| Friday, September 30, 2005 |
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Oh my goodness. Alien pulled a fast one on us again. Dec??? I won't even have done finals yet. Someone in sg please help me knock her head.
Sigh.. and here I was all peaceful and happy from running and chocolate. I think I'm in that period of "liking to run". I go through phases you see. Last winter was "heck no!" then over summer I did it because it was a challenge and now... I get to spend quality time with God and feel much happier after. Yay for spiritual and endocrinal endorphins.
Big midterms coming up :(
Really want to do well. Haha. Right, who doesn't? Somehow, this year I don't seem to know what to do to prepare for them.. you know, most of the time there is this set formula of "remember all this" or "be able to do all these problems".. but now.. its just "Good luck!" And I don't even believe in luck! Lol. Whole lotta good that does me. As I was going around the track it hit me that since I'm always praying to let God have more control over my life, isn't this one of those things that puts it into practice?
Gosh. So difficult. But I will try. So the rest of you pray for me okies? Can't wait for next week to end! I'll be going for a retreat in New Hampshire then (yay yay yay yay yay!) because its fall break! Definitely something to look forward to.
Back to alien. Haha. I can't really say wei anymore because I call someone else that too- so its kind of weird that both of them are weis but not of the same gender. Maybe not that weird lah. Have I mentioned that I'm not really able to speak english lately? Most of the time I reverse words or do things like wottle bater. And to think its my first language. How sad. |
posted by wenster @ 10:28 PM  |
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| Monday, September 26, 2005 |
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Yesterday night the shafer 201-ers (min, christine, ayako and me) went out to dinner in chinatown. And the waitress' mandarin was... unintelligible at times. I mean, even I know how to say beef, but her niu rou came out sounding like liu rou. And she was pretty impatient too. Sigh. She must've thought we were trying to impress her by ordering in chinese. In the end I ordered in cantonese cos that is what she was more fluent in. Food wise it was good- well, almost any chinese food is good when I'm here- but really odd! We ordered satay beef, but they gave us stir fried beef and told us it was satay even when we asked. Hmm. But we were hungry. Haha. Christine learnt how to use chopsticks *yay for chinese culture!*.. but she was complaining of tired hands all the way back. Haha. We got bubble tea too! And I got sweet stuff for my two little sisters. I love being nice to them. Then today I adopted another little sister. She's in my hall too, and I don't quite know why both of us ended up without assigned sisters from the international house, but its perfect because she lives in my hall too. She's another cool kid- from thailand, but went to UWC in canada.
Today's message at church was quite... mind-expanding. In the sense that I've read the verses that he (the speaker for today) talked about, but never quite thought of them in the manner that he presented them. Which is what is so beautiful about the bible- it doesn't get stale. One of the things that got me thinking was- what is the boundary that I choose for my life? As in, if my life were like a jigsaw puzzle (his analogy), what would be the framework? Up till now, I've pretty much operated on one that I never put into words- its kind of like: consult God, consult parents, listen to what I *think* my heart is telling me, weigh out consequences. But I realize that God has to be the ultimate owner (and thus decision maker) of my life. While its so easy to say, I really find it difficult to put into practice sometimes. Like.. I know that since He's my Maker, He obviously has the best qualifications as to the right to mould my life. And He's proven it many times over. I remember last semester I applied to be both a resident assistant (aka RA- the "cooler" job that has a perk of getting your own room) and an academic peer tutor (aka APT. see, it sounds geeky already- but we get paid a little). At that point of time, I didn't really know which one I wanted, or even which one God had planned for me. I was praying, but honestly, in retrospect, I think that I was too busy (or loud) thinking in my mind that even if He had given me an answer i wouldn't have heard it. So how did I decide? Haha. The acceptance was supposed to be on the same day for both, but the RA one got delayed. And the APT lady was quite.. insistent that I answer soon. So I took that to be a sign and decided. Two days later, I was quite horrified to find out that I was accepted to be an RA, in one of the really desirable halls, plus, with some of my good friends. Gosh. At that moment, I felt as though I made a terrible decision. And I thought that all throughout summer. And I thought that when I got back on campus. But I didn't think that once I saw what the RAs were doing. Even though I sometimes feel as though I should be living on the other side of campus (considering that my work, and most of my classes are there)- I know for certain that I wouldn't have been a good RA, and wouldn't have been enjoying myself as much. And I believe that God can use this job of mine to bring others to know Him- and that means a lot to me. So yeah. Even in my indecision, He worked. Which makes Him a cool God. Haha. And a very capable one too. |
| posted by wenster @ 3:23 PM |
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| Tuesday, September 20, 2005 |
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I think I know what I want to be in the future. I'm so excited! You know, this is the first time I can say for certain what I hope to become in the future- most of the time I give a simple "Dunno" and a shrug. But today I went for a "workshop" on consulting interviews, and I felt so excited when she was talking about what they do daily, and how the case studies work and how we should think about them. You know the feeling when you have that aha click? And my heart started to beat a little faster, mind started racing... gosh i sound as if I'm in love. But seriously, I was so happy at that moment that I really wanted to just run to the firm and start asking how I could intern for them. I sound like a dork. But all this is God willing of course. I'll pray and we'll see.
Anyways. That said, I had some good talks with some of my first years. I really feel as though I'm getting to know them better, which is really nice because now I'm officially in a big sister role. My two little sisters are awesome btw. Amy's really into Buffy too, so I'm thinking she'll be inducted into our buffy watching group sometime soon ;) |
| posted by wenster @ 4:29 AM |
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| Sunday, September 18, 2005 |
| Flowers flowers everywhere! |
So.. tomorrow is flower sunday- an annual and pretty well preserved tradition at Wellesley. Each first year is assigned a big sister here, by residence hall. And on Flower Sunday, the big sisters are supposed to buy them flowers and take them to a multifaith service at the Chapel. I remember during my first year, my big sis couldn't make it because she was away for a hockey game. Its kind of odd, because both my big sisters were/are known as the cool people on campus. You know, you'd say their name and people will immediately recognise it? Yeah well. Mira's graduated, Caroline's still here- but on that flower sunday, I was an adoptee. And I didn't get flowers. I think maybe thats why I'm trying to make my two! little sisters feel special this year... I got them flowers, made a nice sign for their door... overcompensating perhaps. But I think its always nice when you have someone that shows care for you.
So I got both of them red daisy like (I have never known the name for those) flowers. And I got Ayako an orange one, just because. You know, its really nice buying these things for someone.. because I know it'll be a surprise and that she'll be happy. Then when I get back to the room, I realize that its Andrea's birthday tomorrow. Quick consultation with Ayako (who has discovered that we don't have a vase), and we head back out to get some flowers for Andrea. And once again I have the happy uncertainty and mini stress of choosing which flowers, how many, what color ribbon.. all that good stuff. Eventually we pull together a small (but classy!) bouquet of purple hues (its her fav color), buy a bottle of perrier just for the bottle and get back.
We bumped into some of the first years in the lobby and I was duped into knocking on a girl's door to supposedly borrow a pencil, but actually to see her face and see if I recognise her. Why? They thought she was drunk last night, because she was going in and out of their room, rambling on about that which shall not be mentioned here. Anyways. Instead of her, I find her roommate- who yelled come in. Okay.. I opened the door and saw something I didnt really want to see. Argh. Those first years owe me..
Back to flowers- we had the farewell dinner at Harambee House, and we decorated it really nicely-it was a lot of fun, I laughed till I positively hurt. Here is the really nice part- after a day of getting flowers for others, I got flowers too! We took down the decor and got to take a small bunch of roses back with us :D We were talking while walking back, and you know, I realise that no matter how tomboyish I am, I have to admit, I'm a total girl when it comes to flowers. |
| posted by wenster @ 2:40 PM |
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One of my all time favourite pictures! Thats Ayako btw. In front of Slater International House. |
| posted by wenster @ 3:04 AM |
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| Thursday, September 15, 2005 |
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Its Thursday! No particular importance, its just one step closer to my beloved weekend. The week has been busy busy- I feel as though I have to make the most use of my time- so much so that I have daily game plans (with activities down to the 15 mins even) sometimes. A little sad, no? Well, it does help me remember what I really have to do.. so I guess it helps.
Big events- we had organizations night yesterday-it was quite a bit of fun! I was there mainly for ABSK, but because all of us were there, I wandered around the ballroom to look for people and catch them in sticky, muggy, gloriously icky states as they sat/stood at their tables. Quite a lot of people signed up for ABSK, but I personally remmeber signing up for about 10 orgs my first year and look where I am now? Lol. Down to one official one. Well, I do pray that those who put their names down on the mailing list will come to at least one, and that when they do, they'll be touched by God.
That reminds me, we're doing this thing for Michelle's farewell from Wellesley (she's a staff who's moving her ministry to BU)- and we're singing her a song with the tune from summer nights! Cool! Haha.. Never thought there'd be such an NJ-here connection in this odd form. Makes me miss the times when we were practicing with Archie scolding us and all. Its one of the hallmarks of Singaporean education methinks- this whole mass dance thing.
I think I know what I want to do after I graduate! Hahaha. Well, at least I think I've found a possible career choice that doesn't involve too much blahness. Its consulting. Now, why didn't I think of that before? I like troubleshooting, I can't keep trying to help people with their problems- so I should just go ahead and get paid for it, yes? Why the sudden thought? Wellesley is having a recruiting thing today for some consulting company, and I was just curious enough to google them. I ended up spending a good half hour just browsing through their website and thinking "oooh". So... yeah. I'm feeling happy because now I'm slightly less aimless.
Another happy thing: I spoke to a girl who went to Oxford for a year, she's a neurosci major too-and I found a lot in common with her :) We had a some laughs about how everyone is pre-med when they're neurosci, and how its nice to find someone who isn't all bent on double majoring- I know a nice sane person here! She was really nice about telling me what was good, why she liked it and all that good stuff. I talked to mom and dad too, and they are pretty supportive of it. Conclusion: I shall try and apply for it. And I will pray that if its not for me, God, please just shut the door in my face.
Right. Back to bio. |
| posted by wenster @ 3:52 AM |
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| Monday, September 12, 2005 |
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Weekends pass way too quickly. We had a very thought provoking bible study on Friday night about the state of our hearts. And I know that over the summer, I haven't been keeping up with all that I should've. So, statement of intent for this semester: to keep in constant communication with, to listen and obey the most important person to me- God.
I got to see new and unfinished parts of our half opened campus centre on Sat because of BOA training. It was a pretty nice thing to do.. walk around campus, listen to people talk about their buildings and be paid for the training time. Oh.. I just realized that this is training weekend!
Today we had treasurer's training, and it is really cool to know that Wellesley is one of the few places that has a student bursar instead of a paid accountant. There is one bursar, and several bookeepers- they even have drop in hours if we've got questions and all.
My neck, shoulders and back all need a good massage. Yesterday we not only played intense frisbee, we also did aerobics after that. Haha. Aerobics? Yup.. we were making a video for one of the bible study staff members who was joining BU's ministry. It was a great lot of fun making the video... there was practice, then retaping, adjusting lighting... pretty good stuff for total amatuers. The down side is of course, sore everything today.
While I was prancing around pretending to be headbanging (don't ask.), I reflected on the things that I tend to spend most of my time on. I feel that social interactions here are very different. Some people tend to have a close knit group,some are social butterflies.. and more than once I've asked myself if I'm consciously/unconsciously spending too much time with the girls from bible study. Because I do a lot with them- every Friday night from 7 till maybe 1am, then sometimes Sat afternoons, and Sunday afternoons after church, and the occasional lunches. Kind of a random thing to worry about, isn't it? Then it hit me that people in sports groups or acapella groups are probably in the same situation- most of their usual kaki would be from the group itself. Which did help explain why my leisure time seems to be spent on things like making videos etc. And the more I thought about it, the more I began to feel that it was entirely worth it. I know how happy I am when I receive something that has effort, thought and a lot of love put into it- so of course I should do the same for others. And there you have my mini revelation of the weekend.
I have a mini revelation of the week too! Haha.. I now know for sure that I like the hallway that I live in to be nice and quiet. Lol. Its odd, because I always thought (and said) that I'm quite "sui pian" about what things are like, how noisy it is etc, but now that I'm sandwiched between two other rooms with paper thin walls- I like my quiet. So henceforth, I shall look for quiet places to live. Not that I don't want human interaction, I love it when we're gathered in the tv room, or living room and making a racket- I just want a place that I know will let me hear my own thoughts. Maybe I should be thinking of soundproof walls instead. |
| posted by wenster @ 1:50 AM |
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| Friday, September 09, 2005 |
| Packages! |
I loooove mail. And packages. Especially if its not my bank statement or bills. Well, I kind of like them too because I know someone is "thinking" of me, albeit in a corporate manner. I don't think I used to be so excited about mail before. Well, before I got here that is. Maybe its the distance from home, and the fact that I've got a life outside my college. Maybe its just reassuring to know that I'm remembered. Maybe I'm easily pleased. Or maybe I'm just desperate.
Whatever it is... I got mail! Muahaha. I was so so so happy to see actual letters and envelops in my mailbox I had to consciously refrain from hopping up and down in excitement. And that is only because Helena was next to me and she didn't get any mail so I felt bad. I feel so contented now, I can't even put it into words. Gosh. The small joys of life.
So, mail. I got one from my dearest Eunice, and what can I say? She's the best. Its funny to think about how long we've known each other, and how we haven't really changed from the times when we insulted the guys in our class. In many ways we're really polar opposites, but the beauty of it is that we totally understand where each other comes from. Plus, she's always been best of the lot about writing to me. Hahaha. We both feel strongly that email will never take the place of handwritten letters. And my second piece of mail was from Naps! Well, this I kind of expected, but was still surprised by the timing. The nice kid made CDs of the pictures he took over the Terengganu trip and sent it to all of us. Priority mail too. He's another sweetie. Its odd how friends appear from the funniest places- he's got skype too, so I get to talk to him pretty regularly.
Classes have started, and I think this will be a humbling semester. Lets just say that organic chem is not really my cup of tea. Lol. It is horrendous! Everyone seems to understand perfectly what is going on, that is, everyone but me. Oh well. I think I'll actually enjoy statistics and philosophy compared to that. The upside is that this year I'm living with Ayako- and she's a whole lot of fun. Not that I don't love my old roommates. If I could choose, we'd all have singles opposite of and beside each other. That would be really cool.
Shall I go exercise?
Maaaaybe. Hahahaha. Maybe not. I think I need the gym to be really close to me, because it is always the walk there that puts me off. Sad isn't it? |
| posted by wenster @ 11:57 AM |
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| Monday, September 05, 2005 |
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I love mit. I never thought I'd say this, but I love them. The halls to be specific. Simmons to be even more specific. Why?
Because there is space
Because it is beautiful, in an odd way.
Because it is clean.
Because the corridors are twice as large as mine is.
Because some people get their own bathrooms
Because the furniture is nice and new and can be "configured" in mit talk
Because they have lots of lounge space.
Because they have large kitchens and even a gym
And did I mention the space?
Haha.. all said, I'm in awe of the niceness of living conditions over there. Don't get me wrong though, I do believe that wellesley has its own kind of charm. I love being here, especially with our new campus centre. The Lulu, we call it.
As you've probably gathered, I was at mit recently. Yesterday, actually. The ex-freshmen (or first years as I would say) gathered at simmons to play ddr and watch a movie. Well, except that it turned out to be all the miters and me. Not that I minded though. It meant that I was the guest and was thus treated with extra care ;) Lol. They are so sweet, always offering food and all.
I am really really bad at ddr, by the way. Pretty much never touched it while in Singapore, and even less so here. Watched it, yes. But this time, eye power was not accepted. So I stand on the mat, and a whole range of questions run through my head. What am I supposed to do with my hands? Why is my timing off? How do people do this without feeling self conscious? Am I stepping on the right one? Am I retarded in this aspect of pscyhomotor abilities? It sure felt that way. But I'm glad I did it with them, because its always better with people who're supportive in the cave, than at some random arcade where pros are. (its all about the image... )
A humbling experience.
It was followed by a General Gao's chicken tasting session, organized by the bible study group at mit. That was fun.. we ate 5 different kinds and voted. This is my first time eating General Gao's or Tso's depending on where it comes from, and its like sweet and sour pork, but with chicken. And less sour. There was a good amount of newcomers, and I do hope that they will continue coming. After that we played pictionary, in teams split by geographical region. The internationals were doing sooo well, until they brought in culturally american terms like "american dream", "republican"... even "vote", 'cos in each of the diff countries we vote differently.
Oh yes, I caught the movie memento with them too, and thought that it was really good. It actually made me think! Rare occurence, that. |
| posted by wenster @ 1:38 AM |
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| Thursday, September 01, 2005 |
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Its bright and early friday morning and I'm here blogging. Haha. I somehow find that absurd, because usually I'd be sleeping/preparing for classes... but here I am. I've been sleeping less these days- I used to have to go to bed at about 11pm, then I'd be up at about 7, but nowadays I'm up till about 1am, and waking up at 7.30am. So weird. But a good kind of weird if I can take it, because it does help when I've got more working hours in a day.
APT training has been taking up most of my time for the past week- that said, I think we've had a pretty good time, considering the "boring" subjects that are on the table. (So.. that is academic peer tutor, I'm hall based, and serve everyone in this hall when it comes to choosing classes, study tips, bla bla) Plus, last night I got to work with the first years, and as cheesy as this may sound, it was truly rewarding to see their faces break into smiles when their schedules worked out with the combination of classes that is sane, but that they want too. I think I have a mother hen syndrome, because I felt really worried for the first few days on the job when noone came up to me and asked things. I actually went around the floors and asked as many as I could if I could help. Was probably known as "the weird chick who keeps asking if i'm ok" for a bit. Maybe I still am. Lol. I send them naggy emails about what to do etc.
Big event of the week- I had string cheese for the first time! It is awesome. You can peel it and shred it with your fingers, so it makes eating cheese so much more fun. I think the rest were amused at how earnestly I asked "Is there a right way of eating this? Should I be shredding it thin?" Haha. I suppose string cheese gets onto my list of "weirdest things I've had" |
| posted by wenster @ 11:45 PM |
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