What are you?

It's hard enough being Filipino - people know that you're Asian, but they have no idea what kind (the darker skin confuses them) ,so they'll ask you in a very roundabout way exactly what you are. For example, the dental hygenist at my dentist's office recently asked me:

Her: "Sooo... where are you from?"
Me: "Virginia"
Her: "Huh!" (looks
confused... shuffles around awkwardly)
Her: " Soo.... where are your parents
from?"
Me: "The Philippines. I'm Filipino"
Her: "Ha! I knew that!"
Me: (thinks to myself "Then why'd you ask?")

Sometimes I think it's better when people are blunt and just say "So, what are you?".

However, being Filipino must not nearly be as hard as being a hapa - someone that is part Asian, part something else. They must get asked "what are you?" all the time! Now Kip Fulbeck from The Hapa Project has come out with a coffeebook profiling hundreds of hapa (Allison, great book for Hayden!). I wonder if they think of Filipinos - part Chinese/part Malyasian/part something Asian + Spanish part of the original hapa.