Back…and jetlaaaaggged.

After a 6 hour drive down to the city, with 4 people crammed in the backseat, 9 luggages in the boot and in the front and a constant hailstorm, we arrived in a Columbia University’s dorm and passed out in the lounge in the most unglamorous way imaginable. Lunching at Tom’s Restaurant (off Seinfeld) was underwhelming and the crummy slush didn’t help matters. My initial enchantment with snow has been replaced with cynicism. Crabsticks.

The 22 hour Cathay flight was awesome cos of the food and the entertainment and after the cramped drive down, economy class seemed like an absolute luxury. Finally, leg room!

In any case, I made it back to Singapore alive, safe, sound and sleepy. And I’m operating on a very queer timezone. Which makes me fall asleep at random times and random places. Like in Orchard at 3pm, and in the middle of a family dinner, when everyone’s crowding around me watching The Little Nonya.

Snap out of this, Cheryl!

Halloween

Today was my first Halloween celebrated, ever. Back home in Singapore, it never used to be a huge deal even with all the American consumerism – but here, people start preparing costumes and blowing tonnes of cash weeks in advance to get an uber rad outfit.

Take for example, the extremely modest guy from my major (apparently) who dressed up as a gift-wrapped box and tied a note to the ribbon “To: Women, From: God”. Extremely subtle.

My prudes of hallmates dressed up as Sex Impersonified and Barbie Master. I was supposed to be a Pimp (not my idea, obviously.) but ended up as a failed pirate-disguised-as-sherlock-holmes. Don’t ask. I’ll definitely do something more creative next year.

Going around with friends to try to get into frat parties and watching the Ithaca Police break them up was not thrilling at all. An absolute waste of time! In the end, we climbed to the top of the McGraw Clock Tower and sat around in Mews chatting with Steph’s hallmates, which was fun.

Watched an off-broadway play with my prof tonight called God’s Ear. Pretty impactful, and very art-housey – something Xin would like, I think. She always has an eye for appreciating stuff like that. Imagine people talking about themselves in third-person, and adultery.

It’s late, I’m tired and I have a conference tomorrow.

Welcome to college, lol.

Hello from The Middle of Nowhere

Hello from Ithaca, New York, in the Middle of Nowhere! 2 months have flown past since I boarded SQ 26 for New York City and it’s been a whirlwind of activity with no time for sentimental nostalgia or overwhelming waves of homesickness. There’s been a tremendous influx of work, so much more than I was used to in Singapore – there’s definitely alot of balancing to do on all different aspects of life. Immersing myself in the American culture, school work (tonnes of it!) and clubs and activities and doing Adult Stuff like banking and laundry is definitely stretching me in ways I haven’t been before. 

Coming from AC and being thrust into the largest Ivy is a huge change and I definitely did (and, sometimes, still do) feel a bit like a fish out the water, bewildered by the masses of people and the flurry of activities and events going on at any point of the day. The campus is beautiful, with sprawling lawns, gothic architecture, loads of hills, deer and squirrel on our campus lawns and creeks. The weather is currently perfect, warm enough at night to wear a single layer of clothing and not feel as though your nose is going to fall off because of the cold. But Ithaca’s weather is supremely erratic, like a menopausal woman, freezing one day and burning the next.

Prelims (or the Dreaded Midterms, as they are known in other places apart from Cornell) are frequent and often at night. In fact, I just wrapped up my PAM2300 prelim at 930pm tonight before hitching a ride down to Valentine’s Place for our SSA meeting.

College is definitely a training time for Independence and Self-Reliance, where you come into your own and reach a certain point of self-actualisation after discovery. You learn how to prioritise and that you’re very much accountable for your own actions, therefore needing to train your own discipline regarding matters, academic or otherwise. 

I have been searching spiritually and I do hope to find another home here that I loved as much as the one I had back home. Please pray for me. On the whole, Cornell has been challenging, alot of adaptation and growing up. You learn to cast away all the immaturities and narrowness of the past and see what really matters. It’s really a Bildungsroman, and I have just started on my journey. Can’t wait to see where God will take me.