I live in Asia, and I get stared at all the time till I got used toit that I stopped noticing.I believe staring serves many purposes and it is situational.

Some stare out of curiosity:- I would be lying to myself if I go to a remote japanese village with people who have never seen a black man before san on TV to expect them to wish me away. Infact I am sure any african canbeat the Great wall of china hands down in terms ofstares. A hello may be reciprocated by mutness or a simple hello, since their curiosity is overwhelmed.

Some stare out of interest:- This happens especially when you are being stereotyped like, hmm, "he could be Michael Jordan's brother". With this stare, a hello normally invites a chat slightly longer than in the first example.

Periodic prolonged stares:- This is a definite invitation for a conversation. Coming from a woman, I use it to not only acknowledge her but initiate a conversation. From a man, I would use the opportunity to know him better. Men are men are men, conversing is easier.

Hostile stare:- Oops, you could have done something wrong according to their culture, or they think you are entering their teritory. I suggest with this, you weigh the situation. Act dumb. Total strangers normall just give each other space, if you are familiar with the language you can initiate a polite dialogue to understand what is the cause.

Familiarity stare:- I call this so because it happens mostlyto people who look alike or feel they are alike. As I said before I am in Asia, so everytime I meet a black man, I make a point of giving them this type of stare.I get the same stare back. It is sort of a bonding stare. We could follow it with a simple hello or go right away into a chit chat to get to know each other. This stare I also get from white people. It is not lost that whites and blacks have a hgher level of interaction as opposed to white and asians. If you are in a foreign asian country, by virtue of both the black and the white man beingdifferent from the yellow man, they will instinctively want to bond. It's like assuring themselves, "hey we are in this same shit together" so lets just at least know each other.

Non commital stare:- This is a stare perfected by women. It is the one that is the hardest to decipher. It could mean all of the above or none. It could mean she is just checking the outfit you are wearing or even seeing through you. I respond to such a stare by pretending not to notice them. This stare is also common withimmigration officials at the passport control in European countries. From all my many travels to Europe, if I get such a stare from them,I respond by assuming they dosen't exist. This agitates them, but they can't do much and they back down and pretend to be scanning my passport.

Personally I am a very happy smiley person, I like life so don't see why I should frown, I notice a lot of people will look at me sometimes, but I always say how did I see them staring at me if I wernt looking at them long enough...Miscommunication people.....lol..I know there is a difference between being in someone's line of vision and plain staring ..but I just smile...the only problem with that is some guys think its an invitation for them to come and talk to you and girls just think your nuts...well some do....some smile back....!!

I must admit, I am a starer. I cant really help it, i just like to observe people as im passing by. Im am not really a person for detail so i dont really look people up and down to see what they are wearing, mostly i just look at faces. There will be days where im in my own little world and i dont notice anyone, and there will be days where im very aware of my surroundings. Inotice i get alot of stares from black men, but not from black women. At my school, Ive hadrandom guyswhoi get into a converstation withsay theyalways usedto seeme walking around campus , when i had never seen them before. I think it is part of the reason why i get alot of random guys trying to talk to me, they think because i make eye contact, that im interested. But Id rather be open about my staring, what creeps me out are those people who stare at you from the corner of their eye or people who take in every little detail as their staring at a person.Maybe in my subconcious i feel that its sort of stuck up just to walk by a person and act like they dont exist. I usually look at a person, or give them a quick glance to let them know i acknolwdge them.