Wicked.

If you remember, I had this issue in Japan. Because I am Asian, and let's face it, we don't look distinct enough, I was constantly being confused for a Japanese person. Combine that with the fact that my poor Chinese accent applied to my limited Japanese actually made me sound somewhat Japanese, people always thought I was native.

Can you believe I have the same 'problem' here? There is a large Chinese population in Panama that apparently has been here for generations. The 'r' and 'l' sounds of Japanese are almost exactly like that of the Spanish 'r'. Meaning what happens? On the first day of meeting the parents, one of the parents thought I was native and just a helper among all the students. I went to a music store yesterday and I passed as a Panamanian until I messed up a conjugation 5 minutes into the conversation. My compañeros have on a few occasions already confused me with a Panamanian person. Perhaps this is a trend that just follows me around... maybe I should try it out in Europe...

Since Sunday we've had two days of Spanish class (but I'd rather not update you on that until further developments) and we've had lectures/went to a museum. I'm approaching the beginning of the "getting accustomed" phase.

Because I was becoming tired for long periods in the day, I started drinking coffee. Caffeine and my body do not mix well. We'll see what happens.

Tim Soo