I Love Africa.

Oh my emgee…FUNNY story. I forgot to tell you guys what happened to me a couple of weeks ago! So during the summer break, I went to Osaka, Kyoto and Nagano. The trip to Nagano was great and there was a huge fireworks festival on Lake Suwa. Lake Suwa is ginormous! It was Oli's birthday so her students gave her these bossy tickets to these amazing seats near the water. Another one of her students also dressed us in Yukatas (summer kimonos)…I also forgot to upload the blog I wrote about this so I'll do that next (I ask you in advance to overlook the redundancy that comes as a repercussion of my forgetfulness)…sidetracked…anyway. There was this Indian man walking around with this Japanese family. The woman walked past us once and stared (awkwardly) and smiled at me and went back to her seat. A beer run or two later, she passes and tells me I look beautiful. I thank her. The strange exchange to follow is better exhibited in dialogue.

Lady: "Are you from India?"
Me: ( with a slightly raised brow and a smile) "No. I'm from Jamaica."
Lady: "Oh. I am hosting a guest from India. I thought if you were Indian I could
introduce you."
Me: (chuckles) "Ohhh…no, I'm not."
Lady: "Oh, okay. I love Africa."
Me: (blank stare)

I can't tell you how many times people ask me where I'm from and I say (the response varies based on their level of English), "I was born in Jamaica but I have lived in America for a long time." And they follow with, "…Jamaica…is that in Africa?"
Take that as you will. I think it is kind of funny, and by no means any less ignorant than the notions a lot of people (in the West) have about Asia. So…iLaugh.

Love,
The Gypsy