what "asian" means to you

[sososoapy]

i was at my cardroom late at night last weekend and i sit on a 8/16 game waiting for another game. my seat is next to a middle aged, white guy, regular who sees in there a lot. we chat a little, nothing out of the ordinary. i start goofing off, splash some chips around a start jokingly calling myself, "CRAZIAN!" (crazy+asian, ldo). hes played with me before and knows i'm not the normal Lagtard asian. his response is, "you're not asian, all i see a MN whiteboy."

This is not the first time i've got this and won't be the last time. i laughed it off, but it used to brother me in the past. now that i'm older (3o but i don't look like it) i realize that others' views of me is based on thier own perceptions and beliefs on what an asian guy should look/ act like.

I know i'm american and i'm glad i live in the US because it have given me many oppertunities that my home land could never. in my heart i'm asian (i was born in cambodia btw). i love asian food, try to cook asian food, take off my shoes, get pissed when others don't take of thier shoes, speak cambodian (not fluent) and know a little bit of various other asian languages, traveled to korea/taiwan/ cambodia/singapore/japan.

an example my whiteboyness: a while ago i was seeing this asian girl and we were eating tofu and she asked me, "do you know what tofu is?" wtf, i'm such i white boy i don't know what tofu is?!? [img]/images/graemlins/mad.gif[/img] i love tufo btw?

I know most the the people in this forum are white, so i ask you what would make you think an asian guy is "white washed?" how is an "asian" guy supposed to act like?