I LOVE green burials. Why pump me full of chemicals when I’m just going into the ground anyway?

OP, I totally sympathize with you. It has got to be so frustrating to feel that you have to “prove” your Americaness when others don’t, both abroad and stateside. What would happen if you told one of these people that they didn’t “look” like they were from their own country? I think their brain might melt.

I think this is both the fault of America for having such a whitewashed global Hollywood for so long and also the fault of other countries for not trying to empathize.

I worked in Korea and always tried to use diverse photos in my lessons but without fail anyone Asian-American was immediately claimed as their presumed heritage. I’ve tried and failed time and again to have this conversation with locals, especially when they say “so and so looks American”. Why? Because they’re wearing jorts? They have a buzz cut? Look bud, I’m listening to them talk and they’re Russian.

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve said, “American is not a race” but it falls on deaf ears.

The idea that ethnicity and nationality can be different is not a concept in Asia. In homogeneous societies the thought has never crossed their mind, and likely never can.

I think you already have your answer.

I’m an American in Korea but moving back next year. SK can be a heard place for someone raised in the West, and even a lot of young Koreans are struggling-- housing prices, loneliness, isolation, work culture.

Since you’re a U.S. citizen (I assume, by birth) going back to Cali and attending school and finding a job should be easier than if you didn’t have a U.S. passport. Korea will still be there in the future if you want to come back.

It sounds like you already have housing which you could use as your address for in-state tuition.

Best of luck to you!