Musings: Language and Appearances - It's Tough Being A Singaporean Gaijin

Like I promised yesterday, here's part two! It's not really about being Gaijin, but it's about three comments that I've got a lot. It's really my personal experience so far. 

Lately, I've noticed that I've been getting the following three comments a lot. As of, well, now, I haven't been able to formate a suitable reply. In fact, if you know the correct way to respond, I would be really really grateful.

The first comment is "Wow, your Japanese is great!".

Um, no, it's not. I can function in society, but my brain is always trying to figure out the right things to say, and trust me, I have never been good at grammar - English OR Japanese (I'm still trying to figure out if Chinese has grammar).

Personally, I think that this comment stems from the fact that I'm a foreigner who happens to understand most of what is being said and can give fairly coherent replies. I'm currently reply with the truth ("No, I'm terrible"), but still, I wonder why I get this comment so often.

And with this first comment comes the second "Your English is great!" (or some variation of this).

While the compliment is very sweet, I honestly can't reply to this. Really, I consider myself to have a barely adequate grasp of English (My English really has de-proved since I got here). Besides, if I accept the compliment, I feel like I'm sending a subtext of "I'm better at English nyah nyah nyah". On the other hand, if I go "no no, I'm terrible", I'm not quite sure how my friend will feel. Especially if I'm helping them with English.

This really feels like a Catch-22.

The last comment, well, I've posted it on Google+ before. While I consider myself to look like a typical Singaporean (Singaporean-Chinese if you want to be nitpicky about categories), I've been told that I look Japanese. By Japanese people. I understood the whole Japanese/Korean mistake when I went to America, but I'm in Japan! I dress and speak funny!

And I know that I don't fit in because a little boy at kendo told me "so that's why your Japanese is so strange!" when he found out I'm Singaporean. Well, he also thought I was 12-13 years old but the point remains valid!

Normally, I just smile and say something like "oh really?" but recently, I was told "You don't look Singaporean." I'm sure the speaker meant it nicely, but it hurt somehow. I love Japan, but I'm still Singaporean to the core.

Spot the non-Japanese person here (I really hope my
friends don't get mad about my posting the photo here too)

Musings: What Does "Gaijin" Mean?

Why this photo? I could talk about how
this topic isn't very pleasant, like the clouds
that block an awesome view of Mount Fuji
(that is Mount Fuji by the way), but the truth
is, I didn't want a photo of me when I
shared this post to Google+ (shallow,
I know)

Last Wednesday, Tofugu posted a really excellent blog post on what the word "gaijin" (外人）may mean to different foreigners. Coincidentally, I was working on (in my drafts folder anyway), a post on being a gaijin in Fukuoka. (Tofugu, if you read this, look at the synchronicity! You should totally take me on as an apprentice(; ). So, I decided to do a two-day, two-part blog post on being a foreigner. Today, I'll look at what the word "gaijin" means to me, and tomorrow, I'll share my experience.

Note: this doesn't mean that the discussion on the issue is finished. I'm still learning, still thinking, so don't be surprised if some time down the road, part three comes out.

Ok, so words. What do they mean? There's always that nursery rhyme "stick and stones can break my bones but words will never hurt me." Perhaps it's due to the influence of the rhyme when I say that the word "gaijin" has no negative connotations for me. Please note the words "for me".

Because seriously, I'm the girl that identifies myself as gaijin. It will come out sometime in my introduction (if my name didn't give me away straightaway). In fact, I sometimes use the "baka gaijin" excuse (basically, I use this excuse to cover every single faux pas I make). To me, I am a gaijin. I will never be Japanese, so why should I care if others don't see me as Japanese?

While I say all this, I must add in two caveats. First, my experience in Japan is hugely positive. I have been told (by my seniors) that there are universities where one is told "you're in Japan, you don't need English", and I have heard of stories of discrimination, but I've never faced anything like this. I first studied in TUFS, where the fact that all the students here major in a foreign language means that they are more welcoming to foreign students. Now, I'm in Fukuoka, which was one of the first open ports (for foreign trade), and is said to be very open to foreigners and foreign influence in general. So obviously, the word "gaijin" has never been used as an insult to me.

This is the face of a gaijin.

The second caveat is simply the fact that I'm Singaporean. And as you should have seen by now, my race is Chinese. This means that I don't stand out that much from other Japanese (as compared to say, a Caucasian). My default look is "blending in" not "standing out".

What about you? Do you, unlike me, see the work gaijin as some sort of insult and should be avoided? I'm simply too lazy to say the word "外国人 (gaikokujin - foreign country person), and well, I use the baka gaijin excuse a lot. If your view is different, or you had some experience you want to share, do tell me, I'd love to hear about it.

Stay tuned for tomorrow, where I talk about my experience in Japan.

Happiness is.... (#2)

Your direct juniors (they are this year's D Class, I am from last year's D Class) win first place in the ボート大会(bo-to taikai: boating competition). At last, we have been revenged.

Yes, this is last year's photo. And yes, it perfectly sums up
what I did the whole day. 

Boat Taikai details:

If you want the long story, feel free to read my post from last year. What I didn't mention last year was that we choked on the last few races (Fine, my teammates choked, I was at the sidelines yelling "YAKINIKUUUUUU") and ended up third. We were really hoping to be avenged, and we were!

Cream Puffs and Eclairs (クッキーシュークリームとエクレア)

Today, I attended my first ケーキの教室(ke-ki no kyoushitsu: cake class), and learnt how to make cream puffs (with a cookie topping!) and eclairs! It was extremely fun and easier than I expected.

So without further ado, here are photos to make you drool (hopefully. I'm aiming for that anyway):

Ok, the first three photos were taken at the class with my iPad. I would take more, but I was more concerned with getting it done right. Plus, this isn't a cooking blog, so I don't think a step-by-step guide is necessary:

Here they are fresh out of the oven! They're yet to be filled.

The cream puffs! 

The eclairs!

Well, I couldn't stop the photography bug entirely - I took our my camera as soon as I got home. So here are more close up photos!

This is the only puff without a cookie cover. It's ok, you're still delicious!

A close up of the eclair

Most of my cream puffs have two flavours - caramel filling
on top of custard filling. 

The only custard-only puff. YOU'RE STILL DELICIOUS TO ME!

THE PUFF. No, not a powerpuff. Just a delicious puff.

The class was so fun I signed up for another one at the end of next month! Now, I'm stuck with the problem of having too many to eat, but too little to share. Sigh, if only all problems were this delicious(;

Incidentally, I have the recipe, if anyone's interested. The only thing is that it's all in Japanese. If you're interested, let me know!

Kyushu University: Year 1

Alright, here's the long-awaited blog post on Kyushu University! I don't think it's a very popular university (I'm the only MEXT scholar here after all), but I really do think that it's one you should consider.

Besides, even though I'm the only MEXT scholar (I think, I mean, I'm the only name I see signing off the scholarship forms), Kyushu University is the fifth largest university interms of foreign students. They're private students or on scholarship from their own governments, but that's a minor minor detail (apart from the fact that I'm the only foreign student that didn't have to take an entrance exam).

Like the last sentence implies, applying to Kyushu University was pretty easy. After I submitted my choices to Monbukagakusho and got the "you may apply" reply, all I had to do was wait. Why? Because Kyushu University has no entrance exams or interviews (MEXT scholars only). For those of you who dislike interviews and/or exams, this is a huge huge plus.

Since I'm a first-year student, I'm currently studying at the brand-new Ito campus (I'll transfer to the Hakozaki campus in the second half of the second year, but that's another topic). Ito campus is new and absolutely beautiful.

Amazing view(:

Of course, this amazing view is made possible by the fact that the campus is elevated (on a mountain-ish thing?) and near the ocean. This means WINDY. I'm getting glad for it now that the weather is heating up, but I don't want to think what it's going to be like in winter. On the bright side, I hear that winters in Kyushu are short.

If you're wondering about student support in Kyushu, worry not at all! Apart from regular student support (There's a support center for the year ones, with seniors who will advise you on classes), there's extra support for us foreign-students. That comes in the form of an extra-orientation (also included: how to make friends with Japanese students), KUIFA (a sort of club for foreign students and Japanese students to mingle), as well as 日本事情 (nihonjijyou - Japanese affairs), a class that's targeted at foreign students (and aimed at helping them make friends. So it's half foreigners, half Japanese students and all fun).

Classes are actually quite fun (although I'm not sure how I'm going to fare for Latin and Ancient Greek, considering that it's taught in Japanese :p). And um, unlike last year, I'm now in Golf. I highly recommend golf as well. I think my first few friends were made in golf (among the fellow newbies).

The only thing that I can think to mention about classes is that I have to take two languages - English and one other (I'm taking Chinese) - I do believe that this is the same for at least Osaka University and Tokyo University though (or at least, I have impressions of my friends having to learn at least one foreign language). And that we have a 専攻日 (senkouhi - specialty day) once a week, where I go to the Hakozaki campus for classes on economics.

If you have any questions on Kyushu University at all, please tell me in the comments(: I'll try to answer them right away, and really, they'll help me with what I should blog about the next time I update you about my awesome school.

Golden Week #3 (Fukuoka Zoo)

Yesterday was the last day of Golden Week (sadly), but at least instead of staying at home, I went out with my golf friends!

Of course, nothing can compare to the Singapore Zoo, but it was really fun all the same:

They were having a stamp rally, but sadly, it's only for middle-school students and lower :/ We ALL wanted to do the rally :p

I don't know if the zoo is considered big, but it's divided into roughly two sections: the animals, and the plants. And since the zoo closes at 5pm, (we arrived at around 2pm) we only had time for the animals. BUT WE VISITED EVERY ANIMAL! Yes, I was like a little kid in a toy store.

A really big bird cage!

As much as I would love to show you lots of pictures, I can't. My friends are in most of them, and they were candid shots (I was asked why I take mostly candid shots - the answer, by the way, is that the peace sign gets tired after a while).

I really want to ride an Elephant - take me to Singapore Zoo!

I'm pretty sure that this zoo is already better than others (look at the birdcage), but I felt quite bad for some of the animals. Their enclosures were all some form of concrete, sand and water. It looks unhappy compared to the natural-looking environment of the Singapore Zoo (okok, I'll stop with the comparisons). But it's not all bad, the zoo is actually quite beautiful, and the birds in the giant birdcage thing look happy.

After that, we went for a shabu-shabu buffet! It was really good, and we made arrangements to go to golf today! (It's not an official practice day but...). And yes, golf today was really fun.

That's my Golden Week in three posts. How was your Golden Week?

Golden Week #2 (Huis Ten Bosch)

For those of you keeping track, this is my third time to Huis Ten Bosch since I've arrived in Kyushu. It also means I broke even on my one year pass :D

This time, I went with Wawa and Momo, who are also ryuugakusei (foreign students) from Malaysia! Yes, my neighbouring country! They haven't been to Huis Ten Bosch before, so I decided to bring them yesterday. There were two reasons for this: one, Golden Week Fireworks; two, the Professor Layton mystery ends on the 6th of May.

And yes, I did manage to solve the mystery:

My prize is a little notebook! And there was a really sweet 3 minute
video to finish of the mystery. 

Since we decided to stay to watch the fireworks, we had a lot more time to explore the place. I went in to the Porcelain Museum and the Glass Museum this time! And yes, I managed to get some night shots and some firework shots. So, here are some photos (I'm not very good at night shots yet so....)

A bird's eye view of World Bazaar

By the way, I totally recommend going up the tower to get some shots.

This is the tower I'm talking about. 

So beautiful!

Here's a firework shot:

Actually, I can do one better. I took a short (maybe 22 seconds?) video of the fireworks, because I'm not very good with the Manual Setting:

On a side note, all these photos haven't been post-processed. This is really because I haven't decided which photos to edit, and because I came back this morning If you have me on Google+ (look to the right!) or on 500px (link to profile), you'll see them when I'm done (might be a while though)

After the fireworks, we went for karaoke! I would have liked a hotel, but it's Golden Week and everything is booked. Plus, overnight karaoke is cheaper. So we took a train to a fairly close-by karaoke place, where I learnt a few this:

a. Overnight karaoke after a day of school is vastly different from overnight karaoke after a day of walking.

b. I can actually lose my voice.

c. It is possible to not sleep at all.

d. When you're sleep deprived, you choose weird songs (no, I'm not telling)

Since I'm normally a "8/9/10 hours a day" girl, this was amazingly 苦しい (kurushii - tough). Free time ends at 5am in the morning, so we had to go to the train station, wait for the earliest train (6am) back to Huis Ten Bosch, and then for the earliest train back to Hakata (9.45am). We actually sat in the lobby of a hotel and I fell asleep. And again on the train. Lights out.

Which, in retrospect, was a good thing, because when I'm sleep-deprived, I tend to walk into objects like lamposts. It becomes a game of "make sure Eustacia doesn't hit something by mistake", which is no fun for all parties involved. Plus, my grammar disappeared (along with my Japanese) and I didn't have a reaction time. Now I know what the walking dead feel like.

Despite THAT. It was an awesomely fun trip. I actually still want to go back to Huis Ten Bosch again.