Meet with Thai Students

It was at the beginning of March that I came here. First, I stayed in Amstutz Hall, on the second floor. I didn't expect that many Japanese would be here, so when I saw Japanese students in the dormitory at first, I was very surprised. At that time, there were some Thai students on the same floor. When I saw them the first time, I thought they were also Japanese. They looked like Japanese, and at the same time, we can say we look like Thais. One of them also said, "You look Thai! Your skin is a little bit dark!" When I heard that, I was shocked because they said my skin was dark. I had thought that my skin was not dark. After they said so, I also said, "You look Japanese!!" Well, well... Can you distinguish between Japanese and Thai? Suppose you meet each other in the U.S.A. Maybe, if we met each other in Japan or Thailand, we could distinguish between foreigners and natives. In the U.S.A., there are many international students. It is hard to know where they are from at a glance. EVen though we are Oriental, it's difficult to distinguish between people who are from Thailand or China and so on. I guess Americans cannot distinguish between Japanese and Thai. I've never been to Thailand or any other Asian country except Hong Kong. I had never known about Thais until I met them. I think I'm lucky to have an opportunity to talk with another country's people. I can know about their country and people, then I feel like traveling to many countries. -Yuki Sato