"From which country did you come?" (#121; Topic A)

Yesterday, I went to the Brookings Institution for a briefing on PRC President Hu Jintao's visit with US President George Bush next week. For convenience, I went to its cafeteria for lunch, sharing a table with a man sitting alone. I asked whether he was a staff member; he was. He was formerly a staff member in the World Bank group, as I was. He then asked "Are you from Japan?" Since the World Bank has staff members from all over the world, when meeting a stranger in a situation like this, I have been accustomed to ask "From which country did you come?" -- for four simple reasons: (1) I don't know many countries by name; (2) I cannot discern, by looking at one's facial features, whether he/she is a citizen of country A or country B; (3) mentioning a specific country, if wrong, might offend the one being asked; and (4) why speculate, when a direct question is just as easy. So, I was surprised that a former fellow World Bank staff member would risk being offensive (and he was). Still, I answered his question, but added that a direct question would be just as easy. To prove my point, I asked him the question; he was from Germany. He then asked how long I was with the World Bank group, and what I did before that. To the latter, I answered: "I was a university professor." Before I could mention any university by name, he blurted out: "Beijing University?" This could either be a praise (Beijing University in China has the same high regard as Yale in USA) or a put-down (I was not good enough to be on the faculty of a US university). Regardless, I thought he was rather presumptuous. After answering his question ("University of Washington in Seattle"), I said as much. By this time, he had finished his lunch and it was time for him to go back to work. I remained at the table, finishing my lunch, reading some papers to kill time, and then walking to the room where the briefing was to be held.
Posted at 7:22 pm, Tuesday, April 11, 2006