"But you are Asian"

Thailand has beffudled, confused, perplexed and flabbergasted me many a time during this past month. But I guess such feelings are to be expected when one is immersing oneself in a new culture. What is funny is that in this past week, during my site visit, I have had some payback. In this one week, I have caused jaws to drop and heads to turn. Because of me, people have gone speechless and I have seen more people scratch their heads in 7 days than I have in my whole life. I have beffudled, confused, perplexed, and flabbergasted so many people from rural Thailand and their beffudlement, confusion, perplexedness (is that even a word?) and flabbergastedness (I am creating new words as I go) have manifested themselves in these 4 words: BUT YOU ARE ASIAN

Yes, I am Asian. Filipino, to be exact. But I am also American and I've spent the past 5 years of my life living in California and while I am very Filipino, I am also very Californian. I also happen to be a Peace Corps volunteer which means I sort of work for the United States Government. None of what I wrote above would be a source of confusion for people living in the United States or for anyone who has had experience with American diversity. But for the people of rural Thailand, I am an anomaly!
To the people of rural Thailand, I am:

a "farang" who does not have blond hair or blue eyes.

an Asian looking man (they all think I am Thai...or Chinese...or Japanese...or Korean) who does not speak Thai, Chinese, Japanese, or Korean.

an English speaking Asian looking man who wears farang clothes who does not speak Thai but loves rice but does not drink beer out of a straw.

a Farang who looks like a Thai man because I am darker than a white man but I am also lighter skinned than a Thai man so therefore I am Chinese but I speak English so therefore I am American but I have black hair (not blond) so I am Thai but I am......

You get the picture.

Traditionally, the only contact people from very rural Thailand have had with farangs have been with the older white men who have married women from their villages. So when they heard that they would be receiving a visitor from the United States, I can only imagine the images that danced in their heads--tall, white skin, blond hair, blue eyes...

And of course they got me!

And thus the ensuing confusion (and the fun of it all):

Brian, a current serving volunteer who hosted me for 2 days was called a liar by a person in his village for introducing me as an American; Brian's principal was little more polite and did a decent job of masking his disbelief; the person who met me in the bus station at my village told me I did not look American; I heard "mungkan kon Thai" (same as Thai) echo through the mouths of my city hall's staff when I arrived to meet the mayor; and the supervisor of my Education Service Area Office gave me the "I have a meeting with an American in a couple of minutes, what can I do for you?" look.

I once heard the Peace Corps experience described as being akin to putting on a big, purple bunny suit and dancing up to people telling them you are there to help. Being an Asian American volunteer in rural in Thailand is like putting on the big, purple, bunny suit and dancing up to people as well...only that all the other people are also wearing big, purple, bunny suits and dancing. The difference is that while they are doing the Macarena, you are doing the Roger Rabbit.

Another current volunteer who is also Asian American and has been in Thailand for one year told me that the situation has been difficult for him and at times, has even caused him to be bitter. This past week has shown me where the bitterness can come in--its never easy seeing people get diasppointed because of the color of your skin--but its also shown me how, with a good sense of humor, the situation can be a source of great stories.
The looks of confusion that replaced the original looks of doubt when I started introducing myself in English were priceless. Even funnier was how amazed the Thais were when I took off my watch and they saw the difference between my skin tones (biking 20 k a day under the sun for a month will make you dark!) And when I showed them my legs--which are as pasty a white as any other legs you will ever see--I had the Thai people doubled up and rolling in laughter.

So while the disappointed and doubting faces can be difficult to deal with at first, the idea of being able to educate people about the diversity that exists in this world (and the fun that comes out of it) can be such a great experience. Plus, as I spent more time in my village and laughed and joked around with the people, I sensed the happiness they had with their new visitor...even if I wasn't what they had expected in the first place.