I’m Beautiful Beyond Compare

[disalarming]

I always get complimented on how beautiful I am in China. However, this not because I am beautiful. It’s simply customary here, particularly towards white people. (Guys get complimented, too.) More often than not I get these compliments while shopping. Shopkeepers will tell me I’m beautiful before beckoning me inside their store to buy things, or I’ll be in the middle of haggling and I’ll get complimented, as if that would be enough to deter me from haggling ruthlessly. I’ve never paid any attention to it, as it’s all part of life in China.

Yesterday, though, I did a double take at a compliment I received. I think it was my first double take after being told I was pretty.

I was buying a winter hat, and the seller and I had already agreed on a price. After she had her money and I had my hat, she looked at me and said, “You’re very pretty.”

What I failed to mention earlier is that I get more compliments than my friends about how pretty I look because I’m half white, half Chinese. The Chinese seem to hold mixed girls on a whole new level of beauty. This salesgirl was no different; after she complimented me on being pretty, she found out I was mixed and said it was no wonder I was so beautiful.

Let me describe what I looked like yesterday. My hair was unwashed because I had woken up too late and had to run out the door to make it to a lunch date on time. I was in a hoodie, which, while being the comfiest thing I own, does a very good job at rendering me shapeless. My jeans were falling down, because either they have stretched in the last month or I’ve lost weight. My face was greasy, mainly because of my unwashed hair. Oh, and I had no makeup on.

Damn, my self-esteem is going to plummet when I return to the States.

Cross-posted from breakthesky.net. Please leave any comments there.