"It's the beginning of the end..."

2008年10月8日星期三

The Art of Striking Random Conversations

I'm not an expert of striking random conversations w people, but I'm gradually learning how to do it. I guess to be really feeling 'i'm in America', i gotta talk to real Americans. So I decided to talk to more ang moh pple in my class instead of just Asians. Surprisingly, some of them are not that nice. Seriously, not everyone in America is nice. However the majority of the ang mohs are nice and they can just joke around with you even if they're at least 5 years older. I've made quite a couple of friends in school so far - Japanese, Korean , Chinese, Taiwanese, Thai, American... this is why school is getting more and more enjoyable for me even though workload is still heavy. When i think of going to school to meet all these fascinating people every morning, I'll have more energy to get out of bed and walk into the chilly morning streets.
The trend in America, or maybe anywhere in a Caucasian world, is that Asians would group themselves together and ang mohs are just 'hi-bye' friends with Asians. Well, certainly there're some exceptions, when the Asian is actually not that Asian, or if the ang moh would like to learn Asian culture etc. But the majority of population still group themselves together according to their ethnicity. For example, in our law cafe, there's a Chinese table, a Korean table, a Jap Table, ang moh tables, and a 'mixed' table consisting of people who are tired of mixing with their kind.
Guess which table I am in. =_='' Korean table! [ well i felt so sorry each time the Chinese table pple stared at me from afar!] Cuz I'm always hanging out with my onni, so I gotta mix around with the korean lawyers. No wonder some Chinese thought i'm Korean T-T.
But the good side is I got to learn more about the korean legal system and korean culture. My onni uses a super embarrassing way of introducing me to the korean lawyers. She would say 'this is Jingdi, she is very interested in Korean culture, especially dong bang shin ki (a korean boyband) and bak-go-li (korean rice wine) and she would like to do an internship in a korean law firm.' LOL what has fantasizing boybands and drinking alcohol gotta do with my ability for internship! Haha so the lawyers' expressions were like -_-''. But yeah, I'm still thankful that she introduces me to all these lawyers. They're all top lawyers from korea, and got sponsored by their law firms to come here and study for a year of masters as a kind of 'compsensation ' for their hard work or 'relaxation trip'. So is the same with the other Japanese lawyers and prosecutors.
I'm also very inspired by one of my friends, Michiko, who is over 60 years old i think, judging from her white hair haha. She's a very kind japanese old lady who is still studying! She's not in Phd or masters, but in the general J.D. programme, which is like 3 years and gotta complete together with the local students. I was so amazed by her determination and enthusiasm in learning.
I think one good thing about mixing with people who're older than me is I gotta constantly think in a more mature way, and be humble. I am learning so much from every person in law school each day, cuz all of them have superb 'backgrounds'. Most of them who're from Asia practiced for several years as lawyers/prosecutors. The locals from America all have worked in some governmental organisations, volunteered with some department or project overseas. This exposure to different work experiences and legal systems is just amazing.
Oh i met this nice ang moh guy ('Peter') who's living in the same apartment as me. He's also studying in law school. I pumped into him a few days ago at the lift, and we actually stood for more than half an hour outside the lift chatting about law school and everything. (Girls don't scream he's not my type. My type of ang moh guys are those 6 years and below LOL, or if he looks like Tobey Maguire). And he promised to cook for me some day! Haha. He knows how to speak a lil bit of chinese, and is interested in practising law in Asia. But you know what, he actually prefers to go to Taiwan for exchange instead of coming to NUS. He said Singapore is just too strict in its education system, and he prefers the flexibility of taiwan even though the courses in Sg may be better. [ and this is wad the rest of the ang mohs said too - like 'Hong Kong is much better than Singapore in terms of practising law'].Well I said nothing to defend Sg cuz i know it's kinda true. I really think Singapore should change its system, legal and educational, before all these talented people turn themselves away from Sg!
Surprisingly, there're just so many ang mohs who can speak fluent chinese here! We just have this 'language table' event today..it's for people who wants to speak different languages to come together and talk. I was at the Chinese table and there're so many ang mohs who have either worked in China or HK for some years! Their level of Chinese is surely better than many of the pple in NUS law. Lauren is on of my ang moh friend who stayed 3 years in China, both studying and working. And 3 years- she can speak super fluent chinese and is able to fluently translate legal documents. WoW.
Haha this is an encouragement for me to buck up my Chinese and learn 'American English' (like what Peter has said) at the same time.

I gotta go now..my thai friend's birthday td..and i got only 1 hr to shop for her present before going to the dinner..T-T

Love,

“Jd dropped by Kynthos at 15:57”

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Seattle

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