The Phases...

I recall in one of the classes that I attended in Odense, we’re given a talk about the phases of cultural adjustment.. Virtually, everybody who lived abroad went through these distinct phases of cultural adjustment..

- Preliminary: before everything happened, as such, it’s about the preparation of the journey.. Exciting? Yes! Exhausting?? Yes! I remember there were so many things to settle I was even an inch away to lose the excitement..

- Initial euphoria: Began when I stepped on Europe for the first time, namely in Amsterdam.. and when i saw copenhagen and odense! met new people, attended classes for the first time.. the list went on and on..

- Irritability: The initial excitement started to wear off… nonetheless, I didn’t recall there was such a huge problem on that.. maybe it was only about the weather that irritated me quite much…

- Gradual Adjustment: when everything became so familiar I didn’t even realize it’s happening..

- Adaptation and biculturalism: I felt as a part of it.. I had my own favorite places to go to.. activities for my spare time.. I treated myself foods that I loved to eat.. basically I was already comfortable with the host culture..

- Re-entry phases: when returning to homeland.. it can be the most painful phase of all.. excited about sharing experiences, realized that u’ve changed in a way u couldn't explain.. but in one way or another, u're just forced to change back.. bcos u're now back in a place where everything seemed to be at standstill when u're not around..

The speaker said we’d find ourselves going through that cycle all over again once we returned to homeland.. I guess she’s true.. I write this because distinctly, I’m finding myself at the stage of “Irritability” at the moment.. sighhhh...

Pictures: Barcelona in Spain..

“Traveling – it leaves u speechless then turns u into a storyteller” Ibn Battuta

Life's back to normal...!!

I stay in PGP, go to the campus by NUS shuttle bus, eat at Engineering canteen most of the time.. yea, that normal.. 7 months feels so short a time.. I mean, I can even remember very clearly the smell of the newly checked in room in PGP.. and I’ve been asked questions like “how did it feel to leave denmark?”.. “how do u feel to come back here to nus again?”.. “how’s life treating u there in denmark? Was it better than here?”… hmm..

To be frank, after stepping on nus again, after attending my first week’s lectures and after the first meeting with my FYP supervisors, everything is so normal.. and boring.. I wonder where’s that missing feeling due to not being here for the past 7 months? there’s nothing like that.. so being there in denmark was like being in another world living another kind of life, a more exciting life..

“Prototype development of an EEG based mental fatigue screening system”.. That’s my FYP project title which honestly, has totally freaked me out.. I just don’t understand what was I thinking, it’s my first choice, yes, nobody forced me I chose it!..

Another thing is, it’s amazing that I sweat like all the time.. even without doing anything vigorous at all like sitting on the bench waiting or queuing for foods.. don’t u think it’s bloody hot recently?? are we actually living in a huge micro-oven??

I spent the first 3 days in PGP without internet connection.. I didn’t even know whom to thank for the trouble.. maybe it’s the line connection in my room, maybe it’s my laptop which was configured by the Danish staff in the Syddansk Uni.. in order to get things done faster, I complained to PGP Management and reconfigured my laptop at the same time.. =P why? there were two things for sure, we’d never make it to study in NUS without internet connection.. and spending 3 days in NUS without internet connection was like spending a week in a forest without fire.. =P u know how hard it was??

I guess it's time to post my overdue eurotrip pictures.. i'll start from Paris in France.. enjoy =P

Musee Du Louvre

The View from Notre Dame
Tour Eiffel
Château de Versailles

The most prestigious and broadest avenue in Paris, Avenue des Champs-Élysées (fyi, i risked my life taking this pic =P)

Ciao...

Easier said than done...

So lately, the hottest topic has been about this friend who once left the group but for one reason or another, she just had to come to us again after 2 years of losing contact.. So, u can roughly imagine the situation happening here, thinly veiled sarcasms mostly everywhere and constant rehashing of her so-called sins followed by the never-ending apologies from her.. bottom line is, some of us don’t seem to totally get behind it though deeply we understand how situations had gone awry for her..

I don’t think I can afford to be that sarcastic towards her anyway and I just don’t know why.. it’s more like I’ve been the one defending her when others try to corner her.. maybe that’s because all these while we’ve always been in a very good term.. or maybe, I really think she’s very fun to be with.. I am indeed very happy to see her again like I always used to.. but even so, I’ve been questioning why others were that bothered, it’s as if they’re hurt so badly.. maybe it’s because I wasn’t here so my life wasn’t actually affected directly by her sudden disappearance, it wasn’t that big a deal to me..

Trying to put myself in others’ shoes, I’ve been thinking, what if I were to be one of “the others”? first…. most probably I’d be the most sarcastic one.. =P secondly, perhaps I’d not even want to listen to her explanation.. then again, being the way it is now, I’m relieved bcos I don’t have to go through it considering I’ve skipped that part where “the others” are still in now, and I’ve come out the other side better than ever..

But the bottom line is, I’m really grateful that I wasn’t here at that time bcos most probably I’d not be able to forgive her, nor wanting to see her as often as I do now.. who can mend a broken glass? u tell me..

Took early morning flight back to singapore (I’m all sleepy n tired now).. =P and of course, I had real good times there in medan!!

Some pictures that i've got.. =P

and this is my favourite..

Ciao...

Time of our lives...

Sitting there, Story-telling, laughing together, reminiscing.. and facing those that I’ve known forever.. have I told u? that is the time of my life.. we don’t talk about deep stuffs and serious future plans.. nor making cheap promises about how our friendship would last forever.. but if I count carefully, it’s been 9 years since we’re placed in the same class in that school..

Without us realizing it, there are things that actually can be perceived only by our group.. we laugh on the joke that others may not even find a slight amusement out of it.. it’s like being there and forgetting about the world, for a moment.. and without me realizing it, I truly cherish them - the teacher and those high-school friends that have actually been rooting in me..

Twice in a year is the most frequent meeting with them.. but even so, there has never been a big problem of catching up with the group and I feel I’m always a part of them.. just like it’s always used to be.. maybe we don’t push it, but we’ve become the best of friends to one another.. maybe it’s nothing profound but it’s kinda grown into something so light that talking and finishing others’ sentences is a very natural thing to happen, which never fails to end up with a burst of laughter from which I am always an inch away to drop my jaw..

Saturday’s dinner has left me with a piece of advice from the teacher “Remember that u can never buy ur friend”.. a simple sentence that’s always taken for granted.. so cliché a sentence that’s easily found in those Hallmark cards.. nonetheless, it dawned on me afterwards, sometimes in a glimpse, what we had might seem easy to be exchanged.. but when regrets came, we’re hit by the fact that no matter how much we offered, apparently, we couldn’t be able to buy the same thing ever again..

Anyways, my short holiday this time has been filled with catching up with family, cousins and friends.. but these two are the only pictures that i have with me at the moment.. =P

Ciao...

That element called mystery...

Mystery.. a situation that's very difficult to understand, nor to explain.. most people think that it's the quality of making something/somebody seem interesting and exciting.. well, to a certain extent that is true.. something that we look forward to find at the end of the day, something we're very curious about.. It's like, we're questioning all the time; what is it actually? What actually is happening? etc etc.. how can it not be interesting? but hold on, it can as well be sth much smaller than expected.. so how can it be that interesting??

When I'm given puzzles that's too hard to solve or when I have difficulty of finding my flight ticket that I bought one year ago (which I know I once deliberately keep somewhere so that it's easy to find).. there are pieces of mysteries that I really want to find.. and that's what makes it interesting (yet annoying after some time).. but when a person is trying to be mysterious to attract others or when I don't even know if there's even sth interesting to find at the end of the day.. that's just.. not interesting.. and I, I lose interest in no time.. I get bored easily too..

I like to really know what and whom I know, at least after a reasonable amount of time.. there's nothing interesting to always keep something that is mysterious in my life.. give me a year the longest and I will definitely give it up..

People are on their way of making life easier, and I am certainly one of them..

Summer.. oh summer...

My imagination about summer used to be something that would be fun in any way, not the time for creating or working but it's like... ur body and heart would beg u to be outside, sitting by the beach near water somewhere, the time when u're craving for reading terribly lots of magazines while lying on the hot sand, gossiping with girlfriends, listening to mp3 players drinking cold beers pondering about how good life was.. there's nothing better, I thought..

Imagination has always been better than everything else, apparently and unfortunately I'm obviously not that type..

The good thing about summer in denmark, according to my experience was that, there's cooling wind apart from the bright sun.. but speaking of summer in italy, it was an "Ohh.. My.. God..".. (with Janice's voice and hand gesture =P) it was on average of 35-37 deg Celsius in daytime.. I mean, how hot was that..

A good traveling mate, nice weather, enough money to splurge.. three things to look at for having a perfect trip.. overall my trip was awesome.. like, I was glad to meet some friends again in other countries and to meet a lot of new people in hostels.. besides I kinda have got the momentum for traveling in europe.. for instance, the number of metro lines in big cities like Paris might be much more than what I've seen before.. but really, things turned out to be easier than I thought it would be.. and it wasn't as hard as said to find English spoken people, even in Spain.. so i was glad that things ended up well.. I sucked at map, but way much better after 3 weeks of wandering around alien cities with that thing.. =P

Perhaps ones of the unpleasant things would be the number of misunderstandings between my traveling mate and i.. and some unfriendly people that we bumped into, esp in Italy.. I mean, some of them could be really nasty.. the weather was extremely hot, I was unquestionably emotionally unstable.. basically I talked back, even to an officer.. well, I just couldn't believe I still had that part of me left inside.. haha..

Speaking of money, I'll be damned if I complain here.. although the amount wasn't that big enough to give me everything I wanted bcos I'm just human with a lot of needs =P.. it's at least enough to pay for all the necessary stuffs..

I had a thought after my trip, I realized there's one thing I actually hated all these while..

There are definitely some "great" people in this world, I know that.. the type that's so influential.. they change ur whole belief in a second.. I mean, even if that happens, or even if it happens bcos u're blindly in love with him/her.. look again at the person in front of u, a friend that u're talking to.. the person that u've known more than just one or two weeks.. is there really no way to just give a little respect? I just hate it the most to suddenly hear something from my friend that doesn't sound like her talking.. i'd deliberately drop the topic, refuse to listen further, that's what i do.. so i really hate it i suppose..

Ciao..

Time for goodbyes...

To tell the truth, I never thought it would be this sad.. I focused so much on how sad it would be to throw myself back to my old life.. I never thought of how sad it would be let go the people, the place and the feeling of possession.. I failed to think of that…

It was only at Hui Jeong's bday party and Nic's farewell dinner that I came to realize it.. that was our jokes which were meant to be funny but turned out making nic's eyes teary that made my mind wandered to some thoughts later on.. going back to old life being put aside, sadder is to leave what is here right here right now.. the feeling to know that this place will no longer be the same place at the second u leave.. the people will no longer lead the same life as that when u know them.. even if u step back to this city again one day, u know u will never get the same kind of feeling anymore… this is only for once.. and that's what makes it sad the most..

Maybe I don't make the bestest friendships ever, but to have some people who try to get to know me more without any prior judgment.. and simply happily make dinner together with me and cheer me up without them realizing it, that's what makes my days.. Maybe biking around the city isn't as cool as driving a car, but I truly enjoy the experience of listening to my ipod, breathing fresh air at the same time.. Maybe I don't act as I always used to act, but that, I would say, is one of the most enjoyable things to be done.. So, this memory is precious to me..

Six years ago, even though I did not cry at that time.. there was one saddest farewell in my life.. and when that feeling seems to rush back again.. I know, this is going to be something that I should overcome with grief at the end of the day..

Starting all over again, again, maybe?

Dinner on the other day... before Ling, the girl from China left..Hui Jeong's Birthday Dinner...

Nic's Farewell.. Nic's picture..

Tomorrow will be emel's and my turn.. Till then.. Ciao..

Alcohol Allergy...

My doctor will definitely have a smirk on his face if I tell him what happened.. first, I’m pissed off, how on earth could I have all this allergy stuff? How, how? I had alcohol allergy which never happened before.. causing terrible itch and red lumps all over my skin.. remember how good danish welfare system I said before? Well, I take that back.. I mean, it’s good to have a health insurance, et cetera, but hello…. having to wait for 3 days to see a doctor? that’s just insane.. I thought I was gonna die first bcos of the itchiness before I saw him… or, I would have cured by then.. for the love of god, all I needed was just an injection, how could it be that difficult? But o well, it's true - there’s no such thing as a free lunch..

I really had it hard this time.. I‘ve promised to stop drinking and eating all those forbidden stuffs.. thought of asking my dad abt what to do.. but then I held back considering he’d be suspicious about the amount of alcohol I took.. I mean, seriously, I really did drink just a little.. those who know me know how low my alcohol tolerance is.. fiuhhhh..

Btw, I’ve never observed this kinda thing, or maybe more like, it never really happened before.. it’s amazing to see people happily smiling and greeting u a lovely “good morning” in the kitchen making breakfast.. strangers smiling at u on the streets.. a good hug after not meeting for a few days.. in my dorm in nus, whenever I walk in the hallway and bump into people, more often than not, they’d pretend that they don’t see me.. but in here, people greet me and wish me a nice day.. the point is, I’m always somewhat dragged into a good mood, how can I not be anyway?

Actually, it’s not that hard to be a happier person after all… errrmm... hang on… I’m rather dubious if I can say the same thing 2 months from now.. u know, people change from time to time, depending on the situation they’re living in.. =P

“Don’t bother explaining coz the person who trusts you don’t need it and the person who dislikes you won’t believe it anyway,… right?” --> read this from Jacq’s blog.. it’s so true.. yet can be wrong I must say.. have u ever been in a situation when u feel that all u need is just an explanation? if u haven’t, well, at least I think i have =P

Teknisk Kollegium, my dormitory (back view)

(front view)

Surrounded by a huge park and beautiful view

Jan The Man, Chairman of the Larmer, the bar in Teknisk Kollegium

Ciao

Dead Poets Society...

Keating: Just when u think u know something, u have to look at it in another way. Even though it may seem silly or wrong, u must try! Now, when u read, don't just consider what the author thinks. Consider what u think. Boys, u must strive to find ur own voice. Because the longer u wait to begin, the less likely u are to find it at all. Thoreau said, "most men lead lives of quiet desperation". Don't be resigned to that. Break out! Don't just walk off the edge like lemmings. Look around u"

...............
Keating: "I sound my barbaric yawp over the rooftops of the world…"
...............
Keating: "There it is, You see, u have a barbarian in u, after all.." .
..............
Keating: Yes, we know that. All right. Now, I didn't bring them up here to ridicule them. I brought them up here to illustrate the point of conformity: the difficulty in maintaining ur own beliefs in the face of others. Now, those of u… I see the look in ur eyes, "I would've walked differently." Well, ask urselves why u're clapping. Now, we all have a great need of acceptance. But u must trust that ur belief is unique, ur own, even though others may think they're odd or unpopular, even though the herd may go, "that's baaaad..". Robert Frost said, "Two roads diverged in a wood and I, I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference." Now, I want u to find ur own walk right now. Your own way of striding, pacing. Any direction. Anything u want. Whether it's proud, whether it's silly, anything. Gentlemen, the courtyard is yours.

I immediately feel in love with the movie.. it expressed the idea of "Carpe Diem" which also what I first got to hear about one year ago in a talk.. an Academy Award winning film in 1989.. i say, u should watch it..!

Pictures as of late...

We've been having heavy dinners, trying out some recipes from internet bcos the weather's not been so friendly recently, always raining.. which makes it difficult to go outside to hang out.. =P

Spaghetti Carbonara - Fried Rice - Prawn Salad - Apple Pie

Besides, andreas is leaving on monday.. it's pretty sad and did i mention? he's a very nice friend and he's my bike angel.. =P always helping me with my bike.. anyway, we had a dinner and basketball game for the last time in Teknisk together.. quite a fun game, i teamed up with andreas, jun teamed up with jeong.. by the by, we've come to this gloomy time where everybody has to leave.. in fact, most of my classmates already left..

3 down, 1 more to go...

Do u know what is it that has always been misunderstood by people most of the time? That there's a fine line between putting ourselves in others' shoes and putting others in our shoes.. think abt it, what's often done is the latter one.. but ppl always claim themselves doing the former one.. and they actually end up guessing the reaction of others based on how they're going to react..

So, instead of "if I were to be him", it becomes "if he were to be me"… but they don't really realize it, do they? Of course sometimes it does happen that people do the same things as we think they would.. but very often they don't.. each of us has different attitudes towards problems.. I don't necessarily react to something in the same way u will react.. and I don't attack people in the same way some people usually do.. again, just another thought of mine u see..

Anyways, I'm done with my last paper this morning.. I must say I'm quite confident abt it.. =P so, things are pretty much getting lighter, 3 exams done, just 1 final project presentation left.. not so pressurizing even though it's quite big bcos we work with a Danish company.. but then an email from NUS swooped in my life hunting me, FYP (Final Year Project) list was out! I was completely clueless scrolling through hundreds of projects with alien terms.. I tried to narrow down my options by eliminating those from madness namely fluid mechanics, bioengineering, control and applied mechanics.. I'm pretty keen on the projects from manufacturing.. but material science and energy & bio-thermal will do too.. I'm confusing u, am I not? well.. bcos I myself am confused too.. wrong move and I'll be suffering for a year.. it's not funny, it's concerning in fact.. btw, enough abt school.. =P

Ela, my polish friend, said "I was so caught up with project within the last three days.. I need nature now.. nature, please.." and there we were.. biking in a forest area.. nothing beat the feeling of breathing fresh air of the nature.. the smell of flowers and greens was terrific.. we speeded up as fast as we could.. the fresh air and beautiful view were just great..

Have I told u, nothing is perfect, but the nature somehow is..

Emel and I went to Rosengårdscenteret, a shopping place at the other side of the city.. and to Bilka (sort of a huge supermarket) to buy some foods bcos emel wanted to cook Turkish dish.. we tried making a chocolate cake too.. =P (yea, I definitely gain weight).. well, I'll just let the pictures talk..

but forget abt the whole process, we're both busy so nobody took pictures..

The result..... =P

Turkish foods

If u ever wondered, this is my campus, Teknikum @ Syddansk Universitet

The main building of Syddansk Universitet