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Do Koreans ever confuse you for a race that you're not?
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sadguy



Joined: 13 Feb 2011

PostPosted: Wed Jul 13, 2011 3:02 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

nukeday wrote:
I had a really annoying conversation with a girl who, despite me repeatedly telling her my background, kept asking if I was part Latino because I'm from southern California and can speak survival Spanish.

Yet my coworker doesn't want to go to China because "the Chinese go after Koreans for their money." She insisted it was very easy for them to tell who the Koreans were even if I was unable to distinguish the two apart. I told her not to travel in tour groups or wear obvious tourist clothes...


you can distinguish koreans from chinese by their fashion and hairstyles.
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nukeday



Joined: 13 May 2010

PostPosted: Wed Jul 13, 2011 4:20 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

sadguy wrote:
nukeday wrote:
I had a really annoying conversation with a girl who, despite me repeatedly telling her my background, kept asking if I was part Latino because I'm from southern California and can speak survival Spanish.

Yet my coworker doesn't want to go to China because "the Chinese go after Koreans for their money." She insisted it was very easy for them to tell who the Koreans were even if I was unable to distinguish the two apart. I told her not to travel in tour groups or wear obvious tourist clothes...


you can distinguish koreans from chinese by their fashion and hairstyles.


Yeah, I agree (but try telling that to a Korean...most of them are convinced they can tell by looking at someone's face), so like I told her, if she just didn't dress like an obvious Korean tourist she'd be fine. And her hairstyle isn't overly k-fashionable. Hell, if I didn't know her and I had to choose, I'd have pegged her for chinese.
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danwom



Joined: 31 May 2011

PostPosted: Wed Jul 13, 2011 6:29 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

nukeday wrote:
sadguy wrote:
nukeday wrote:
I had a really annoying conversation with a girl who, despite me repeatedly telling her my background, kept asking if I was part Latino because I'm from southern California and can speak survival Spanish.

Yet my coworker doesn't want to go to China because "the Chinese go after Koreans for their money." She insisted it was very easy for them to tell who the Koreans were even if I was unable to distinguish the two apart. I told her not to travel in tour groups or wear obvious tourist clothes...


you can distinguish koreans from chinese by their fashion and hairstyles.


Yeah, I agree (but try telling that to a Korean...most of them are convinced they can tell by looking at someone's face), so like I told her, if she just didn't dress like an obvious Korean tourist she'd be fine. And her hairstyle isn't overly k-fashionable. Hell, if I didn't know her and I had to choose, I'd have pegged her for chinese.


Think about it this way. Let's suppose you were German and you lived all your life in Germany. Do you think you could tell the difference between a 100% German face against a 100% Russian, French, English, Scottish, or Italian face? I'd think yes. Would a Korean be able to? Probably not. The Korean people here might incorrectly guess your race because they haven't had enough exposure to your particular race and are therefore bad at identifying members of said group.

I've lived my entire life surrounded by a diverse group of Asians but I can't really explain the difference in words. It's kind of like a sixth sense. I can distinguish between Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Vietnamese, and Filipino (this one is really easy) people just from a face. I'm not 100% accurate but I'm certainly better than random guessing.
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nukeday



Joined: 13 May 2010

PostPosted: Wed Jul 13, 2011 7:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Of course it's easy to tell a Filipino apart from NE Asians. I don't think it's easy to tell them apart from Thais, though (Malay filipinos anyway...not mestizos).

I still say put a Korean, a Japanese, and a Chinese in the same clothes and give them the same haircut. Don't let them speak or use any body language. Then pick them out.
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atwood



Joined: 26 Dec 2009

PostPosted: Wed Jul 13, 2011 7:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

nukeday wrote:
Of course it's easy to tell a Filipino apart from NE Asians. I don't think it's easy to tell them apart from Thais, though (Malay filipinos anyway...not mestizos).

I still say put a Korean, a Japanese, and a Chinese in the same clothes and give them the same haircut. Don't let them speak or use any body language. Then pick them out.

The Korean is the one bumping into others as they walk down the street.

Seriously, the Japanese person would likely be shorter, the Chinese heavier and darker-skinned. If they smiled, their teeth might also give them away.
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sadguy



Joined: 13 Feb 2011

PostPosted: Wed Jul 13, 2011 8:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

some koreans just have a VERY korean look. and it's nothing to do with their hair/fashion.
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nukeday



Joined: 13 May 2010

PostPosted: Wed Jul 13, 2011 8:24 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yeah, I agree. I guess I'm just saying on average. And the woman who was fearful of traveling to China really didn't look all that obviously Korean.

Short, round, short unfashionable haircut.
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Weigookin74



Joined: 26 Oct 2009

PostPosted: Thu Jul 14, 2011 5:02 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yeah, I get called American when I'm actually Canadian. %$^&^#&!!!!
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joelove



Joined: 12 May 2011

PostPosted: Thu Jul 14, 2011 5:05 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

http://alllooksame.com/register.php?tid=1

I tried this little quiz with a few Korean middle school students before. They did no better than me, getting less than half right. You just look at faces of Chinese, Japanese, and Koreans, and guess (mostly) which they are. Asians don't know better than anyone else. That's a myth.

Some other interesting quizzes and other stuff on the site too.

(signing up takes a minute)
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littlelisa



Joined: 12 Jun 2007
Location: Seoul

PostPosted: Fri Jul 15, 2011 1:19 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I've been mistaken for Swedish, Egyptian, Turkish, Italian, French, Israeli, Russian, Argentinian, and who knows what else. Koreans mostly think I am American, but in other places, I get pretty much anything. It's nice to be able to pass for a local in so many places (until I open my mouth for anything past a "hej", anyway).
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jvalmer



Joined: 06 Jun 2003

PostPosted: Fri Jul 15, 2011 1:30 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Anyone saying they can tell Koreans, Northern Chinese, Mongolians and Japanese apart by just looking at their faces a high percentage of the time is full of BS. It's like claiming you can tell the different Scandinavians apart.

The ones who claim they can, did you know a large percentage of Japanese celebrities are of Korean descent? Do know which ones?

Now if they say they can tell a SE Asian apart from a NE Asian, then that's more believable.
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fermentation



Joined: 22 Jun 2009

PostPosted: Fri Jul 15, 2011 1:39 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I can tell Koreans from Japanese by how they dress. I can also tell Americans from Europeans and Africans by the way they dress.

The one ethnicity Koreans always get confused are Hispanics. I've seen people get confused to what to call a person who's hispanic. They're not black, but they're not quite white either. It confuses the hell out of them.
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myenglishisno



Joined: 08 Mar 2011
Location: Geumchon

PostPosted: Fri Jul 15, 2011 2:09 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

fermentation wrote:
I can tell Koreans from Japanese by how they dress.


Yes, me too. I can tell only by that.

When I lived in Japan I could spot Koreans really easily and I know next to nothing about fashion. The way the girls trim their hair and eyebrows often gives it away. Japanese and Korean styles are just really different.
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Julius



Joined: 27 Jul 2006

PostPosted: Fri Jul 15, 2011 4:31 am    Post subject: Re: Do Koreans ever confuse you for a race that you're not? Reply with quote

myenglishisno wrote:
Then there have been numerous times where people have approached me asking me if I was Vietnamese, Thai, Filipino etc... Again, I'm white. I don't know why this happens.


happens to me as well, I'm 100% caucasian, but dark-haired and with meditteranean skin.

To be honest I love my look because I blend in just about everywhere. Its a universal look.
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Hokie21



Joined: 01 Mar 2011

PostPosted: Fri Jul 15, 2011 5:42 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Only from the waist down.
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