Wednesday, January 16, 2008

it hasn't been easy coming back to school, strangely. i assumed that it would be a breeze adjusting to life in stanford and away from home, going for classes, doing homework and checking out interesting activities. it all seemed so easy and straightforward when i look back on last quarter. my first week was rather depressing since i found myself homesick and slightly sick (cough, sore throat, runny nose).

but there were small little incidents which cheered me up. like going to roble for lunch and discovering that the sporeans' table was full. so i ended up sharing a table with a guy i didn't know, who saw my raffles hoodie and asked if i was from singapore. and meeting a korean math researcher afterward who approached me with the question, "can you speak chinese?" and who then proceeded to comment that i was very big for a chinese. and even at the regular table i met new people who were interesting to talk to. i must lunch with strangers more.

the highlight of the week, however, was definitely snow trip to Tahoe. we took a 5.5h bus journey on friday evening (including one stop at a supermarket) and arrived in our picturesque little cabin at midnight. i played 'apples to apples' and 'catchphrase' with my dorm mates till 3am. these are both word games, and with the right people they are exceedingly fun and competitive.

the next morning i helped with the dishes after breakfast (mushroom omelette cooked by one of my dorm mates) so Aubrey (first floor RA who was nice and waited for me) and i set off for the mountain later than all the rest. we couldn't find them, so we ended up drinking hot choc and reading graphic novels in the cafe at the bottom of the ski slope. and then we decided that it was time to play in the snow. there was a nice little patch of pristine, knee-deep snow beside the parking lot that looked as though not too many people had discovered it yet. the only signs of civilization were two snowmen. we pelted each other with snowballs made from snow that was easily compacted and held its shape when you threw it, falling apart only upon collision with intended target. this was unlike the powdery, wimpy stuff that is man-made snow.

after we got tired of the snowball fight i decided to see if we could decapitate the snowman someone else had built by throwing snowballs at it. that was indeed therapeutic, even if the snowman was so well built that we didn't accomplish our task.

dinner on saturday was spaghetti and choc milkshake. i skipped out on the milkshake out of consideration for my cold. i spent sunday morning learning how to make french toast from Katie, and frying ham for our lunch sandwiches. the ride back was much shorter than the ride there. we got back in just under 4h.

today's tuesday and so far it's been an exciting day. co-wrote a song with a friend for IHUM section, and i think we're going to blow the class away with it. despite my tone-deafness.