Whinings

I know I sound like I'm having fun all the time, but trust me, life over here is not all that fun. Being the Singaporean that I am, I've a long list of complains right now...

Starting with the weather. Winter is definitely not fun at all.

(1) Going anywhere is really troublesome. On top of piling on so much clothes, I've to carry so many things - gloves, hats, scarves... can barely fit into my bag.
(2) Speaking of bag, it's so difficult to carry my bag because I can barely feel it above all the layers of clothes. And, it keeps slipping off because the coat makes my arms 3 times fatter.
(3) I can't find anything in my bag among all the the scarves and gloves... and I need to flash my NYU card whenever I enter any building or take the bus, so I'm always clumsily searching for it. I probably can't hear my hp if it rings under everything too.
(4) Imagine carrying a fat bag plus a thick coat walking around school. I bought my textbooks and groceries today... all added together, I felt like a garang guni man lumbering around school.
(5) Whenever I pay for something at a shop, I've to remove my gloves, feel about for my wallet, figure out how much to pay (still not familiar with all the coins), put on my gloves before going out...
(6) Everything is so heavy. My shoulders ache from all the coats hanging over my shoulder everyday and it's difficult to move quickly. Today, Cat and I were running for the bus... besides looking like a duck about to fall over its short feet (well, I know I've long legs, but they felt short then), I was carrying so many bags and my only thought was, 'If I fall forward now, I'm going to dislocate so many bones.'
(7) Continuing from (6), when the wind blows too strongly, it makes it even more difficult to move forward.

More complaints...
(8) My hostel has implemented the most ridiculous system. Initially, we had to flash our cards at the guard before he opens the door for you. Then, we had to flash our cards, and then swipe our cards to activate the turnstile to get in. As of today, we have to flash our cards for the door to open, then key in our birthdate at this device on the turnstile, then swipe our cards... I know it's security and all, but surely there's no need for this! It's not as if my identity would change from the 1 second I take to walk from the guard to the turnstile. There were so many people jamming up at the small space between the guard and the turnstile today because it just takes so long to get through.
(9) Now I truly appreciate the A1/A2 bus service at NUS. They're packed, but they come frequently, and there are bus stops... over here, the shuttles come once in 15 minutes, sometimes 30 minutes...so once you miss it (and I seem to miss it all the time), you're left freezing in the open until the next one finally comes. And they're not exactly on schedule because of the traffic around New York City. For now, I can only take the bus from the last stop because there are no bus stops and I've no idea where else it stops.
(10) I've to pay for RECEIVING smses. And the mobile service provider sends you sms-es with advertisments sometimes.
(11) Textbooks are so expensive. I'm trying my best not to buy any... but the professors compile notes into course packs we have to buy and they're ridiculously priced.

If you can see it, that thin pack of thing that contains papers printined in black and white costs 40 + USD. The used textbook I ordered from Amazon costs 40+ USD... in the bookstore, textbooks range from 120-160 USD, each.

(12) It takes forever to get anywhere. Walk, wait for bus, walk, wait for bus...

(13) I tried the coffee at school today. It cost me $1.45 and it wasn't even hot.

(14) I'm so deprived of vegetables. I love this grilled vegetables at the deli nearby... but it's $3 for a tiny pack of cucumber, zucchini and brocoli.

(15) Everything here is just fastfood and beef. Fastfood is GROSS, don't even know what parts of the cow/pig/chicken go in... I avoid it as much as possible.

(16) Even going to the washroom is troublesome... figure out why.

(17) The accounting standards/terms are quite different here, so I'm quite lost during my managerial accounting class.

(18) Even files and folders are expensive. It'll cost me at least $4 USD for a ring folder... and I can't even use them when I'm back because they're letter sized. I'm keeping all my notes in 5 stacks in my drawer to save on files and a 3-hole puncher, how pathetic.


I'm sure I thought of many more complains while waiting for the bus in the cold today, but they've slipped my mind.



Well, just to make this post a bit more positive...





(1) I found my Vitasoy Malt at Chinatown today! It's so hard to find it in Singapore, but they actually have it here! Anyway the shops at Chinatown have quite a lot of stuff, like rabbit sweets, Khong Guan biscuits, instant noodles (okay, not relevant to me because I refuse to eat them too.), instant udon (only 60 cents...my dinner tomorrow!), tofu... and, I've pork floss bun for breakfast tomorrow!

(2) I made a trip to the bookstore today and it's unbelievably easy. You scan your NYU card at this station and you immediately receive a printout with the textbooks for all your courses, their prices, and where to locate them. And textbooks are arranged according to courses... so you look for the course along the aisle, and tadaa, all the books for the course are waiting for you.

(3) There are so many kinds of bread here. It's a bread heaven... everytime I go to the supermarket, I've to keep reminding myself that I'll be here for a few months and to take my time to try everything. And I love bagels with cream cheese... they're cheap, big and yummy.

(4) The laundry here is fantastic. Expensive, but all the machines work, and the dryers actually dry your clothes. In Pgp, half the machines don't work, clothes come out more dirty than they were to begin with at times, and the dryers don't dry your clothes.


Look at what just came in my NYU E-mail!

'Mix it Up!

Are you interested in living with someone of the opposite sex next year?
Residential Education offers you the opportunity to do so through the Mixed-
Sex Housing program!
Come find out about the program and meet other potential roommates at an
information session.

The Mixed-Sex Housing program Information Session will be held:
Tuesday, January 23rd, 2007 at 9:00 PM in the Palladium Multipurpose Room (3rd
Floor).

The application will be available on-line from February 1-14, 2007.'

Mixed sexed housing programme? Why do you need a programme for that?!

I've been quite amused by some things here... for example, the Washington Square News, which is the NYU daily student paper... I was reading it that day and there was an article about students complaining that their examination results take too long to be released... I read on and I realized... it's 'too long' because they expect it within 72 hours! omg, I think the local students will just faint if they hear that NUS takes 1 month at least.

Oh, Americans say 'Hi how are you' all the time. And they told us during the orientation that the only reply to it is 'fine how are you?'. Even if you're not fine at all. I haven't really gotten used to saying that, but I think it's quite a nice habit. Everywhere I go, there're people saying 'how are you' or 'have a nice day'. Today, at the supermarket, the cashier told me to 'have the absolute best day'. He probably doesn't mean it, but well, it's nice to hear anyway.