Many non-Asians traveling through the less touristy parts of Asia often complains that they receive too much unpleasant and unwanted attention from the locals simply because of skin color. Of course, the source of the attention is justifiably obvious: the locals simply have not come across many foreigners before and are expressing their surprise/curiosity/”joy” of seeing foreigners in ways that the foreigners would consider them rather obnoxious.
The Asian travelers, unfortunately, usually do not understand just how unpleasant it is to be on the receiving end of such unwanted attention against foreigners because they tend to always end up in places where Asians faces are common. In Asia, they can blend in as locals. In the West, they can be one of the millions of Asian immigrants. And in popular vacation destinations such as Athens and Istanbul, the foreign crowds, whether it be tourists or businessmen catering to the foreign crowds, are often predominantly Asian. Locals in these locales would never verbally target Asians because they are so used to seeing them.
When the Asian travels to the Balkans, then, the normalcy of being Asian suddenly gets thrown out the window. Curious eyes fixate on the Asian face as soon as the Asian steps out of the bus in the “tourist backwaters” of the region, whether in Tirana, Skopje, or Pristina. Then the words are bound to follow, often excited yelled out by excited twenty-somethings walking down the street, “Ching Chong Ching!” “Hey, Jackie Chan!” “Yo, Chinese!”
Frankly, as racist as these comments obviously sounds, the Asian would actually be just as excited to hear such things as the locals are excited to utter them. After all, wherever the Asians tend to go, they are the quiet, low-key hard workers, not troubling anyone else and getting out of the way of everyone else in order not to be troubled. For places with large number of Asians, the locals understand as much, and would not go out of their way to bother the Asians.
But in the Balkans, the locals, perhaps seeing one or two Asian faces in year (usually in the form of Chinese import-exporters selling made-in-China toys and clothing), still get a kick out of openly insulting Asians, even if they are ignored by the Asians. It is not that they are more racist than non-Asians in other locales, its just that they do not have enough experience dealing with Asians to understand how to properly interact with them, especially considering that Asians in the Balkans do not tend to stay for a long time.
But what is equally, if not more, unfortunate is that the Asians coming to the Balkans do not know how to properly deal with these seemingly racist locals either. Used to being treated with (at least nominal) respect by non-Asians in other regions of the world, the first instinct of the Asians when hearing such racial slurs on the streets is to quietly throw an angry stare at the speaker, ignore the comment, and then move on. In the West, where people are constantly educated to be racially sensitive, such method works very well.
One has to realize that part of the role that the few lone Asians have to play in regions with little Asian exposure is to pioneer local understanding of Asian peoples and cultures. Under such context, the stare-ignore-keep moving method can only give unknowledgeable locals the impression that Asians are indeed an unfriendly bunch, and treating them with open distain and name-calling is highly appropriate. If so, no matter how many Asians travel through the region, the insulting comments toward them would not lessen.
Instead, there has to be some sort of friendly communication with the locals to rid their minds of those superficial racial stereotypes. Even a kind smile to those who make the insulting remarks may potentially help. Yet, with the Asians’ deeply rooted reflex to remain hostile to those who refuse to respect people of other skin colors, combined with the huge language barrier, it is difficult to see how true communication to educate the locals can take place...A solution remains to be found.
The Asian travelers, unfortunately, usually do not understand just how unpleasant it is to be on the receiving end of such unwanted attention against foreigners because they tend to always end up in places where Asians faces are common. In Asia, they can blend in as locals. In the West, they can be one of the millions of Asian immigrants. And in popular vacation destinations such as Athens and Istanbul, the foreign crowds, whether it be tourists or businessmen catering to the foreign crowds, are often predominantly Asian. Locals in these locales would never verbally target Asians because they are so used to seeing them.
When the Asian travels to the Balkans, then, the normalcy of being Asian suddenly gets thrown out the window. Curious eyes fixate on the Asian face as soon as the Asian steps out of the bus in the “tourist backwaters” of the region, whether in Tirana, Skopje, or Pristina. Then the words are bound to follow, often excited yelled out by excited twenty-somethings walking down the street, “Ching Chong Ching!” “Hey, Jackie Chan!” “Yo, Chinese!”
Frankly, as racist as these comments obviously sounds, the Asian would actually be just as excited to hear such things as the locals are excited to utter them. After all, wherever the Asians tend to go, they are the quiet, low-key hard workers, not troubling anyone else and getting out of the way of everyone else in order not to be troubled. For places with large number of Asians, the locals understand as much, and would not go out of their way to bother the Asians.
But in the Balkans, the locals, perhaps seeing one or two Asian faces in year (usually in the form of Chinese import-exporters selling made-in-China toys and clothing), still get a kick out of openly insulting Asians, even if they are ignored by the Asians. It is not that they are more racist than non-Asians in other locales, its just that they do not have enough experience dealing with Asians to understand how to properly interact with them, especially considering that Asians in the Balkans do not tend to stay for a long time.
But what is equally, if not more, unfortunate is that the Asians coming to the Balkans do not know how to properly deal with these seemingly racist locals either. Used to being treated with (at least nominal) respect by non-Asians in other regions of the world, the first instinct of the Asians when hearing such racial slurs on the streets is to quietly throw an angry stare at the speaker, ignore the comment, and then move on. In the West, where people are constantly educated to be racially sensitive, such method works very well.
One has to realize that part of the role that the few lone Asians have to play in regions with little Asian exposure is to pioneer local understanding of Asian peoples and cultures. Under such context, the stare-ignore-keep moving method can only give unknowledgeable locals the impression that Asians are indeed an unfriendly bunch, and treating them with open distain and name-calling is highly appropriate. If so, no matter how many Asians travel through the region, the insulting comments toward them would not lessen.
Instead, there has to be some sort of friendly communication with the locals to rid their minds of those superficial racial stereotypes. Even a kind smile to those who make the insulting remarks may potentially help. Yet, with the Asians’ deeply rooted reflex to remain hostile to those who refuse to respect people of other skin colors, combined with the huge language barrier, it is difficult to see how true communication to educate the locals can take place...A solution remains to be found.
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