Who's the Foreigner?

So its my second day in Jeju Island and to much of my surprise, even though the wind was blowing hard and it was really cold for a spring day, it was a good day.

Through my host family in Seoul, Korea, I signed up for a tour group where its pretty much a hands free experience. Usually tours can be hit or miss. One, some tours are dominating and you have pretty much no free time to yourself, and you simply move on with the group like lemmings. Two, some tours trap you by conveniently leaving you at tourist shops or home industry shops so you are tempted to buy something.

Yet my tour group has been a very smooth experience. No gimmicks where they try to sell you something or rush you through a site, and really no explanations about each site's significance. We have a Korean tour guide who speaks English and simply gets us from site to site. When we arrive at the site, he writes on a dry-erase board what time we have to get back, points at the entrance, and says, "have fun."

He also tags along and talks to the various tourists in our group. He doesn't need to explain what the site is, but more or less, just strikes up a convo about our feelings about that particular site. His attitude as a tour guide is splendid simply because he wants to be your friend and doesn't seem to burdened in doing his job. Props to ya my man.

One of the funnier stories today was the experience of a being a foreigner. Now, most of you know that as a Korean-American I do not attract much attention. In my three years in South Korea, unless I am actually with foreigners, I never get stared at for my looks. I blend in, to a degree. When I go to the bathhouse or shopping, now and then I get a stare because of my darker skin or non-Korean features, but its not an issue with me.

Today was very unusual. Usually, I feel bad for my "typical foreigner" friends who get "hello'ed" at constantly or get beaten with the Konglish stick (Korean + English) a few times, I know it seems awkward for them to be randomly approached in public by strangers shouting random English phrases. I usually escape unnoticed.

Now, Jeju Island this time of year attracts an unusual group of tourists: high school students.

Korean high school students usually come to Jeju Island as part of their curriculum, during their 2nd year. They come in flocks and they are not hard to miss: girls' high schools groups are distinguished with their shrieks, constant picture taking, and their usually girly stuff such as whining about the weather or the fact that they have to use their feet. Boys' high schools are filled with short-haircut boys who are all talking the same: that rich, wonderful sound of adolescent boy shrieking that usually cracks when they hit that puberty stage. They are always hitting and horseplaying. Nerds.

This morning, while touring the coastline by myself, I came across an American military family who were coming the opposite direction. I asked the Air Force guy what was ahead. He mentions more coastline with some good views and a used set for a Korean drama. Behind me, a group of four high school girls were behind me and noticed me speaking English. One of them walks up to me and says, "hi. Where are you from?"

Now keep in mind, usually no stranger Korean has ever approached me in ENGLISH. Its usually in Korean, so I'm kinda nervous. Of course, it was natural at my school all the time when my students yelled "hi" at me. But this is different.

I carry a 5-6 minute conversation with these girls, and found out they were from Jeolla Province, which is the southwestern province known for its rich food and twangy dialect. They were very nice. We talked about their school life, blah to the blah to the blah, the usual banter. As I walked on by and they said goodbye, one of them says to me, "Goodbye. You are very handsome!" Thanks.

At other sites, even ALONE, some high school girls said "hi" to me. Some said to our group "hajimemashite," or "nice to meet you" in Japanese. I was like, "are you kidding me? Are we Japanese now?" I thought it was my students but in disguise. I never got this attention at all during my three years here. Was I on camera or something?

Then there was the bathroom incident. I'm about to leave a bathroom at our last site of the day, and there were a bunch of boys who were from a high school from Korea's eastern Gangwon Province. They ask me, "where are you from?" I say mildly: "Washington DC." One of them proceeds to hug and shake my hand while "oohhs," "ahhhs," and even a cell phone photograph was taken. I was just blown away with the foreign superstar treatment.

I am standing outside with these guys, peppered with questions for like 5 minutes about my life, I was "dang! Am I that different looking to them?" Meanwhile, my Guatemalen friend, who was harrassed earlier to take a photo by some high school chicks, is laughing at me through the bus window. They are trying their English with me and here I am, being cool, just entertaining them and having fun.

As I head to the bus, like a superstar soccer player, I wave goodbye. One of them screams (and this is a guy student) "call me!" and there is laughter. I joke to our tour group the only fans I attract are guys, and my tour guide smirks, "sorry, they are too young for you and its illegal." Laughter all around, props to the tour guide for that one.

So I have come to one conclusion: I blend in well. With foreigners, I blend in well. With Indians, I blend in well. With Koreans, I blend in well. With Japanese, Israelis to a degree, Palestinians, Filipinos, or wherever my travels have taken me, I always managed to blend in to a certain degree. Its one of the funny aspects of being mixed-race.

And by the way...God made me that way. Its worked out for some unique situations: funny and touching alike. Let's see what day two of the tour brings tomorrow.