The Far Easterns

Interestingly last week I was mistaken for a Chinese twice. I think the appearance of Chinese people is quite different from that of Japanese, but it seems to be hard for people of other races to distinguish us.

Korean and Japanese look very similar I think. In the UK I have met some Korean people, and I myself sometimes couldn't tell if they are Japanese or Korean. This is probably because many of ancestors of Japanese people are from Korea. In the era of Asuka (around 500 A.D.) or even earlier, Korean people settled in Japan and introduced Buddhism to the country. And these days the fashion trend in these two countries is quite similar, so I understand even we cannot distinguish each other.

As for Chinese people, in some reason it's easy for me to distinguish them from Japanese people, although it is said that some types of Japanese have their origin in ancient China. But anyway, our faces are a bit different. Also to look at our way of walking and talking, and our fashion, there are many different aspects. Especially Japanese English and Chinese English sound completely different.

I don't mind at all being mistaken for a Chinese, Korean, Thai or whatever. I cannot tell if a Caucasian is British, German or Dutch by his/her face. I only tell the nationality by his/her accent when he/she speaks. This is because I know the accents of each language (well, still German English and Dutch English are quite hard for me to distinguish though). If a person doesn't know Japanese accent and Chinese accent, it's almost impossible for him/her to tell which is which.

Anyway, whatever you think my nationality is, I am me. This is the most important thing in personal relationships, isn't it? I am me. Myself. No one else. He is him and she is her, no one else. It is the matter of individuality, not nationality. The nationality matters only when we think about nations, politics, economy and those kind of things. And of course, cultures. Oh yes, we shouldn't forget this, as someone's personality goes hand in hand with the culture of his/ her country. I want to see and learn as many different people and cultures as possible, and that's why I love travelling. But about cultures, I'll write another time (because it'll be very long...ha ha).


↑btw thank you so much everyone for clicking this blogmura ranking banner. you all encourage me a lot. i'm amazed that there are so many people reading my murmur! thanx!