A colleague contacted to invite me to join the meetings of academics who specialize in Slavic Studies.
“You know that I don’t do Slavic Studies,” I told him. “I’m a Hispanist.”
“Yes,” he said, “of course. But we are inviting you as a Slavic person. It’s good to run one’s research by somebody who is actually from a Eastern European country.”
I never get any mileage out of my Slav identity, so, of course, I agreed. For once, somebody wants a token Slav around. Usually, my intensely Slavic appearance and last name get me negatively stereotyped from the get-go. And here there are people who have dedicated their lives to Slavic Studies, which must mean they actually like our culture.
My debut as a token Slav is scheduled for tomorrow.
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