"Bi-chan"

Today, we were split into groups of 6 and asked to visit different major sites throughout Kyoto. My group was assigned the controversial Kyoto station and Kyoto Tower. Controversial among locals for its extremely modern architecture, the Kyoto station is roughly 5 floors of public transportation, eateries, stores, and more. Across the street is the Kyoto tower, a terrific lookout over the greater Kyoto area. From the skydeck, we observed the stark juxtaposition of modern structures next to traditional Japanese style buildings.

My group consisted of 5 boys and myself. In contrast to most of the other abroad programs, the Stanford Kyoto program has overwhelming majority of boys: with a ratio of 28:8, us girls are highly outnumbered. As a result, I have found myself often surrounded by guys (although this isn't much of a change of pace from Mechanical Engineering). The guys in the program have kindly nicknamed me "Bi-chan." Japanese lacks the V sound, and as a result, my name has transformed from Vivian -> Bibian. Furthermore, a term of endearment or closeness is the addition of "chan" to the end of your name. Thus, "Bi-chan" was born. Despite my attempts to reject this nickname, its popularity has only spread further through the program, and I now find myself responding to it.