singapore is in south-east asia!

you know how all us singaporeans talk about foreigners thinking that singapore is in china and how we laugh about it all the time and express disbelief at how people could actually be so ignorant?

i experienced that first-hand on friday!!

i was at a party hosted by one of the 2nd-year JETs, and there was this american girl who's also a JET but not an osaka-city one. so we were talking, and i said i'm from singapore, and she went like "ohh!". for some reason - i've never done this so far - i asked her if she knew where that was in a light-hearted manner, and she said rather enthusiastically (she was raised in california i think) "yeah! china!"

you know, because of the way i asked the question and the way she answered, i thought she was joking and making a reference to the whole "angmohs think singapore is in china" joke, and i laughed in response till it dawned on me that she wasnt joking at all and she really, honestly, truly thought that singapore is in china.

oh my goodness.

i tried to explain then that no, singapore is between malaysia and indonesia, but got a blank-ish look, and then i broadened that explanation to 'singapore is in south-east asia', but i think she still didnt really get me and hence now has no clue at all where singapore is.

i'm really, really stumped by this lack of knowledge. it's fine if you dont know where we are cos you're from a different part of the world, but not knowing even where south-east asia is? you just have to locate asia mentally and move to the south-east of the atlas where asia is! it's like going, america, south, and you get texas etc.

and you know what? this girl is asian-american herself.. her parents are from east-asia, and hey, east asia isnt that far off from south-east asia you know?

i'm sorry i sound really bitchy here, but i'm completely flabbergasted.!