Just how shameful is my Chinese?

Living around the Wu, 五，or 5, as we alternately call it, you run into quite a few foreigners, 外国人， or simply 老外, most of them students at Qinghua learning Chinese. There are a lot of students from Korea, too. When I get into a cab and tell the driver how to take me home, about 3/4 of the time they will ask me, 是韩国人吗, or, "Are you Korean?" At first I believed they really thought I looked Korean. It was just annoying to have to explain, almost every day, that no, I am actually overseas Chinese.

Then, the other day, I got it again..."Are you Korean?" “No," I replied, for the umpteenth time, "I'm Chinese-American. My ancestors are Chinese. We don't speak Chinese at home, that's why my Chinese is so bad."

The guy turns around and says, "Well, when you speak Chinese, you sound Korean! You better study and practice your Chinese well so you don't sound like a Korean! Korean people are rude!" At least, that's the interpretation I understood. Something tells me his meaning was a lot more acrid. The worst was, he wouldn't let it drop, and kept lecturing me for the remainder of the cab ride.

To my Korean brothers and sisters, I apologize on behalf of Beijing cabbies.
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Anyway, Tuesday night we went again to Kiev for more Russian food goodness. I took a chance on the borscht and it was perfect. The spinach rolls were not as exciting, but pretty:


Yesterday we went to 一品小笼 for xiaolongbao for the second time in four days. It was decent, but unremarkable as the first time and I missed the delicate perfection of my beloved Din Tai Fung. The dumplings:

And more noteworthy, the dumpling-shaped lighting fixtures (so cool!):