"You are not American," he says, "you are willing to learn and you are not fat so you are not American. People who speak two languages - we call that bilingual. And people who speak three languages - we call that trilingual. But the people who speak only one language, we call that American."

Ouch (kind of). More of an ouch for my family and friends than a personal ouch, but an ouch none the less. The speaker was a slightly intoxicated Mr. Oh, at a wonderful sashimi dinner after work. My mentor was extremely drunk and also extremely entertaining. They laugh when I say things in Korean because they think I have a very good accent. They are surprised and tell me I sound Korean, but because I know so little it is more flattery than anything else. They asked the waitress, in Korean, what country she thought I was from. She said Russia. When asked why, she said "because she is beautiful and all Russian women are beautiful". On my meager travels I never have people ask if I am American - ever. I have gotten British, Italian, French, South African, and now Russian. Dana: the all-american mutt.