Bad Cop

Before I went to Thailand in October 2012 I had all this paperwork to complete. Part of it was a printed out criminal record from a police station, basically showing I had no felonies.

I ventured to the local police station in my hometown— Bethlehem, PA. Truthfully, I was a little nervous because when I was 19 years old I got an underage drinking citation after having only one beer. (Ugh.) It basically was like a parking ticket — nothing serious. Not court-appearance worthy. (And it never showed up on any kind of police record.)Nonetheless, I was a little jittery.

So there I was at the Bethlehem police station, inquiring about getting this official document. The policeman working at the front desk, per usual, asked me a range of questions. And I was nervously responding.

Why do you need this criminal record?

Because I am going to teach in Thailand. And it’s part of the application. You know— to make sure I am safe to be around children.

Thailand, why would you go there? If you want to see Chinese, go to the casino.

Naturally I was speechless. This casino he was referring to was the newly built Sands Casino in my town. Which, yes, does bring in a lot of Chinese people from China Town in New York City. (There’s actually a bus service that connects the two.) But that’s here nor there because I was not even going to China, I was going to Thailand(!!!!). And the statement this officer made implied there were Chinese people in Thailand. No, Thailand has Thai people. And the Thai language. And the Siam Empire! And they have a freaking King! And they are a democracy! On the inside I was fuming. And uncomfortable. He had really crossed the line.

But what was I supposed to say? I needed this criminal report. I wasn’t about to pick a fight with a police officer.

So I just slightly smiled. Fortunately (I think?), the same officer continued on a tangent about how I should go work at a national park, not travel to some other country. And all these other things I should be doing instead of going to Thailand. Like teaching kids in the US.

Little did he know I hate nature. And I was only really going to Thailand to teach because I am in love with Asia and teaching is the easiest way to get a visa sponsored.

But I just continued to nod and smile. And say, “It’s only for a short time.” Again, I needed this criminal report.

“All White People Look the Same”

When I eventually made it to Thailand a few months later, I turned out to be teaching at a school in the middle of nowhere. I was also the only English teacher at my school. It was tough at first. But I was blessed to have a coordinator who could speak English. Her name was Pati. She actually lived in the US for almost 20 years.

While in the US, she met her husband, who is American like me. One day she told me how they met.

Pati was working at a convenience store in LA. She owned it, in fact. And the same man would come in day after day during his lunch break—Rodney (her future husband). He would flirt with her here and there, but she never cared much for him.

Then, on a weekend, Rodney came into the shop to ask her out. But he wasn’t dressed in his typical work attire.

He was talking to me like he knew me, but I had no idea who he was.

She said that since he was wearing different clothing, she could not recognize him.

She then asked,

You know how, in America, people think all Asians look the same?

I was dead silent. How was I supposed to respond? Coming from a predominantly Caucasian/Hispanic town, I knew very few Asians growing up. In fact, almost none. And I have to admit, before I studied in China in 2010, I had this stereotype in my head of “hot Asian chicks.” Because every Asian girl I came in contact with in the US up to that point had been a “hot Asian chick.” I also had a stereotype constructed for Asian guys—that they were all smart. Nerdy, even. (Again, I had a very small sample size to draw conclusions from.) Of course the media obviously perpetuates these stereotypes. (I instantly think of the hot Asian group in the cafeteria in Mean Girls.) Luckily, all stereotypes I had about Asians quickly dissolved when I studied in Shanghai.

Nonetheless, years later in Thailand, Pati’s question left me speechless. Luckily, Pati spoke again. She smiled and said,

Well, we think all white people look the same.

Uncultured in the US

Time and time again I have heard from callous “friends” or “acquaintances” or just people in general that “all Asians look the same.” Or something suggesting that.

While the cop in the first story didn’t straight out say, “Asians all looked the same,” to me it was implied. Well, it seemed like he didn’t even think about differentiating the cultures in Asia. Or perhaps he actually has no idea there is a difference because our education system is so American-centric.

Before I went to Thailand, I actually had people actually ask me if the spoken language was Chinese. Like, decently intelligent people. They meant well when they asked—they just had no knowledge of Thailand.

I guess it just goes to show how uncultured people are in the US.

Stereotypes Exist Abroad, too

After hearing Pati tell me that people in Thailand think all white people look the same, it made me realize that certain stereotypes probably exist in Thailand, too. For starters, a pretty common one is that all white men have money. Switching back to China for a moment, I recall going out with (white) guy friends and having Chinese guys give them more attention than us girls. It wasn’t that these Chinese guys were into them romantically— far from it. They wanted to “network” with them, or guanxi. They saw my white guy friends as business connections. Which could be the case in the future, but these guys were college kids.

As far as white girls and stereotypes go, a common one is that white girls are easy. I’ll give you an example just from yesterday.

I was touring around Yangon (Myanmar) with a personal driver. Male, middle-aged, barely knew English. However, he loved that I was American and practically rejoiced when he found out. All was fine at first. But then, later in the day, I was trying to have him point to something on the map— and he “casually” brushed against my leg. Something I don’t think would fly with local girls in super conservative Myanmar, who rarely expose any leg. The driver later made an attempt to grab my hand as we crossed a busy street. Again, another gesture that would certainly not be OK if I was Burmese.

Did he think I was “easy” in some way? Probably after seeing enough Britney Spears music videos. I almost don’t even blame him. While Myanmar is an isolated country, they still see Western media. They witness a heck of a lot more American media portrayals than Americans themselves. And the pop culture version of America is slutty.