Are you Chinese?

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Maggie's non-wedding related encounter...

This entry is non-wedding related, but I thought I should post it because I have encountered this a few times in my life and find it 'interesting and frustrating'. I attended a workshop a couple of weeks ago and ended up sitting next to a fellow Chinese co-worker I just met. This was our conversation:

Co-worker (CW): Are you Chinese?
Me: Yes
CW: Do you speak Cantonese?
Me: No
CW: Do you speak Mandarin?
Me: No
CW: But you are Chinese, how come you don't speak Chinese?
Me: I speak Hakka. Do you speak Hakka?
CW: No
Me: You're Chinese, why don't _you_ speak Hakka?
CW: No further response

I find it interesting the number of times I meet Chinese individuals who seem to think that every Chinese person on earth speaks Mandarin or Cantonese; and if you don't speak either dialect, then shame on you and/or your parent for not teaching you. I find it effortful to try to explain to these individuals that there are other Chinese dialects too (I get nods but I don't think the info really registers). It gets even more interesting when they find out that I'm from India (then I usually get "So you're Indian?").

I know some might say, "You _should_ learn Mandarin/Cantonese!", and I do have an interest and wish to be more fluent one day; but I just think it is ignorant for these individuals to think that you are less or not very Chinese if you don't speak the main dialects.

Have any of you non-Mandarin/Cantonese speaking Chinese people encountered this situation before?

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