Looking Oriental

A couple of weeks ago, my in-laws came into town. I love my in-laws. They're a pretty fun couple but they also give me enough space too. And I need my space, because grumpy old men need their space. That's why they yell at the kids to stay off the lawn. We had brunch at Breadwinners, which was pretty good. In the middle of brunch, we were trying to figure out what time the JFK Memorial Museum opened. I promptly called Goog411 on my iPhone Nano and stepped outside to hear better.

While I was on my call, an old woman slowly made her way around the corner. And then she stopped and it appeared me to that she started to yell. I was a bit confused so after I finished my call I asked her if she needed any help. "No," she said, "I was just yelling at that truck because of the way it was backing up." Then with a quizzical look she asked, "Where were you born?" And I said, "Oh, I grew up in California." Then she paused and proceeded to allow a confused look to spill over her face. "Well," she began, "did you know that you look Oriental?" And then I became confused.

Usually when someone says you "look" something, it means that you appear to be that something but they really know that you aren't. So I was confused. Did she think that I was Caucasian, but just had strong "oriental" features? 

I answered her, "Um. Well I could see that..." Then she followed up, "Well your English is very good. How do you think you got to look like that?" This was the most confusing statement. So she says my English is very good, implying that she didn't expect my English to be good and thus that I wasn't born in the States. But then, by her second statement, she implies that I am not what I look like (i.e. "oriental"). "Um, it probably has something to do with my parents. I don't know." I quickly replied. The whole time I was trying not to smile. The whole conversation was funny. Almost as funny as the two long white whiskers growing out of her chin.