EOShanghai: Minority Life

In my short time here in China, I have been adjusting to being a minority for the first time in my life. I don’t speak, or read, the language so I am functionally illiterate, too. I don’t look like everyone else, not by a long shot. Days go by that I do not see another Westerner. The Chinese people who I do encounter on a regular basis, my Mandarin teacher and my Chiropractor, speak English; the street signs are in Chinese and English and hand signals and pantomime make communicating with our Ayi possible, if not exactly foolproof. Much of the time I don’t invite a second look; many of the Shanghainese are familiar with foreigners. Children, as children are wont to do, stare in fascination, parents encouraging their toddler with the gaping mouth to say “Ni Hao”/ Thom George , Eye on Shanghai. More here. (Eye on Shanghai photo of Chinese construction workers)

Question: Have you ever experienced what it’s like to be a minority?