Chile Forum

Maybe the koreans reacted differently towards fellow asians than other races...but then one noted the similiarites btwn the koreans and the japanese...it';s was said that the yayoi tribes founded the yamato people...
So the xenophobic traits can be traced from the japanese to the koreans...but as agroup I would say that the japanese trumped in that area of dealing with foreigners

You all don't understand the power of the immigrant experience.

Chuck why is that so strange when if you met me; an American of Asian ancestry speaking perfect ENGLISH, with an Orange County CA-Southwest, some Pacific NW influence, south Mid-Atlantic twang in my speech pattern; ... in the big picture of things, is that any more strange than a half-Korean speaking fluent chileno?

Louis, you cannot accurately comment on this subject unless you have really traveled to where Koreans are 100% outsiders in most every sense of the word.

Anyways, to give hope to all you Asian dudes out there, there is a decent size subset of chilenas who find the Asian male appealing. Lot different than the stereotype of the complete nerd or ugly gangster both not worth giving the time of day to in the English speaking "West".

eeuunikkeiexpat wrote:You all don't understand the power of the immigrant experience.

Chuck why is that so strange when if you met me; an American of Asian ancestry speaking perfect ENGLISH, with an Orange County CA-Southwest, some Pacific NW influence, south Mid-Atlantic twang in my speech pattern; ... in the big picture of things, is that any more strange than a half-Korean speaking fluent chileno?

Louis, you cannot accurately comment on this subject unless you have really traveled to where Koreans are 100% outsiders in most every sense of the word.

Anyways, to give hope to all you Asian dudes out there, there is a decent size subset of chilenas who find the Asian male appealing. Lot different than the stereotype of the complete nerd or ugly gangster both not worth giving the time of day to in the English speaking "West".

I can see where chuck is coming from though, when I watch the program "Inmigrantes" on TVChile, I saw them speaking Spanish, I thought it felt....not weird but I thought IT WAS FREAGIN AWESOME, seeing how they enjoy life in Chile just made me feel good. I have another story when my mom was young 24, (she's 42 now) she worked at "el persa estacion central" and there were 2 koreans there was a guy, and his girlfriend, and she always tells me how the guy flirted with her lol she just laughs, and the typical chileno would call him chino, but he would always Remark and told them that he was a korean, el decia " No soy CHINO SOY KOREANO" I thought that was quiet interesting.

just a thought hope you enjoyed that forgive my typing and spelling.

En el caso de mio, "NO SOY CHINO, SOY JAPONES o ESTADOUNIDENSE, (weon - said silently in my mind)." Even my pareja will instantly come out to set the record straight to her fellow countrymen.

Given that chilenos view things in a hierarchical manner. This is actually important. Chilenos in the "know" when it comes to things Asia do have a rating for Asians.

The most respected and well thought of are the Japanese. Second, the Koreans. The Chinese are on the bottom of the list. That may change as the world economy changes.

JMO(bservations)

eeuunikkeiexpat wrote:You all don't understand the power of the immigrant experience.

Chuck why is that so strange when if you met me; an American of Asian ancestry speaking perfect ENGLISH, with an Orange County CA-Southwest, some Pacific NW influence, south Mid-Atlantic twang in my speech pattern; ... in the big picture of things, is that any more strange than a half-Korean speaking fluent chileno?..

Well, no its not strange. Just something new. Ive never seen that before and I thought it was really cool.

eeuunikkeiexpat wrote:. . . the power of the immigrant experience. . . .

Until I moved to New England some years ago, I'd have agreed entirely with EE.UU. in this. After hearing numerous second- and third-generation Americans (or so I'd have thought) identify themselves as "Irish" or "Italians", etc., I now think that the experience of immigration affects different people in very different ways.

I continue to be irked by people who, after they've asked me "what" I am and I've responded, "American", press me with, "No, what are you really?" ("I'm an American, fella, just as I've already told you!")

[quote="RWS"]I continue to be irked by people who, after they've asked me "what" I am and I've responded, "American", press me with, "No, what are you really?" ("I'm an American, fella, just as I've already told you!")[/quote]

I think that this sort of confusion stems from an identity crisis (if I can call it that) among Americans. It's a country where no one's ancestral heritage matches their nationality. Especially among Americans, if someone asks "what are you?" they are certainly looking for your ancestral heritage, as they should be quite aware of the fact that person is American. I've had long debates about this with my girlfriend (Basque), who gets frustrated when Americans refer to their ancestral heritage to describe themselves. It would certainly make for an interesting research topic.

Now I begin to feel old as well as outnumbered. In my childhood, in the 1950s and '60s, such confusion did not exist, except, perhaps, among immigrants. Only some time after both American global pre-eminence and the country's largely positive image abroad began to fade did some (fortunately, not all) Americans begin to call themselves "African" or "Irish" instead of what they are: American.

Interestingly, one of the most insistently American persons I know is an aged, articulate woman who is the daughter of immigrants.

[quote="RWS"]Only some time after both American global pre-eminence and the country's largely positive image abroad began to fade did some (fortunately, not all) Americans begin to call themselves "African" or "Irish" instead of what they are: American.[/quote]

I think here I can act as a sort of voice of a younger generation. I think that among the youth in the United States (say, ages 16-24) there is an inclination toward the notion of diversity, and choosing to identify oneself by ancestral heritage rather than nationality allows that person to, in a way, enter into that body of diversity in the United States.

I think the general response by the youth to the assertion of, "you are not _______, you are American," would be "I am American by nationality, but ______ by ancestral heritage. It's a distinction that youth can use to try to diferentiate themselves, and also, in my opinion, represents a rejection of the 'melting pot' theory.

Lastly, denying one's ancestral heritage would be denying their own family's culture. I am American, born and raised in the United States; however, half my family is German, half Swedish, and we do celebrate holidays in distinctly German, and Swedish, respectively, manners. I guess the point I want to make is that, yes, we are Americans, but we cannot deny the culture of our ancestors, which often times is still visible within even 3rd, 4th generation families.

Race and religion still holds sway in our modern world ...forget about the propaganda of the left aand think...is it possible for a person colored or white with no cultural history?Blank with a clean slate?
Chile is a nice place and many asians will no doubt feel comfortable like in thailand without the mess and sex culture...
If only Chile trade places with philipines..sigh

I am American, born and raised in Chile. However, I'm 25% Spanish, 25% Mapuche, 25% German and another 25% that nobody know. Who care, that it the best of Chile, nobody care about that. Well except with your last name, we know that people give more opportunity to people with no spanish last name.

The discrimination in Chile had been always based on economic status more that a race.

IMO(bservations) in Chile, the people first and foremost say they are chilenos. Even my 25% German (recent), mostly Spanish and perhaps other unknown European and miniscule Mapuche pareja has hardly any identity and knowledge with her German cultural heritage. I would say Chile despite the rigid culture is more a melting pot in many ways than the USA. The strong expectation to conform to and embrace Chile combined with the welcoming females make it so.

eeuunikkeiexpat wrote: Even my 25% German (recent), mostly Spanish and perhaps other unknown European and miniscule Mapuche pareja has hardly any identity and knowledge with her German cultural heritage

Hey if you are talking about me, I will appriciate if you call me He, Him, Ese, El, etc. Aun no se me quema el arroz.

and the use of 25% it was a joke to American that identified them self by %, you did not get it, Right?

First part, I was talking about my pareja chilena who is a "she."

Second part, now I do .

But I was asked a question by japones chilenos (80% or more outmarriage rate) a couple of times if I was pure japones family-wise (people of Okinawan stock can look a bit Korean - Polynesian - Malay mix depending). Probably because it is such a rarity in Chile these days!

eeuunikkeiexpat wrote:IMO(bservations) in Chile, the people first and foremost say they are chilenos.

Mine, based only on visits over decades, are the same. 'Good to have confirmation from a fellow American (thus, able to compare) who actually lives there.

Even my 25% German (recent), mostly Spanish and perhaps other unknown European and miniscule Mapuche pareja has hardly any identity and knowledge with her German cultural heritage.

Once true in America, too. Look, one of my few immigrant ancestors (within the past millenium or so) was a great-grandmother, a cousin of the last German emperor: she didn't deny her origins but was glad to be American, not German or Danish -- nor, I dare say, had she been born elsewhere, would she have identified hers as that other nationality.

I would say Chile despite the rigid culture is more a melting pot in many ways than the USA. The strong expectation to conform to and embrace Chile combined with the welcoming females make it so.

Interesting. My take (again, less informed than yours, EE.UU., as I've never spent more than a few weeks in Chile) is that Chile much resembles the pre-Vietnamese-War United States: immigrants, whether poor Peruvians or disaffected Americans, are glad to identify themselves as Chileans: and, I think, with good cause. It's those of us who might equivocate as permanent residents who suffer internal conflicts regarding a more complete sense of community.