It's been too long!

It's been too long since I last went to school! Yesterday was certainly a day of mishaps for me. I was going to school to help Mingfei hand in a form (requesting to take 6 subjects this semester.. some people are just too smart -.- ).

On the train, I was just delighting myself on being able to get a seat.. Not knowing that would be the start of my troubles! Alas, I fell asleep, and awoke at Marina Bay! Sigh... When I finally reached city hall, and was walking towards school, there was a sudden sharp pain in my foot. OMG, I cannot envision such a strange sight it must have been for others, probably hilarious even. Some guy walking towards the traffic light developing a limp, half reaching out to his sandals and stopping, before limping as best as he can to cross the road before the light turns red! Sigh.. I limped my way to the nearest support I could find, to realise that a sharp twig had poked its way through the sole of my shoe, and was sticking out. So that was the cause of the sharp pain! Come on.. what are the odds of that happening. Dozens of commuters, a wide stretch of road, a twig lying in stand-up position? How odd. Fate? Or coincidence?

Anyways, I got rid of the twig and continued my 'journey'. When I reached the admin building, I just naturally strolled into the lift.. Only to realise I forgot to bring my school card! Tada.. now I was stuck in an amazingly embarassing situation. I exited the lift and walked towards the counter, preparing to sign in for a temp pass.. thank god I spotted a few people walking towards the lift, and ninja-ed a ride up ;)

The ride up let me learn something I've not thought about much, despite the supposed multi-culture Singapore possesses. My 3 'saviors' were international students, and they were chatting to each other in rapid-fire . Logically, I knew they weren't talking about me or anything, yet it's human nature I guess, to look upon something unknown with fear. Something in my heart was nagging at me that they were laughing at me, somehow. Or maybe its just my insecure personality? Anyways.. now I recall how terrible it is to not understand a conversation. Kinda reminds me of what happened during my great grandma's wake. My grandma and other relatives were all conversing in Teochew.. I've never learnt how to speak/listen to any dialect, and I've always regretted that deficiency. But never as much as that day, when I was mostly in the dark of what was happening (seeing as all the instructions were all passed down in Teochew). It wasn't just the sensation of being left out, or that of mere puzzlement over what's going on, but it certainly didn't feel good at all. I digress. Anyways the point I was trying to bring out was: It's not nice to talk in a language others do not understand when they are around. And I'm certainly guilty of that myself at times. It's just so easy to slip into a comfortable mode of speaking without noticing who's around, listening. Still, from now on I resolve to make the effort to take note and make sure!

That's all for my exploits that day, but it was certainly enough to make me late for the meeting with Hui, Ameet and Brad. Sorry guys ;)

As a sidenote, at the meeting, Hui and I managed to polish out a draft of the sponsorship letter for Mind's Cafe. We cheated a little, but considering its our first time, I think we did a fair job. Time to polish up the letter and send it to Ben for some editing ;) It DOES feel good to accomplish something!

*Update - From now on, everytime I post, I'll have a lame joke for you guys, (a-la Hui)*

A blonde walks into a bank in New York City and tells the loan officer that she's going to Europe on business for two weeks and needs to borrow $5,000.

The loan officer says the bank will need some kind of security for the loan, so the blonde hands over the keys to a new Rolls-Royce, which is parked in front of the bank. She has the title and everything checks out, so the bank agrees to accept the car as collateral for the loan.

As the blonde leaves with the money, the bank's president and officers enjoy a good laugh at someone using a $250,000 Rolls as collateral against a $5,000 loan. An employee moves the Rolls into the bank's underground garage and parks it.

Two weeks later the blonde returns and repays the $5,000 and the interest, which comes to $15.41.

As he hands the keys back to the blonde, the loan officer says, "Miss, we are very happy to have had your business, and the transaction has worked out very nicely. But we are a little puzzled. While you were away, we checked your records and found that you are a multimillionaire. Why would you bother to borrow $5,000?"

The blonde replies, "Where else in New York City can I park my car for two weeks for only $15.41 and expect it to be there when I return?"