Saturday, May 17, 2008

mistaken for Hispanic! again!

Being half-Korean often means being mistaken for another ethnicity. In my case, some people in the DC-Metro area think I'm Hispanic, and they'll start rattling off questions in Spanish to me. What complicates matters is that I do, in fact, speak a very small amount of Spanish (¡pero no puedo hacer el tiempo pasado!), and my reflexive reply-- usually in Spanish-- begins with, "I'm sorry, but my Spanish isn't very good..."

On Friday, after I'd performed a few errands, I stopped in Old Town Alexandria to drop off a deposit at my bank branch's ATM. While walking back to my car, a Hispanic gent in his pickup leaned out his window and asked me in Spanish, "How do I get to Route 1 from here?" I told him my Spanish wasn't very good (he simply took this in stride with a nod), then I said he needed to "go that way to go to Route 1, but if it's direct or not, I don't know." This was a question I could have handled with little trouble in English, French, or even Korean (my worst of the three languages I speak above a basic level), but I was caught off-guard and didn't have the vocabulary to give the man better directions. I feel for the guy: it sucks when a local citizen can only muster a "you gotta go that way." I've been on the receiving end of such directions before, so I know how it feels.

At the same time, it's weird to find myself suddenly (and only randomly) included in an ethnic brotherhood with which I have so little experience. I often wish I knew more Spanish.


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4 comments:

SJHoneywell said...

Kevin!

Long time no chat, droogie. Nice to hear you're back in the States.

I don't know what route you'll take through the U.S., but if you wander through the northern part of Illinois, I'll buy you dinner. I can promise at least one site of religious interest in town.

Horace Jeffery Hodges said...

Mistaken for "his panic"? Whose fricking panic? And you're an English instructor!

So . . . I guess that this walk has got you scared.

Jeffery Hodges

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Kevin Kim said...

Movie Guy Steve,

Is this Steve H., a.k.a. Anus Burford? How's life, man?


Kevin

SJHoneywell said...

Aye, my friend. The studious and insipid Anus Burford at your service. I saw that your other blog went dormant and checked up on you here.

Drop me a line, oh Buddha-tastic one. And plan your route to cross through my territory. Or I'll hunt you down and staple your gonads to someone else's throat.