2 days of classes and to tell the truth, I’m actually quite tired. I am a morning person which means I prefer morning classes but I don’t really like 8am classes. Especially when it’s 2 days in a row! 🙁

Driving is a so-called must in the States but that doesn’t mean it’s a good thing on campus. Mainly coz parking space is limited on campus. I prefer to just walk. Well, I could consider getting a bicycle but not for now. For me, walking was an easy task back in Poly. Everything within stone’s throw. I like~~~ :heart: Here, I need to factor in a good solid 15 minutes of walking plus getting to my class 10 minutes before it starts so I get a good seat in the auditorium. Remember, I’m tiny. So if someone REALLY tall sits in front of me, I’m dead.

It’s definitely worse when the sun is just shining mercilessly on all of us. I keep drinking water but my mouth ends up feeling dry in a few minutes. I take back whatever I commented on having a room in an air-conditioned dorm. Smug me thought that it’ll be the worst in summer and I am not going to be around in the summer. So yea, I’m pretty much covered. Hello, wake up. This IS still summer. Anyway, I don’t exercise or do any sports so you could pretty much say this is exercise for me.  Hey, even going to the shops at Campus Town is exercise. It’s a good 15 minutes away. I’ve got something I need to return at the t-shirt shop but I’m just too lazy to go now. Maybe a little later…

Out of all my classes. I think the more fun ones would be Psychology and Astronomy. Economics is fine…Sis said it’s easy and Man Ling gave me a few tips. Rhetoric is more of a drag. The TA (Teaching Assistant: usually a graduate student) is fun. He made us interview our neighbour and then introduce him/her. Discovered some pretty cool things about my classmates. 2 of them have a twin sibling. One ang moh girl can speak Mandarin. (Darn, I should have gone up to her and asked her something in Mandarin. Maybe next class…) One guy wants to take up Mandarin. I’m absolutely fascinated when an ang moh wants to learn more about our culture. 3 of them are Koreans. I introduced Patrick who is a Business major. He too would like to take Japanese if he hadn’t had to take Rhetoric!

So why is Rhetoric a drag? Coz basically, it’s a mandatory writing class all freshmen have to take. Well, that also depends on your English/Writing score in SAT. Anyway, most freshmen end up taking the class. I don’t write well especially in time constraints. Even writing a blog entry can sometimes take up to half an hour. We had to write a half page on analysing a quote within 15 minutes today. Now, if the topic is something I’m familiar and passionate about, I could ramble on and on. Let’s just say it wasn’t. I know I could have analysed it better if I had been given more time but I was just panicking when my neighbours were furiously writing and I was still stuck at one small paragraph and trying to compose my thoughts. Ok, I should give myself some”false sense of security”…my handwriting is much smaller than my neighbours’ so I can squeeze more words in a line.

My brain really ended up fried after that class. Luckily I had a long break before the next class and I could go back to the dorm to recharge.

My floor is having an activity tonight. Tie-dye. Simple activity but gives us a chance to socialise. I’m not really sociable and I’m already learning to be comfortable eating at the dining hall alone. Something rather interesting too. The frequency of the Americans and Singaporeans are very different. I remember having no trouble talking to a fellow Singaporean, Huiwei at dinner. First time meeting her too. But when I’m talking to Americans, there are more awkward silences. Even from the replies, you know that the frequency is different. Ok, I’ll try harder…

I think I will get a printer soon. There are printers in the library and hall but I just prefer convenience and knowing I can do anything to the printer coz it’s MINE. I’m factoring in what I will do with it after 4 years too. Even getting a phone line. A lot of people are asking me to team up with others for a family plan. It’s technically cheaper but I don’t like having to share bills with friends coz there’s a responsibility to make sure you don’t go overboard with your calls so someone else can get equal talktime too. I will check things out with my aunt first and then make my decision. Sorry, I just like to be in control of my things. I’m not being selfish, I will share my things with others but I like to make the decisions. Whatever…I don’t think I need to explain myself and prove anything.

Some readings to do already…I will try to post up more photos in the weekend. 🙂

Hey! I thought I lost the entry on going to the orchard. It was just saved and not posted afterall so I just edited the timestamp and posted it. Lucky! 🙂

Haven’t been updating coz Mum took some photos with her digicam and I wanted to post them up. Thing is, she forgot to bring the cable. Anyway, towards the end of their trip, I bought a card reader out of desperation. I’ll post the photos taken during the time they were around later.

I officially moved into the dorm on the 18th. I am very very lucky to get a room at Busey-Evans. Even more lucky to get a single room. It is stated on the website that Busey-Evans has many returning residents thus space for freshmen are limited. Most of the rooms are single rooms except for the corners which are doubles. Normally, hardly any freshie gets a single room. No wonder I kept checking the housing website only to find that I didn’t have any room mate.

Single room means more privacy and I get to decorate the room however I like. I didn’t get a fridge or microwave since I don’t really need them. Anyway, Ethan had a mini fridge when he was staying in the dorm which is now sitting in the basement of their house. Aunty said I can take it if I need it. As for the microwave, there’s a common one in the pantry so I’m fine with that.

I haven’t put up any posters coz I didn’t bring any Japanese related ones from home. I think I’ll do that next year. Have kept my belongings to a minimum so I have enough floor space. I thought I brought too many clothes from home. Seems like I’m fine afterall. I still have about one and a half empty drawers. 🙂

The room is bright enough at night since the building opposite has like 5 powerful street lamps. Usually, I sleep with a night light. I have very poor vision in the dark which is why I’m afraid of the dark. My eyes take a long time to adjust. But here, it just takes a short while and I’m fine. 🙂

A glimpse of my room…

I’m giving my room a pink theme…think pink…hehehe…

Sharing a common bathroom can be quite a hassle but I’m not complaining since Evans Hall is an all girls dorm. If any guy walks into the bathroom, he’ll be the one scared and not any of us. At our floor meeting yesterday, we all agreed to keep our bathroom out of bounds to any male. So, should any boyfriend come visiting girlfriend, he’ll just have to use the bathroom on the first floor.

So why is it a hassle? There are 2 shower stalls side by side. Although there’s a huge curtain to cover both shower stalls, you don’t have much privacy to change. That’s why we figured out I would need a bathrobe. I just go back to my room to change. Another plus point on the single room. Can freely change in the room without someone peeping.

I’m trying to get used to where each room is in the basement. It’s a maze downstairs. I could hardly find the dining hall. Finally found it behind a normal looking door. If I hadn’t heard the sound of clinking dishes, I wouldn’t even know it’s there. It’s significantly smaller to the one at Allen Hall. Food is ok, buffet style.

Yesterday was Quad Day. It’s like an open house for all the student organisations. Nothing quite like in Singapore. Imagine about 600 booths covering the quad lawn which is slightly bigger than our National Stadium.

So cool right? Talking about size, the auditorium I was in on Convocation Day…once you’ve seen it, our Indoor Stadium is nothing. Convocation Day was on Monday. It’s like a welcome day where the Dean and professors make speeches and stuff. Quite a sight coz all the professors present wore the gown (the one worn on graduation day). I didn’t take any photos though. Got a photo of the free tee though. Something like a school tee. It has “Hail the Orange” (school song) printed at the back. Orange and dark blue are the school colours.

Back to Quad Day. It was held from 10am-3pm but I didn’t spend the whole time there. There are only 2 Japanese related organisations. A culture related one and an anime one. Signed up to be on the mailing list of both. Haha, I think everyone would have guessed that. Someone should start a cosplay and lolita dressing one. Don’t look at me, I’m not like a pro at lolita dressing so I can’t go start one. Man Ling started a floorball organisation. And of course, I signed up for the Singapore Students Association. Not like I don’t know they exist already. That’s precisely why I know Man Ling since last year.

The rest of the day, I escaped to the mall. Hahaha…my first buy of clothing. Bought an overall dress, a pair of jeans and a shirt at Kohl’s. Had a hard time locating the bus stop to go back though. Luckily I met a UIUC chinese grad student also having a hard time locating the bus stop so together we ran around looking for it.

I think this town really needs to do something about their bus stops. It’s just a stupid small sign. Not even prominant. Probably can’t even see from 100m away. Worse thing is that some roads are one way and go around in a maze so you can’t really make out which is going the other way so as to locate the bus stop. Only a few bus stops at certain locations have a proper bench or shelter. And I think people can just stop anywhere along the route. All they have to do is alert the bus driver. So confusing right? No wonder the primary transportation here is your own car.

First day of classes today. They are ok. Different from Secondary school or Poly. No transperencies to copy from. One has to pick out the main points from what the professor says and make your own notes. I think Astronomy 100 is going to be a fun class. Haha, making up for what I didn’t get in Poly. Beginning of Poly, they made us fill out a survey for CDS. It had Astronomy. I chose it but in the end it wasn’t in the list of classes. Grrr… But then again, Singapore is different. There are planetariums here and we get to go to one as part of our course. At last, I get to fiddle around with a real telescope! :yay:

I didn’t manage to get Japanese class. 🙁 By the time I registered for classes, Japanese class was all full. See, I couldn’t register before Summer Registration/Orientation Day. I vow to chiong for subject selection next semester! Embrace the Singapore kiasu spirit!

I’m taking Econs 102, Astronomy 100, Psychology 100 and Rhetoric 105 this semester. 14 credit hours in total. Maximum one can take each semester is 18 credit hours. Normally, most Singaporeans try to take the maximum since they are on scholarship and want to finish within 3 years. I’ve decided to stay for 4 years and go slower since I have a weaker foundation. Moreover, most Singaporeans come from JCs so they can transfer credit. Sadly, Poly diplomas are not recognised here. I heard from Man Ling that another Singaporean Poly grad tried to transfer credits but couldn’t.

14 credit hours is the average. I keep looking at my timetable and it looks kinda bare. But my aunt said I’m fine. I think I’ll try this for this semester then maybe cover more credit hours next semester if I’m ok. To graduate, I need to cover a minimum of 120 credit hours.

Alrighty, I’m done with this entry. Need to go take a bath coz it’s almost 9pm.