Saturday, February 04, 2006
Born in the U.S.A. - Bruce Springsteen
I've learnt the hard way never to have pre-conceived notions about anyone - especially one based on his race. After all, that'll make me a racist, won't it? (and one of me mates just can't stand 2 kinds of people - racists and blacks...).
So I tried me best to keep an open mind when i found out i had to live wif an American (i.e. from the United States of America) flatmate. After all, people have said a lot of them - and we can tell from the movies they make just how well they think of themselves!!!! They are Americans - they will save the world! The will do wat is right - cuz they are Americans! The sentiment is best reflected in a line from Miss Saigon when Chris, the American soldier cries out "so I wanted to save her, protect her, C****t, I'm American, how could I fail to do good?"
In the recent years, with the wars and all, USA has been potrayed as the big playground bully, the self-appointed police of the world. They will take it upon themselves to correct wat they think is wrong - not really caring wat others think. They know best after all, dun they?
I'm not saying that this is the correct view of Americans - but this is wat many think of them.
My flatmate is not making it easy for me to think that they are wrong!!!
She acts like the whole world revolves around her!!!!! At first, i thought it was just a show, that she was jus being funny. Now i dun know wat to think. We do find her a lil annoying now. Tell her about it? Well, in the first place, she prolly doesnt care. In the second place, she prolly knows that we find her annoying!!!!
Examples - when we plan for the movie nite, she'd object to the movies we suggest - just purely cuz she doesn't want us to have our way. Of course, we'd give in.
At times, when we are cooking in the kitchen, she'd come in and announce that she is bored and demands to be entertained. After 5 or 10 minutes, she'll leave saying that her radio is much more exciting than we are!!!!
Then, there are those who go round and slip pamphlets under our door. For me, these pamphlets will end up in me bin. For her, she just kicks it out of her room and expects the cleaners to pick it up and throw it away for her. At times, the cleaners will refuse and the pamphlets will lie on the floor outside her room (meaning outside mine too!!!!) for days. I had to pick up her pamphlets and throw it for her.
Oh yeah, she's the one that just dun bother to remember our names.
We normally just laugh it off. But the latest incident was a bit too much! This is the note left on one of the freezer doors in the kitchen - by her, of course.
If you can't read it, she writes (in typically US-George-Bush-cowboy fashion):-
"The top shelf is for Wei and Michelle. Please remove your food by Saturday, or it will be removed for you. We all have our space.
Thanks,
Michelle"
Our good old funny Italian guy, Alberto, couldn't resist replying to it:-
"Nooooooo, please leave my pizzas, I'm Italian... try to understand... I can't survive without them!"
And to add top it off, he signed "Alberto #3"!!! Hahahahaha. That, I believe was an indirect swipe at her for not bothering to remember her flatmates' names and refer to them by their room numbers!!!!!
Anyway, US (as we sumtimes refer her as) kept to her word and when i went to the kitchen last nite to cook me dinner, i found a pack of frozen chips left out on the counter next to the sink. Ghisseh told me that US found it in her shelf, took it out and left it out like that. Hey, it wasn't even Saturday yet!!!! Ghisseh din know who's chips it was.
Later, Michael and I found some space in another freezer and chucked the chips into it - altho by then, the chips were pretty soft oredi.
Hey, dun get me wrong - she generally treats me pretty nice (of course if you overlook the fact that she doesn't bother to learn my name despite living in the room next to mine!!!!). She'd offer me sweets and chocs and we do have some decent conversations on American movies once in a while.
But her chips throwing tantrum went too far this time and I had to blog bout it. Sure, she may have a valid complaint that people are putting things in her allocated space in the freezer. But you dun just chuck it out like that! It's not like she needed the space immediately. We are after all for all intents and purposes living under one roof. We have to learn to give and take. There are ways to deal wif this kind of situations (we are having a flat mtg later today to have a mature discussion about this matter and others).
But nooooo. It's in her space and she wants it out NOW!
Sigh... Americans. ;-P
So I tried me best to keep an open mind when i found out i had to live wif an American (i.e. from the United States of America) flatmate. After all, people have said a lot of them - and we can tell from the movies they make just how well they think of themselves!!!! They are Americans - they will save the world! The will do wat is right - cuz they are Americans! The sentiment is best reflected in a line from Miss Saigon when Chris, the American soldier cries out "so I wanted to save her, protect her, C****t, I'm American, how could I fail to do good?"
In the recent years, with the wars and all, USA has been potrayed as the big playground bully, the self-appointed police of the world. They will take it upon themselves to correct wat they think is wrong - not really caring wat others think. They know best after all, dun they?
I'm not saying that this is the correct view of Americans - but this is wat many think of them.
My flatmate is not making it easy for me to think that they are wrong!!!
She acts like the whole world revolves around her!!!!! At first, i thought it was just a show, that she was jus being funny. Now i dun know wat to think. We do find her a lil annoying now. Tell her about it? Well, in the first place, she prolly doesnt care. In the second place, she prolly knows that we find her annoying!!!!
Examples - when we plan for the movie nite, she'd object to the movies we suggest - just purely cuz she doesn't want us to have our way. Of course, we'd give in.
At times, when we are cooking in the kitchen, she'd come in and announce that she is bored and demands to be entertained. After 5 or 10 minutes, she'll leave saying that her radio is much more exciting than we are!!!!
Then, there are those who go round and slip pamphlets under our door. For me, these pamphlets will end up in me bin. For her, she just kicks it out of her room and expects the cleaners to pick it up and throw it away for her. At times, the cleaners will refuse and the pamphlets will lie on the floor outside her room (meaning outside mine too!!!!) for days. I had to pick up her pamphlets and throw it for her.
Oh yeah, she's the one that just dun bother to remember our names.
We normally just laugh it off. But the latest incident was a bit too much! This is the note left on one of the freezer doors in the kitchen - by her, of course.
If you can't read it, she writes (in typically US-George-Bush-cowboy fashion):-
"The top shelf is for Wei and Michelle. Please remove your food by Saturday, or it will be removed for you. We all have our space.
Thanks,
Michelle"
Our good old funny Italian guy, Alberto, couldn't resist replying to it:-
"Nooooooo, please leave my pizzas, I'm Italian... try to understand... I can't survive without them!"
And to add top it off, he signed "Alberto #3"!!! Hahahahaha. That, I believe was an indirect swipe at her for not bothering to remember her flatmates' names and refer to them by their room numbers!!!!!
Anyway, US (as we sumtimes refer her as) kept to her word and when i went to the kitchen last nite to cook me dinner, i found a pack of frozen chips left out on the counter next to the sink. Ghisseh told me that US found it in her shelf, took it out and left it out like that. Hey, it wasn't even Saturday yet!!!! Ghisseh din know who's chips it was.
Later, Michael and I found some space in another freezer and chucked the chips into it - altho by then, the chips were pretty soft oredi.
Hey, dun get me wrong - she generally treats me pretty nice (of course if you overlook the fact that she doesn't bother to learn my name despite living in the room next to mine!!!!). She'd offer me sweets and chocs and we do have some decent conversations on American movies once in a while.
But her chips throwing tantrum went too far this time and I had to blog bout it. Sure, she may have a valid complaint that people are putting things in her allocated space in the freezer. But you dun just chuck it out like that! It's not like she needed the space immediately. We are after all for all intents and purposes living under one roof. We have to learn to give and take. There are ways to deal wif this kind of situations (we are having a flat mtg later today to have a mature discussion about this matter and others).
But nooooo. It's in her space and she wants it out NOW!
Sigh... Americans. ;-P
# posted by imissw : 3:17:00 am
Comments:
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i am a canadian who is about to marry an american. i agree with a lot of the things you say. i am caught off-guard by their straight forward approach sometimes. i think us passive brits/canadians can learn from that sometimes though. most of them mean well, just laugh it off, laugh with her, she will likely respond well.
well, i dun agree wif you that she means well. but i agree that we should - and we will - laugh it off and laugh wif her!
and please dun get me wrong - i know many Americans who are really thoughtful, considerate and nice. this is not intended to take a swipe at Americans generally.
it's just that a lot of people complain (and i feel at times not justified) about Americans a lot - and me flatmate is exactly wat they complain about!!!
cheers!
and please dun get me wrong - i know many Americans who are really thoughtful, considerate and nice. this is not intended to take a swipe at Americans generally.
it's just that a lot of people complain (and i feel at times not justified) about Americans a lot - and me flatmate is exactly wat they complain about!!!
cheers!
hmm and i notice all whites have bad handwritting i wonder why? maybe just the ones i know? its as if they all were taught to write that way in school, but heck mine sucks too
well, to be fair to Alberto (#3), he prolly had to write on the note when it was oredi posted - and well, take my word for it - it must hv been difficult for him to do so.
i blame the modern technology for the deterioration of handwriting in general. when i was working, i hardly wrote. typed like for 90% of the time. even drafted and corrected documents on the PC.
hehe - i've seen yrs. not that bad. i cant read my own handwriting, ok!!!!
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i blame the modern technology for the deterioration of handwriting in general. when i was working, i hardly wrote. typed like for 90% of the time. even drafted and corrected documents on the PC.
hehe - i've seen yrs. not that bad. i cant read my own handwriting, ok!!!!
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