Fall(Semester 2012)ing Away With You
So a semester of studying in UIUC has passed. Time surely passed fast, and there were many new experiences and firsts for me (obviously).
Academically, I think I probably did pretty well. (to be updated) (Update: Alright, I did well. Yay me! :D)
Socially, I met and became friends with people from many different nationalities, races and cultural backgrounds. My first American friend, first Eurasian friend, first Indian friend, first Jewish friend and so on. It certainly has been very fun to get to know so many people, and marvel at our different cultures (not showering at night after returning from outside) and usage of language (queue or line? Trash or rubbish? Is “can’t” pronounced “kant” or “kent”?). I am extremely glad that I chose to stay in Global Crossroads (GC), with a good mix of International and US students, with the people being generally more open to socializing with each other. Countless days and nights just hanging out in the lounges doing work (or at least trying to), playing games, just chatting. Certainly, it’s very different in college, where there are no classes to belong to and go to lessons together, but it’s always great to be able to go back to your dorm and have friends to hang out with.
Of course, there are the Singaporeans as well. I already knew two of them (JJ and NIchoo) rather well before we even knew we were coming here, but it has been great getting to know the rest of them as well. Being a general nuisance at the back of every Math lecture, shouting profanities that few other people can understand, weekly Sunday dinners, talking about all the great Singaporean food that we miss, are all great times that would have been so different without the Singaporeans. Somehow, drinking with Singaporeans and with my friends from GC are two very different experiences, and I always feel more relaxed and “high” when drinking with the Singaporeans. Perhaps it is just the cultural background and common language that we share, but I feel that I can open up more while drinking with the Singaporeans, while drinking with my GC friends almost always ends up with me being the quiet and slightly “depressed drunk”. (Still, I miss drinking with Eat Disc and OG43. Sigh)
It has been difficult at times to balance these two main social groups of mine, but I think I’ve done rather admirably well thus far. I guess my experience from my screwed-up over-committed JC days have served me well. However, interaction with the Singaporeans have been aided greatly by our thrice-weekly Math lectures and lunches, so it remains to be seen how much we will still meet each other without those.
Another thing worth noting is that I still have rather few American American friends. Out of the group in GC that I always hang out with, fewer than five are Caucasians, while the rest are Asian American or other International students. Of course, through Ultimate, I know like at least forty white Americans (there are like two blacks and about five Asians, with the rest of the entire team being mostly made up of white Americans), but they are more or less considered teammates but not really friends (yet). Hopefully this situation will improve. I guess I will try to make more friends in my classes next semester, as well as finding time to go for the board game club’s sessions (I’ve attended one session thus far ><”).
I had my very first American Christmas, thanks to Tori letting a group of us stay at her house and go to her Grandma’s for their Christmas celebration. It was surprisingly similar to our Chinese New Year. All the relatives from that side of the family gathering together, eating dinner, saying “Merry Christmas” instead of “新年快乐” when you meet someone, all the adults just sitting around with food and talking, the kids playing games in some corner, many people wearing red, the giving of gifts instead of angbaos, and just the general lively, festive mood. It was fun seeing everyone getting excited over opening their gifts (they open their gifts one by one, in full view of everyone), and noting that the children mostly receive toys and clothes, while the adults mostly received appliances and clothes.
Alright, hope we have fun in California! The weather should be great, and I’m really looking forward to visiting some of the more famous places in America. I will try my very best to maintain a journal of this trip, unlike the non-existent Thanksgiving roadtrip journal.
-On the plane to California, 25th December 2012