I was born and raised in Malaysia but have not lived there for the last 12 years. So when someone asks me the question above, should I still answer Malaysia or should it be Switzerland where I’ve lived the last 7 years?
As a Malaysian with Malay, Javanese and Chinese blood, I have been mistaken as being many different nationalities understandably because of the colour of my skin and my facial features.
Here are some places people have thought I come from:
- Philippines
Once in London, a random woman ran up to me crossing Bayswater Road as I was reaching one of the entrances of Hyde Park shouting, ” Are you Filipina?”When we were in the Philippines, locals would speak to me in Tagalog leaving an embarrassed me having to reply, “I’m sorry but I’m from Malaysia and don’t speak Tagalog. Do you speak English?”
- Hawaii
I was with my sister shopping at her local Costco near Arlington, VA when a woman came up to me and asked if I was from Hawaii. I said I wasn’t and asked where she was from. Of course she was Hawaiian and thought I might have been too. - Andalucia
Whilst in Marrakesh in 2007, some shopkeepers guessed I was from Andalucia. That was the one and only time someone guessed that I was a Southern Spaniard. - Peru
Particularly whilst in Cusco, taxi drivers would assume I was a local until I said, “Lo siento, no hablo espanol”.
Here I am with a local Peruvian girl and her baby alpaca - Bolivia
We were visiting an orphanage in Sucre when I got mistaken for a local. I even thought I could’ve been one myself!
Don’t you think I could pass as a Bolivian in this picture?! - China / Japan
It boggles my mind how so many people can think I might be Chinese or Japanese with the colour of my skin tone. Nevertheless this always happens. - Indonesia
No surprise there as we are essentially the same aren’t we? - Thailand
Just last month in Bangkok while shopping, the shopkeepers were speaking to themselves guessing I was Thai. When I said I was from Malaysia, I was given a 20% discount (for being a neighbour?). - Central America(El Salvador?)
Whilst checking in for my flight to Lima, Peru via San Salvador, El Salvador, everyone from the check-in counter to all the passengers in the airplane would only speak to me in Spanish! I guess I must have looked like Salvadoran? - India
On our honeymoon in Kerala, India, I was asked a number of times if I came from North India to which I would say Nope.
Where are you from and which countries have you been mistaken to have come from?
People have thought I was from Honduras. Others that I was from Egypt. Others from Sudan. In Dakar, taxi drivers spoke to me in Wolof, as they took me for a Senegalese. While others have thought I was from Colombia! Some also have thought I was from France or Great Britain! At some point, I was told I looked Jamaican! In Rwanda, people mistook me for a Congolese. In South Africa, locals started speaking to me in Zulu or Xhosa to me. Interesting indeed.
Author
wow!! How incredibly interesting. That’s some really exotic places you’ve been mistaken to have come from!
You definitely look like a north Indian! 😀 ….you have a rich travel experience! I have been to Hungary many times and stayed there often and after a while, as you become confident and get used to surrounding and people, people starting talking to me in Hungarian as If I was one of them and I was like (how an Indian look like an Hungarian by any chance?) ..I guess it all about blending in when it comes to travel! Similarly in Indonesia, I used to go on Business tours and my fellow client team used to tell me I look like an Indonesian..lol…so it happens a lot for me as well now! 🙂
Author
Haha on the Hungarian! That is super cool!! Love it! Thanks for sharing!