cold Thursday, 8 June, 2006
Posted by paperdoll in people, places, ponder.9 comments
Very cold today. It's been pouring! The wind is strong too, so even with an umbrella, everyone inevitably gets wet from the rain. Damp clothing is no joke; it really makes you a lot colder. I shared my umbrella with an Australian friend. Think his umbrella got bent out of shape from the crazy wind and I know of three umbrellas that died this morning. Anyway! We were talking on our way to class. Ok see, classes are in various places all over campus. They are in these short buildings that have a few classrooms each. For The American Presidency, I have to walk quite a distance. There's this length to trudge up next to the cemetery and it being a cemetery, no buildings are present to block the wind, so it gets bloody cold. We were walking and talking, when he missed something I'd say and said "hey" in a questioning tone. It really tickled me, because the only other person I've heard use hey like that is su. W and I made fun of her for it for a while. So there I was trying to explain to said friend why I was laughing, while I was shivering from the cold and the rain soaking through my left side. It was an odd situation to be in. He'd never seen it as an Australian thing before I pointed it out. It is a distinctly Australian thing, right? I like how Australians say "totally". They make it sound sexy.
Classes for the day were really interesting. I love how my classes are exactly how I picture American university classes to be. The students are all so opinionated and eager to share what they're thinking of everything. I feel kinda stupid at the moment and I quite like it. Makes me want to read voraciously.
Hui, Chelsea and I got a bit crazy after dinner. We were very high from talking to a Dominican Republic friend and my room-mate about bizarrely funny things. It got increasingly hilarious because Hui, Chelsea and I kept mishearing each other. Anyway, us girls got ourselves ice-cream, even though/since it was so cold, at a place called Ashley's. I had non-fat cookies and cream frozen yoghurt, like Chelsea did. Hui got free sprinkles with her chocolate scoop and I got my cone in a cup because the frozen yoghurt wasn't holding its shape well. We then decided to walk to the cemetery for a post-dinner stroll. It was still light. Dinner's at five and it doesn't get dark till about eight. Too bad the cemetry gates was shut for the night): We ended up visiting the Beinecke Rare Books and Manuscripts Library. The building has limestone slabs for "windows" and the light streams in gently through the thin limestone. It's an amazing place. We also went to the Sterling Memorial Library, which is modelled after a gothic cathedral. The phone booths look like confessional booths! We stayed only long enough to use the restrooms and the computers. Definitely going back to the two libraries sometime soon to immerse myself in the material available.
Had a quiz today for American Presidency. Think it went alright but I definitely need. to. do. more. reading. Not just for the two courses I'm taking, but in general, you know? For now, I'll concentrate on becoming more knowledgable on what I'm studying here.
I'm liking my room more and more.
the beginning Wednesday, 7 June, 2006
Posted by paperdoll in people, places.2 comments
Meals in the dining hall are fun. I get to make friends from different parts of the world. The Yale students find the food awful, but I think it's pretty good. It's quite a trip talking to the people because everyone is so interesting. I've met a pre-college student from England on her gap year who happened to have spent the last four months studying French at the Sorbonne. At lunch today, I met a Physics major who is doing intensive Russian for the summer. Many other amazing people met and to meet.
I have a room-mate, sort of. We have connecting rooms, so I have to go through her room to get to mine. She's a pre-med Literature major at Yale. She's nice. My room looks rather medieval, but it's alright. It's quite big. I have a large desk and shelves above it, a dressing room, a chest of drawers, a bed, a standing lamp. It's sunny and cool outside. With the windows opened, the light comes in beautifully, as does the breeze.
Had both my classes yesterday. Revolution in France and America, 1750-1800 in the morning. Was a bit late to that class because a couple of classmates and I got lost. The introductory lecture was engaging stuff, so I'm rather looking forward to delving into the material. The American Presidency in the afternoon. This class felt way more serious than the morning one, possibly because almost everyone was a Yale student, and well, they were all very serious. Intimidating, to say the least. I'm glad I contributed a comment and I'd better keep at it, or there'll come a point when I will just resign myself to keeping mum for the whole summer. Made a few friends already in both classes. People are generally friendly and willing to make conversation.
Headed down to the gym this morning. It looks like a church, and is apparently the second largest in the world. There are swimming pools, basketball courts, a track etc. in the building. It's right outside my residential college, so getting there is very convenient. Worked only on the treadmill for today.
Going to get cracking on my reading. A LOT to read. Besides, the books cost so much so I really want to make full use of them. Most importantly, I don't want to feel more lost in class than I already do\:
New York to New Haven Tuesday, 6 June, 2006
Posted by paperdoll in places.5 comments
Classes started today, but I'll talk about them the next entry. First, New York. I couldn't have arrived in worse weather, I don't think. Since it was raining on and off, I carried my umbrella everywhere I went. It was cold and wet and not particularly pleasant to walk around, but how else does one experience New York, right?
We arrived at JFK after almost a full day of flying and went straight to the Malibu Hostel on Broadway. Rid of our suitcases, we walked a few blocks, stopped for pizza when the rain started coming down hard, then went over to Central Park for a stroll. Seven of us were staying at the Malibu Hostel: the two guys in a room of their own, and the five girls shared a room with a German guy, Richard, who was cute and nice to talk to. The room was very very small. 3 bunk beds so near each other that after we'd all lugged our luggage into it, there was no walking space at all. Pretty tricky moving around. We had a bathroom in our room and it was decent. Actually, the hostel was way nicer than we'd all expected, considering that we were paying peanuts for our stay.
That evening, we went down to Times Square and walked around. After a while, H and I left the rest to walk on our own, because walking in a big group started to be annoying. I had a hot dog with everything on it. It must be the cheapest thing to eat in New York. Everything else is bloody expensive. Anyway, the hot dog was very good, though difficult to enjoy while carrying an umbrella and jostling with people on the streets. Next stop was the huge Hersheys store. Candy-covered kisses are yummy. They are basically M&Ms but in the weird shape that the Hershey's kiss is. DVDs of pornography were on sale at Virgin. The covers were interesting and we spent quite a bit of time browsing. I had Tasti D-Lite! That was on my list of things to eat. I've been wanting to eat it since I saw Charlotte having one with Harry on Sex and The City. You remember the episode where Harry proposes a romantic dinner to show Charlotte that romance was not just for "fou fou foreigners"\ : Dinner at Bubba Gump Shrimp and Co., which is a theme restaurant inspired by the Forrest Gump movie. It was a fun place to dine in. I had an onion rings tower, which is exactly what it sounds like: a tower made of onion rings. So good. We headed back soon after, got off a stop too early, felt a bit lost, got very cold, stepped into too many puddles of dirty water and finally made it back. So that was our first day in New York.
The next day, H and I went off on our own again. We first had a big breakfast at the Metro Diner just a block away from where we were staying. I had pancakes! Pancakes in a diner was another item on my to-eat list. Big yum. We walked off our food shopping on 5th Avenue. Going into Trump Tower was pretty exciting, considering how many times we'd seen it on the Apprentice, usually when someone left the building after getting fired. Bought Trump Ice! Haha. Yes we are easily amused. Visited Gap, Saks, Abercrombie and Fitch, H&M, Banana Republic, Bloomingdale's.The A&F store was a little scary. I have never seen so many beautiful people at any one location. It was a feast for the eyes… the beautiful people, the beautiful clothes. The A&F guy (the one on the paperbag) was at the entrance half-naked. All H and I could think about was how his nipples were erect from the cold. Ok we stopO_O Bought a very comfortable turquoise top. Spent a substantial amount of time in H&M, where things were cheap and pretty. Three tops, one pair of kitten heels, one hair band, one hair bun thingamajig. Passed by the Apple Building and stores like Van Cleef and Arpels, Harry Winston, Tiffany and Co. and Louis Vuitton.
After 5th Avenue, we headed down to Chinatown. Had good chicken dumpling clear soup at a Chinese restaurant. My fortune cookie warned me to "beware of evil temptations"\: Walked around Chinatown and ogled at the pastries in the many bakeries. We chanced upon the Singapore Cafe and while it did serve the usual Singaporean fare, Singapore in Mandarin was written wrongly. The xin1 was not the "new" xin1 but the "star" xin1! The audacity. Walked a bit of SoHo too, but not enough to experience it fully I don't think. Anyway, it was again a rainy day, so it was very hard to get around. Took the wrong train and ended up in Brooklyn but it was nice to look out from the train. We got onto the right train eventually and enjoyed music that a guy was playing loudly from the speakers connected to his iPod. Tried to see the names of the songs he was playing because they were so good, but to no avail.
Sunday morning came and it was time to leave New York to head to New Haven. Breakfast of two eggs and cheese on a bagel at a cafe just around the corner. Grand Central Station is magnificent. We hopped on a train and travelled for about 2 hours. After a short cab ride, we registered at Church Street as instructed, than hauled our luggage a tiring distance before arriving at Morse, a residential college, and moving in. There you have it! What's been happening so far up till the move into campus. I'm typing in my room now. It's starting to turn dark and it's getting cooler. Feels surreal to be here, but it's all good(:
she’s alive! Monday, 5 June, 2006
Posted by paperdoll in prance.2 comments
Hello I'm alive and well! I've just moved into my room on campus. I haven't unpacked yet. Internet access was the priority. Oh the dependency. Classes begin tomorrow! I have to go downstairs now for an orientation meeting. Hoping it'll be short. I'm quite beat, there's unpacking to do and I do want to leaf through the bloody expensive books before tomorrow comes. I foresee that I'll be on the internet more than anything else HAHA. A more detailed update with photos to come shortly.
