Don't know if you guys have heard about the massacre at virginia tech a few weeks ago. kang xi did an episode talking about taiwanese studying overseas and invited some artistes who stayed/studied abroad. Apparently this guy was bullied and beaten up really often in L.A., and the guy's age is probably between 25-30 years old, so all these must have happened fairly recently. Well, can't say much bout L.A., (cos its not like i've been there for long, in fact, i think i can probably count the number of days i'd been there with 2 hands) but it did feel less secure and safe than san francisco or most of the bay area (alright alright, only stanford and prob the 2-mile circumference) that i frequented in 03/04. guess having loads of asians in the bay area helped (i remember feeling so at home, cos there were so many chinese-run supermarket and restaurants). but i'm sure there are just as many asians in l.a. if not more, seeing that we have the tendency to "spread our wings" worldwide and not just in san fran or toronto or vancouver?!
i do recall hearing some snide remarks from passers-by (definitely not my college mates)..."chinks" is a pretty common term used. sometimes they think that we are japanese and we all know what the older generation think of them. but other than that, and the chilly treatment from city dwellers being non-friendly in general, i didn't get beaten up. i think the most violent thing that ever happened to anyone i knew by name was probably getting mugged/robbed in spain. (you wun believe the number of singaporean victims there were in madrid/barcelona that first year in college alone! some advice if you are travelling there: guys, put your wallet in your front pocket, not your back. ladies, be careful of your knapsack cos they'll likely be cut. having some emergency cash tucked away in a secret place is always a good idea.)
other than these minor incidents, i really dun recall anything extremely chillingly bad like the virginia tech massacre, prob because the environments in both colleges are so multinational anyway, so everyone is essentially part of a "minority". or maybe i just didn't venture into the seedier parts of town. or maybe i was just plain lucky in US where ppl carry guns like no one's business. in any case, virginia tech is not the first such case, so why are guns still legal??
i do recall hearing some snide remarks from passers-by (definitely not my college mates)..."chinks" is a pretty common term used. sometimes they think that we are japanese and we all know what the older generation think of them. but other than that, and the chilly treatment from city dwellers being non-friendly in general, i didn't get beaten up. i think the most violent thing that ever happened to anyone i knew by name was probably getting mugged/robbed in spain. (you wun believe the number of singaporean victims there were in madrid/barcelona that first year in college alone! some advice if you are travelling there: guys, put your wallet in your front pocket, not your back. ladies, be careful of your knapsack cos they'll likely be cut. having some emergency cash tucked away in a secret place is always a good idea.)
other than these minor incidents, i really dun recall anything extremely chillingly bad like the virginia tech massacre, prob because the environments in both colleges are so multinational anyway, so everyone is essentially part of a "minority". or maybe i just didn't venture into the seedier parts of town. or maybe i was just plain lucky in US where ppl carry guns like no one's business. in any case, virginia tech is not the first such case, so why are guns still legal??
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