4 day till I fly off to Singapore, 7 days till I fly off to New York from Changi..
I’m supposed to be all excited and going *yippee* while skipping around the house from time to time, but somehow, I’m not really up to that.
Maybe I’m having too good a time holidaying at home (especially when semester’s already started in Singapore heehee).. I’m really looking forward to studying in Ithaca, but somehow just not really filled with that much pre-departure excitement as I thought I’d be infected with.
Maybe it’s just the thought of having to get used to a new place (again) and making new friends and leaving people I’m closed to and all else that I’m familiar with (even the weather and the smog in KL) behind. It’s silly, really, given that I can quite easily befriend people (ok lah, at least not anti-social and all that).
Maybe I’m feeling bad coz the more I’m preparing for this trip (winter clothes shopping, flight tickets etc), the more I realise the massive amount of money my parents are paying for my 5-month student exchange experience. You can call it guilt, I guess. I know I’ve been riding on free education thanks to the scholarship for the past 4 years and would have saved them some education expenditure, but I’m still feeling bad nonetheless. It’s an awfully large sum of money just to satisfy my boredom. (I decided to go for exchange coz I was bored with uni life in Singapore. Wanted to try something else. sigh. i sound like a brat.)
sigh, but it’s a small matter really. Coz knowing how I usually am, I’ll be all occupied and happy with my new environment once I get there, and all will be jolly and lolly haha.
Just wish I’d be a little more excited about the whole thing now, that’s all.
*wills myself to skip around thinking about pretty snowflakes, and more snow*
*ends up with a vision of me blowing my nose hard, ill with the cold weather*
*tries harder*
*-*
*burp* Had too much food while welcoming in the new year at auyong’s place yesterday night. Steamboat was so00o yummy I’ve forgotten how many rounds of food i went for. teehee. I know, I’m a pig. *oink oink*
Food was good, company was great, and there was booze aplenty (since I figured it isn’t a good idea to return home reeking of alcohol, so I didn’t drink much). But all in all, it was an enjoyable celebration. *hic* =)
We even got free fireworks display, a nice view right from the windows in the living room. Illegal of course, but it was nice all the same, especially since we didn’t have to pay a marked up price of 300% to some shady fireworks dealer to see all that. haha.
Most part of the nation had cancelled the new year’s celebration in memory of the victims of the tsunami tragedy, so gone are the usual fireworks, countdown celebration and street parties in town. I was quite surprised that many event organisers actually did cancel their events. I mean, all that time for planning, and the money! Surprising. But I guess it was in some ways a symbolic gesture to show that they care (not to mention also probably a move to protect their corporate image, public relations and all that blablabla.)Yeah, I know, I’m such a cynic, but seriously, perhaps something else could have been done rather than just this “symbolic gesture” thing.
I understand it was out of respect for those who suffered and those who are still suffering (my heart goes out to them), but other than that, nothing else was achieved. Perhaps some of the events could have continued, while at the same time changing them into fund-raising events, allowing people to gather in memory of those who perished and doing their part to help as well. Wouldn’t that have been better?
It’s really a sombre start to the new year, but here’s to hoping for a good (and less tragic) year ahead. Happy new year!! And also, my heartfelt condolences to those who perished in the tsunami tragedy.
*** updated: photo taken during steamboat is up at auyong’s blog! yay!