By Jen Li
Source: The Sydney Morning Herald
The Brisbane Times
I'M IN Thailand, and have just been to Cambodia and Vietnam. I've noticed something that was amusing at first, but is now just irritating: none of the locals believe that I'm Australian.
To clarify: I was born in Hong Kong, as were my parents. I haven't traced my family tree, but if you go back far enough I suppose there might have been Thai or Vietnamese in there somewhere. I was, however, raised in Australia. I went to preschool, primary school, high school and university here, and I have worked only in Australia. My passport says I'm Australian, and I know more about Australian culture, politics, history, language, health system, education system and geography than any other country.
I've even been told that my accent is quite Australian - one Swiss guy picked that I was Australian from one sentence
(''I don't know what milk to buy'') - and several travellers have said that I could pass for Thai or Vietnamese until I open my mouth.
And yet there are many out there who seem to have one image of what an Australian looks like, and I don't fit it. When I said ''Australian'' at the ticket counter at Angkor Wat, the woman issuing tickets asked, ''But what is your real nationality?''
People from all over the world call Australia home; even blonde-haired, blue-eyed Aussies aren't really any more Australian-looking than I am. They could be English, Irish or Welsh, sure, but the people who really have been in Australia the longest are definitely not blonde-haired and blue-eyed. They are the indigenous people who have been in our country for thousands of years.
Australians don't all look the same. Throughout history, many ethnicities have come to call Australia home including Italians, Greek, Chinese, Thai, Lebanese, Khmer and Colombian.
There are, certainly, stereotypes of what a ''real'' Australian looks like, but surely travelling should be one instance where stereotypes can be challenged. I expected to learn something from my time away, but I didn't think it would be how regularly ''But where are you really from?'' would be asked of me.
To clarify: I was born in Hong Kong, as were my parents. I haven't traced my family tree, but if you go back far enough I suppose there might have been Thai or Vietnamese in there somewhere. I was, however, raised in Australia. I went to preschool, primary school, high school and university here, and I have worked only in Australia. My passport says I'm Australian, and I know more about Australian culture, politics, history, language, health system, education system and geography than any other country.
I've even been told that my accent is quite Australian - one Swiss guy picked that I was Australian from one sentence
(''I don't know what milk to buy'') - and several travellers have said that I could pass for Thai or Vietnamese until I open my mouth.
And yet there are many out there who seem to have one image of what an Australian looks like, and I don't fit it. When I said ''Australian'' at the ticket counter at Angkor Wat, the woman issuing tickets asked, ''But what is your real nationality?''
People from all over the world call Australia home; even blonde-haired, blue-eyed Aussies aren't really any more Australian-looking than I am. They could be English, Irish or Welsh, sure, but the people who really have been in Australia the longest are definitely not blonde-haired and blue-eyed. They are the indigenous people who have been in our country for thousands of years.
Australians don't all look the same. Throughout history, many ethnicities have come to call Australia home including Italians, Greek, Chinese, Thai, Lebanese, Khmer and Colombian.
There are, certainly, stereotypes of what a ''real'' Australian looks like, but surely travelling should be one instance where stereotypes can be challenged. I expected to learn something from my time away, but I didn't think it would be how regularly ''But where are you really from?'' would be asked of me.
3 comments:
Well...Jen Li, I thought you're Chinese(?), according to your name, but you're an Australian. Maybe others see your skin color, ethnicity, and name first before they see your passport to know your true nationality. I think that is why that woman at the ticket counter at Angkor Wat ask about your nationality. She thought you're Asian, not Australian.
Anyway, I'm CambodianAmerican, I can't distinguish the different between British or Australian, just as other can't distinguish between American and Canadian. You shouldn't be upset for people who can't recognize this differences.
I have told my 4 kids who were born at Down Under that they're BANANA.
Being born with yellow skin but white inside their minds.
It true that people will determine your nationality by your physical look like your skin color. However, Jen Li should be commended for being fully assimilated into the Australian society. And again, white people might not accept her and will still call her Asian or Chinese just because of her physical look.
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