I went to the local pub tonight before dinner, for a quick drink. I needed it after a long week. I used to go there pretty often when I was unemployed, I used to go there pretty often. It used to be my favourite pub in town, partially because it was just there. I was going semi-regularly, enough so people recognised me and I could chat with the punters. I am not a regular anymore and therefore not that many people recognise me. So I had my drink and got out in the garden to enjoy it, I said a few words to the people that was there, some I did recognise. Then one of the guys asked me: "So you are Spanish or Italian?" The regulars explained that I was neither.
It is not the first time people think I am from somewhere else. What susprised me was that the man presumed I was Italian not so much with what I said (barely more than "Good evening") but for what I looked like: he thought I looked dark. I guess that is a polite way of saying I look foreign. The funny thing is that I never thought I looked really foreign. I am a Northerner (being from the Northern emisphere and the North of Quebec), I am pale most of the year, I don't tan easily and this year I didn't notice getting much of a tan with the very timid Summer we had so far. I guess one only needs dark hair. Still, I wonder if it is simply because I look foreign.
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4 comments:
Au moins ils t'ont pas pris pour un maudit français! 'scusez-la...
Well from what I see in the movies and on TV (if the recent Harry Potter movie is any indication)...Brits are usually pretty pale? Actually very pale it seems. So maybe you just look 'darker' compared to the majority? Not really sure. But although the majority may be pale, there are still a variety of different hair colors there, so you wouldn't think just having dark hair would be enough to lead to that assumption. Do you also have dark eyes...maybe the two combined? Who knows...maybe you just exude some kind of 'international' flair...ha! OR...maybe you appear 'smarter' than the locals, so they assume you must not be from around there?
My husband's father is French Canadian. When we traveled to Germany last year, my husband was commonly mistaken as Spanish, until he spoke of course. He has dark hair, brown eyes and an olive skintone; however, appears pale most of the time as he does not spend too much time in the sun. We just laughed when we encountered this assumption. Hope that you enjoyed being back at your local watering hole, cheers!
But you are foreign...:-)
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