An Addendum

Yesterday, at the artisans’ mercado by the Museo Nacional, I finally felt the need to stand up for myself. One vendor called out to me, “Konichiwa!” Promptly I whirled around and eyed him squarely in the eye and said (in Spanish):

“Excuse me, I don’t understand Japanese. I’m from the US, and my parents are Korean.”

Immediately the boy looked surprised that I had confronted him, turned red and apologized profusely, almost to the point where I felt bad about responding. We started conversing amiably for a while, and towards the end of the conversation, he said:

“Again, I’m really sorry. I guess it’s like you calling me something without asking about my roots first.”

Perhaps I don’t feel so bad about speaking up anymore…