Frisbee and thoughts on differences

The frisbee game today went pretty well. I learnt a lot again. I was really tired, mainly because I'm still so unfit. One of the person quoted me this. "A veteran player once said, 'You get fit to play frisbee, not play frisbee to get fit.'" I'm doing the latter, because that's what I'm trying to do, get fit. Once I get better and better at playing, it'll probably end up being the former. I met more people, like Raphael who helped explain more strategy and playing techniques to me. I need to work on my throwing. It REALLY sucks. Then there's Edgar, I think, who commented that his sister went to Stanford too, 10 years before I did. Met Nick again, who plays at the Muddy Grass pickup too. And more people. Looks like I'll probably add Tuesday to my list of pickup games to go to.

Many of the people there asked me whether I was local. I have been getting that question a lot. Not surprising, considering I don't try to fit in, I just do whatever I feel like doing. I still speak differently, think differently, dress differently. I feel good being different.

When I was younger, I was afraid to be different, and wanted to fit in. I didn't fit in, and felt bad because of it, being teased a lot about being different and not part of a group. Now, after being to Stanford, I no longer care too much about fitting in. The Bay Area, Stanford and Phi Psi celebrates differences just as much as similarities. When you're different, your skills are different, and you can contribute in different ways. Different people make life more interesting. If everyone does the same thing, how boring is that? Once you have a basic similarity with some people, look for how they differ from you. Learn from it, enjoy it, that they have different hobbies. Let them show it to you, show you their world. Then show them your world, and let them learn from it too. It's amazing. I'm going to try to see Singapore through my own eyes, the eyes of the true blue Singaporeans who play frisbee, and also through the eyes of the foreigners too.

I'm not saying that I don't enjoy being similar to people. My closest friends, like David, Jason, Schwartz, Danger, Guohao, Danny, etc, all have similar traits to me. I enjoy being able to share time with them, doing things we all enjoy. But they also think differently from me. David is extremely meticulous and a born leader, Jason way better at adminstrative and organization than I am, Schwartz being able to manipulate a computer better than I can dance, Danger being the literary guy, Guohao being the medical person and Danny the amazing baseball player. So different, yet the same values in many ways. All good friends and people I call brothers.

What did Phi Psi teach me? We come from all over the world, and believe different things. But we are all brothers, a common bond of fraternity, gentlemenly values, and responsibility to each other. We argue a lot about our differences, and our differences have led us to lots of arguments. But we learn from all these things and that's what's amazing about it. Our differences and our willingness to embrace them.

So, in conclusion, I'm happy to be different. Not just another person in the works, but uniquely different. Yeah!!!