Some thoughts spiralling in my mind thus far...
As you might notice by now, the interesting pictures are beginning to dwindle in numbers cos' things quieten down a little as school have started. As I've mentioned time and time again, I'm not in Japan just to have fun, but to challenge my thought life, as well as physical and mental capabilities to cope with living abroad independently.
So, ummm... I'll just bore you a little with my thoughts thus far for my stay in Japan...
It sounds kinda weird but observing people is the best pastime a person who is inclined to philosophy can have. I don't wish to evolve into a haughty know-it-all philosopher but I pursue intellect in this area so that I can properly shape my mind to the likeness of Christ and protect myself from negative external influences.
It's interesting to see the dynamism of social interaction in an international setting. How certain people form cliques due to the comfort, familiarity and similarity of cultures. How goody-two-shoes are influenced by negative traits portrayed by other people with greater sphere of influence, maybe cos' of peer pressure or simply, they just want to fit in the "in" group. How people of vastly different nationalities and complete opposite backgrounds become love couples in a matter of weeks or months probably due to the intrigue of the "mysterious" or loneliness away from home.
I thank God for City Harvest Church, despite all the negative criticisms. All my mentors in church have given my valuable advice on the ways to protect my mind in a worldly environment. Despite the sufferings, I'm grateful for NS and my chronic ailments, cos' the trials through the fire have unlocked the potential of my mind.
I've been tweeting alot about Korean girls praising various aspects of me, but my intention isn't to boast. I shall put my thoughts into concrete words cos' when I look back at my experiences in Japan, I might just forget what I was thinking back then.
#1: Maximize your unique traits
I've been told by 5 Korean girls (actually 2 told my Korean buddy who conveyed the message to me) that I have a nice deep voice, and it's refreshing cos' Japanese guys usually have high-pitched voices (1 girl actually said that they can't differentiate between a male Japanese voice and female Japanese voice GOSH).
Humans are attracted by characteristic uniqueness, strong unwavering beliefs, and an approachable personality. I knew that looks aren't everything, but people's assessment of us go beyond character and personality, and that's relatively new to me (I did have an inkling of it, but things became clearer when I came here). We have to find the X-factor within ourselves to appeal to people around us.
Fashion is a viable way to channel our appeal. I like glittery t-shirts with elaborate prints. Some people find it flashy but I don't care. I like plush toys and I have a cute seal key holder hanging out of my pocket and a Rilakuma keychain hanging from my bag. Some people find it childish for a big guy like me, but I seriously don't care.
Discover your unique traits today. Don't follow the crowd and just be a nobody in the sea of conformists. Be a somebody, and be brave to face societal rejections (from shallow people whom you shouldn't even be bothered to care about).
#2: Language is the entry ticket to a whole new world
Singapore is a boring place. It's a concrete jungle over-populated with artificially spruced up tourist attractions which locals don't give a rat's ass about and obscenely saturated with shopping malls (is it really that necessary to build Orchard Central and Somerset@313 when Ion Orchard could have covered all grounds?). Agree?
Thus, I'll be surprised to even find a single soul who's interested in Singapore in Japan. Heck, I'll be grateful if they know Singapore is not in China. But my Japanese buddy is planning a 1-year exchange to NUS, and my Korean friend is planning to visit Singapore in the upcoming long holidays we have in May!
And what exactly are they impressed with? Our bilingual ability. It's huge cos' most other Asians struggle with English. I told a Korean girl that cos' we're learning 2 (for people like me, 3) languages, we're good in neither cos' we divide our efforts. But she said something which gave me food for thought. Even if we're not good at the languages, as long as we have a comfortable level of proficiency to communicate, we can make friends from all around the world.
We're treat it like nothing cos' we've grew complacent and comfortable in a Singaporean environment. But really, we should use this unique trait of ours (remember #1 above?) as a tool to broaden our horizons. After coming here and experiencing life in a foreign environment, I realized how narrow-minded I am, despite my inclination to philosophy. There's so much out there in the world, and Singapore is too small to quench our thirst for knowledge.
I'm glad I am studying Japanese, despite the painful thousands of dollars investment in it. And I'm thankful my motivation to learn the language is properly steered. I'm not misguided or influenced by some trashy pop culture like some Singaporeans who pick up a 3rd language.
Fact #1: Anime and manga are over-exaggerations of the typical Japanese life. I find it disgusting to see people on the streets imitating language used in anime and manga and think they're so uber cool. Get a life, dawg!
Fact #2: All the actors and actresses in Korean pop culture are TOO good-looking. The common Korea people are plain-looking just like us Chinese. And no, they don't have elaborate palaces and extravagant mansions, which you see in dramas such as Princess Hours and Boys Over Flowers, all around the country.
Fact #3: Taiwanese stars are unbelievably pretty-faced as well. But in reality, the people are poor imitators of Japanese and Korean popular culture esp. fashion. It's not a bad place if you explore the authentic areas, but if you seek modernity, if I were you, I would rather go Korea or Japan.
I'd definitely encourage anyone who's interested to pick up a new language to go for it. Just a offering a word of caution here cos' I don't want any of my friends to regret their decisions after investing a substantial amount of money in language classes. Use it for a purpose, be it studies or work abroad, or actively seeking to broaden your social circle by including native speakers of the language you're learning. Wanting to understand anime, manga and TV dramas is mehhh fine by me, but in my opinion, that shouldn't be the sole reason for learning a language.
The typical Singaporean would go "traveling is secondary. I gotta save up for my marriage, car and house and my children's education". While that is fine by me, for me, I would live in basic comfort and spend the rest of my savings on traveling. You can learn so much just by seeing more of the world and experiencing different cultures.
Okay, I'm running a little overtime here. Jon Tan said I was lorh sorh, and here I am, writing a superbly long blog post. I'm afraid Kenneth will be the only guy who can sustain reading until the end. If he visits my blog, that is. :P Just for food for thought to chew on. I'll get back to more lighthearted posting tomorrow or the day after. Ciao!