I challenge anyone on this forum who can correctly pin-point the difference between a Vietnamese, Thai Chinese, Chinese Malaysian, Japanese, Chinese, Singaporean, North-Korean, South-Korean, Indonesian, Filipino.
Blanket accusations? So you wanna play like that huh?
Do not start taking this thread off topic.
It went off topic a long, long time ago.
You are talking about a new subject if you want to start that discussion feel free to start a new thread just don't discuss it in this one.
There is a difference being stared at by being foreigner than being stared at being a couple in a mixed relationship. I was refering to those shoes of the latter.
I remember reading on this forum about a negative remark that was hurled at a member's wife. Something along the line of "these women coming to Switzerland and stealing the swiss man from the swiss ladies." I bet any ladies, upon hearing such remark, would feel disheartened.
The tide has stop on my shore because this will never end. I urge some people to stop generalizing on subjects that you'll never understand.
To all you mixed relationship couple, the stares will never stop. If you're being stared at the next time, there are a couple of replies with good advices on this topic which you can use.
And what many of us are saying is that staring here is _not_ a sign of racism per se. People stare in Switzerland. They stare at me all the time and I hate it to but there isn't much I can do about it.
I am not denying that there is xenophobia in CH but to be honest, I really don't see a big difference of their generalization as you interpreted it and your own generalization about the "Yugoslavians". Xenophobic people will always find reasons to confirm their xenophobia, be it the idea that all asian women are mail-order brides or that all people from Yugoslavia speak that languange Yugoslavian.
All who stares might not be xenophobic but just a curious person. And sometimes they play guess the nationality game. Couple of strangers (more than 20 times in total 12 months) have come up and asked me if I were from Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Peru and so on. Its funny that they keep on guessing if I do not volunteer and tell where I am from. Its like 'are you from Thailand' - 'No' - 'then malaysia' - No- 'Indoensia?' - No..... they will keep on asking and will eventually ask then where (the hell) are you from then...
As for staring, its very difficult to get used to it in the beginning. I used to check my pants's fly and run to a mirror to see if there is something wrong. These days.... I run to mirror if no one stares!
To Icephrys:
Out of curiosity, what do you do for a living? What type of clothes do you normally wear?
I know. That's why I used it.
It's as horrible as describing the diverse nationalities listed by Icephrys as 'them Orientals'.
There is a certain equivalence here that I don't believe should be ignored.
I am curious as a non-native speaker: What terms is "generally accepted"? Whats wrong with "colored", I thought that was supposed to be a not so direct word for "black"?
(I am honestly interested as I do not want to offend people and this is not the type of "language feeling thing" one learns at school...)
After a Serbian friend of mine complained about the "böse -vic" ending of his name that makes it difficult to get a job interview here, we developed the term "Bösevic" which sounds like "Bösewicht", a child-term for bad guys... He loved it and it sounds so much cooler than Yugo.
In honor of Black History Month
author unknown
A black man talks to a white man:
When I was born I was black,
When I grew up I was black,
When I'm sick I'm black,
When I go in the sun I'm black,
When I'm cold, I'm black,
When I'm scared, I'm black,
When I'm sick, I'm black,
When I die I'll still be black.
But you: When you're born you're pink,
When you grow up you're white,
When you're sick, you're green,
When you go in the sun you turn red,
When you're cold you turn blue,
When you're scared, you're yellow,
When you're bruised, you're purple,
and when you die you turn grey.
And you have the nerve to call me colored.
I honestly do get stared at all of the time here, and usually find it flattering However, it is not this kind of stare that annoys me, but the gratuitous looks of dissapproval from other women. I have been living in the German part of Switzerland for over 2 years now and can't get used to it. Even when I have every inch of my body covered, I sometimes get these looks of reprobation. I think it has something to do with the fact that us foreigners usually dress up a bot more, call more attention, laugh more, etc as opposed to the more subdued way that most Swiss dress and carry themselves. But I don't think it's a racism thing, I'm Spanish, and lood Spanish, but I don't think comsider Spaniards as being your typical victims of racism. I think it's a "being different" thing. I know a lot of people (usually, yes, women) who have judged me before because I like to look good; this does happen to me a lot more here than anywhere else, and I've lived all over the globe.
And I'm actually super friendly; go figure.
i recall watching a cosmetics commercial on the telly with a former Ms USA, and the target market was "women of colour." i guess it is still an acceptable term...
You wouldn't be watching cnn..........
Strangely, saying "People of Color" doesn't have the same effect as calling people "Colored". "People of Color" even has a positive tinge to it, while calling people "colored" has a negative historical stigma. I'd stay away from using it. But then who the hell can remember all these rules anyway?
As it was explained to me. You're a white or you are colored. Has a connotation of "White Supremacy" in that there are the white people and everyone else is bucketed in the non-white category (coloreds).
If you would rather take Wikipedia's explanation of it:
But then most europeans are actually pink. The few people I know who are truly white are often japanese.
Halle Berry seemed to think so:
(the comment comes at 2:06 into the video)
I know that spot but I understood that it is targeted at an African audience (it is always on during the CNN Africa program whatever it is called).
I did get the point that "colored" is not ok, I would be interested to know what term to use instead? "black"?
P.S: I loved the Wikipedia link:
"The term "Free Persons of Colour" first appeared during colonial times (1600-1800s). It was applied to a variety of ethnic people, to include Black, Native American, Portuguese, Spaniards , Sephardic Jews, Greeks, Romanians, Moors, Arabs, Asiatic Indians and Pakistanis"
Looks like half of the EU was actually considered "colored" in the US back then...
And to get all the way back to the original topic: I have to agree with Chem: I am here already long enough to not recognize the staring anymore most of the times. Due to this discussion I had a look this morning and I have to agree that basically everyone in a Zurich Tram is staring at whoever is entering the tram next. Possibly a bit longer at foreign looking people, but I am not and still got a lot of stares as well... so I think it is not a "Where did you buy your wife" attitude, but a very normal thing here...