Update from Boston!

Alright people, I heard your calls, I'm here now! :D

I'm still really really tired... must be grateful ok :P

Firstly, fall weather is extremely nice. Clear autumn skies, cool/slightly chilly in the morning and night, sunny and breezy during the day. Almost perfect. But will be getting cold soon!

Random thought #1: How come the sky here is so clear when there are SO MANY cars?

My school is really ulu. It's like sub-urban, and Boston's a pretty old city so the T system (something like subway) is also ridiculously old. The trains are really old, and even though they are trains, they only have a few compartments. The T station near the school is completely open space, cause the T runs on tracks with connecting wires above them on normal roads (stopping at red lights as well) and also underground. The underground stations are no better though, no air-con and terrible terrible walls! I'm not kidding! Was quite shocked actually, but to give them credit the new stations are pretty alright. Still nothing compared to Singapore, HK or even Taiwan and Shanghai. Yeah I know it's a little too late to be appreciative :P

Ok I sound like a total brat but I swear all of that is true! If only I have a car lah, then I won't have these problems with the T. You hardly see people around on the streets except at downtown.

On the other side, my room is alright. It's something like joanne loh's, but with lousier shades and walls. The walls are not flat. At all. I don't have a room-mate so I have to get my own fridge, TV, fan and stuff but on the bright side I'm really glad I don't have to 'entertain' or socialize with a room-mate. I would go crazy.

Orientation was really energy-sapping cause they take up whole days and they also include brain-washing. Lots of it. And socializing is really exhausting too. Have to keep introducing yourself (repeating my name more than a few times cause people can never get it right the first time), keep smiling, keep yourself awake and pretending not to have a cultural shock. Ok it's not to the extent of cultural shock but honestly? Most of the people here talk way too much. Some people are like energizer rabbits. I don't understand how they can talk so much... It's not that they're not nice or unfriendly but it's just really exhausting for me.

That being said, I really miss you people! Who will I complain about my sucky schedule with (8 and 9 morning classes?!) when people here seem optimistic and cheerful about everything? Who can I chat with without cracking my brain for things to say or feeling awkward or tired? Who will offer me hugs when I need them and still feel comfortable with even without talking? >_<

No one. For now.

I don't remember feeling like this when I joined SSIS leh... I guess being in college and having different classes and schedules make it harder for people to really bond. I'm hoping I'll meet more people when I join school groups and events and stuff.

I was in Orientation 7 so the group was actually quite diverse. There were people from Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Turkey, Korea, Japan, Taiwan, China, Canada, France... Haven't met anyone from Singapore yet! If Orientation 1-6 had the same demographics then it'd be a lot nicer but as you may have guessed Orientation 1-6 is 99% Americans! Which means that there aren't many asians at all! Joanne Loh and Brandon you guys should feel really lucky! :P

Random Thought #2: A lot of people here are left-handed! Does this explain why they talk so much? :P

Oh. Forgot to mention that since I live on Upper Campus, I have to walk down a lot of stairs when I go to the main campus (Middle Campus and Lower Campus) and climb up again when I go back to my dorm. So, I think I'll get my fair share of exercise. I may not even need to go to the Flynn Recreation Complex after all! But the facilities are pretty darn nice, indoor pool, tennis courts, basketball courts, squash courts, spa, gym, hockey rink... Yeah, you can tell that US schools really take sports seriously. I've met people who've gotten sports scholarships for water polo, football, lacrosse, tennis and such. Which makes me feel a bit useless lah :P

I'd love to show you guys photos but not yet k? I'll most likely update them on facebook first, then later at the blog, wait for them :P

It's hard to describe how I feel now. I guess I'm looking forward to starting classes. It feels lonely when I walk into my room alone and close the door behind me. I don't know how many true friends I'll make during college years but I'll try.

It seems like the faculty and deans are really nice and supportive though. Being a Catholic university with Jesuit tradition, there're churches and Fathers in school. But the Fathers are really humorous and nice! I'll never see Fathers the same way again XD

Random thought #3: How come you can't drink in college below 21 but you can smoke?

The whole campus is overall really nice, although I haven't check out the Newton Campus yet and is in a love-hate relationship with all the stairs. At least I don't have to wait for the shuttle bus from Newton to the main campus, imagine that during winter! +_+

Did some sight-seeing today, Harvard Square, Freedom Trial, Chinatown, Downtown and some dock etc. Bought 2 cups for a dollar each at a garage sale at Harvard :P

Random thought #4: How come there're only Harvard shirts for sale and none of MIT? o_O

Oh okay, maybe I know the answer to that, cause I didn't really go vist MIT, hehe. But I really didn't see any MIT stuff lah! I need to get myself some BC pullovers too, school spirit! :D

School mottos:

'Strive to Excel' (sounds familiar? :D)

'Men and Women for Others'

Some brain-washing quotes from Orientation:

'The Enemy of Great is Good.'

'Smart people can make stupid mistakes.'

'Most of you are probably thinking that you are the sole mistake of the admission officers, you're not.'

Stuff like that lah... Can't remember now. When you try to squeeze in too many things into a few days hardly anything sinks in.

Oh I should write something about my course selection. Ok, so everyone in Orientation sits down in front of a computer each at the same time and search for courses through a program to see if they're still open. Most of them are not, cause we're session 7. It was really stressful, I swore I typed in like codes of 9 classes and all of them were closed! It's really nerve-wrecking...

So I've got 5 courses for the semester + 1 courses that ends by thanks-giving. I'm not very happy about them lah... the timetable is really screwed up. There's a drop-add period till sept 10 so I'm going to try and change the courses! Will show you guys my schedule when it's all finalized! :P

Okay, this is like waay too long! Just one more note, don't find me irritating if I start saying "you know", "that's awesome!", "it's amazing!", "omg really? that's so cool!", "it's sooo gooood!" and stuff like that a lot, if you know what I mean :P