Exotic

Being the only Westerner around, I have the dubious honor of being able to turn heads wherever I go. Small children nudge each other and point at me. Adults will stare for uncomfortably long periods of time, and a brave few will shout "hello?" and then run off giggling.

I often feel like I live in a zoo.

An advantage of this unwanted attention is that I get to collect interesting comments about my appearance. My "big nose" and "yellow hair" are favorite topics of conversation. People I've just met feel totally comfortable running their fingers through my hair and asking if it's fake.

The vast majority of people that I meet have never seen a non-Chinese person before. One guy, after staring awkwardly for a while, finally said, with awe, "I can't believe you're standing here in front of me!" as if I'm some sort of movie star or exotic animal. He then proposed that we take a photo together so he could show his family because (and I quote) "they are NOT going to believe this!" One energetic youngster, zipping past on one of those fancy two-wheeled skateboard things doubled back when he caught sight of me and then skated circles around me shouting "A foreigner! A foreigner! Grandma! Look at the foreigner!"

I guess I shouldn't be surprised. The only foreigners most Chinese people see are on TV or in ads, like this woman, featured prominently at the local WalMart:


If I saw that walking down the street, I guess I'd stare too.