Bull Ran Across Zebra's Ignorant Life

Hello my beloved readers!

Over 1400 views within only 27 posts?? You guys are the best!! I'm sorry I haven't written much. I just lack inspiration and time these days. Even though I have tons of drafts and ideas piled up on my blog file, I need inspiration to write about it. I hope you all enjoyed the sappy dragon story, and I hear some of you were confused. Long story short: I was lacking inspiration and I was challenged to write about dragons, crows and zombies on my next post. I didn't have any better ideas, so I thought I'd challenge myself by writing a story (which I haven't done in years but should get back to cuz it's actually really fun!) about things I'm not really into. I like being challenged!

Recently I've noticed a change in the pattern of my behaviour and social skills, especially when compared to when I was 18. I used to be very loud, energetic, bubbly, extroverted, and simply put, a show-off. Now I just like being a wallflower in social events, hanging out with less amounts of people at a time, and I've been too lazy/grumpy to go out of my way to meet people or talk to them. I also realized just how much I *loathe* small talk. I love having deep conversations and debates though! I also love people and spending time with them. But, more frequently than ever, I find that I've been in a little bubble and I get annoyed when people force themselves into it through small talk, FAQ's, or excessive physical touch

What's small talk? According to UrbanDictionary.com, small talk is "Useless and unnecessary conversation attempted to fill the silence in an awkward situation." I think the definition itself is enough to explain why I loathe it so much. It leads to an artificial social interaction, and quite frankly, I choose no interaction over an artificial one. I was hanging out with my buddy one time and we spent the entire day together. The beginning of the day we had lots of catching up and talking to do, which was great -- we had a very good talk and got really deep. Then, we ran out of things to say so we were quiet. In fact, towards the end of the day, there were complete silent points. And that was fine -- I love quiet moments where I can just zone out and meditate. He didn't bug me or ask me why I was so quiet, which was rare because people always do. He later was saying that he gets annoyed when he just wants quiet time and people try to force words out of his mouth, because it just makes everything artificial and he doesn't fear silence and that just because there's silence, doesn't mean it's a bad thing. I couldn't agree more with him.

I've come up with a list of questions I'm tired of answering or comments I'm tired of hearing -- tired either because they're asked/said so frequently, or because they're invasive. I decided to categorize them.

First, is about my background. People here look at me and they know right away that I'm not from here. But then I open my mouth and they get very confused. As a result, I get asked the same questions very frequently and get racist remarks every so often. So, I will address them once and for all.

1. What’s your ethnicity?
   Half-Japanese. Quarter-Italian. Quarter-Portuguese. I may have some small percentage of native Brazilian mixed with the Portuguese. I'm brown because my Japanese grandpa was brown -- not because I'm Brazilian. (Yes, we have many white people in Brazil! I can show you a picture of my white Brazilian friends!)
2. Do you wear contacts?
   No. I naturally have green eyes -- they go really dark, grey, golden, or turquoise depending on the lighting. My mom has brown eyes, and my dad has blueish green eyes.
3. Where are you from?
   São Paulo, Brazil.
4. Brazil? Wow! Why is your English so perfect?
   When I was six years old, my family moved to Switzerland where I attended an International school. For some reason, I spent my entire time there learning English so I never learned any other language. Then we lived in the States for a year and then when we came back to Brazil I went to an American school (kinda like how there's French immersion in Canada I did English immersion there) and graduated with an American High School diploma. Fun fact: I don't even have a Brazilian diploma!
5. So do you speak Spanish or Brazilian?
   Portuguese. There's no such thing as a Brazilian language, you dweeb. And yes, Portuguese and Spanish are similar and yes I can understand Spanish.
6. What’s it like in Brazil?
   I hate vague questions. What do you want me to say? It's warmer, more expensive to live in, people are more physically affectionate, front-line workers are rude, they have better food...?
7. How long have you lived in Canada?
   Since September 2010
8. What other places have you lived in?
   Born in Sao Paulo, Curitiba when I was 3, Sao Paulo when I was 4, Switzerland when I was 6, Belgium when I was 8, New Jersey when I was 8, Vinhedo when I was 9, Salvador when I was 13, Vinhedo when I was 14, Kelowna when I was 18, Belo Horizonte when I was 19, Kelowna when I was 19, Calgary when I was 21, Kelowna when I was 21 til present day.
9. What brought you to Canada?
   Canada is the country with the second largest land mass. And for a country so big, it is very underpopulated. Thus, to promote economic growth, the government started welcoming new immigrants with open arms. My family was invited to come up as permanent residents (meaning I have to live in Canada for two years out of every 5 year cycle, so there goes my plans to attend BYU). I applied to a bunch of universities and out of all the ones I got accepted to, I felt UBC Okanagan was the place to go.
10. Is it true that in Brazil all the women get plastic surgeries?
    Last I checked my nose and my boobs are still real and I'm still a Brazilian citizen.  Seriously, that's a dumb question. To answer it though, Latin-American women in general take care of themselves a lot more than Anglo-Saxon women. They shower every day, go to the beauty salon once a week, and they just like to look pretty. It's not a bad thing and it doesn't mean they're high-maintenance; it's just their culture. With regard to surgeries, I would say that plastic surgeons in Brazil are one of the best and therefore more surgeries take place there than here. Dr. Ray is Brazilian! And Brad Pitt apparently went down to Brazil for a cosmetic surgery too!
11. Is there a lot of exposure to pornography in Brazil?
    Women do not swim naked in the beach (that's Europe). I'd say getting access to it is a little easier than it is in North America, but that does not make Brazilian people more promiscuous (my other pet-peeve). Prostitution is illegal there and I've also never run into random naked people there. In fact, I hear a lot more sex jokes, see a lot more girls dancing like slut bags and offering themselves to guys, see less chivalry and respect from men, and run into more porn-addict guys here than in Brazil.
12. If you’re from Brazil, why is your dad white?
    Most southern Brazilians are white. (see question 1)
13. If you’re from Brazil, how did you end up in Kelowna?
    (see question 9)
14. Do they have it in Brazil?
    I don't get offended by that either -- I just get it asked so frequently and it gets annoying. Yes we have McDonald's, Pizza Hut, Starbucks, Subway, and Burger King. I can't think of anything else that people ask me. No Wendy's, Taco Bell, or A&W(and thank heavens for that!). Before you call it a dirt-hole, we have many restaurants that don't carry greasy unhealthy food and taste even better than all these other restaurants.
15. Kim is half-Asian, half-Brazilian.
    Biggest pet-peeve. There's no such thing as Brazilian ethnicity (again, because everyone's a mix of everything there); there's Brazilian nationality, which makes me 100% Brazilian.
16. [Any negative assumptions about Brazil]
    If you've never been to Brazil, you have no right to diss it. I complain about Brazil a lot, but that's because I lived 15 years of my life there, so I have that right. My arguments are based on experience; not my sheltered first-world-country perspective. Yes, there's poverty in Brazil like in any other country. It's a developing country. If you take into account the amount of natural resources it has (coffee beans, sugar cane, tropical weather, farming, etc.) especially the amount of taxes we pay the government, however, it's got everything it needs to be a first-world country. Why is it not there yet? Because our government is corrupt. Rather than investing in hospitals, making wages higher, or education, politicians have all these fancy benefits (the other day I found out our president spends over CAD$1K getting hair and makeup done -- all from our tax-paying pockets). So, if you're gonna look down on Brazil because it's still developing, diss our politicians; not us or our country as a whole.
17. [Any jokes pointing out my foreign background]
    Foreigner, immigrant, alien -- ha ha ha... those jokes are getting old. Seriously. I'm a permanent resident and as of last week, a citizenship applicant. The only difference between me and a regular Canadian is I don't vote or have a passport. But I will once I become a citizen! :)

I have other categories as well, but this post is already long so stay tuned for my next round of list of pet-peeves! If you have any more questions you'd like to know about Brazil, shoot em up and I'll be happy to answer them. I don't get offended with questions from people who wish to know more... I only get offended when people make assumptions or rhetorical questions based on those assumptions.

Love you all!! <3