responses to kokuhaku

Hello. I am a 26 yr old female international student in a uni and I just confessed to my 23 yr old lab member that I think I like him (in Japanese). His response was "sugoi". He exclaimed this two times after my confession. I want to know what it means cause I still cannot talk to him and we still feel awkward with each other. thank you

Lol, if you feel awkward towards each other then how do you expect it to work out?!
You're both adults so just talk to each other.

Maybe he was just stunned that someone who had never really spoken to him before (or since?) would suddenly "confess" to him. I would agree with the poster above. Rather than trying to reenact a scene from a Japanese TV drama or anime, just talk to each other like grown adults.

Well, to give you an answer to your question, which was (if I remeber correctly) what "sugoi" menas. Guess you could translate it with "great" or "outstanding". Now, if this is a positive comment or just some "whatever" remark, guess you have to find out by yourself.

I agree with the opinion by ... (guest).

young people use "sugoi" frequently, but their word "sugoi" do not have special meaning. he just say "I am surprised.". I think your confession embarrassed him. But this does not mean he does not like you.

If he said "sugoi" and confessed back, that is more positive.

Thank you for your replies. I did the kokuhaku inside our laboratory and the moment was spoiled when one of our lab members also came in! Yesterday he tried to have a conversation with me by asking where our sensei was. I answered but I could not look at him in the eye. :( Still very awkward. After staying for around 5 mins he left the lab and never came back. :( I won't be having the chance to talk to him until next week since I will be out of the uni. :(

You sound incredibly immature for being 26. You should've got his number so you could talk with him anytime.
Seems you aren't ready for relationships yet.

Lol someguy. why confess and then act all awkward around him? What's the point of confessing then. Unless he acts very disinterest in you then i could understand. Woman up and just go on talking to him like before. Maybe a cup of coffee after lab? Or hotel lol jk jk but it wouldn't hurt to ask someone out to luch or so. ;)

I messaged him thru Line, saying that I want to talk to him Monday next week after my trip. Of course I want him to reciprocate but I shall expect for the worst.

Well he did not show up. I do not know if he does not want to hurt my feelings or he is still at a lost. :/ I just want an answer haha.

Well you are in the same lab so you'll see him eventually. It's hard to say what he's thinking.

I believe that if he wasn't interested in you and cared a bit about your feelings he would have either showed up or told you through LINE but I'm not in his head.

He showed up in the lab today and he asked me about my trip. I invited him to dinner so we could talk outside of the lab but he declined. Anyway I am taking it as a sign that he only thinks of me as a friend. I don't know, is it common for Japanese men to give these confusing "signs"? We are like best friends, we help each other either in research or lab duties, he would always sit beside me during zemis and konpas, checks my research everyday while patting my shoulders. He first invited me to go out to watch Japanese comedy just the two of us (futari de iku?) and eventually went to fieldwork and sports bar, just the two of us. Damn why do they have to be like this...

Well at least being friends is better than nothing. Some people are just freindly. Sounds like a typical thing I do with my friends. Maybe you are getting the wrong vibe from it.

He told me before that he had a crush on me/I am cute ("moe"). I cannot determine if he is flirting or just being too nice because I am the only girl and an international student...:/

Well, if he told you you're "moe", you may still have a chance.
Try shaving off that extra dimension of yours and get back to him once you're 2D i guess.

LOL...So today, I just learned that this thing between my labmate and I became the topic during the lab konpa when I was away. My girl labmate asked me if I was okay when this labmate would tell me Japanese dirty jokes (shimoneta). So among the girl students, I am the only one whom he could be open with when it comes to these jokes. Of course, the gaikokujin in me who only has survival Japanese skills could not comprehend shimoneta.:/

Anyway, I had the chance to talk to him and said just forget what happened last week because I do not like the tension between the two of us. He just said no problem. I said I respect his feeling and he replied "sugoi" again. Well I did not get a crystal clear "no" as an answer from him but I do not want to force him to reply back.

I think that you probably did the right thing here. At least now he knows how you're feeling.

If he wasn't ready at the time but likes you I think he is likely to confess later. If he doesn't like you he seems to be ok to stay friends.

Even if it hurts you seem to have a good relationship with him. It would be too bad to wreck it I think.

And lastly I completely understand how it must be weird for you not to understand much Japanese. I'm pretty sure my workmates talk about me sometimes but I can't get what they're saying about me (since they're not doing it right next to me I can't hear clearly).

Yeah now this thing about shimoneta gets my mind spinning, like why does he have the guts to tell it to a girl without thinking that I might get offended or take it differently. Maybe he's just abusing my inability to understand Nihongo? haha. Given that the Japanese are strict when it comes to sekohara.

Japanse people tend to avoid saying no at all costs (unless you keep insisting) so you can read the no if he's for example avoiding you or something. For people you don't meet at work or something the most common is that they will just stop replying to messages. I think it's near impossible to have a Japanese person tell you directly: "I don't like you" or something like that.

I hope it will get better for you. It's not easy I know especially seeing the person everyday.