first of all, i really could care less whether oriental stays or goes. if people are offended, even if i don't see the logic, i don't feel i HAVE to see the logic to stop saying it...but...that's why i brought this topic up: i don't want to say oriental, but i REALLY don't want to say asian because:

>When I talk to other Asian
>people, we tell each other what we are...Korean, Chinese,
>whatever cause WE know we are different but no one else
>cares so you just sum it up with Asian to keep it simple for
>the simpletons.

notice how you didn't say "Iraqi, Russian, Indian" in the list. and i'd be willing to bet, if you kept going, you would have said thing mmore along the lines of "Vietnamese, Cambodian, Japanese, etc". it is a simpleton thing to act like there isn't something linking all these people that is distinguishable from the rest of the world (including other parts of the continent of asia). it is also a simpleton thing to never want to know more about an individual's particular heritage beyond that, i'd agree. however, in discussion (as you've exhibited), sometimes the word to describe all of these linked peoples has to exist to complete a sentence. the word Asian does a piss poor job of that, because Asia is a place with many people who DON'T share the qualities of so-called "Asians".

>
>Does the "Orient" exist? And it's East of what? East of
>the West?