non-stop for most people, which will lead to weight gain, which will lead to (possibly) being angry at yourself and that's going to sour your positive outlook right quick.
"Where are you from?" "America." "Oh cool. What's your ethnicity, if you don't mind my asking?" "Oh my parents are from [blah blah blah]." "Cool. I'm from [blah blah blah]." *pleasant conversation ensues*
Quote"Where are you from?" "America." "Oh cool. What's your ethnicity, if you don't mind my asking?" "Oh my parents are from [blah blah blah]." "Cool. I'm from [blah blah blah]." *pleasant conversation ensues*For a lot of people words like 'ethnicity' are not really part of their everyday vocabulary and besides which it's only a matter of time before asking someone's ethnicity will be considered a microagression and you'll be back to square one. Perosnally I can't see how anyone would be offended by someone saying 'you look a bit Asian, is that where your parents came from? but I guess I'm a dinosaur these days.
Quote from: JNM on December 05, 2016, 11:29:43 amQuote from: yirj17 on December 05, 2016, 10:54:48 amPeople are shite. Grown ass adults are shite. Foreigners pestering me "where are you from?" after I've already spoken enough to show an American midwestern accent and said I'M FROM THE USA. "Oh, but you look [insert Asian ethnicity here]." "Oh but where are you really from?" Cause apparently the default American is just a white person. Things like this make me more than content to remain on my island. Honestly, the last two weekends I have dealt with this rubbish. I often get asked, "Are you [European ethnicity]?" and have no hurt feelings whatsoever.This. People looking for fights take normal social interactions and turn them into some race relations microcosm. Instead of you know, just answering the question in the same way everyone else does.There was this white guy on my football team back in high school. Going around we asked it and everyone answered normally. He responded Canadian and refused to state his ancestry because he identified as Canadian. He was as much of a jackass as anyone of any other race that does the same thing. Just normal social interaction for North Americans. Not answering this question is akin to telling someone how horrible your day is when they ask how you're doing. No one actually cares.
Quote from: Loki88 on December 05, 2016, 01:41:03 pmQuote from: JNM on December 05, 2016, 11:29:43 amQuote from: yirj17 on December 05, 2016, 10:54:48 amPeople are shite. Grown ass adults are shite. Foreigners pestering me "where are you from?" after I've already spoken enough to show an American midwestern accent and said I'M FROM THE USA. "Oh, but you look [insert Asian ethnicity here]." "Oh but where are you really from?" Cause apparently the default American is just a white person. Things like this make me more than content to remain on my island. Honestly, the last two weekends I have dealt with this rubbish. I often get asked, "Are you [European ethnicity]?" and have no hurt feelings whatsoever.This. People looking for fights take normal social interactions and turn them into some race relations microcosm. Instead of you know, just answering the question in the same way everyone else does.There was this white guy on my football team back in high school. Going around we asked it and everyone answered normally. He responded Canadian and refused to state his ancestry because he identified as Canadian. He was as much of a jackass as anyone of any other race that does the same thing. Just normal social interaction for North Americans. Not answering this question is akin to telling someone how horrible your day is when they ask how you're doing. No one actually cares.When I say I'm from America, I am answering "in the same way as everyone else does." When people press further, asking "where were you born?" I answer honestly and tell the city/state where I was born and raised. When someone presses further with "No, where are your parents from?" then it clicks that they're really asking "What's your ethnicity?" If they "don't care" then why don't they just drop it? Or make their initial question clearer? "What's your ancestry/ethnicity/background?" or "What are your roots?" There most certainly are people who are just genuinely interested in ancestry. I have no problem with that. But there are other people who seem to want to imply that I'm "not really American" even though we're supposed to be a "melting pot." Or better yet, the people who want to have "won" at guessing my ethnicity.
Maybe you can't see why anyone would be offended because you're white
The problem isn't that people are curious about someone's ethnicity; the problem is when they refuse to accept the answer that they're given. If I tell someone that I'm American, and they go on to ask me where I'm really from (implying that I'm not actually American), that's when there's a problem