DAYS OF LIVING DANGEROUSLY

Every Tuesday, there's a Farmers' Market that is set up near Harvard Yard. I pass by it on the way home, so I'd usually browse there to see if I can find anything interesting. And last Tuesday, I found something that brightened my life for quite a while.

Pink gladioli.

They're my mum's favourite flowers. Every time we are out buying flowers, her eyes would invariably be drawn to the gladioli. That's why when I saw the flowers, I almost wept, because they reminded me so much of my mum.

The girl selling them was really nice, and I was able to buy 2 stalks for only $1. I was so happy with them that it must have shown on my face, because a man on the street actually stopped me to tell me that he thought they were beautiful! You can imagine how very very very elated and blissfully overjoyed I was that day!

Well, they certainly gave me great joy! I put them in a glass container and watched them bloom by the window. That's where I study, so looking up from my books naturally meant that I would see them. And that makes it easier to pass the day although I am buried in my books all day long.

Next to my vase of gladioli are 2 very precious items that keep me comforted and grounded through my loneliness in Boston. The first is an iceman that my sister Florence gave me. She bought this during her travels and it's supposed to be a replica of an ice-sculpture that Eskimos carve and place on paths so that it would point the way home for them. I put it where I can always see it so that I would always know the way home.

The other is the crystal ball in which is carved the relief of a mountain. My mum gave it to me, and it's her way of encouraging me to see that I can hold the highest mountain easily in my palm. Seeing it makes me feel her love, and then things don't look so insurmountable then.

No matter where we are, it's important that we always know the way home.

I'm glad that I do.

Posted by Lilac Dream at 9:51 PM | Permalink | Comments

One of the unusual assignments I have is to keep a moon observation book. It isn't supposed to be a book filled with romantic musings or eloquent scribblings about the moon; it's really just an observation log, into which we write what shape and colour the moon is on the nights that we observe it. Well, it certainly didn't sound like a tough assignment, until I actually had to do it!

Back in Singapore, the moon was always there. I just had to look up and, if it was not a cloudy night, it would be there. So last Saturday, I armed myself with my camera and trotted out into the night with a bounce in my step. As the night wore on and the moon was nowhere in sight, the bounce slowly died. I simply couldn't find the moon! Can you imagine? I walked everywhere with my eyes lifted upwards all the time, looking out desperately for the moon.

So began my fruitless and increasingly desperate search for the elusive moon. This went on for the next 6 days, during which I haunted the area near my place every night, my feet pounding the pavements and my eyes searching the black sky intensely. I even went into Starbucks to ask if they had seen the moon!

You can imagine how the passersby must have stared at me. It was quite hilarious, really, because some people actually stopped me to ask me what I was looking at! And after I told them, they also started looking up to find the moon! Isn't that just amazing? So thanks to my assignment, I had more people talking to me in those 6 days than I had in the past few weeks! There was this interesting elderly gentleman who even allowed me to go to the rooftop of the Fine Arts Museum to try to find the moon! So this became my novel way of making friends!

Well, when I attended class on Friday (that's when we're supposed to report our moonwatch), I had the shock of my life when most of my classmates said that they had seen the moon! They could even describe its colour and TEXTURE!!! AARRGGHH!!!! All that I could think of was how the moon had been hiding from me! When it came to my turn, I truthfully reported that I had NOT seen the moon, and my anguish must have shown, because one classmate kindly told me where I could see it.

But did I think I would finally get a glimpse of Ms Temperamental Moon? Of course not! It's called Flossie's Luck!

Then, the unimaginable happened.

The moon, the one Shakespeare termed the "inconstant moon", decided to appear in its full glory that evening to poor little me.

As I was walking with Esther and Christine to dinner, there it hung on the darkening sky, small but clearly distinguishable! I was so excited that I whipped out my camera and started shooting photos of it! People must have found it strange that I was in Boston taking photos of the moon and not the landmarks!

And as an added bonus, the moon again showed itself when I came out after dinner! So in one night, I saw the moon at TWO separate times! Hahaha!

Well, the next night, the moon was there again, this time more brilliant and benign than ever!

So now I can write proudly in my log:

On both 29 Sep and 30 Sep, I saw the moon. It was shaped like a bloated crescent, slightly tilted towards the right. And it was simply beautiful.

Yay!!

Posted by Lilac Dream at 9:16 PM | Permalink | Comments

Last Sunday, some friends and I decided to visit a church at Park Street. It's supposed to be a really beautiful building and I certainly wasn't disappointed! The minute we stepped out of the T (what they call the MRT in Boston), there it was, solid and imposing, right before our eyes! And on the grounds was this large cemetery that had a serene and ancient feel to it. Apparently we could take tours of it, and there were really so many people walking about in it leisurely. I didn't take a photo of it because I couldn't find my way there! I tried to open a door to get there, and this nice old lady practically shrieked at me because the door had an alarm on it and once the door was opened, it would be set off. Can you imagine? What's a door for if it couldn't be opened, right? But the dear lady looked like she would faint if I insisted, so I gave up.

Well, Puay Yin, Esther and I decided to have dimsum at this Chinese restaurant called Emperor's, which had the most schizophrenic decor ever! Two metres from the floor up were walls that couldn't decide if they were Chinese or Japanese! Then, above the two metres were ornate Baroque carvings and chandeliers! I couldn't stop staring at the walls because I couldn't believe that anyone could own a place so grotesquely anomalous!

And the food was crazy too! Nothing like Crystal Jade or Lei Garden at all! We decided that even the frozen dumplings from the supermarket tasted better! Fortunately it cost only about $10 per person, so it wasn't such a terrible experience!

Luckily, the park around the area was beautiful, and we were absolutely fascinated by these plants that looked like cabbages that had a purple heart! So lovely, right? So we did the only sensible thing - snapped photos next to them! Hahaha!

Posted by Lilac Dream at 8:52 PM | Permalink | Comments

One of the most interesting lessons I've had this week was by Prof Eleanor Duckworth (a really wonderful lady!) for the course 'Critical Explorations In The Classroom'. We were told to take a bag of coloured items and find a space on the floor. The bag contained 4 different items or colours, each numbering about 30. So some people took the different coloured paper-clips, while I took the beans (they were prettier and I was quite fascinated by them!). Then, Prof told us to form lines of 4 using our items, and each line had to contain one of each colour/item that we had in the bag. But the arrangements of the colours/items had to be different each time. We had to keep forming the rows until we felt we had made as many as could be made.

Can you just imagine??!! It was PERMUTATION!!!!!! MATH!!!! The one thing that got my mind all tangled up! I tried to squirm my way out of it, but to no success. I even asked if I could stop if I got tired, and you should have seen Prof's face! She probably thought I was a retard! So, I had no choice but to get down to it and try to form my rows of beans. But I got really confused because I had no pattern to it, while the other people had actual SYSTEMS that they could explain how they knew they had completed their task! I was truly awed by them! But I had some kind of weird logic too, which people politely listened to but were obviously confused by. But never mind, because I did enjoy putting pretty beans together in lines!

What was the point of the exercise? To trace how people's thinking worked! How lucky that Prof did not get me to explain mine, because then she'll know that have a completely illogical mind!

This is Sarah and her completely pretty, logical and neat rows:


This is Laura with her amazing branch-formation!!!! I tell you, I still can't get it!!!


This is Dawn looking all confused to make me feel better; she actually knows how to do the thing!!!


And this is me, proudly next to my rows that are nothing to be proud of!!! Hahaha!

Posted by Lilac Dream at 3:23 PM | Permalink | Comments

One of the things that never fail to amaze me about Boston is the picture-perfect surroundings. There's something very quaint and elegant about it that I don't find in our skyscraper and very constructed Singapore. Here, there are so many flowers of so many hues and shades that it is never ever boring to take a walk. So I thought I'll share some of the lovely flora that I've seen.


The first is this wispy-looking tree that I pass by every day on my way to school. It just stands there by itself, so self-contained and unobtrusive. Yet, it catches my eye every time I walk by, because in its very fragility is a stability and straightness that makes it very lovely.


Next is this amazng bonsai-looking plant that is one of many found all over the place. I don't think anyone really prunes it or anything like that, yet it looks so perfect in an artistic manner. If I narrow my vision to just the plant, I can almost see myself in Japan! Can you?


Next I shall show you this Christmassy tree that I simply adore. It is so tall that I can only capture parts of it on my camera! I always feel very festive and joyous when I see the tree,
because it's like a childhood dream come true, because it's a HUGE Christmas tree on which I can hang tons of lovely decorations! And there are so many acorns on it too! Imagine that I used to buy acorns from dept stores back home! Now there are plenty growing naturally on the tree!

Enough of the trees and shrubs. We now move on to the lovely flowers that bloom abundantly EVERYWHERE! First stop is something that Caroline would absolutely love: flowers all pretty in PINK! This is a colour that jumps out at you everywhere you turn, and there are various shades of pink too. Don't you think that it'll be such a sight for sore eyes to saunter down avenues lined with these blooms?


Then there's this one that I thought of Siok the moment I laid eyes on it! It's bold, dazzling and attractive! In fact, it reminded me of the ones she used to wear on her blouses and dresses! Remember when she was interviewed by Singapore Idol? She was wearing a white dress with a brooch tht looked just like this one! Except I think it was red, not white. When I was at People's Park with Nora and her once, and this old lady came up to her to tell her how lovely her large flower brooch was! So you can see that her penchant for huge and floral brooches has left a HUGE impression on me!


Bostonians also seem to love chryanthemums. They grow them lovingly in tight and huge bunches, and when I mentioned to a lady that back home we cook them in water to drink, her eyes went round like saucers! I think she thought I wanted to eat her beloved flowers! Hahaha! Although come to think of it, her pots of chrysanthemums looked really fresh and delicious! Maybe when I'm starving, I'll just over to her garden and steal them!


I'm sure you're wondering now: where are the purple ones?? I found some lovely ones that looked like little drooping lights over water! In fact, there are many things that are purple here! I can find purple files, books, pens (there are trillions of shades!!), tees and even plates! Did I buy up everything? NO! Sob sob sob! I'm on a strict budget! N-o-o-o-o-o-o............ But at least there are pretty purple flowers that I can look at for free!


And if you want to kiss anyone under the mistletoe, come to Boston! There is mistletoe growing everywhere!
This is the first time that I've seen it alive and real, so you can imagine how excited I was! So what did excitement drive me to do? I snapped photo after photo after photo! Hahaha! So now you can see mistletoe from different angles!

Posted by Lilac Dream at 12:52 PM | Permalink | Comments

I had been eating cold sandwiches since I got to Boston because they're cheap and easy to make, but the day came when I really couldn't eat cold sandwiches anymore! So my classmate Puay Yin, who's from Singapore, and I trotted off happily to the most famous burger joint in Boston, Mr Bartley's Burger Cottage, where I would proceed to spend a princely sum of US$17.00! Isn't that frightening??!!


Well, walking into Bartley's was like walking into a movie set of those American movies set in small towns. It was really so authentic! There was a lot of character about the place, especially its resistance against taking the walk into the 21st century! It is famous for its burgers that come by the weight of the beef patty! And they have named the burgers after their politicians! So you could have a Bill Clinton or George Bush if you liked. Their sweet potato fries are also supposed to be world-class; and I can tell you they're not boasting! The fries are really good!


The service was really great too, with our waitress Linda helping us with every and any thing! She adds the word 'lovey' to everything, so again it was like being in a movie!


The place that we sat at was where Al Pacino had sat when he was there! Isn't that great? I almost swooned when I realised that!


There were quirky signs all over the place, and it was really fun just sitting there soaking in the atmosphere!


What a treat it was for me that day!

Posted by Lilac Dream at 11:43 AM | Permalink | Comments

Well, this blog entry will be to show all of you what I see on my way to school each morning. It's quite a nice walk really, about 15 minutes if I'm strolling. I know what you're thinking, Carol & Alan! Imagine Flossie walking!!! Hahaha! I thought you'll definitely get a kick out of this!

My walk every morning is always punctuated by the fire engine sirens wailing away! I don't know why it's like this, but Boston seems to have fires or emergencies somewhere all the time! The sirens wail morning, noon and night! Isn't it strange? The fire station is just in front of the Harvard Memorial Hall, which till now I have absolutely no idea what it is! But it's a really beautiful building, so even if it doesn't do anything, it's ok, right? Beauty is after all for beauty's own sake!

Then I turn into the Harvard Yard, where the first-year undergraduate dorms are and where the Arts & Social Science depts are. It's a really lovely place, and I can sit on the grass and read if I want to. I tried it once, but the wind was really cold, cruelly getting through my jeans and things to attack me! After a while, it didn't feel cold anymore, so I just sat there enjoying the moment. When I tried to get up, I realised why I didn't feel the cold on my butt anymore. It had frozen stiff and couldn't feel a thing anymore! My butt had literally frozen to death! It took a lot of whacking to revive it, and so thank goodness I now still have all my body parts intact! Phew!

After that I walk past this lovely (is that the right word??!!) cemetery of soldiers who had given their lives in the Civil War. It's really serene and stately, like an oasis of calm in the midst of the bustling town. I enjoy this section of the walk really, because it makes me think of the movie 'Glory', where I first realised what the freed slaves did to ensure that they were a part of Ameica and that their descendents would always be free. It's very sobering to know that ordinary men could do great things, not just for themselves, but for those they probably would never come to know. Do ask Mrs James about this part of human history because it is something that is very moving and thought-provoking.

Then it's onwards to the Gutman Library, where I read, borrow my required texts and attend some lessons. The other lessons are conducted at Larsen Hall and Longfellow Hall. I'm on friendly terms with the librarians - Bob, Doug and this guy who's a graduate student working part-time there. I don't know his name, but he's always at the entrance checking people's ID and stuff, and we chat a lot about school, so it's really nice. The other day I asked him if he knew where the post office was and he didn't! Can you imagine? And he asked to be told where it is when I found out! Amazing, right? The international student telling the American where the post office is! But it's really nice to have someone to chat with, and to see a friendly face in the library, so I don't mind!

Posted by Lilac Dream at 10:49 AM | Permalink | Comments

Remember how horror films invariably have scenes set in basements that are old and creepy, with many blind corners and wires hanging down from the ceiling? Well, welcome to my apartment block's basement, where I have to go every week to do my laundry!

The first time I made my way down there via the antiquated lift, an unexpected spasm of irrational fear gripped me and threw me into a frenzy! I took one look at the corridor that I had to walk down, and I totally went berserk! It didn't help that there were no signs that told me where I was going; I simply had no where else to go except down that eerie corridor! I couldn't even prance back into the safety of the lift, because it had already moisily closed and abandoned me! The deathly quiet of the place also creeped me out, and each time I saw an 'EXIT' sign over a door, I dashed to it and tried to let myself out. But guess what? Remember what always happens in horror movies? THE DOOR DOES NOT OPEN!!!!! That was what happened to me! AARRGGHHH......... Well, I didn't faint or anything, but managed to find my way to the EXTREMELY deserted laundry area, where white machines were lined up silently against the wall, their mouths wide open, ready to swallow my dirty clothes. I quickly threw my clothes into the machine, deposited the required coins, and dashed up to the safety of my room!

What are the 3 lessons that I learnt from this harrowing experience?

1. NEVER do laundry at night; killers are always on the prowl then.
2. ALWAYS bring some kind of weapon with me; don't be an idiot caught helpless.
3. DO laundry all at one time to minimise risk; see, I learn well from movies.

So being the good learner I am, I promptly went out and got myself a HAMMER! This precious hammer became my constant companion on my sojourns to the bowels of my apartment block. I developed a system where I would hold it up with my right hand while walking or when I'm in the lift. But to avert any suspicions, I would bounce it gently against my shoulder. This was so that I could bring it own quickly forward using the momentum should the lift door open and an attacker was standing there, as well as give the illusion of me being nonchalant if it were any harmless person who chanced upon me.

Like all things in my life, this brilliant idea backfired.

There was this once when the lift door opened and a guy stood at the door with his book. I had been so prepped to be on guard, that my instinctive reaction was to raise my hammer! Imagine his shock when he looked at me with my fierce hammer ready to do serious damage to his skull! So time stood still as he wondered what I would do and I wondered what I could do! Finally, he said in this sheepish voice, "I'm not really dangerous." He even tried to smile to underline that statement, but I could practically smell the horror emanating from him! Poor guy, right? About to be attacked by a crazed Asian female!

So what did I do? I quickly smiled, dashed out of the lift, but not before I heard him desperately punching the 'DOOR CLOSE' button!

That was the first horror movie that happened here, totally created by me, not the victim, but the horror in the story!

Posted by Lilac Dream at 10:13 AM | Permalink | Comments

The whole of last week was spent running around shopping.

I know what you're thinking: there she goes again on her shopping rampage, right? Well, WRONG! Over here, we have something called class shopping, where we get to attend the different courses and hear what the faculty (that's like teacher/lecturer) has to say about his/her course. Then we decide which ones we want to do. It was really a whole lot of fun, breezing from class to class and trying to see which I'd like.

In the end, I chose the following courses:

Art & Understanding
Critical Explorations In The Classroom
Developing Curriculum Using Technology (gulp!!)
Growing Up In A Media World

Of course I've a good reason for doing these, but I'll keep it under wraps until everything sort of crystallises. And no, it's not about gorgeous faculty or classmates!

All classes start tomorrow, and every class requires you to read at least 100 pages of stuff every week on top of doing homework! But it's really fun for me because I enjoy reading and learning, which I guess some of you consider teetering on the brink of insanity!

Seriously though, going through school again invigorates me simply because I really love learning new things and rethinking what I thought I already knew. That feeling of engaging my mind and tussling with information is very exciting. Maybe that's what has always puzzled me about my students. There are few who understand how I feel, and I know that many thought I was simply crazy to put myself through studying again. I remember one student whom I don't teach walking into my class in August and asking me quizzically, "Why do you want to study again? Why?"

At that time, a maelstrom of thoughts came crashing into my mind. How could I possibly explain to her the adrenaline rush that comes whenever I interact with knowledge and learning? What could I say to fully describe how intellectual stimulation matters more to my soul than anything else? When God gave me a mind, I don't think He simply wanted me to let it rot with un- and disuse. I don't watch slapstick movies nor read junk, not because I'm better than it all (which I am certainly not!), but simply because there's so little time and there's so much that's more worthwhile for me to use my limited time and energy on.

That's why I'm always energised in my Literature classes with the Sec 3 & 4 students. My students are lively and receptive to what I teach them, and class discussions are always fun and engaging. Whenever we get down to wrestling with new poems or prose passages, it's always an adventure because I'm never really sure what they'll bring up. Those 4 periods a week were my points of insanity and sanity; they allowed my mind to roam together with my students across vistas of incredible heights and scenery. Very often, we couldn't grasp the writer's intent at first but when we finally did, it was like we had reached the summit of a magnificent mountain and could now gaze at the breathtaking view below.

It was especially so with the Sec 4 Literature class: Sophie, Ben, Jovina, Rachel, Kalusha, Tim and Danny. Their instincts in Literature were absolutely first-rate! Just being in the class with them felt so invigorating! I love their responses to and ideas about the texts that we do; every lesson was an adventure that we embarked on together. Thank you, guys!

So you see, however tough the going gets, the process will invariably be worth the stress and hair-tugging! For those of you about to take the exams, remember that the mind is like a muscle: the more you use it, the stronger it will be! So those hours of painstaking study will never be a waste of time, ya?

Posted by Lilac Dream at 6:55 AM | Permalink | Comments

One of the worst things that I've ever had to deal with while travelling on a plane is a vomiting boy. Yes, that's right. It's a boy who practically vomited the entire flight to New York! Seriously, I don't know how he did it. He was probably only 3 or 4 years old, so you can imagine how small-built he actually was, but he had A LOT of stuff to fuel his vomiting spell!

I was in the aisle seat, and the boy was just next to me. Together with his mum on his other side, we completed the centre row of seats. To give him credit, the boy was not irritating or anything, and when he was not spewing like the Merlion, he was just very quiet. But when the flood came, I almost fainted! Out of his tiny mouth came torrents of indescribable gunk! What was worse was that he leant over to my side and vomited onto himself! All the while that I was staring fixedly at him in horror and terror, my face was flashing one big warning; DON'T YOU DARE VOMIT ONTO ME!!!

Luckily for me and him, he did not. But I must say that I'm utterly amazed by his mother. She was sleeping blissfully throughout the entire flight! Even when I woke her up to tell her that her son was probably expelling all his organs as well onto his lap, she calmly told me that he would soon stop, and rolled over into Sleepland again! So what was I left to do? I spent the entire flight nudging the boy's head away from my side (he slept while spewing! I'm stunned that he didn't choke!!), and wrapping my blanket tightly around myself to catch any possible vomit that could land on my clothes.

What a way to start my new adventure, right?

Posted by Lilac Dream at 6:40 AM | Permalink | Comments

Some of you at the airport told me that though you have heard so much about my wonderful and beloved nephews, you have yet to see what they look like. In fact, I thought it was really cute that a few of you were disappointed that they weren't there at the airport! Well, Joshua and Jared had overslept and so could not make it to the airport in time. When Josh called me on the phone to say 'goodbye', he was in tears, which made leaving even worse!

So this entry will tell you a little bit about my 2 little adorables (I made that into a noun just for them!) and feature some photos of them with me.

My nephews came at a time when I utterly hated children. You know, the way they would scream and yell and cry? Well, I absolutely detested that. It was always annoying to see children who are rude and inconsiderate, and luckily for me, I could avoid such hateful contact with them on public transport since I drove everywhere I went until recently.

Then Someone decided that I should be given a taste of how wonderful bundles of joy children could be in my narrow world of me, me, me.

He gave me 2 amazing nephews.

When Josh first came into my world, he was this tiny baby wrapped in a small blanket, totally vulnerable. That frightened me a lot. What if I dropped him while carrying him? What if he pees or poos when I'm carrying him (believe me when I tell you that should that happen, the smell stays with you for a L-O-N-G time!!)? What was worse was that when he was in my arms, I had absolutely no idea how to handle him! Do I carry him this way, or that, or what?

But somehow I managed to bumble along and helped out a little in his care. I even tried singing him to sleep, strumming that one little ditty that summed up my entire guitar repertoire! But the smart thing would bawl his eyes out every time he heard the beginning notes, which totally convinced me that I simply could N-O-T sing. Sigh.

The smell of little babies is truly a whiff of heaven - have you tried it? I loved to bury my face in Josh's face and neck, because it always felt so wonderful! So I began to realise that........I loved him very very much! Goodness! I could sit for hours just watching him sleep! Such an obsessed aunt, right?

Even before I could get over one adorable, my sister promptly gifted us with another - Jared. Unlike Josh who was all delicate and fair, Jared tumbled into the world one robust and energetic baby! He never really looked vulnerable, but that made him so fun to play with! He was always laughing while Josh was contemplative. Both of them are marvellous studies in contrast, and yet there is so much similarity that they share.

For one, both have a cute cheeky laugh that shows how mischievous they are. Their laughter gurgles from inside them and comes out tinkling peals of pure joy! And hearing them, watching them laugh, has always livened my day and made me smile, no matter how bad the day has been. Ever played hide-and-seek with children? My nephews' version makes a mockery of the name. They would hide themselves, and the moment you come within earshot of them, they jump up and shout, "I'M HERE!", which sort of makes the game redundant since they revealed themselves anyway! So when I ask them why they play it that way, their unbelievable answer is, "What if you can't find us? Then we can't start all over again!" Ok, I suppose in a vague and distant sort of way, that would make sense....

The adorables can also be really sweet. After my recent eyelid operation when I had to keep icing the swell down every few hours, I remember lying on my bed and feeling really miserable that I was in such pain. Then a little hand grasped mine, silently and gently. It was Josh. He didn't say anything, but just sat beside me reading his book while holding my hand. It was a really poignant moment, and later he told me that he just wanted to keep me company. When I asked him what he would do if I went blind (since my eyes looked terrible, he must have thought it possible!), Josh replied simply that he would take care of me. How is it possible not to love him?

Jared cares in a different way. He loves to prance into my room and threaten to take my stuffed toys away, especially my little wombat! He seems to love that little creature! And then when I pretend to be upset, he'll magnanimously come to me and comfort me! So cute, right? He is also very spontaneous and expansive in his expressions of love. From afar, he would run up to me to hug me and kiss me, his little hands grasping me so tightly to show how much he loves me. And that would invariably melt my heart.

So 2 nights before my departure, they came over to stay, and tried to help me pack. It was hilarious! I had to repack all the things that their little enthusiastic hands tried to fold. To them, as long as it could fit into the suitcase, it was considered packed! But it was sad too, because they had made my life so happy and I would not see them for so many months. So we took photos, which I shall post here for you to see. It's Josh in the left photo and Jared on the right. I call them every moment I can, and it's such balm to a lonely soul whenever they shout "I LOVE YOU! I MISS YOU!"

I do too, Josh and Ja.

Posted by Lilac Dream at 6:38 AM | Permalink | Comments

One of the most harrowing things that happened to me was when my toilet bowl decided to die on me on my 3rd day here. After working happily for a few days, it suddenly decided that it had had enough, and proceeded to refuse to flush! Luckily I was trying to flush down tissue paper & not anything else of a more unsavoury nature! So being the intrepid new me, I traipsed down to the hardware store (they know me quite well by now because I hop in there to buy small items all the time) to get some help.

Once there, I felt lost! Goodness! I knew I needed a plunger, but there were so many varieties of plungers available that I was floored! There were pretty coloured ones, huge ones (I don't know what kind of bowl it's for!!), tiny ones (they look like they're for dolls' houses), and even long/short ones (See? They don't discriminate!)! So I stood there, dutifully and intellectually trying to assess them, and finally decided on the common type that I've seen back in Singapore.

After this trying selection, the nice young man in the store came over & asked if he could help. I explained the problem & he informed me, with much authority in his voice and manner, that I needed something that ould 'eat' up whatever was choking the pipes. So I pounced on the packet that he was pointing at (only one left, so my Singaporean competitiveness leapt out before I could restrain it!), paid for it & went home to do battle with the toilet bowl.

Once there, I read the instructions, poured in the powder, and then waited to see the miracle happen. Have you ever seen the toilet bowl unchoke itself? Well, if you hadn't, I'll describe it to you. It gurgles & burps like a baby! There was this series of strange strangling sounds coming from the toilet bowl, and slowly but surely, I thought I heard it unchoke! Hahaha!

After the prescribed 4 hours of operation, I went back to the toilet bowl, looked at it, and lo behold, it had cleared! So ensued the dance of victory by me, after which I did the only sane thing - I tested it. With my hand firmly on the flush handle, I pushed downwards, and saw gloriously clean water rushing upwards in a lovely swirl! Imagine my joy that it was finally doing its job!

Then the horror began.

The swirling waters came up and up, and did not go down! In a greedy torrent, it flooded over, making little happy bubbling sounds as it did! Aaarrrgghhh!

I gave up.

The next day, the real professional came in his plastic boots, used a machine-operated plunger on the recalcitrant bowl, and cleared the choke in no more than 3 seconds!

So what lesson did I learn from this episode?

Just leave it to the experts; they know what they're doing.

Sigh.

Posted by Lilac Dream at 6:52 AM | Permalink | Comments

This is going to be a photo-log, because I'm going to post photos of the people I love from the school!

Posted by Lilac Dream at 5:03 AM | Permalink | Comments

Let's now go back in time to relive those few hours before I left the sunny shores of Singapore for the wintry streets of Boston.

Hours before my flight was due to take off, my suitcase refused to shut! It just sat there, swollen with all my clothes, and looked like it had its mouth agape in an eternal burp! And I had only 4 hours before my flight left me behind! So my dear sister Florence came and together we sat on the stubborn suitcase, coax it gently, hammered at it, & eventually resigned ourselves to removing precious items from it. The discarded items sadly left their warm spot in the suitcase and went to the cold brown box where they would be sent to me via UPS a few days later. Sigh.

When I arrived at the airport, I saw Keshia, Hong Koon & Eugene! So sweet that they had come to send me off! But as usual in my tragi-comic life, my departure was eclipsed by the arrival of some Korean superstar whose fans had gathered in hordes in the Arrival Hall to yell at him as he sauntered down the red carpet. Do I now know who he is? Nope. But my mum did! She's so cute; she regaled Vikki & her mum with precious nuggets of infomation about the guy.

Well, I kept thinking that the star had arrived because periodic screams and yells would float deafeningly up from the Arrival Hall, but there was no sign of him. Why do girls scream at everything & anything? It could take an entire PhD research project to figure that out! When he finally deigned to walk out to his manic fans, pandemonium reigned! Even Rachel and some of the girls dashed about trying to catch a glimpse of him! It was really hilarious!

Well, it was really wonderful to have so many people at the airport to see me off. Thank you all so much! I was really happy that you all made it and your cards & gifts made the long flight more bearable because I could read and see and cry! Having to say goodbye was really tough, especially to my family. You all know how much I love them.

I really loved my time at the sports school. I've made some wonderful friends - Caroline, Lulie, Roger, Siok, Nora, Alan, Raymond - who have made such an incredible impact on my life. Going to school always felt good because all of you were there. And my wonderful 4B - especially Sarah, Cheryl, Rachel, Guorui, Eugene, Tim, Kalusha, Shu Yong, Hong Koon - who I've come to love so much! Thanks for the wonderful 3 years we've had together! I'll be writing something on you for the yearbook, and I can't get started because I'm so overwhelmed by emotion each time. Ben: it's been really great being able to teach you finally in your Sec 3 & 4 years. You're such an amazingly empathetic and literary person that you made Lit lessons really enjoyable! And not forgetting all my Sec 3s: Scott, Vanessa (don't ever give up on your writing, ok?), Suhailah, Samantha, Keshia, Sheena, Sean, Val, Dan Dan, and all the others! You've all made teaching such an enriching experience for me!

You know, I started out hating every step of my teaching career, but you made it all a breeze. With you, I'm better and happier than ever in the classroom!

Thank you so much!

Posted by Lilac Dream at 4:26 AM | Permalink | Comments

I've finally got my blog started, after much trial & tribulation because I am simply NOT a techno-savvy person! But I guess it's good to start small -- instead of trying out grand but seemingly impossible templates & skins, I've decided to just stick to simple, manageable ones. So this is a simple black one to reflect my simple ability at creating a blog!

I'll start with a quick listing of the memorable events that have happened since I got here.

Day 1 was a real shock. I arrived at my apartment ready to drop dead on the comfy bed, only to realise that there was NO BED! My entire apartment came furnished with a fridge and a stove. Period. This was my first time away from home & I hadn't realised that the place would be totally unfurnished! Goodness!


So what did I do? I slept on plastic sheets that I had used to store my clothes. It was a really miserable night. My toes curled in the freezing night, and I could hardly find a comfortable spot to rest because the floor was so terribly hard! So I gave up and decided to clean my apartment with a vengeance! I swept and mopped and packed until it was almost 6am! It was cathartic though, so I guess I didn't really mind. However, it meant that I had to rush about when day broke to find a bed and other stuff that I needed to furnish my spartan apartment. Luckily I had a friend who helped out, so things got started really quickly.

What did I learn from this experience? Don't ever take simple things like toilet paper for granted. The apartment didn't have any, so I had to ration the use of my precious few packs of tissue paper for a while until I managed to find a supermarket that I could buy stuff from.

Sigh.

That concluded the first few days of my new adventure.

Posted by Lilac Dream at 4:13 AM | Permalink | Comments