Korean Job Discussion Forums

[SeoulShakin]

I just got off the phone with my family at home. I was recounting a few stories I found interesting while I've been here and it got me thinking: I have never had my ethnicity questioned until I arrived in Korea.
Since arriving, I've had people ask me if I am half or full Korean, and I'm not.
One (rather drunk) Ajosshi on the subway asked me if I was Japanese.
I've also been asked if I was Russian by a friend's mother (though I'm assured it's because she thinks Russian's are pretty, not for the reason most people are asked if they are Russian here).
I took a trip to Beijing, and two people asked me if I was Chinese.
Now, I don't think I look Asian at all.
I mean I do have very dark brown hair, dark eyes, and my skin is very fair, but my facial structure isn't at all Asian. I'm a Canadian female, and so far as I know my only descendants are Scottish.
I looked at a picture I have of myself and one of my Korean friends and I just don't see where they are getting the resemblance from.
Do Korean's just find my dark hair and dark eyes familiar?
Any thoughts?
I'm not bothered at all by being asked my ethnicity, and I don't find it offensive. I think my Korean friends are actually quite beautiful, so I take it as a compliment. I'm simply curious as to why people here think I might be either part Asian, or full out Asian.
Any thoughts?

[Css]

Got a photo of yourself?

[Kimchi Cha Cha]

I've been asked if I'm any of at least 20 nationalities since being here ranging from Filipino to Russian! I'm a Caucasian guy with olive skin, blue eyes and brown hair. Most of my ancestors come from the UK and Ireland though I do have some distant Jewish and Australian Aboriginal ancestry which I guess give me a slightly exotic look.

Funny thing is when my female friend and co-worker, who I have a language exchange with, go anywhere together everyone thinks we look alike. I guess we kind of do in a way as our skin tone and faces are somewhat similar.

I sometimes like to kid with my students that I am actually half-Korean with a Korean mother and Australian father. They usually start to believe it too if I say it with enough conviction, until I finally tell them I'm joking.

I've been mistaken for a Korean several times by people walking behind me. I guess if you have darker hair and don't look stereotypically (according to some) Caucasian - blonde hair, fair skin, blue eyes - more people are going to assume you are Asian or at least partly Asian.

[SeoulShakin]

Thanks for the reply Cha Cha - I was curious to see if others have experienced this as well.
I'm not sure how to post photos on here, or else I MIGHT consider it.
I mean, I definitely don't have an Asian build, nor are my eyes the same shape, but I seem to get asked the question a lot.
I've also been told my head is small (by a Korean friend) - apparently this is a compliment?????

[blaseblasphemener]

Asking why someone is asking you that question is like asking why the hair on your neck goes up for no apparent reason, or why when you meet someone, you immediately get a sense of who that person is. It's for a million different reasons, all in our subconcious. You can't rationalize it, and if you asked them, the reason they would give you would likely be false, as they themselves are not aware of what made them think this.

Read "Blink" by Malcolm Gladwell. It's available in many bookstores in Korea, and it is amazing. Full of stories of why we make decisions, often brilliantly, but sometimes obviously not in your case, in a fraction of a second.

[Kimchi Cha Cha]

Here's a pic of me from a few years back (this was actually taken just before I left for Korea for the first time).

I guess my skin tone, hair colour and face make some people think I could be part-Asian. Though, when people get close enough and see my nose, they start to realise I'm not Asian.

[SeoulShakin]

Now see, I look at that picture and I don't see the similarity at all either.
Interesting though. Thanks for the look
Not sure how to post a pic at all.
http://ca.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/seoulshakin/detail?.dir=1721scd&.dnm=d4b8scd.jpg&.src=ph
If that link doesn't work, then you just won't get a pic.

[peony]

actually seoulshakin, i can definitely see why people would think you were mixed!

i think its your very straight dark hair and something about your eyes that makes you look part asian

[eurasian76]

[jacl]

[mole]

[JZer]

SeoulShakin, I think your head also has an Asian shape to it as well. At least you are not like me. Some people don't think I sound American, despite the fact that I had never been outside North America before I was 20.

[Css]

[SeoulShakin]

HaHa I thought posting a pic of myself with my Korean friend would make it obvious that I was the one on the left.
Wasn't expecting everyone to say I looked mixed.
I think it's just strange, because it's never been asked before, and I have absolutely no Asian people in my family.
Definitely interesting...

[crazylemongirl]

I can see it too! Love that top btw! Did you buy it here?