Post-Orientation

So now that I am fully oriented...school begins Monday. I couldn't help but be amazed at how small the world is after orientation. Friday as I wandered around the Elliott School, who did I see but my RA from Beijing, also looking for our language testing classroom. We chatted about what we had been up to in the time since Beijing, sat down in our classroom...and then last years US Embassy Singapore intern sits in front of me. SMALL WORLD eh? Then I went to a banquet in Gaithersburg for my friend's club volleyball team and saw some girl. She seemed familiar. I told Stephen to ask her where she goes to school. Starting at GWU. Oh, she was in my testing earlier that morning as well!

So I guess feel a little better.

Crystal City

I'm moved in, and officially residing in Virginia. My room is set, besides not having a desk chair and wall art, my shoes are organized along my walk-in closet, my closet is divided and space maximizing. All is well. I was living without a kitchen table for a week or so which was pretty fun...eating off of Rubbermaid storage bins in my empty living/dining room was probably the epitome of the poor graduate student experience. But really, I blame the abundance of space, rather than the lack of furniture! There is entirely too much room in my entire apartment, so much so that I need to brainstorm potential mini-room solutions to take up more space and create the illusion of occupancy. If you have stopped by my apartment recently and/or helped me move, my thanks go out to you. A good friend loves you even when you have nothing but the carpet and a cup of coffee to offer.

At any rate, orientation begins today, so I suspect my home decor endeavors will soon be curtailed by the onslaught of reading that we like to call 'education'. I checked out the syllabi posted for two of my four classes. The first thing I noticed was that they were both well over ten pages long. With what, you ask? A deluge of scholarly articles, with an average of one book read every week. I really should look into speed reading techniques, but fear that my attention span is so scattered that skimming over certain sections will equate to daydreaming about frolicking through meadows and concocting delicious recipes.

Wish me luck!

Home?

Being back in Maryland is not what I thought it would be. I've been home since Tuesday afternoon, and have yet to see any of my friends. Not because I don't want to but...actually, yea, I just don't feel like seeing people. I have also been out of my house all day running around trying to get my stuff together. I move in tomorrow morning but have yet to accomplish anything, besides changing my mind about what color sheets I want about 20 times, and buying a huge/insanely awesome desk. There's too much space in the suburbs! I miss being jostled and crowded along the busy streets and underpasses of Singapore. In short, I have a severe case of reverse culture shock. *bangs head on table* Hopefully this will pass.

Countdown

The day has finally come, and I'm about to leave for home. First however, I will have to go through a 3 hour wait at the airport, 13 hour flight, 6 hour layover in Heathrow, and another 8 hour flight. I am fully prepared for my journey: I've armed myself with a pack of baby wipes to "shower" with while in London! With a few hours until I leave for the airport, I have been debating whether to leave the confines of my air-conditioned paradise to brave the Singaporean heat one last time, and make some more last minute shopping purchases. Never in my life did I expect to shop so much, and still want to shop some more. The Sings have an uncanny knack for turning the ordinary into extraordinary.

Things I will miss about Singapore:

• Shopping (especially: Wisma Atria, Vivo City, Etude House, Charles and Keith, and the super-organized Forever 21!)
• Food (especially: What Do You Prata, Wisma Food Republic, Hotel Rendezvous Kopitiam, Plaza Singapura Kopitiam, Mos Burger, Kopi-C, Red Dragonfruit, 'Exotic' fruit in general, Milo McFlurries, KAYA toast, and Killiney Kopitiam)
• People watching at Pacific Plaza
• Tan, well dressed, attractive Asians
• Signs that provide guidance for every imaginable aspect of life
• Beautiful, new, expensive, shiny cars
• Beautiful flora
• Cleanliness. The US should implement fines for all of the things the Sings do- our air pollution index would drop exponentially.
• Ardmore Park. I feel like I'm going home to live in the slums now.
  

My future roommate sent me a link to fight jetlag. It basically says, don't eat for 16 hours to reset your inner clockwork. HAHA, not happening when I fly on Singapore Airlines!

High Society

One of my favorite places to sit and people watch in Singapore is at the Starbucks at Pacific Plaza. That CD Shop, a Singaporean chain, blasts some fantastic music mixes on its speakers at just the right volume that I can still hear those around me talking, while enjoying the music. I finally ventured in today to inquire about the music that was playing. It's from a Singaporean label called High Society, that packages and mixes music into collections by genre- for example, there's one called "Lust", "Shanghai Jazz", etc. They have a limited edition set that I really really want (and I don't normally buy CDs)- it's not available to download or on ITunes, so I have between now and Monday evening to decide if I want to splurge my hard earned money on this...You can look at their site here:
http://www.highsociety.com.sg/
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Update: I purchased it! Temptation was too strong. It comes in this beautiful white leather lockbox with a red velvet interior, gold key, and pull out drawers. Oh and a deck of cards too, random.

Craig's List

I think I'm addicted. I keep refreshing the furniture window every 20 seconds or so to see if anyone has posted. I've got my fingers crossed for a dining set and a couch set right now...problem? Possibly.

Winnie the Pooh Quotes

I wanted to put something clever as my header, so I started thinking about possible quotes. I had "Alis Volat Propiis" (She flies with her own wings) for a while, but it was just too serious for the way I was feeling this morning (I drank a pretty big cup of coffee, so I was quite jittery). My search brought me to Winnie the Pooh, and the quote you see in my header. I found a whole bunch of Winnie the Pooh quotes online, and I think I fell out of my seat from the cuteness overload that ensued. Here are some :

"If you live to be 100, I hope I live to be 100 minus 1 day, so I never have to live without you.”

"If ever there is tomorrow when we're not together.. there is something you must always remember. you are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. but the most important thing is, even if we're apart.. i'll always be with you.”

"If there ever comes a day when we can't be together keep me in your heart, I'll stay there forever”

"You can't stay in your corner of the Forest waiting for others to come to you. You have to go to them sometimes.”

Piglet sidled up to Pooh from behind.
"Pooh," he whispered. "Yes, Piglet?"
"Nothing," said Piglet, taking Pooh's paw, "I just wanted to be sure of you."


Okay, you can go keel over from the cuteness now.

The Real World: Singapore- Final Episode

I think this is the part in The Real World where everyone begins to leave and say their goodbyes. A long, long hug, a tearful promise to keep in touch, and as the day trickles on, the Real World-ers depart one by one. I suppose the only difference is that my roommates and I don’t really hug, and that we’re leaving over the span of a week or so, which makes everything seem even more drawn out. Last day and a half of work. It’s been a great summer…and now on to greener pastures?

$1 Fat

I learned recently that overweight schoolchildren in Singapore are required to attend a mandatory after school exercise program called “Trim and Fit” until they reach the ideal weight range for their age group. They are also required to run laps during their recess time instead of playing with other kids, and participate in a ‘calorie cash’ program, wherein cash can be traded in for food at lunch. The amount of cash each child receives is inversely proportional to his/her weight. Trim and Fit is ‘FAT’, spelled backwards by the way.

I discovered the Daiso, the Japanese 100 yen store (or Dollar Tree, or 2 Singaporean dollars) with Grace a few weeks ago. I ended up spending $42 on my initial trip there because I thought everything was $1 SGD (so I purchased 21 items…). Realization that everything was actually $2 SGD didn’t deter me apparently- I went to the Daiso in VivoCity on Saturday and purchased four ties and an earring stand. Ties! For $2 SGD!! (That’s about $1.40 USD) Obviously 4 weren’t enough. I went back on Sunday, and purchased another 10 ties. So to my guy friends- expect ties as souvenirs. No cheesy magnets or I Love Singapore t-shirts for you!

Aging

I was browsing through old friends' Facebooks today and suddenly realized that many of the people I hung out with freshman year of college are now married. That, coupled with a summer spent amongst older graduate students and experienced professionals, has led to a constant, impending sense of doom- er, I mean, antiquity. I am not ready to be one of those people on Facebook that you occasionally stumble upon and think, "Oh, she used to be fun." Granted I am pretty boring to begin with, so imagine what a full time job and a few years will do to me. Actually, don't imagine. I've got two years of graduate school to get through first, so by golly I will not be the old boring person until after I am the super huge nerd at the library!

I Googled myself the other day, and to my dismay, one of the first entries that popped up was some random Xanga entry that I wrote in 2003. Oh my goodness, the things that you are so certain of at the age of fifteen...Well, that was the last straw. I'm shutting down (or privatizing, whatever) Xanga, so check my blogspot from now on. I'll even attempt to write more intelligent, thoughtful posts!

One last note, in case you haven't heard: I am moving to Crystal City mid-August (August 15 is the plan). After living in university housing for the past four years, I am absolutely lacking in the furniture department. So, if you have: sofas/couches, coffee teables, end tables, floor lamps, lamps, a desk, maybe a full size bed frame, any kitchen stuff, area rugs...ANYTHING- I want it all! Alternatively, I need strong hands and a minivan or truck to help me pick up random pieces of furniture that I will probably end up purchasing off of Craig's List. Send me a message, offer me your help, and I will feed you after I am settled in, promise :]