At the Breakfast Shop

DIALOGUE:

Cook: Is he a German?

Lao Ban: No, he's a Canadian.

Me: Actually, I am an American.

Cook: I thought you were German because you always wear Birkenstocks.

Me: I wear them because they are comfortable.

Cook: I have a pair too. They are expensive but worth it.

ANALYSIS:

1. Me calling Rye a Nazi because he wore Birks is not that far off from this situation where Birk-wearing is associated with Germaness....(Germanity? Germanicity?) Except I was joking.

2. The cook owns a pair of Birkenstocks, too. By her own logic, does that mean she is German?

3. I also was wearing a Nike shirt. Why didn't she focus on that and correctly surmise I am an American?

4. Taiwan must have a lot of Canadians if people's second guess for nationality after German is Canadian. Second time this has happened (asking/assuming Canadian citizenship.) Maybe its the combination of Nike shirts and German sandals?