looking local

guess what? im back in bangkok for a hot minute ;)

another airport goodbye

prior to leaving the states if you had asked me to predict the country where my face would most fit in i would have quickly said thailand. yet now that im here, even sporting a very local yellow polo shirt professing my love for their king i aint foolin many. it was viet nam where i was most often assumed to be a local with singapore a distant second. in malaysia i was chinese (except for that strange 'papi' incident in penang), and in taipei and bali i was japanese. previous experiences have told me that koreans cant fathom im one of their own. despite the diversity of facial features and skin tones among thais, one of my friends friends made the perennially shocking contention that i looked white.

being korean and white but never perceived as both is sometimes fun, frustrating, and always familiar. its also typical that no two people see the same ingredients in my racial recipe, yet are incredulous at the prospect of anyone seeing something different. the reality is that what people see in my face says much more about their experiences than what i look like.

growing up without a consistent racial team has made me assume there are many membership privileges to those whose faces fit. in my attempts to taste the sweet nectar of inclusion i am a keen observer of cultural nuance and a talented mimic. i enjoy peoples reactions of surprise and pleasure when i say or do something they expect only from one of their own, but 28 years attached to this face ultimately has me finding an identity centered around not fitting in. im totally ok with that.
more bangkok photos here