How Did You Know?

I'm always a bit astonished when someone guesses that I'm Korean...how did they know?!  How could they tell?  What physical feature gave it away?  Whenever someone guesses right I always ask them how they knew.  Most say they could just tell, but they can't tell me how or why and others seem to just take a lucky guess.  Neither is very helpful to me since I can't tell one Asian from another.  There!  Yes, I said it!  I can't tell us apart either! 

But, what can you expect?!  I didn't grow up around any Asians and was never really immersed into a huge group of Asians until I moved to northern California in my late 20's.  That was the first time I had ever seen, more less been around more than a handful of Asians....except for an occasional visit to a Chinese restaurant, but I don't think that counts.  So, I never really had the chance to study the different features of the various Asian ethnicities....until I started traveling all over Asia!

I was fortunate to be able to travel around Asia for work in my late 20's.  It was an educational, eye-opening and cultural experience for me to say the least.  I've been to Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Hong Kong, Taipei, Beijing, Tokyo, and Seoul.  Being immersed in those cities, in those cultures for weeks on end allowed me to really see the faces and physical features of all those Asian ethnicities.  Before my first international trip, I remember someone telling me how he could tell the difference in the different Asian ethnicities.  He said Chinese people have flatter faces, Japanese people have droopier eyes and fuller lips, and Korean people have higher cheekbones.  So, that's always been tucked away in the back of my head.  And as I traveled and observed people in each country, I found that advice to be pretty true.  However, it really depends on the region of a country that someone grew up in that might throw off that advice, but in a general sense I've found it pretty accurate.  So, after my international trips I could normally tell where someone was from because of my heightened awareness.  But, since I haven't traveled in Asia for many years now I'm less attuned to their physical features and would probably guess wrong 70% of the time. 

I never usually ask people what their background is because they always ask me first.  I guess they are more curious than I am or maybe it's just the thing to do...a way to start off a conversation...because that's how most conversations start with another Asian.  "Where are you from?"  Kind of like farmers who always talk about the weather!  But, I must admit I am a little frustrated that no one has been able to tell me the one thing, the one feature that tells them I'm Korean.  Heck, I probably wouldn't guess right if I didn't know myself!