The scene: Vietnam, a small tourist cruise boat, four young men sitting in a whirlpool, two more approaching.

Tourist 1, a European-looking person, to the newcomers: Xin chào! (Vietnamese for Hallo!)

Tourist 2, an Asian-looking person, laughing: Xin chào to you too mate, but I’m Japanese.

An honest mistake, as there are many domestic tourists. Do Europeans also look and sound all the same to Asian people? Japanese I would recognize, but with Vietnamese, Thai and Mandarin I would struggle.