MrDungX's Blog

I’m having one free hour before bedtime and feeling like writing something. So here goes, some fun facts from my years of studying abroad in Australia..

• Indian students are flooding every university in Australia. Personally I don’t have any problem with it, but when you get into a teamwork group of all Indians in an almost all-Indian class, you better try hard to memorize their faces from the first meeting. Because if you don’t, the next time in class you will probably have to go around the room awkwardly again and again and still cannot recall who you should talk to. They all look awfully alike.
  Not so surprisingly, Indians told me the same thing about Eastern Asians. To an Indian, every Asian man walking in the street looks just like Jacky Chan.

• It’s also not a very good idea to be in a project team with all Chinese. When the discussion gets high, they may unintentionally switch back to talking Chinese and even shout at you in Chinese.
  Other than being a little bit too noisy in public places, most young Mainland Chinese I have met are nice people. They are also very well aware of their country’s power and believe China will become no.1 in 20 years. But if you ask them about the infamous Unknown Rebel at Tiananmen Square photo, they will probably tell you that it’s just a pic of some random guy getting back from shopping and lost his way right in front of some random tanks.

• It’s usual for a Thai name to have the word “porn” in it. So the next time when a hot Thai tells you her name is “Iwatchaporn”, make sure you don’t laugh, or (even worse) wink back at her.

• Talking about names, obviously my name somehow sounds like a bad word in Indonesian. My Indo mates keep saying something like “boo-dun” (i.e. “Bui Dung”) when they hear my name, which I believe means stupid. As you may already know, my name doesn’t sound right in English either.
  Thus when I name my child, I will make sure it sounds good in at least 3 popular foreign languages.

• I always prefer young teachers. Old teachers are often less energetic, many are outdated, and most of them give horribly sleepy lectures. But be aware of their passionateness.
  One time I got my assignment result from a 60-ish programming teacher at midnight. That assignment costed me two white nights and I only got 20/30. Not satified with the score, I emailed him a long letter with many words highlighted in bold to show my dissatisfaction. It was around 12:30am. Half an hour later, he sent me an even longer email, with no extra point granted. Feeling challenged, I promptly replied him back with more specific arguments. But at nearly 2:00am, he again responded with another long email, basically saying “no” to all my points. I finally gave up, though not forgot to send him my regards to his health. Hell yeah, you don’t want to mess with old teachers.

• Another thing about old teachers, not all of them are as respectable as in the way you might think.
  Last semester, when asked for some suggestions for my first 3D model, my tutor winked at me and said: “How about a hot nude model?”. I was strickened for few seconds. With a bald head and bushy beard, the old man looked purely evil. He’s one of my favs though.

• Vietnamese, my native language, is not a popular foreign language in any country in the world (maybe except in Laos). But it doesn’t mean that you can speak freely in Vietnamese to your fellows without the risk of being understood by others. It’s not so unusual for some Australians, especially the middle-ages, to know some Vietnamese.
  Some time ago, in a computer lab I was watching an old-school movie named Dumb Luck (“Số Đỏ”) when the teacher came by. Well, what the heck, you may say, but back then the lab was pretty easy and I was sort of his favourite student, so I could comfortably surf the net after finishing my work and was sent the link to the movie. The screen was showing the movie’s credits with plain text, so I didn’t turn it off. But suddenly behind my back my teacher spoke outloud the Vietnamese words on the screen. And he told me he also knew the movie, it had quite some hot scences which I should not watch in class. My hair was standing on end for few minutes.

• The last note is for people who play Starcraft. If you want to get to know a Korean girl, talking about Starcraft is an impressive way to go. Koreans have a crazy love for the 10-year-old strategy game, which is also my addiction. Superstar gamers like Lim Yo-Hwan, Hong Jin-Ho, Kang Min are well known names throughout the country, and idols of most Korean girls. So telling a Korean girl that you love Lim Yo Hwan’s play is just as impressive as when a foreigner tells a Vietnamese teengirl that he’s crazy about Lam Trường. It will help you to get the girl in no time. =D