(no subject)

[timepiececlock]

Randomness:

Brief discussion about religion with my semi-boss (a.k.a. wife of my boss, who writes my paychecks but whom I don't actually work under) this evening. Sprung from a discussion about Freud, now that I'm reading Civilization and Its Discontent for class. She asked me if I was religious and I said no, and then about two sentences later she asked me if I had a Jewish background in my family.

I found this very interesting, as it's never been asked of me before. Most people assume I'm Christian unless I tell them otherwise, and although you don't have to be of Hebrew descent to be Jewish, looking of Hebrew descent certainly plays into people's assumptions. I don't look Hebrew at all, being very Celtic and freckled, with a healthy dash of Saxon for flavoring.

All in all, very interesting.

Like a much smaller version of the conversation last year where one of the guys working in the campus cafeteria asked me what country I came from. I was like, "Uh... California?" He said he'd thought I was an exchange student, somewhere European. I just blinked at him in dumbfoundedness, thinking "From his perspective, that means my West Coast Standard American accent is very good... or very bad. Can you have a bad natural accent?"

Comments

[flutingfrenzy.livejournal.com]

Dark curly hair for the win, I'd wager. Though that doesn't explain the other thing--I know I assume American citizen until proven otherwise, even with an accent.

[rashaka.livejournal.com]

I usually do too; the odd thing was I'd chatted in brief exchanges with this guy for like three months (he usually rung up your meal card at the entrance), and I'd had a few actual conversations with him since I tended to eat just before closing when they started cleaning up, so I know he'd had plenty of exposure to my accent, which was exactly the same as two thirds of the students he talked to every day. Weirdness.

Dark curly hair for the win, I'd wager.

Me, you mean? My hair is right now a light brown, but it'd been intense red when I was hired and at one point very dark, but the dark didn't really look natural on me, as my hair's normally strawberryblonde to light red-brown. It's more wavy than curly.

[flutingfrenzy.livejournal.com]

Clearly you are Just That Exotic-Looking. Or something.

Well, that'll learn me to rely on memory after having stayed up all night. :) I dunno, I guess people have pretty varied ideas of what it means to "look Jewish". I had a whole lot of Jewish friends of all sorts in middle school, and conversely, my dad is occasionally mistaken for Jewish (we're a big bunch of Protestants), so the stereotype in my head has gone through some refinement, which I suppose could also be the case for the semi-boss.

[dungeonwriter.livejournal.com]

I am Jewish and no one thinks I look it. My mum is blond and blue eyed, I have light brown hair, freckles and blue eyes. There is no Hebrew descent unless you are from Yemen or old Yerushalmi families. There are red haired Jews, blond haired Jews, brown haired Jews and black haired Jews just living on my street.
Your boss scares me because I figure she should be a little more educated that Jews are an ethnic religion who have interbred with the native populations of their host countries. Does she expect us all to have hooked noses?
Even if you aren't Jewish, my people would be proud to have someone as brill as you as part of their nation. So we take it as a compliment!

[gweniveeve.livejournal.com]

I've been mistaken for not being from America, as well. Last year, when I was about to go to Scotland, I mentioned to a guy at my friend's college that I was going to Europe, and the guy said, "Ah, you're going back?"

Me: (??)

Guy: I thought that you had lived there when you were little, and that you were going back . . .

I don't know if it's because I don't have a regional accent (I quizzed other Americans when I was abroad, and they couldn't guess where I was from), or because my personality or looks seem un-country-specific or something.