Taiwan, one of the last bastions of pro-Americana?

I was walking home from school today, listening to my iPod, when someone tapped me on my shoulder. I looked back to see a Taiwanese man with thick-rimmed glasses smiling back at me.

"Are you a student at Shida?" he asked in Chinese.

"Yes," I replied, somewhat cautiously. He didn't seem ill-willed, just a little nervous and excited at meeting a foreigner.

"Are you American?" he asked.

This last question took me off my guard. What if I said yes? Would this lead to more questions and pestering? It's not that the guy was unfriendly, just that I didn't see why being American should be the basis for meeting someone. So I decided to be French.

"No, I'm French," I said.

Now, don't get me wrong. I am in no way neglecting my American side. It's just that this is not the first time someone has tried to strike up a conversation, or ask me several personal questions in an interview format, just because I'm American.

It's not necessarily a bad thing that some Taiwanese look up to the USA. I met an American at a bar last week who was on vacation here. He said he was thrilled that he would get a positive reaction when he told people he was American, as opposed to when he visited Europe, and people would give him an answer like "Oh, you're alright, even though you're American."

Mind you, playing the French card doesn't always work. Once, in a similar encounter, a man (or should I say kid, as he was fresh out of high-school) wanted to do la bise with me after I told him I was French (and, after I declined, insisted on giving me a hug).

Anyway, after I replied, the man excused himself and said "oh, sorry, I thought you were someone else," and promptly left. I was relieved.