Tag: albanian culture

Being an asian-american in Albania and how to deal with such situations

If you’re an asian girl and plan on travelling to Albania, there are some things you should expect, and don’t be surprised! This is just for fun, for comedy and it’s not meant to offend albanian people, unless they actually offend you (most likely the kids but that’s because they are not quite educated when it comes to asian foreigners). This list is based on my experience. So here are some things on dealing with such situations.

1-You will automatically get called or hear people say variations of China or Chinese, Kinez, Japan, japonaise, etc…

2-Albanians are simply curious and are not meant to offend you.

3-You will get stared at a lot.

4-If you get kids calling you racial names, and if you like, strike up a conversation with them. Educate them. Try to speak albanian to them. They’ll be surprised! Maybe you’ll end up making new friends.

5-If you want to mess with them or troll them because they said something racist or ridiculous, respond back to them with names such as: Serbia, Serbians, serbs, etc. If you want to be defensive, just tell them “shame on you”.

6-If you get called chinese, or whatever, just ignore and keep walking.

7-If you hear kids saying “ching chong” at you, thinking you understand them, respond back to them “ching chong ting tong ling long”. That will throw them off and/or laugh at you. Or respond with “DERPA DERP”. Depending on your personally, if you’re brave and don’t mind making a fool out of yourself, try it! Even better, make stupid faces at them. Find out what responses you’ll get.

8-They would say “Ni Hao” at you, so respond back to them. Maybe they were trying to be culturally sensitive?

9-I don’t recommend using these comebacks toward older generations or elders. Use your judgement on how you use these comebacks. If they seem older than your aunts/uncle and can’t stop staring at you, just be friendly and talk to them. Say Hello. Educate them. This could be their first time meeting an Asian foreigner and you want to make a positive impression on them. It’s possible they’ll invite you for coffee or to their home. They’ll probably ask you to tutor their kids for English.

10-Albanians are heart-warming and hospitable people. They will welcome you with open arms. They may be blunt and not meant to be offensive. They get all these chinese/japanese images and ideas from TV.

11-Don’t be offended or surprised if they cursed at you with “F*ck* you!” or “What’s up my n*gga?” They probably had no idea how strong these words are to them, they must have heard them from rap music. This is generally from the younger generations.

12-They might ask you for a picture with them.