...Why is your skin different?...

So, as you know, in Thailand, there are Thai people....most of these people have only seen other Asians, maybe some Western ::white:: people and frankly, only other Thai people for that matter. Most Thais don't leave their province to travel much...I have been to more places in Thailand than some of the people that work in my school. With that said, I have come to accept that everywhere I go in Thailand, outside of Bangkok and Chiang Mai...I will always be stared at and treated as a, hmm...I will call it Luxury Item, lol.

     In my town Suphanburi, when I go to Tesco, or that one time I went to the hospital ppl just stare. My coordinator says I am a "Pop Star". And That's how I feel sometimes...They always want to talk to me...ask me about my hair and of course where I am from. "I'm American" (Can't go into the whole I'm Jamaican thing...too complex...so I'm just American) They don't understand how I'm black and I'm American, (they always think I'm from Africa). To them that like being a black Chinese person...just doesn't make sense. Then they always name some black person and ask me if I know them...I get Serena most often...They even as if I know Obama. Last weekend I went to a market about an hour from my house and they asked where I was from, I said America and they said, "Why is your skin different?" lol... Ms. Thai lady...you don't want me to get into that, your English is about as good as my Thai, so let's not go there..... So I said hmm you know like Obama...she said Oh Yes!...moving on...

      Can you really blame them? They only see what's on TV and in the Media...most times when they see a black person it is someone in Africa or most recently, in Haiti. Blacks are not often portrayed in movies or television shows that they watch. My students watch Harry Potter...Mean girls...and most other movies where they would probably not see many black folks. So I can't blame them for their ignorance...they honestly just don't know. Its not racism....I don't even think that exists in Thailand....well maybe...IDK I haven't experienced it here as yet...