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Snowmeow
Joined: 03 Oct 2005
Location: pc room
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 Posted: Tue Feb 20, 2007 7:48 am Post subject: Are you Russian? |
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Apparently a lot of Koreans think that I am. Who else gets that question a lot? What does a Russian look like? Do they have a certain look because I appear to have that look.
Is it wrong to nod your head and say yeah, I'm Russian? I don't see any harm in having some fun with it. As long as it doesn't lead to a dirty proposition. |
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oneofthesarahs
Joined: 05 Nov 2006
Location: Sacheon City
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| Posted: Tue Feb 20, 2007 7:53 am Post subject: |
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I have been asked if I was Russian before, but only in Seoul. Anywhere else and people look at me and pretty much go, "Yup. American."
I think it is my dark hair coupled with my uber-pale skin. And actually I do have various ancestors who are Russian, but my family is like 95% pure German.
Who knows. |
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dalpengi
Joined: 08 Dec 2006
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| Posted: Tue Feb 20, 2007 8:19 am Post subject: Re: Are you Russian? |
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| Snowmeow wrote: |
Apparently a lot of Koreans think that I am. Who else gets that question a lot? What does a Russian look like? Do they have a certain look because I appear to have that look.
Is it wrong to nod your head and say yeah, I'm Russian? I don't see any harm in having some fun with it. As long as it doesn't lead to a dirty proposition. |
Are you blond? I used to live in a small city and one girl had terrible problems because everyone thought she was a Russian prostitute and this she claimed, was because of her hair color. The people in her apartment building hated her and she got harassed on the streets. It was that sort of place� lots of navy guys there, huge demand� |
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Snowmeow
Joined: 03 Oct 2005
Location: pc room
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| Posted: Tue Feb 20, 2007 8:30 am Post subject: |
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yes, I am blonde but I am not a woman. In fact, I like to think I look like WWE wrestling superstar Edge  |
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dalpengi
Joined: 08 Dec 2006
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| Posted: Tue Feb 20, 2007 8:42 am Post subject: |
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| It could still be related to your hair colour. If you live in an area that is frequented a lot by Russians then the Koreans could assume you are Russian. There are parts of Busan (Texas street) where most Koreans I interacted with assumed I was Russian, and the same was true for parts of Jinhae. Elsewhere I got the standard �Mi-gook� thing� |
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peppermint
Joined: 13 May 2003
Location: traversing the minefields of caddishness.
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| Posted: Tue Feb 20, 2007 9:28 am Post subject: |
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| don't worry about it. I used to get asked by soju sodden adjoshis, and Russian expats alike ( they'd try in Russian first) nothing horrible ever came of it |
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J.B. Clamence
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
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| Posted: Tue Feb 20, 2007 10:30 am Post subject: Re: Are you Russian? |
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| Snowmeow wrote: |
| Do they have a certain look because I appear to have that look. |
Koreans are generally not very good at identifying a westerner's ethnicity or nationality by sight. Yes, many (not all) Russians do have a distinctive Eastern European look, but most Koreans have no idea what that actually looks like. They just like to guess. It would be a mistake to assume that you look Russian just because Koreans say so. In my experience, their guesses about the nationality and ethnic background of whities are almost always very far off the mark.
Sometimes the Russian look can be deceiving. I think Kevin McKidd (the guy who plays Vorenus in the Rome miniseries) looks more Russian than any Russian I know, but alas, he is Scottish. Go figure. |
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RACETRAITOR
Joined: 24 Oct 2005
Location: Seoul, South Korea
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| Posted: Tue Feb 20, 2007 10:40 am Post subject: |
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| I was asked by a shopkeeper if I was Russian one time. It really caught me off guard. |
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mervsdamun
Joined: 06 Jun 2006
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Tue Feb 20, 2007 11:51 am Post subject: Re: Are you Russian? |
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| J.B. Clamence wrote: |
| Snowmeow wrote: |
| Do they have a certain look because I appear to have that look. |
Koreans are generally not very good at identifying a westerner's ethnicity or nationality by sight. Yes, many (not all) Russians do have a distinctive Eastern European look, but most Koreans have no idea what that actually looks like. They just like to guess. It would be a mistake to assume that you look Russian just because Koreans say so. In my experience, their guesses about the nationality and ethnic background of whities are almost always very far off the mark.
Sometimes the Russian look can be deceiving. I think Kevin McKidd (the guy who plays Vorenus in the Rome miniseries) looks more Russian than any Russian I know, but alas, he is Scottish. Go figure. |
You make two good points. One, Koreans are not a very good at this game. When I tell people I�m not American (I am but I sometimes will say I'm not just to see what they will make of that), their guesses can range from Sweden at one end of the extreme to Greece at the other. (Can�t really blame them though. How many times have we seen SE Asian actors playing Koreans in action flicks? How many people back home can spot the difference?)
Two, there is a huge variation in looks among Russians. Ranging from whiter than snow to� eh, not so white. Variation in facial features, different facial shapes, etc.
So if a Korean asks you if you are Russian it essentially means nothing. |
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kaizer
Joined: 03 Feb 2007
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| Posted: Tue Feb 20, 2007 1:17 pm Post subject: |
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| Just like western people can't tell which one is korean/japanese/chinese. |
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Snowmeow
Joined: 03 Oct 2005
Location: pc room
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| Posted: Tue Feb 20, 2007 1:45 pm Post subject: |
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| kaizer wrote: |
| Just like western people can't tell which one is korean/japanese/chinese. |
Interesting point.
Now suppose we line up a similarly sized Korean, a Chinese, and a Japanese man (or with women instead), and dress them up in the same clothes. Don't allow them to speak at all.
How successfully can a Korean person identify the nationality of the members of this lineup? I would guess that the predictions would be not much better than random selection.
I student I used to tutor said something very interesting to me. Describing physical appearances was the topic of the day, and when I asked her whether there were any differences in appearance between Koreans and Japanese, she said "Japan people (sic) look the same, but stupider". |
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mervsdamun
Joined: 06 Jun 2006
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Tue Feb 20, 2007 2:20 pm Post subject: |
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| Snowmeow wrote: |
| kaizer wrote: |
| Just like western people can't tell which one is korean/japanese/chinese. |
Now suppose we line up a similarly sized Korean, a Chinese, and a Japanese man (or with women instead), and dress them up in the same clothes. Don't allow them to speak at all.
How successfully can a Korean person identify the nationality of the members of this lineup? I would guess that the predictions would be not much better than random selection.
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A person back home would be reduced to guessing.
However, those of us who have been here couple years would get it right it right 7 out of 10 times, I guess (there will always be exceptions).
The reason for this is that while we flinch when Korean claim to be pure blooded they are, just like the Japanese a very distinct group. It�s a little bit more complicated with Chinese, but if you by Chinese mean Han Chinese, then probably most Koreans and westerners who have been here a while would also have a decent chance of spotting the difference.
Interestingly, linguistically Chinese, Korean and Japanese are also immensely different though the difference between Korean and Japanese is smaller than between either of those languages and Chinese.
But people back home would have almost certainly no clue. As I pointed out in my post, sometimes Thais, Burmese play Koreans in western films which IMO goes too far. The whole �Memoirs of a Geisha� thing, with Chinese actors playing Japanese is one thing, SEA actors playing Koreans is stretching things a little. |
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lastat06513
Joined: 18 Mar 2003
Location: Sensus amo Caesar , etiamnunc victus amo uni plebian
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| Posted: Tue Feb 20, 2007 4:03 pm Post subject: |
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SEVERAL TIMES!!!!!!!!! over the past 10 years.
But it was mostly in places like Dongdaemun and the area right across the street from Busan Station called "Texas Street"
One time in Dongdaemun, I was at one of those Korean fast food stands near Fraya Town and the vendor started speaking to me in Russian (obviously, she was a Russian-Korean) and I shook my head and told her in Korean I was "Canadian" 
Another time in Daegu, I was hanging out downtown when a couple of rough looking Russian dudes came up to me, snearing and demanding something in Russian. I show them my ARC (though the Russian last name didn't help much), after that, one of them in poor English told me they were looking for a guy who was suppose to drop off "a package" with them and they thought it was me (I guess it was the American football player physique and the "terminator-style" biker jacket that gave them that impression......)
Hey Kimluver--- Do I look like a thug? |
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jaganath69
Joined: 17 Jul 2003
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| Posted: Tue Feb 20, 2007 4:26 pm Post subject: |
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| I often pretend to be Russian to avoid giving impromptu English lessons in the street. |
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mountain goat
Joined: 18 Dec 2006
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| Posted: Tue Feb 20, 2007 4:54 pm Post subject: |
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| The lady in the local restaurant has asked me a couple of times if I am russian. Her daughter, a high school student had said that she couldnt understand us and concluded that we werent speaking english. |
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