HELLLLLLLLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOo from New Haven!

Bet you a dime that you've started to miss me already ;)

the stopover at Frankfurt was literally a stop. this was all i saw of Germany:

Still a little jetlagged now but had a fabulous sleep. The weather here at New Haven is fantastic, you feel like you’re in an airconditioned place PERPETUALLY. Except that it had been raining lightly but steadily for the past 2 days. Much like the monsoon periods in Singapore.

Morse College-Dining Hall

interior of Harry Potter-ish Dining Hall
(i've come to fall in love with brick walls and buildings)

Woke up this morning and told my reflection in the mirror, no more making small talk when I don’t want to, but only when I genuinely want to be friendly. I’m too jetlagged, tired and grouchy to truly make friends with the other international students yet. I’ve been discovering some things about myself as well. never really thought about it that much but in Yale where most people are rather vocal and verbose, knowing how to maintain, lead and flow with conversation; my aura of silence and deep thinking stands in contrast. I’ve been learning to be more assertive, direct and basically stronger when expressing my opinion. It’s been a little uncomfortable somewhat, but I’m learning to externalize my thought process.

potted plants just outside my suite

my spacious and comfortable room

The Singapore bunch’s (10 of us) gelling quite well though. Such an irony that the intellectual stimulation thusfar has been mainly learning through conversations with the rest of the NUS people. Everyone is knowledgable about stuff ranging from philosophy,, history, art, film, politics that conversations are never dull and superficial. Not that we all know EVERYTHING, but learning from each other has proved to be so enriching. I must commend the boys for being rather chivalrous. Lucas walked me in the rain twice and helped me with my luggage when I first reached. Weilong gave up his umbrella for the girls when it rained. Yingting has proved to be quite promising shopping escort. Suresh’s been friendly and nice. I like the synergy in the group, although the bunch who traveled New York are a little closer to each other. Generally, friendly vibes I just wish that one of the girls will stop using American language. Referring to girls as “chicks” and boys as “dudes” and using "shit like that" in place of "etc" every conversation is reminiscent of too much American TV and sitcoms baby.

more of Morse College

view of The Green on my way to Yale.

(there was some sort of rather rowdy rally going along which involved the Hispanic community. it may be because of Freedom Writers, i have this strange affection for the Hispanics. )

I love being here here at Yale because everything from the campus to the people to the food even, stimulates you to think and debate. The environment is such that there is no academic pressure, only academic appreciation. the class on EVIL today was awesome. There were older seniors from Yale, graduate students and a return student who decided to come back to school after taking over his father’s automobile company. The diversity of people here is just amazing.

Safety seems to be a concern though, we’ve repeated been reminded that like every other city, there is crime and it pays to be vigilant. Think it sounds like Singapore rhetoric? A fellow student was mugged at gun point just outside my college (equivalent to hall in NUS) last night. From my room I’ve been hearing police sirens quite frequently for the past 2 days. there it goes again, even as i'm typing this at 8pm at night. The city given has police escort services and there are Yale transit buses to ferry you back to campus at night if you feel unsafe. Each student is given an electronic key to get pass the main gate of our college, a key to the entry way to your block, a third key to your suite (group of 4 rooms) and a 4^th, which is a room key. Great security there, but reveals the extent of danger that warrants such vigilance. Supper outside of the campus is rather unthinkable; at least we haven’t gotten brave enough to. But nothing about the physical space gives me bad vibes; I just love it here. It’s like a sleepy town waiting to be discovered. The architecture is amazing and speaks of intellectual diginity; from Yale to churches to historic buildings and town houses. I just wish that I could explore the town at night.