Two days ago, the new British Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt was criticized by the media for a slip of the tongue during his visit to China. He actually referred to his Chinese wife as "Japanese".
Caption: Jeremy Hunter and his Chinese wife picture GJ
At that time, Hunter was about to introduce to the Chinese side that his wife was Chinese, but accidentally said, "My wife is Japanese." There was laughter all around. Afterwards, he quickly realized his mistake and immediately changed his words and said: "I'm sorry, I made a terrible mistake. My wife is Chinese."
The newly appointed British Foreign Secretary personally "demonstrated" how to Chinese people mistakenly think that they are Japanese, even their own wives.
Haha, facing such a confused husband, we can only reward him with the "one foot of red" from Concubine Hua!
In fact, this kind of "misunderstanding" is not uncommon in the West. Many foreigners are stupid and can't tell the difference between China, Japan and South Korea. There will definitely be people around you who were mistaken for Japanese or Koreans when they went abroad. There will also be some dumbfounding stories.
Today, we will share with you some interesting experiences:
Maybe because of my eyes and face shape, I used to be mistaken for Japanese or Korean in France. But when traveling in Japan this spring, I took a train from Kyoto to Nara alone. Since I didn’t know the way, I asked the staff at the Fushimi Inari station how to take the train. The other person enthusiastically handed me a Korean route map. But I clearly said to him: "Hello"! , why do you think I am Korean? The editor of
saw the photos of kidney beans and felt that it makes sense for the Japanese to admit their mistakes!
When I was studying abroad in 2017, one day my friends and I met foreign guys on the Paris subway who greeted us. At first, they used "Kaunikiwa" and "Hania Seyo" to express that we were Chinese. Those foreign boys were very sweet and complimented us on our beauty, so we were in a good mood at the time!
Later I asked my friend if he was mistaken because he dressed more Japanese-style? As a result, she said coldly, "Maybe others think you are short."
I remember going to and Montmartre in Paris in 2011. The square below was a huge open-air studio, full of artistic atmosphere. A young French painter greeted me in three languages: kon ni qi wa; an niang ha sei you; ni hao! I said "hello" to him, and I was very surprised. What he said was correct. Sure enough, French businessmen are also full of artists!
In the past few years, I have gone out a lot, and when foreigners say hello, they say: Hello! This heart is full of pride.
I went to Turkey with my friends in early 2014. All the Turkish people would say "hello" in Korean when they saw us. Once when we were waiting for the subway, a beggar sitting in the corner across the street saw us and shouted "Ah you ah sai yo" to us. There were also many middle school students after school who came to take photos with us after seeing us. According to Turkish people, because Korean dramas are popular in Turkey, they all say "Ah you ah sai yo". A young Turkish man said that he could tell the difference between Chinese and Koreans because Koreans have big eyes and Chinese have small eyes. I felt helpless after hearing this.
10 years ago when I studied abroad in Denmark, I was mistaken for Japanese many times by others, because there were relatively few Asians in Denmark at that time, and their knowledge of Asians was very limited. They only knew Japanese and Koreans. Later, more and more Chinese people traveled to Denmark. When I went back to Denmark, I found that many Danes started to learn Chinese. I have a friend who is a Chinese teacher and is already overwhelmed. I am very proud. My motherland is really getting stronger and stronger. .
I have been working in Ecuador for three years. There are much fewer Chinese here than in neighboring Peru. In the past few years, when South Americans saw Asian engineers, they thought they were Japanese. However, with the increasing influence of Chinese companies, many people in Quito, the capital of Ecuador, would shout: "Engineer!" when they saw me.
我I have been doing business in the Balkans in Europe for more than ten years. In the past, most of the Asian businessmen here were Japanese. Since China proposed the "One Belt, One Road" strategy in 2013, I have found that in the past five years, more and more Chinese businessmen have invested here. The Belt and Road Initiative has allowed people in the Balkans to know China. During my business talks in Bulgaria, more and more people have come to invest here. Chinese is spoken in many places, and they are also very interested in doing business with Chinese people.
This year, I passed the examination at Hammersmith Hospital affiliated with Imperial College in the UK and received a half-year training. There used to be very few Chinese doctors in this hospital. In the past, when Asians could be trained here, the British always thought of the Japanese first, but now Chinese doctors are no worse than others.
In 2002, I went to France for the first time. At that time, there were very few Chinese people traveling independently. When people in Paris saw me, they all spoke Japanese to me. But now that Chinese people are traveling all over the world, they no longer regard me as Japanese. I have encountered it, and I sincerely say: "The world is big, go out more often, see the world, and let the world see China!"
Our reporter Du Yuao
Intern Wang Zhongyun
American editor Gu Yingying
