Learning about governance from Balinese traffic (repost)

I spent my second last study break in university relating governance to my short trip at Bali and would like to share with all of you what I’ve written: https://offbeatperspectives.wordpress.com/2017/12/01/learning-about-governance-from-balinese-traffic/

Would love for feedback, different points of view; or to just talk about things mentioned in the post. Would be back here writing about my revelations this year soon.

To Singapore with love:

Only paper flowers are afraid of the rain. We are not afraid of the noble rain of criticism because with it will flourish the magnificent garden of music. — Konstantin Dankevich 

Reporting on TV Land

Today’s writing prompt about Renewal comes in handy with the content I intend to discuss in this post. I never thought it’d feel this difficult and so lost to be back from the U.S. exchange. That is aside from the reverse culture shock I have come to terms with on the 14-hours’ flight from North America to Asia Pacific. TV land threw me into a well of dangers and although the first few weeks of exchange had me foreseeing my eventual demise in this place from stranger danger, thankfully I was roped out of these dangers by luck almost all of the time. What I could get used and comfortable to culture in TV land are probably

POLITICS100 in the U.S.

My exchange in the U.S. is coming to an end! Figure that I should do a hasty write-up on the sociopolitical musings that have been looming in my mind for sometime now.

A whole lot of random (& repetitive) things I can’t think of a title for it

Over the last 3 weeks I’d been here, my favorite question to ask international students, mostly Chinese students, who’d been here for sometime now (at least a year) is: how did/do you adapt yourself to the American culture? The answer ranges from useful ones like “you’d have to join clubs, participate in activities with them and that is when you’ll find something mutually enjoyable for both parties. Then you’ll find it easier to talk to them.” to slightly less helpful (but might be true for them) advice like “you just do, after sometime”. One of them said something interesting about how we’d assumed that

Feeling the “minority” in a multiracial society

I was feeling inspired in the shower, moments ago, to pen this post.

Before coming to America, Cass and I talked and she mentioned that coming here would provide a good opportunity for me to feel like a minority in a place unlike Singapore, any other Southeast Asian countries I’ve been to and of course, China. I assumed that I’d never have to experience the whole “feeling-like-a-minority” coming to UR since the non-native Asian student population here is big enough for me not to stand out among the rest… but it turns out no.

School

It’s been one week since school started! Lessons, class size and the culture of class participation are similar to the ones back home. The classes here are alot more homogeneous than I’d have expected – not much diversity in the humanities classes I have in terms of the proportion of international students to local students, as well as exchange students. I even attended a class with only 7 people including me! The class gets into you when the professor throws in a U.S. politics/current affairs topic or example all of a sudden and everyone gets it except you. Politics back home is already messing up my head that I turned from a insistent but ignorant stance to not knowing who is right and wrong anymore.

This week in school, having to introduce myself and make comments on questions that were asked in class, makes my accent stands out…

One week in TV land

I have given up looking for my luggage. It’s been a toil. I cleaned up my room yesterday, shifted some heavyass wood furniture because I believe that the state of the place you live in reflects your state of mind (at least it always happens in the movies and it seems to work for me). I have come to accept that I will buy everything I need in the USA all over again but I need to be thrifty because the everything will come out of my own pocket. The claims will only come about 12 weeks later, that is nearing the end of my exchange here. And the hard part about coming to terms with all these is

Still a frightened soul on the third day in TV land

I want to sleep all day. One more day my luggage is yet to be located, one day I worry losing the whole thing, possibly giving up on this whole “adventure” that I overestimated myself to go on and deciding to return home, never doing this again. But I hope not.

First day in the USA

The flight to the USA was painful but I was very much looking forward to this exchange. Looking forward to coming to America, less the part of being alone and feeling indecisive as to whether I should start talking to an acquainted stranger, whether it’s becoming acquainted through delayed and cancelled flights, seat buddies, as a Singaporean student you can identify with going to a student exchange programme as you or possibly other exchange students who are here for the Fall term as well. From the maps, I see that the plane passed by Europe, Russia and the areas near it, crossing a large part of Canada then the USA. It is hard to believe that this is the distance all of us on the plane (tourists) go through for teevee land.

Now, in Philadelphia, I am told: (1) my baggage is delayed for two days – that I have nothing on me except my toothbrush and toothpaste (thankfully), laptop, kindle, parting gifts that come in useful in an occasion like this such as bathroom slippers, plush toy pillow, chips and cards with nice words and photographs; (2) the last flight transfer, that is now delayed to close midnight, will mark almost three days I take to reach my final destination. The intended flight first flown off much earlier without me and because everyone around you are going different places in the USA, it was difficult to crosscheck with others; the rebooked flight was later cancelled because of “crew was unavailable” the last minute and all the flights after that were fully-booked except this one I am taking late tonight.

Also, I had some issues with the immigration security as well where I was called out to go into a room called the “Secondary Inspection” – there was a counter where officers were hanging around behind that, a photocopier, two dark rooms each of them situated on both sides of the photocopier machine,  a digital clock on the white wall and the room was lined with seats. It was just me and a woman with a child. I thought a grilling interrogation will follow after I get called out but the officer was nice about the whole thing and he just told me what to do to avoid getting ruled out as “illegal”.

There is little for me to share about being on the plane for the 7 and later 13 full hours. Time ticked by very slowly which I thought three hours would have gone by every time I went to sleep but only 30 minutes passed each time. I had a good appetite – I did nothing but ate alot and instantaneously felt tired after every meal I had so I slept for at most an hour after those. The two European guys that sat next to me (being in the window seat) during the first flight had a can or two beers each time the stewardess pushed the drinks cart out so the whole journey smelt of booze when they slept with their mouths open. I liked the way the flight safety instructions were presented in the video. I also wished I had more transit time to explore Hamad International Airport and ride on one of those futuristic rapid glass trams with visible trails circularizing on top of us.

What was my first experience in America and with the people? Announcements that were made on the spot in the airport sounded comical, not in the sense that it wasn’t conveyed in a serious manner but because their voices came in so many variations and it wasn’t in a similar monotonous tone you do in formal announcements. American Airlines could delay and cancel their flights as and when they like and the reaction of the American passengers aren’t those that are blown out of proportion so it kept me on the check that I should just go with the flow and wait in the line to rebook the flight. One of them proclaimed “American Airlines is the worst I’ve seen!” but she still eventually joined the queue with the rest and waited quietly. There are open shoe shine counters all over the airport where the customers need to prop themselves up two steps on cushioned seats so the shoeshiner stands up and bends himself to shine the shoes of his customer.

I don’t like the feeling of staying for long hours in a foreign airport and wanting to sleep. But because I feel sick in the stomach and I don’t feel OK sleeping with no one to watch over me and the things I have with me, I can’t sleep. I think I am going to ask whether there are sleeping pods around. I also don’t like to think about how I am going to spend tonight doing. Will I ask for extra clothes to spare from the Orientation Advisor (OA) who will be seeing me in school when I get there by taxi? If he/she doesn’t show up, should I ask the campus police for clothes to spare and ideally, some soap? Should I ask the taxi driver to detour at some 7-11 for a short while to get those supplies and then head to the university? Should I call an Uber and save myself $8 more? Let’s see how tomorrow goes.

Baby in the house; Happy 51st, Singapore; gratitude note for friends and fam

I returned from Malaysia two days ago. Then leaving for the U.S. in less than a week’s time. Singapore turns 51 tomorrow. The recent trips (including the one mom and I went on three years ago) to Ipoh, Perak, turn out perfect in rekindling the mother-daughter relationship between us two. I turned to doing the laundry, helping her to prepare ingredients for homecooked meals and sitting with my Gran in the afternoons watching the teevee and surfing channels. These, all thanks to the absence of internet in the house.