Horrifying Chinese

Yesterday, I was walking in Union Square, one of my two favorite places to be in NYC. It might actually beat out Columbus Circle, when there's the market open, which was yesterday. I ran into a man who sold some beautiful photography, and looked through about an entire wall's worth of panda photos. After deciding I would buy three, I asked him what kind of deal he could give me, since it was $20 each.

I find out I already got a discount! Normally they sell for $25, but since he saw I was Chinese, I got a Chinese-person-five-bucks-off? Naturally, the conversation segue's into using Chinese, and like any normal conversation with a Chinese adult, the question is asked, where am I from? Obv. I was born here, so meh.

Now here's the part that's horrifying. The man says: "Oh, I could tell by your accent that you were born here."

WHA.

This is a first for me. Most adults think I'm from China, specifically Beijing, although my family is from Taiwan. I must be regressing. I need more time to muse and mutter over this!