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Hey guys, how are you?
(GERMAN) Welcome to my new video.
(GERMAN) In this video, I'll be telling you guys about my experiences and life in Spain.
So if you haven't turned on your subtitles yet, please turn on your subtitles.
I was in Madrid. I was in Madrid for about 7 months. This was about 4-5 years ago.
7 months is probably not a very long time in the grand scheme of things, but you know what? I had a good time there. It was memorable.
Towards the end of this video, I'm going to be talking about an incident, a run-in that I had with a cop in Seville.
I want to emphasize several things about this incident. First of all, it was an isolated incident.
It should not reflect upon the Spanish people or upon Spain as a country at all, period.
Secondly, I was innocent. I know that's what they all say, but cross my heart, hope to die - I was innocent.
(CHINESE): I want to emphasize again that after hearing this story, I don't want you guys to take things out of context.
(CHINESE): I don't want people saying things like, "The Spaniards are such racists." Because they are NOT!!!
(CHINESE): We can't generalize about an entire population just based upon one person's fault.
(CHINESE): 95% of the Spaniards I've met are very kind, full of human warmth, willing to help, well-educated and just great people.
(CHINESE): In my circle of Spanish friends, there are all types of people. Some are more conservative, others more liberal.
(CHINESE): They're involved in all sorts of professions: engineering, IT, law, administration, government, movies, the arts.
(CHINESE): A lot of them are highly educated and brimming with talent.
(CHINESE): Unfortunately, due to the economic crisis, a lot of talented Spaniards have gradually migrated overseas to make a living.
(JAPANESE) Spain is a great country.
(JAPANESE) I was in Spain for only seven months, but during that short time, a lot of stuff happened.
(JAPANESE) There were a lot of first-time experiences. Fun experiences, difficult experiences. Stuff I personally liked, stuff that was hard to get used to.
(JAPANESE) Looking back at my life in Spain, I remember a lot of fun things.
(JAPANESE) And just as a life experience in general, going to Spain was the right choice.
(JAPANESE) The human warmth there is just overwhelming. People are really nice.
(JAPANESE) For example, you meet someone for the first time and they treat you to a nice meal.
(JAPANESE) Or they invite you to their homes and prepare a tasty meal for you.
(JAPANESE) I've had people who let me stay at their place free.
(JAPANESE) Friends who go out of their way to entertain me, drive me to touristy places and show me around.
(JAPANESE) Spaniards who've kindly taught me things about their country, culture and language.
(JAPANESE) When I was in trouble or when I'd hit rock bottom, friends would help me out, give me pep talks, telling me to go for it.
(JAPANESE) A lot of Spaniards really took care of me during my time there, so I just want to take this time to thank them.
(JAPANESE) THANK YOU SO MUCH, GUYS!!!!
(GERMAN) What's funny is that Spain was actually my 2nd choice.
(GERMAN) I actually originally wanted to go to Russia for an entire year. I'd spent one year before that studying Russian intensively with my Russian friends and private tutors.
(GERMAN) I wanted to speak Russian fluently, so I decided to apply for a visa to go to Russia.
(GERMAN) But things didn't pan out too smoothly. The whole process dragged on for too long.
(GERMAN) By the time I'd gotten my Russian visa, it would've been winter in Russia already, and I'd no intentions of spending the winter in Russia.
(GERMAN) I mean, I'm from California where the sun always shines. I've spent pretty much my whole life living in warm cities. I'm spoiled when it comes to good weather.
(GERMAN) I'm also very sensitive to cold. I didn't want to freeze my balls off over there.
(GERMAN) For this reason, I decided against going to Russia. But I still wanted to spend a year abroad. I just didn't know where.
(GERMAN) At the time, I hung out a lot with Spanish friends. So the idea came to me that maybe I should move to Spain.
(GERMAN) So it just happened that way. I made my decision.
(GERMAN) Within a month, I'd gotten my Spanish visa issued and I also found an apartment and internship. So off it was to Spain!!
(FRENCH) Before leaving for Spain, I had no previous knowledge whatsoever with regards to Spain itself. I didn't know the culture, the people, the geography, the names of the big cities, the cuisine.
(FRENCH): I did study Spanish though 1-2 years before leaving for Spain.
(FRENCH): As far as Spanish food and cuisine went, I had no idea what to expect.
(FRENCH): I thought that the Spaniards ate pretty much the same things as the Mexicans did: tacos, burritos, spicy stuff with strong seasoning and flavor.
(FRENCH): But I gotta say, I was WAY OFF!
(FRENCH): I still remember my first day in Spain. I'd just arrived at my new apartment on the outskirts of Madrid.
(FRENCH): It was far away from the downtown area. A quiet residential area with very few stores.
(FRENCH) There was only one bistrot/café/restaurant in this neighborhood.
(FRENCH) So I was starving. I went to this restaurant to eat something.
(FRENCH) When I looked at the menu, I saw the names of these dishes and bocadillos that I knew nothing about.
(FRENCH) I'll be honest: I panicked. I was lost. I didn't know what to order.
(FRENCH): The guy at the counter was staring at me with distrust. He knew I wasn't from the area.
(FRENCH) I was nervous. I randomly picked something and then went to take a seat.
(FRENCH) A very nice waitress came to talk to me. We chatted in Spanish.
(FRENCH) I knew I was speaking it badly. My pronunciation was bad. I couldn't roll my R's. I still can't roll my R's.
(FRENCH) I was stuttering. I was *** nervous. Almost broke out in a sweat.
(SPANISH) So the next day I went to the same cafe and the same waitress was there.
(SPANISH) She recognized me, pointed at me with her finger and told her colleague: "That's the guy who speaks very little Spanish."
(SPANISH) When I heard that, I felt really discouraged. I felt terribly embarrassed.
(SPANISH) For several months in Spain, I spoke Spanish really poorly.
(SPANISH) Guys, the truth is, Spanish was really hard for me!
(SPANISH) The funny thing is - before going to Spain, a lot of people told me: "David, you speak French well so Spanish should be a cinch for you. All you need is a few months and you'll be yakking it fluently!"
(SPANISH) Friends, the truth is - it wasn't like that at all. I struggled with learning Spanish.
(SPANISH) The language was much more complicated than I'd imagined.
(SPANISH) After spending 7 months there, I did get a hang of it to a certain extent, but as far as mastering it - no way man!!
(SPANISH) So another thing I wanted to talk to you guys about: Chinese people in Spain. The image of Chinese people in Spain.
(SPANISH) From what I saw, Chinese people have a pretty bad rep in Spain. They're not well seen by the Spaniards.
(SPANISH) For example, I've noticed that on a lot of Spanish TV shows such as Buena Fuente or El Club de la Comedia, people are always picking on the Chinese. Chinese people are like the laughing stock of the town.
(SPANISH) I asked myself why. I think this is due in part to the fact that Chinese people have problems integrating themselves into Spanish society.
(SPANISH) I asked myself why. I think this is due in part to the fact that Chinese people have problems integrating themselves into Spanish society.
(SPANISH) When I was in Spain, a lot of people would ask me: "David - your background is Chinese. Explain to us why Chinese people are the way they are."
(SPANISH) "They keep to themselves, they're not very open. They seem closed off in their own world."
(SPANISH) The truth is, I didn't know how to answer them b/c I didn't know anything about this either.
(CHINESE) Afterwards I investigated a bit. It seems like most of the Chinese in Spain come from a specific province in China - the Zhejiang province I believe.
(CHINESE) A lot of these people aren't highly educated and they're mostly laborers.
(CHINESE) I've heard a rumor, but I can't guarantee that this rumor is true.
(CHINESE) I heard that a lot of these immigrants go through the Chinese mafia. They sign an agreement with the mafia and come to Spain to serve them working in restaurants and grocery stores.
(CHINESE) These immigrants have a tough life. They work 7 days a week and don't get any days off throughout the year.
(CHINESE) While in Spain, I often went to this Chinese buffet. At this buffet, I got acquainted with a nice Chinese couple who were working there.
(CHINESE) While eating, I'd usually socialize and chat with them. Occasionally I'd ask them private questions, such as questions regarding their work environment.
(CHINESE) Everytime I'd ask about this, they would stiffen up. It seemed as if they didn't want to reveal too much of what was going on behind the scenes.
(CHINESE) So I found this to be quite interesting.
Another thing that's really interesting: in Spain, they have these small mom-and-pop grocery stores. They're known as "chinos."
The reason why they called "chinos" is because they're Chinese-owned. It doesn't matter if you go to Seville, Madrid or Barcelona. You see these mom-and-pop shops everywhere. They sell groceries, utensils. Everything's very cheap.
The word "chino" has different meanings. It can mean this mom-and-pop grocery store. But I didn't know about this back then.
The only definitions of "chino" that I knew of were "Chinese person" or "Chinese the language."
So that led to certain misunderstandings.
(SPANISH) For example, one day after work, I was on the street, standing on the sidewalk, getting ready to cross the street.
(SPANISH) Next to me was a Spanish girl talking to her friend on the phone.
(SPANISH) She said to her friend: "Elena, you know where the "chino" is? I'm really close to the "chino." I'll see you there!"
(SPANISH) At first, I was kind of taken aback. I thought they were referring to me.
(SPANISH) I thought to myself: "That's weird, but oh well!" I didn't pay much attention to her and crossed the street.
(SPANISH) Shortly afterwards, another woman was talking on the phone to her friend: "Irena, you know where the "chino" is? I'm standing right next to the "chino." Go to the "chino!" I'll see you there!"
(SPANISH) So I was again taken aback. I thought to myself: "No way! What the *** man! I'm not a *** meeting place for you people!"
(SPANISH) So I left pretty pissed. Later on, I found out that they were referring to the grocery stores, and not me.
(SPANISH) So this was a pretty funny and interesting experience.
(SPANISH) Another thing. The phenomenon of the "ojos rasgados." I gotta tell you guys about this.
(JAPANESE) The word "ojos rasgados" can be translated as "slanted eyes."
(JAPANESE) Compared to most Westerners, most Asians have thinner, slanted eyes.
(JAPANESE) This happened about 3-4 times. While living in Spain, I'd be looking for an apartment or attending some friend's get-together, and some stranger would ask me stuff.
(JAPANESE) They'd ask: "Where are you from?" And I'd answer: "I'm from Los Angeles."
(JAPANESE) They'd then look at my face closely, somewhat puzzled, and say: "Los Angeles? Hmmm. Your eyes are kind of slanted."
(JAPANESE) When I first heard that, I was somewhat shocked. You see, the term "slanted eyes" in America is somewhat of a racist remark towards Asians.
(JAPANESE) But in Spain, the word doesn't have that kind of a connotation. They didn't mean any harm by it.
(GERMAN) That was pretty funny. I mean, the word "slanted eyes" is not wrong. There's truth to it. We Asians do have slanted eyes compared to the rest of the world.
(GERMAN) The thing is - in the States, the word "slanted eyes" has negative baggage. Now why is that?
(GERMAN) Because America has had a very long history of slavery and racism.
(GERMAN) The first Chinese immigrants set foot upon American soil in San Francisco back in 1850.
(GERMAN) That was during the time of the Gold Rush. Lots of people from all over the world came to America, wanting to make money and strike it rich.
(GERMAN) Later on, the Japanese, Koreans, Indians, Filipinos, etc. immigrated to America.
(GERMAN) These people didn't have it easy at all due to their skin color and their Asian heritage. They were heavily discriminated against.
(GERMAN) For example, during World War II, tons of Japanese-Americans were completely stripped of their rights.
(GERMAN) They were sent to internment camps by the masses and detained there. It was terrible. There was obviously a lot of racism going on.
(GERMAN) The term "slanted eyes or slit eyes" is always used in a derogatory way in America.
(GERMAN) As a kid, a lot of kids used to call me "slanty eyes."
(GERMAN) And this happened in L.A., which is pretty surprising considering how many Asians live in L.A. At the time, nearly half the students at my elementary school were Asian.
(GERMAN) But that's just the way kids are. They say a lot of stupid things.
(GERMAN) They're not aware of the impact of their words. They hurl insults at one another, call each other silly things. You can't really hold it against them.
(GERMAN) However, if some adult on the street in L.A. were to call me "slit eyes," I wouldn't let it slide that easily.
(GERMAN) I'd reply immediately: "Hey what do you mean by the way? What did you say to me? What did you call me? Kiss my ***, ***!"
(GERMAN) However, in Spain, it's again different. The word "slit eyes" doesn't have the same negative connotation as it does in the States.
(GERMAN) When people in Spain told me I had "slanted eyes," I was admittedly shocked and taken aback, but I let it slide.
(GERMAN) I didn't really think about it any further, nor did I feel offended by it at all.
(CHINESE) One funny thing. I had an ABC friend (American-born Chinese) who was also living in Madrid at the same time.
(CHINESE) He was an outstanding guy. He had his Ph.D and was doing some R&D work in Spain.
(CHINESE) One time, this friend complained to me: "I was at a party the other night and this Spanish woman told me that my eyes were slanted. I was so pissed. I felt so insulted!!"
(CHINESE) When I heard him say this, I couldn't resist smiling. I told him not to take it that seriously because the word "slanted eyes" has a different connotation here in Spain than in the States.
(CHINESE) So after talking to him for a bit, he was able to calm down.
Finally - to our last story: the conflict with the cop in Seville.
Again, I want to emphasize: this was an isolated incident. Please do not generalize and think that all Spaniards are like this because they are DEFINITELY NOT!
Some of my best friends, some of the most wonderful people I've met in my entire life are from Spain.
To set up the story - this was back in March of 2010.
There were the four of us. I had two friends - a British-Vietnamese couple They came all the way from London to visit me. There was also a Korean-American girl from L.A.
So it was basically two guys, two girls. We were all Asian.
So what happened was that we took the train from Madrid to Seville.
(JAPANESE) Before setting off for Sevilla, a lot of my friends and acquaintances had recommended Sevilla as a great tourist destination.
(JAPANESE) They said stuff like: "Sevilla is such an amazing city. The food is delicious. The historical architecture is wonderful!"
(JAPANESE) So we were all really excited and looking forward to this trip.
(JAPANESE) However, that day, an unexpectedly unfortunate incident occurred. It happened right after our train had arrived in Seville.
(SPANISH) It was about 3 pm in the afternoon. Right after getting off the train, a police officer stopped us.
(SPANISH) The officer was about 50-60 years of age, short, pot-bellied, with glasses and gray hair.
(SPANISH) He told us: "Wait just a minute! Your passports please!"
(SPANISH) He caught us a bit off-guard. We gave him our passports and he began examining and inspecting all the information.
(SPANISH) As he examined our passports, he would look at us in a way as if to say: "You're not getting off that easy. I'm gonna make your lives a living hell."
(SPANISH) He took 10 minutes just to check my passport.
(SPANISH) He asked me questions like: "Where are you from? What's your name? How do you spell your name? Your date of birth? How long have you been in Spain?"
(SPANISH) So I answered him. But he kept on asking me the same questions over and over again.
(SPANISH) He then asked for my Spanish I.D. and student card. He looked them over and asked me the same questions: "Date of birth? Your name? Where are you from?"
(SPANISH) He treated me like a retard who couldn't even remember his name.
(SPANISH) I was getting irritated and fed up. To put it bluntly, the guy was getting on my *** nerves.
(SPANISH) But anyway, I restrained myself. I remained silent and didn't say anything.
(SPANISH) After thirty minutes (we were actually there for thirty minutes!), he took our passports and told us: "You guys wait here! I'll be back in half an hour."
(SPANISH) And we were like: "Umm, no you can't do that! What's happening here? Can we at least know why you're taking our passports?"
(SPANISH) He told us: "It's just a minor inspection. Nothing's going to happen. Calm down."
(SPANISH) I asked him to show us some kind of identification, like a police badge or something, but he refused.
(SPANISH) I found this to be strange. We couldn't know if he was really a police officer. He could've been a scam-artist dressed up as police to steal people's passports.
(SPANISH) So in the end I told him: "Ok, fine, you can take our passports if you want. But in this case, we'd like to accompany you. These are our documents and we have a right to know what you're doing with them."
(SPANISH) He started getting mad. He bristled and told us: "No, either you guys stay here and wait, or you guys can go to the police station."
(SPANISH) There were two younger police officers on-duty at the train station who seemed nice. I saw them and waved them over.
(SPANISH) When the older policeman saw this, he got freaking mad.
(SPANISH) He said to me: "Do you not trust me, or what??!??"
(SPANISH) I answered: "Honestly, we're a bit scared here. We just got off the train, we didn't do anything wrong, and you're treating us like criminals. I don't feel comfortable and I'd like to talk to another officer."
(SPANISH) He exploded right there and then. He ordered the other two officers to step back. He said to us: "That's it!! All of you guys - to the police station RIGHT NOW!!"
(SPANISH) I didn't want the problem to get any bigger. So we just followed him to the police station.
(SPANISH) Once we entered the station, he started yelling and insulting me like a madman: "Sit up down right now, you idiot!!!"
(FRENCH): So what did he say? He said to me: "You've messed everything up!! You've caused some real trouble!"
(GERMAN) "If your friends get detained here in the police station, it will be thanks to YOU!!"
(SPANISH) He said: "Tell your friends right now that this is all YOUR fault! That you screwed everything up. Come on, tell your friends!"
(SPANISH) I didn't want to *** him off any further, so I started translating. But then he cut me off and yelled: "Shut the *** up, you idiot!"
(SPANISH) Man he was just *** with me, taking it all out on me.
(SPANISH) Then he continued: "I'm an honest, upright police officer. You've been very "incorrect" with me. We are in Spain, a democratic country. Here we do things the proper way."
(FRENCH) I didn't know why he was telling me these things. I never said anything to the contrary. I never said anything about Spain.
(FRENCH) I think this guy had a real problem. He was sick in the head or something.
(FRENCH) I'm sorry, but the only thing I did was to ask to speak to another officer.
(FRENCH) This guy must have had an inferiority complex or something. He took it the wrong way and his ego couldn't take it.
(FRENCH) He wanted to get revenge on us. He really went too far.
(FRENCH) For ten minutes, he vented everything on me. He yelled at me, insulted me, attacked me verbally and made me his whipping boy. I was the only person in the group who spoke Spanish.
(FRENCH) He finished by saying to me: "I'm the one calling the shots here. You guys have to obey me. You will stay at the police station for as long as I want. I'll be the one who decides your fate!"
(FRENCH) He took our passports, he turned on his heels and disappeared into another room.
(FRENCH) We were in the waiting room for about an hour. It was freezing, it was raining cats and dogs outside.
(FRENCH) I was scared, really scared. We were in an unfamiliar city. I didn't know anyone there who could help us out.
(FRENCH) If he really wanted to, he could've thrown us in prison without respecting our rights. Anyway, I was imagining the worst.
(FRENCH) After an hour, he came back with our passports.
(SPANISH) He turned to me and asked me the same questions: "Your date of birth? Where are you from?"
(SPANISH) By that time, I was just burnt out. He then turned to my friend's girlfriend and asked her the same questions in Spanish.
(GERMAN) But the girl couldn't speak any Spanish. She didn't understand anything.
(GERMAN) I just wanted to help out with the translation, but the cop told me: "Am I talking to you? Shut your trap, idiot!"
(GERMAN) Finally, he was satisfied. He gave us our passports back.
(GERMAN) Before letting us go, he told us once again: "Remember - Spain is a democratic country. We're a democratic people. Not like China!" Something to that effect.
(GERMAN) He said: "I don't give a *** *** where you guys are from - from China, the States or whatever. Get the *** out! You'd be well-advised not to show up here again. Get out!!"
(JAPANESE) Can you believe that? We didn't do anything wrong. What did I do to be insulted and yelled at like that? I was not O.K. with this.
(JAPANESE) I really felt that I'd been screwed over. But you know what - there wasn't anything we could do. We weren't in our own country.
(JAPANESE) Afterwards, we went out of the train station to hail a taxi.
(JAPANESE) One thing I wanted to point out: there were about 10 taxis lined up at the train station entrance. The police station we were at was located in the back of the station and not visible from the entrance.
(JAPANESE) So we went outside and went to the closest taxi. We asked the driver to take us to the hotel, but he refused flat-out.
(JAPANESE) I was like: "What the ***? Fine! Whatever!" We went to the next taxi in line and were told the same thing: "I'm not taking you guys."
(JAPANESE) There, I began to sense that something was wrong.
(JAPANESE) There were about 10 taxi drivers there, and they all stared at us in a hostile, suspicious way. I had no idea what was going on.
At that time, I was like: "You know what? Everyone hates us here. The police officers, the taxi drivers. I don't know what's going on."
I just wanted to leave. I just wanted to pack up and go home.
My friends were like: "Oh, come on! Let's just forget about it!"
It was pouring outside. We walked into the pouring rain, we had to go on the street, we finally got ourselves a taxi.
When I was in the taxi, man I was so pissed. I was trembling from the cold, from I don't know what.
I think my friend was trying to make light of the situation. He was trying to make me feel better.
He said: "Well you know, David. Don't take it to heart. The reason why he stopped us was because you do look like a *** criminal."
I was like: "Seriously? This is not the time to be joking. I was the one he was insulting the whole time, so it's easy for you to say!"
(CHINESE) It was so unjustified. I felt so wronged!
(CHINESE) That day, I was so furious that my immune system actually broke down. By the time I got to the hotel, I had a high fever.
(CHINESE) The next day, I was really sick. We did go out and tour a bit, but I really wasn't in the mood.
(CHINESE) And the third day we left Seville.
(CHINESE) So our long-awaited trip to Seville just went down the toilet. Such a pity!!
(CHINESE) Honestly, Seville is a very beautiful, visually impressive city. And aside from the cop, the people there were quite nice.
(SPANISH) The next day, we went to the American consulate in Seville to file a report against this SOB. I was still really mad about the incident.
(SPANISH) When we told the American consul our story, she was absolutely shocked. She couldn't believe it actually happened.
(SPANISH) She said; "Wow, that's pretty bad. That's really bad. We've never had anything like this before."
(GERMAN) So what did we do? We filed a report against the police office.
(GERMAN) We even made a sworn statement regarding everything that happened that day.
(GERMAN) The American consul was very nice. She gave us her card.
(GERMAN) She said to us: "If anything else happens to you, I want you to contact me immediately."
(FRENCH) She said: "I'm going to open up an investigation regarding this. I'll talk to those in charge and we'll see what comes out of it. I'll keep you guys posted."
(FRENCH) That was four years ago.
To this day, I still haven't heard anything from them. Well, you can't do anything about it, so what are you going to do?
But it was strange man. It was really bizarre. I've had a lot of friends from the States, Japan and China who've lived and studied in Seville. They all had great experiences. So I don't know what happened with us.
(JAPANESE) Was this racism? Or were we just terribly lucky and cursed that day? We'll never know.
(JAPANESE) Anyway, it's one of life's mysteries.
(GERMAN) So that's it for today.
(SPANISH) Hope you guys liked this video. Please don't hesitate to hit "like" if you want.
(SPANISH) So guys, I wish you all happy holidays, and we'll see each other. Later!!!