well ... when we step out overseas ....
we lose our nationality .... half the world still can't place
singapore on the map ....
but we are suddenly reminded of our ethnicity ....
we cease to be singaporeans ...
but get lumped under the general terms of indians, chinese,
indonesians .... etc ...
I became "just another damm chink" ..... 
A few Aussies do that too.
However, because there are so many ethnicities here, there are
Aussies who understand that just because you're yellow-skinned does
not mean you are from Vietnam or China. 
Often, my patients can't guess where I'm
from but a few did ask if I trained in the States. My new boss told me once, "Don't take this
wrongly, but your accent... you have a bit of American in your
accent." and then I laughed and had to explain how I spent seven
years working with Americans in the corporate world before becoming
a nurse and if you work with Americans, you start to realise that
they aren't good at adapting to other accents, but rather, you will
have to kinda 'switch' to their accent for them to comprehend
you.
Hell, my American friends couldn't understand a word of English
in the movie, "The Full Monty", a UK production. They are
THAT bad! I had to tell them what was happening
in the movie! They only understand their own accent,
innit, MG?
