Just What the Hell Are You?

While I was trekking through the Solukhumbu region, I was prepared for the fact that the local Nepalese guides and porters paid a fraction of the price -- if they paid at all -- for the food, lodging and other amenities (hot showers, battery charging and/or Internet usage at Namche Bazaar) at the guest houses along the trail. Fair enough -- guides and porters help to grease the wheels of the local trekking and climbing industry, and help drive business toward those guest house owners with whom they have relationships. What I wasn't quite prepared for was the number of times I was mistaken for Nepalese by guest house owners, because I apparently look like a freakishly tall Sherpa. I was actually counselled by a guest house owner in Dingboche that if I learned Nepali, I could pick up on all the discounts during my next trek in Nepal.

This just adds to a pattern of mistaken identity during my travels.

Ethnicities/nationalities I've been mistaken for during my trip:

• American (understandable -- the accent)
• Native American / Canadian (understandable -- the hair)
• Japanese
• Brazilian
• Filipino
• Hawaiian
• Polynesian
• Nepalese Sherpa
• Mexican (really?)
• Peruvian (really???)
• Italian (to be fair, the girl who thought this was really drunk)

This is an actual conversation I had whilst in a hostel in Auckland, New Zealand. I was sitting down to dinner one night in the common room, when the girl next to me decided that the exact moment my mouth was full of spaghetti was the perfect time to start a conversation:

"Hey, what's your background? Are you a Pacific Islander?"

"No. I'm ethnically Chinese. My family was originally from Hong Kong and the south of China, before moving out to Canada."

(pause)

"Really? Because I'm ethnically Chinese and I don't think you look Chinese at all."

How are you supposed to respond to something like that?