加拿大人

Having been here for almost a month now, I cannot help but notice some of the interesting comments made by others when they know that I'm Canadian/Vancouverite/North American:

Guy: So you're not British?
Me: Ya, I'm not, I'm Canadian. Can't you tell by my American accent? I don't have that British thing going on.
Guy: No not really. Canadians are a bit of everything.

Prof: So, has Vancouver been overrun by Asians yet?
Me: Uh, no not really...
Prof: Almost?
Me: Haha maybe...
Prof: I also heard that UBC stands for "University of a Billion Chinese".
Me: Possibly....

Person: So, you're from Canada?
Me: Ya!
Person: Oh Canadians are nice and boring.
Me: Oh. uh that's great.

(in an irish pub with a tv showing a hockey game)
Me: Whoa is that hockey?
Friend: Whoa look at her she's totally Canadian.

Friend: Oh so Kathy, maybe you can bring some Canadian food to our potluck!
Me: Oh, there really isn't any "Canadian" food.
Friend: So, you guys do the whole fast food thing?
Me: Ya basically...ooh but we do have poutines!
Friend: Poutines? What's that?
Me: fries with gravy and cheese...
Friend: Oh. fast food.
Me: uh ya.

Friend: Football tomorrow?
Me: You mean soccer?
Friend: No I mean football. We play it with our foot.

Some local students have also commented on my Canadian-Chinese identity:

local student A to local student B: 明明就是中國人，爲什麽要跟她說英語？
me to her: Oh, it's because I don't know Mandarin very well.
local student A to local student B: 喔！聼得懂的??!
me to her: 是的, 你也可以直接跟我説話.

me to 小販: 炒麵
小販: 你不是本地人.
me: 你怎麽知道?!
小販: 聼你說"炒麵"兩字就知道!

Then there are locals (students, storekeepers, taxi drivers, whatever) that refuse to believe I'm actually not local Chinese, that I cannot speak Mandarin fluently or that I'm from Canada even when I try to explain it to them. When I talk to them in Mandarin, they seem slightly amuse that my pronunciation is off, that I speak at the pace of a snail, and I repeatedly tell them 說慢一點,我聼不懂.

This has nothing to do with identity but thought I'd share this one:
I was showing a local student a photo I took back in December of a some deers in front of my house in Coquitlam. He asks me why they weren't in a zoo. I bursted out laughing.

Currently listening: 星夢情真 - 陳慧琳 (this is probably the only song I like from her)

btw, happy 雷鋒日!