The Loud American (or Backpacking While Asian)

I'm in Melaka now which is effectively a tourist ghetto. It has a lot historical significance having been under Portuguese, Dutch and British control. It's quite easy to forget you're in Asia (I like to describe it as a Chinatown dropped in the middle of the Carribean). Colonial architecture lines the river and there are restaurants with Portuguese, Malay and Chinese food. Tonight, the Chinese community burned fake money and incense along the streets to honor the dead.

Being here for a couple of days, I noticed a couple things. There are very few Americans out here (I've run into one). While this isn't that new to me, it is a bit alienating. Suddenly, I'm surrounded by westerners and I still can't relate. The other is that I'm ignored. A lot. Like everything, the third time's the charm. I got caught in a sudden downpour so in an attempt to escape I hailed a taxi. I got abandoned in the rain twice when the drivers could not comprehend that I couldn't understand Malay. The third time, I was ready, map in hand with a clear "Hello! How are you?" (in English) pointing at my destination on the map. The driver then realized that I wasn't local and we started to interact in English.

Same thing happens in restaurants. I wandered into a restaurant and the staff just stared at me. There must have some local protocol that I couldn't pick up on so I left and wandered into a hole-in-the-wall. Usually, these places are happy to help foreigners but again, I don't look foreign and looking like a local female, I suddenly felt out of place in a male-dominated cafe. Third time, I put on the loud American act. "Hello! How are you?" and I got handed the English language menu.

It's kind of ironic. Usually, travelers want to blend in, however impossible the task. They usually want to not be "The Ugly American" and learn a few local phrases. I've contemplated looking up a few greetings in Malay but realized it just might continue to confuse people. So now, I've taken up being the loud American. Well, not that loud.