18 January 2007

Being Other than I Am

Like Ben, I've been thinking recently about other ethnicities I would like to be if I weren't the Scottish/English/German European mutt that I am. No seriously, I thought about it for several hours on Saturday. And the winners are:

  1. Jewish - Nice minor sounding music and cool traditional dances. (Okay, so I base this on Fiddler on the Roof. So sue me.) Also, they can totally pull off being sarcastic all the time and sound humorous rather than mean or jaded. "And this I'm supposed to believe? Oi vey." Great consonant combinations as well: schmuck, schlep, schmendrick. Plus, I've officially decided it would be ten times more convenient to have the Sabbath be on Saturday. I mean, on Saturday I'm still recovering from the school/work week. By Sunday, I'm ready to go, but it's Sunday, so no working allowed. Clearly, the Sabbath should be moved to Saturday for my convenience.
  2. Japanese - Probably mostly because petite with dark hair is about as far away from six-feet and blond as you can get. No, seriously, I love the aesthetics of Japanese culture. If you haven't seen Memoirs of a Geisha yet, you really ought to. There's just such a sense of appreciating beauty and simplicity in Japanese culture. Granted, all that fish would take some getting used to. (I probably also wouldn't mind being Chinese. I guess I just feel like I would fit in better as an Asian.)
  3. Russian - Um, snow! Yay! Also, Dostoevsky, cool music, and sweet accent.
  4. Scottish - Okay, this is sort of cheap, since I am partially Scottish. (My last name is Muir, for heaven sake.) But I'd love to be a lot more Scottish than I actually am. Again, awesome accent, lots of plaid, and those great Scottish sports . . . Kaber toss anyone? Plus, you get to be from the place the Romans were to wussy to come conquer. :D
  5. Canadian - All the American-ness without actually being American, eh?

Insert the PC disclaimers here. Please don't hate me.

2 comments:

The Girl in the Other Room said...

Schmendrick ... I enjoyed that!

Cathryn said...

This is fascinating. I've been saying for years that sometimes I wish I were black. Is that racist of me? I don't mean to be...honestly, though, there's such a rich African-American culture that I almost feel...exploitative...buying in to. Every time I see a gospel choir, though, it makes me wish I were a part of that (and yes, I know there are white people in gospel choirs, but I swear there's a difference). Anyway... yeah, I think I'd be black.