Have you seen those videos “What if Asians said the stuff White people said?” (there are also ones for Latinos and African Americans), well I had one of those moments the other day.
Except it wasn’t me saying something stupid. It was the other way around. Here’s the scoop:
At our new pediatrician’s office:
Dr: “Ma…Ma…Malischke. Where is that from?”
Me: “Uh, Germany” [it kind of is, not sure]
Dr: “Yes. That name is not American.”
Me: [uh, wha?]
I didn’t think much about it again until we were talking about family health history, and I mentioned something about my Dad, and the doctor said something about my Dad in Germany, and I said:
“I’ve never been to Germany.”
Dr: “Oh? Oh.”
No, just because I’m German doesn’t mean that I’m from there. haha I had a similar experience in England once. I was talking to a drunk Scottish priest in an Irish bar on St. Patty’s day.
Me: “Are you Irish at all?”
Him: “No, I’m Scottish.”
Me: [yeah duh I knew that] “I’m not Irish”
Him: “No, you’re American.”
It’s so interesting to find out how people perceive me, and Americans in general.
For the record, there are only 9 Malischkes in the USA, and yeah, it’s an American name by now (what last name can’t be considered ‘American’?)
Haha! My husband is German, too, and has never been there either. But he likes to strongly identify with being a German. He still says to us Illinoisians (sp?) after he himself movd here from CA 27yrs. ago, you “guys” have this or that instead of saying we.