The Foreigner

The dictionary defines foreigner as:

1. One who is from a foreign country or place.
2. One who is from outside a particular group or community, an outsider.

At first I was taken aback to be called a foreigner. I have always connected the word foreigner with the second definition and, in America, I consciously tried to avoid calling anyone a "foreigner" for fear of summoning up negative connotations. Not so in China. Here you are either Chinese or a foreigner and the Chinese seem to use the word positively, as in the first definition, and they use it respectfully. To be called a "foreigner" simply means that one is from another country or place. Although the Chinese may think we foreigners have some peculiar habits, the people I've met seem to regard that as part of being a "foreigner." For example, I won't eat heads, faces, internal organs or feet. Whereas, they say, the Chinese will eat all parts of the animal with relish, even the eyes. Yesterday we went to lunch at a farm restaurant. The fish was freshly caught from a pond outside and prepared grilled with herbs. It was delicious. Our driver ate raw fish and wanted to have a soup prepared with the head and who knows what else. My translater explained that "foreigners" don't eat heads. So that was that. No one was insulted. It was just chalked up to the peculiar habits of foreigners.