Well, Ian's still here. I'm so sorry I haven't been updating lately, It's mainly cause I have a stack of homework that's waiting for someone to finish it off, it never really ends. I took pictures, but sadly, I took em' large, so it's going to take a long time for me to post em' up. I'm going to change my settings and take more pictures!
I'm definitely coping very well here in America, the food, the lifestyle, the people. It's like, we study from Monday to Friday, and we party till we drop on the weekends. Well, I didn't last weekend though, some conflict went down that prevented me from doing just that. It's not really that significant, so I won't be discussing it.
You know what? I'm going to post some other time, I just finished page 4 of my English assignment, only 3 more pages to go. Wish me luck.
Transcend my dear, transcend!
O'er this tainted, bleeding land,
Fly above the stratosphere,
Above the clouds that come so near.
Fly o'er villages, where pain and poverty,
becomes nothing more than a daily novelty;
O'er dark rivers with dead fish,
Where human ignorance trumps nature's bliss.
Glide across the silent houses,
which seem fine at first, but as the moon arouses,
become torture houses to children and mothers,
Why, oh why are there such ignorant fathers?
Now dive across parliment,
home of political harassments.
Watch them as they fight ignorantly,
as if, it's their country.
Stop. Now fleet.
For even the most silent movement of feet,
may trigger landmines that lay sleeping,
under soil where soldiers attempt creeping.
Don't tear, my dear, please don't,
why cry? When the humans have given up hope?
Why give damn of how they feel?
Hath you not seen what they do?
They fight,
They kill;
ravage.
Can't you see, that their savage?
Why try to mend thier hearts?
when you know they'll always soon part?
Why try to heal their world so vividly?
When you know they'll trample it again instantaneously?
Why try to even care at all?
When they've thoroughly closed the door.
"But they try their best to change!"
how sure are you they will?
"But they hope and pray for life!"
So what? it gets even-ed out in strife.
"But.. but.. everyone makes mistakes."
"Everyone makes mistakes?"
It hit me.
Everyone makes mistakes.
The sinews of my heart unwound.
It was so true, so profound.
I realize now, that hope is above ground.
my logic was bound.
They do fight, for a reason,
to live, that was given.
They do cherish life,
In it's essence,
and even in the precense,
of the insane, the idiots,
there are those that stay true.
To their hearts warmth,
To god's holy dew.
I see now, that they fight,
they fight to see the morrow's light,
I see now, that my angel talk is flawed,
and hope is finally thawed.
I see now, that is all it takes,
the urge to see the daylight's break.
Ian
12/1/2009 post:
Hello readers :D (though there aren’t many of you.)
I know I haven’t really been updating on a daily basis, but that’s mainly just cause I’m too busy with too many things to be there blogging.I’ve moved in to Templin already, and as I type this I am internet-less. Sad, but true, I’ll have to find out how to post this up soon, I can’t possibly just live without internet.
If you’re wondering, I’ve been assigned a room with 3 other white guys, I’ve only met one of them online, the rest are pretty new to me. The ironic thing is that when I moved in today, the only people I actually saw were the two I had no contact with.If I’m not mistaken they were named Scott and Tommy. The one that I’ve met on facebooks’ named Reece Petrick. He seems like a pretty nice guy, I sure hope he is.But they say everyone on the 6th floor In tempin is generally nice. The 6th floor is also the honours floor. I really have no idea how I got here in the first place really. I mean, I’m not even taking the honours program, and I’m sure everyone else on this level is.
It’ll be super embarrassing if everyone finds out and starts talking!
School hasn’t started yet, but that hasn’t stop me from enjoying every moment here in KU. Weirdly enough, what everyone has said is true, you generally hang out with more people that are your own type. In that sense I mean, being foreign. I’ve yet to befriend an all-american guy. But I have met a few girls during orientation though.
Moving in today was really a hassle. Everything was scattered everywhere, I was so lazy to move, some of my friends actually had to come in and help me put my stuff in the drawer. I think it was mostly caused by the illusion that my parents didn’t care enough to place a comforter for me in my baggage, I became so stressed out and reluctant, I just lulled on the ground moaning while a couple of my American roommates (who were minding their own friend from another room) stared at me in this really “wtf are you doing” face.You know what they say! The first impression is everything XD.
I’ve been farting a lot lately, it must be from the excess intake of carbo. Why? I hear you say? I’ve went to two Chinese buffet restaurants in two consecutive meals. I went for dinner with my friends on one of the night. Sadly, the night came to an abrupt end when Oscar (This Peruvian guy) said there was just too many people to risk jumping hookah bars for me to join in. There were like 6 people, I’m too young, the required age to hookah is 18. So If they carded me, all my friends would have been kicked out, and we would have to go to another hookah bar and try again. (Hookah is Sisha by the way, it’s pretty popular here in Lawrence.) By the way, I can get into clubs here! But sadly I’ll be tagged and not allowed to purchase any alcoholic drinks. :S Such a drag.
As I was saying.
That night at the buffet, I ate like 2 plates of food and then the nausea from the horrible tasting Chinese food kicked in. (Friendly advice, KEEP AWAY FROM AMERICANIZED CHINESE FOOD.) I don’t know how to tell you this, the food here is all upsized; Upsized and tasteless. The monotonous intake of chicken with more or less the same sauce is enough to send to hurling and garbing your entire stomach out.Believe me, just STAY AWAY. It’s not cheap too, it’s around RM 50 for a buffet. Sigh, apparently I missed out on a lot of fun that night.
The next morning, I joined my other Malaysian/Singaporean friends for a meal in Kansas City. ANOTHER Chinese buffet. I was all buffet-ed out, but I guess I didn’t have a choice, so I ate for what I paid for. It’s all in the psychology of it to eat like a pig, but sadly, I’m not mentally strong enough to resist eating my money’s worth. I’m Chinese you see :P I’m cheap to every single penny.
I’m all alone here in the living room of the dorms. It’s like this little place with chairs and tables for everyone that lives in the dorms come to for some activities and stuff, I don’t know where my roommates are, I don’t know where my friends are, I’m all alone for now =(
There are these 3 cups that are stacked together on a table next to mine, and there a paper slid underneath em’ saying “free ( Take them )” their so tempting to take, but like, I would feel pretty cheap if I did take them =D So I won’t. But I bet someone like Genna will!
I miss everyone back in Malaysia, I wish I could send all of you individual letters and updates on my progress here in America, but sadly, I don’t really have the time. I guess I should really go back to my room now, I really can’t be bothered to sit here in the common room that’s like freezing cold in shorts. Did I mention it’s bloody cold here? It actually snowed today, and when I was walking back from my dorm, there was a really strong wind that made the blistering cold even more blistering.
I really wonder how the other out-of-malaysia Malaysians are doing. Like trixie, Aaron, Jialik. Too bad they don’t post much *COUGH COUGH COUGH* I know don’t also okay! But bear with me! =D
I know I haven't posted much for a few days, It's mainly just cause I don't have internet yet in my room. I've noticed something distinctly different from my posts and other bloggers. MY PICTURES THAT I UPLOAD ARE SUPER SMALL O_O compared to xanga and all, the pictures that I upload are wayy smaller, making it not worth my time to upload them.
But I will upload pictures soon I guess, when i get internet in my dorm, there's this bloody thing where you need to download an antivirus from ResNet (The ISP here) and it's taking me a bloody long time.
I know my sight isn't as visually stunning as it used to be :S But just bear with me people. I've posted in word and I can't get the post up because I'm in the library using the internet now. Sadly, thats normally the case.
I wonder how's everyone back in Malaysia is doing, I'm slowly losing sight of life in Malaysia. American life is so different. You drive on different sides of the road. The swirl you get when you flush your toilet is now the other way around. There's no chili sauce. EVERYTHING is vastly more expensive than Malaysia.
But don't get me wrong.
I don't hate life here that much, or at all really. The people here are extremely nice. I remember the second night I was here. I went back to my room at like 11 because my roommate told me they'll be drinking, I didn't want to intrude, i thought you would have been done by then. I then met Erin, one of my roommate's best friends ( or so she says. ) She started me drinking :P I was drunk before 12 o'clock. Then I tried smoking, I don't like it at all. I know I shouldn't have even tried, but, ngeh, I won't want to do it again, just makes you sick to the head for the entire day.
It was fun, I guess, but I do hope things like this don't repeat too many times. @_@ I may simply just die from not studying.
Did I mention?
The books here are VASTLY VASTLY more expensive.
The price for ALL our books in KDU on average:
USD 75
The price for ALL my books in KU on avergae:
USD 500
Doesn't it just KILL you? The prices of the books are like.. impossibly expensive. To make things worse, that's the price for USED books. I'm only taking 5 classes, 15 credit hours. Imagine if you took 21, or 18 credit hours, you'd be screwed, beyond screwed.
My first class is starting in about 45 minutes. English, then I have Bio after that.
Oh, btw, here's what I'm taking
Biology Psychology English Math Philosophy
Psychology is my major, and I really can't wait to begin studying it. I heard it was pretty fun and it considers a large amount of IQ and intelligence. I do hope I'll do fine. My real dream is to do medicine though, too bad I ain't smart enough for that, well not so much smart as I need good scores :S I WANT A 4.0 GPA.
I need to find my class now, on this retardedly large campus.
Do keep in touch people
if you have an emergency, Call : +1 785 727 5383 Or if you would like to mail me an inflatable penis (COUGH), Add : Tan Vern Ian, 1515, Engel Road, #620 Lawrence, 660045 DG, Kansas
I really can't be bothered about repeating myself and retyping every single detail of my trip here and in California. So I'm going to post up a e-mail I sent to my Godparents.
Non-personal part of e-mail begins here:
I arrived on the 31st in the morning, Uncle Ming Tat, my mother's cousin, picked me up at the airport. We didn't recognize each other though he was right infront of me, he had to give me a call to indentify me. As soon as I stepped out I felt the chilliness of the weather. It was around 16 degrees I think. It was still bearable but I needed my sweater. We then took off to his house in Irvine (Voted the safest town in all of America) the population was made up of 50% chinese. I met Uncle Ming Tat's wonderful family, his wife anne and him were very hospitable to me, making me feel very at home. They have children, 9 and 7, coincidentally it was their birthday on the day I arrived. Although they already celebrated their birthdays a day prior. I then met my cousin (That I didn't really know about, well, not as my cousin atleast.) nicholas. Nic was studying in Iowa, dimoi and was staying over for the holidays, mainly going on trips to different theme parks. Nic had a bunch of friends too. Uncle Ming Tat cooked some curry and nasi lemak for dinner, it was pretty good, reminded me of home too. After dinner, since it was the 31st and new year's eve, Nic was planning to go to Disneyland, he invited me, so I followed to watch the fireworks. Sadly, when it hit 12, the fireworks were heavily blocked by a thick fog. Oh, and did I mention, the fog in CA is horrible! Like seriously horrible. Since my uncle slept early, I bunked over in an apartment that my cousin, Nicholas rented with his 7 other friends. They were 6 guys and 1 girl, the apartment was pretty big, and not exactly an apartment. It was more of a beat up house, but still, it was pretty cozy. If you were wondering how we got around, Nicholas could drive with his Malaysian license. I found out today that you don't need to pay to take a driving license examination, only for the license itself, so methinks i'll get one soon, so I can drive next year when I move out.
On the second day, I followed nicholas to Disneyland, this time to actually get into the park. The lines were REALLY long, I mean, they were so long you'd have to wait in line for an hour just to buy the ticket. Which was what I did. Nic and friends bought a City Pass which costed them about 259 USD. I got a dual park pass for 94 USD, which was okay, but still pretty pricey. We spent the day there, it was extremely packed, like atleast a 60 minute wait. It was pretty sad, wasn't worth the money, but still a pretty good day, though the rides weren't really that extreme. Oh, I also had a taiwanese breakfast before we entered the park. We left the park at 12 making full use of the tickets, and once again I spent another night at Nic's.
The third day was comprised mainly of the same activities. Though the only thing different is the fact that we woke up earlier this time because we had to take a train down to LA. The US metro can really bring you places. We started out at around 6.30 a.m. in the morning and headed towards the Union station then we took a red line metro down to Universal City. It costed around 17 dollars and you could take any other form of public transport without getting new tickets. Which was pretty convinient I guess. We then took a tram up to universal studios from the station. Just like the day before, it was packed. Probably because it was the last few days of holiday for the americans. The group decided to take a front of the line pass because of the extremely long lines. Well, as you can obviously pick out, the front of the line pass allows you to skip to the front of the line. Though the price was way more elaborate, I really had no choice, seeing as how all my other friends wanted to upgrade, I just couldn't say no, now could I? Well, it burnt a hole in my pocket costing me 109 USD, being independant now I felt the pain of losing money =(. The last train home was scheduled at 6.30. Sadly, we missed it. Thank goodness Nic and his friends knew their way around america, we took the metro down to Vernon, and then one to Transit mall. There we took a train to Tustin, and my uncle had to drive half and hour to bring 2 cars to us. The whole trip took around 4 hours, approximately. We then had a chinese dinner, excluding my uncle and his wife who brought the second car down. It was nice to have some rice after a long day. I went home to Uncle Ming Tat's house and I packed up a little as I was leaving the very next day.
There's really nothing much going on on the 3rd, I just traveled and hit Kansas at like 7.30. There, Pau Ying picked me up. She has been living in Kansas for approximately 10 years. She's a chemical engineer. I don't really know what they do, but yeah. She set me up to live with Jeremiah, this singaporean that's doing his masters in Music composing here in KU. Jeremiah is pretty fun and everything, he's really hospitable too. Xiao Tian is a pharaceutical major that lives close by too. They live in an apartment area called "The Malls" very close to KU. I went there today, but only to register, I missed the orientation because I'll be seeing them tomorrow anyway.
- End of e-mail. - I didn't read everything again, so forgive me If I repeat anything below.
I haven't settled down yet, and It has been days since I've hit Kansas. I've got a nasty sore throat that's making me wake up in the middle of the night. I woke up at 5, went back to sleep, at 7, went back to sleep again and only finally waking up at 8.30 feeling extremely cruddy. :(
I'm right smack in the middle of orientation now, and I'm sorry to say It's a little boring. Well, I guess it's just that they're telling us alot of things we are already going to find out easily as we settle down more here in Kansas. Did I mention? 2/3s of the orientation class is Chinese. China Chinese. I went like this.
Role call of nations (Something where the guy calls out your country and you stand.)
Guy : Malaysia! *Ian stands up* Guy : France! *2 French people stand up* Guy : Did I forget anybody? Crowd : China! Guy : Okay, China *VOOM* *Majority of the room stands up.*
Thats how elaborate it is.
Anyways, I need to head back now, so I'll update more on my orientation later.
Just letting ya'll know that I'm currently fine in Irvine, CA. I'll blog about america and my highly explicit advertures ( I don't mean that ) when I settle down in my dorm and don't have to ransack my entire bag to find a cable for my camera.
Nor do i have to ever lug around bags and bags of stuff.
