China’s top diplomat has urged Japan and South Korea to foster a sense of “strategic autonomy” from the West and cooperate with Beijing to “revitalize Asia,” amid rising tensions between China and the two neighboring American allies.
It’s true that they’ll call you a “foreigner” to your face, but they don’t mean anything bad by it in most cases. It’s just a classification, understandable since these aren’t really “melting pot” nations. I’ve lived in all three places and never had anything but positive regard from people who see me as a foreigner. Even when I got arrested in Beijing, I was really impressed with how I was treated.
It’s true that they’ll call you a “foreigner” to your face, but they don’t mean anything bad by it in most cases. It’s just a classification, understandable since these aren’t really “melting pot” nations. I’ve lived in all three places and never had anything but positive regard from people who see me as a foreigner. Even when I got arrested in Beijing, I was really impressed with how I was treated.
I never said they necessarily mean anything bad by it, though.
Regardless of whether your status as a foreigner is perceived as being positive or negative, you’ll always be a foreigner.