- Queue dramatic music

Foreword: NAT?! Why are you never on Skype at the discussed time. You Boob


Howdy Doody Everybody. How's everybody doing? Fine? Oh? Really? Are you sure about that? Do you want to take sometime before you answer that question. Done yet? Yea, I knew that. God, you people suck!

Result of Ian's abundance of free time. A tribute to my bestest friend in the whole wide world that's now suffering somewhere in the middle of Suck ass world. :( HANG ON NAT! I'll save you.

I was so bored I actually took Paperclips and tweaked and bent each letter of "Nat & Ian" one would think It doesn't take too much time to do that, but one is wrong. You won't believe how hard it is to do this when your hand is sweaty and you need to create just a little bend for the letter "A". Try it, it's hard mind you.

Recycled Paper Clips! Their like 89 cents at Walmart. The Jusco of America, only bigger.


But seriously though, life isn't THAT dull. I mean, It's duller. The only thing that has been filling my head for the past like 4 days were bio bio bio, and now that that's over, it's psych psych psych. Midterms are already here! can you bloody believe it? I mean, I guess this is how Americans study. Weird if you ask me.

My bio paper and my Bio textbook. The bio text book is really weird, it's like you have provide your own large 3-ring binder. Thank god one of my friends had an extra.


I've realized one thing while here in America. A lot of Americans, not all, are pretty dumb. I mean seriously. I walked out of the Bio test thinking I did extremely extremely bad, and I didn't really have a sense of logic for a lot of the questions. I walked out, went to the bus stop and waited for the "McCollum" bus, which I always do every mondays, wednesdays and fridays. (on tues and thurs I make it an point to walk back. Exercise much.) Anyway, there I was, standing and feeling terrible under the hot sun. Then I overheard some Americans talking.


Before I go on, here's the question in relevance.

Which of one is a situation that explains potential energy?
A. The warmth of a cat on your lap
B. A ball that has been thrown
C. The glow of a heated pan
D. Buttered toast.

"It's obviously the heated pan" said an American. "No, no, the cat may jump off at any time!" said American 2.0. "Hey, but I chose the ball being thrown." Says a female American. I mean, ain't the answer obvious? I don't know what to say. Well, you be the judge.



The amazing view over KU I get everyday beyond those blinds.

Did I mention how AMAZING KU's scenary is? I mean, it's like a dream everyday walking to class. But the weather is abit erractic as I've mentioned in the previous posts. But lately it has been dry and windy alot, very nice weather. It's like you could just jump and the wind would take you away, the best thing is always that just right wind hitting the cheeks of your face. I can imagine falling asleep sometimes as I lean on a wall.


There was a harvest moon the other night. It was so cool, an orange moon, I don't know if anyone else witnessed it, but it was soooo cool. Too bad the picture was a little blur in the night.


The sunset here is amazing too. The sky turns into layers of colours It's really a delight to walk like 7 blocks back to my Dorm. Sometimes, atleast.

Today was a pretty boring day, yet again, my need to sleep has caused me to miss a class. (This doesn't happen that frequently, but it does.) It's sad the way I can't resist my need to sleep. This is how it normally goes.

A night prior to my 9 a.m. class, I set my alarm to 7 a.m., then I set my phone alarm to 7.10, 7.20, 7.30, 7.40 etc, just to make sure I actually wake up. The next morning, the alarm rings at 7, i pick it up, turn it off, then I go back to sleep. The same thing happens to my phone, and again, and again, and before I know it, it's 9 a.m. and it's too late to get to class. :(

Urk, I can't go on missing classes, i'm really trying for a 4.0 this semester at least. Thank god I'm doing well in my other classes. The next exam that's coming is psych, and I haven't really picked up a book! Well, I have, but I can't seem to study knowing bio is behind me and my psychology comprehension is pretty good. But I should study... ... right?

The hallways of Fraser. The psych building. I went there today for the Psychology Review at 5. Just pretty much sat there and while people asked questions and I just soaked up all the information for this friday :P

Did I mention I love psych! :D the other day our teacher brought in an actual brain to class. You don't see that everyday. Apparently, the brain is toxic, if you touch it with your bare hands, you'd get poisoned. But at a low rate, or so they say. Didn't really get pictures of it though.


The University of Kansas daily - Sports.


Sports is a big thing here in KU. For those non-KU students, last year, KU was nationwide top in basketball. I didn't really know that when I got to America. Apparently, theres this Rivalry thing going on with MU, University of Missouri. We just lost a game to Missouri, and for some reason, I felt really sad for some reason, even though I've only been here for awhile. It's as if my pride had been ripped out when I heard we lost to Mizzou :(


Oh, I found something at Frasers today. The toilet had a flusher ON THE GROUND D: Isn't that like effin revolutionary? :D

The urinals here are like so retro. I mean, the buildings here are so old and shiz, the toilets match that age. The urinals are largely exposing. That's why you can almost never see 2 guys peeing in those urinals at once. I think?


Urk, I have to study nao =( Stupid test.


I bet you can't guess how much my guitar costs :P




Ian - Living the dream

Tuesdays with Undarmaa

I know, it's going to come at me soon enough.

"That's so cheesy Ian!"

For those illiterates out there, I was trying to be lame and made my own version of "Tuesdays with Morrie" But fret not, I assure you, I won't be copying any the incidences that happened in that book.

Note to reader : Natalee can't use Xanga, or Msn, only skype. She's moved to herself to her blogspot account

http://nataleetan.blogspot.com

Everyone say "Hi" to Undarmaa."

No offence intended whatsoever, but she has one of the weirdest names that I have EVER come across. I'm sure the fact that she's Mongolian explains it. If I'm not wrong, her full names' Undarmaa Praenlei or rather, undraa for short. It's actually a very weird relationship. When I came to KU, we had this orientation thing for the international check in. If I haven't already mentioned this - I think I did - but my orientation class was composed of 80% mainland china chinese, and god, were they chinese! So we were split into groups, they were named after different aspects of KU, like "Blue", "Rockchalk" or "Free State". Personally was directed to the Crimson group, of which, Undarmaa was the leader of. it's so sad that our emblem is just a red rectangle. I mean.. Seriously! That's just retarded.

Did I mention? I stood out the most, as always, during the group meetings! :D If you don't believe me, ask Undarmaa.

Me and Undarmaa were pretty close after that, after Nigel, she's one of the people I can really count on at times. In addition, she's almost as sick as Natalee, a totall innocent yet incognitto horny type of person, just like Nat. She's more of a mixture of our very own tiny little Ch'n Wen and Natlaee. For the past 2 weeks, it just so happened that we have this gap of time between 11pm-1pm on tuesdays and thursdays, so we always find ourselves making friendly dates to have lunch with one another. She's so awesome, we gossip lots and insult people behind their backs. Feels like the old days.

The Underground - A place located beneath Wescoe Beach. Why Wescoe Beach I hear you ask? Well, because apparently during the fall they bring real sand and smother the ground with it, and decorate it beach-like. Hence, Wescoe Beach.

I've noticed my lifestyle here has taken a dramatic change. i actually go to many more parties than I ever did back home. Plus parties here are just plain fun cause there's almost always booze and the people are always way nicer than back home.

My Rm 12.90 watch (Around 4 USD.) My dad actually offered to buy me a much more expensive watch, but I refused, knowing something like this would happen. I didn't know how it got so beat up, must have been the partay last friday.

What's more dramatic is the fact that now I have to settle my own meals. You don't really know how much food costs until you actually use your own money to buy it! I swear, it sickens me to bring out money and pay for stuff! It sucks when back home you can just grab something from the fridge. To make it worse, everything's more expensive, a meal easily costs 28 malaysian ringgit. That's enough for me to go to TGI's!


My secret stash of food under my bed. Thanks to my parents for sending a care package to me. Though there are many things that I can't really eat, cause they need to be cooked, the effort is touching.

My staple diet is: Ramen Noodles. I've been guzzling them non-stop. Urk, I wish I had some real food without the need to pay a big bill. Speaking of big bills, I can just imagine the money I'm gonna spend shopping for wear-ables All the stuff I have now is fine and dandy and shiz, but my things are starting to deter! There's actually a hole in my jeans that I wear daily! To make it worse, this large hole is located on the backside, right on my left ass cheek of my jeans! So many people have went "Hey ian.. you know.. you have a hole in your jeans." *Feels irked*.


Just look at my beloved converse sneakers! Theres a hole in the right one! I kind of.. used tape to tape the inside and outside. I know, damn smart right? I feel like a poor man.

The fact that my classes are 1010203012020 billion miles away doesn't actually help alot. I mean my classes can be as far as 20 minutes away. It may seem like not such a long time, and "Ian! there are buses you know?". But consider the fact that some buses only comes at certain times, and most of the time the buses are packed cause everyone's rushing to jayhawk blvd, and the fact that I have to walk there and walk back alot! =( It's taking a toll on my poor shoes!

I was walking today and I just snapped a picture of this. Can you believe it? Campus actually has a MILLITARY school. Like wtf right? You can actually see people dressed up in uniform walking around school. No offence, but it makes me want to go "Like Seriously?"

What irks me more than anything else is the fact that the first Mid-Term is coming up soon, and I'm not very well prepared for. Homework's piling up. It's not like I don't finish em periodically, it's just that as the semester progresses, more and more work is due. What's more is the fact that I need to do 11 credit hours for psych to even pass the class. 11 credit hours = being a labrat for other psychologist.

Prepare for Midterm - Online Prescreen - MATH! - English essay / Psych Signup / Read English! / 511 Fraser Feb 11 2 -3 (2 credit hours) / 0123702090 (Nat's number - tried calling her for her birthday.)

I don't know if you guys already know about this, but since me, genna and Nat are far away in 3 different countries, we decided to be very unoriginal and create our very little own "Sisterhood of the traveling pants" scenarion. As you can see. This is the product.

I can't seem to write anything without stopping. I think it's the fact that my hands get so weak after getting so used to typing instead of taking down notes. I kind of wish there was a way to just type on the notebook. Would be so much less tiring. Pasted something gruesome in there last night, Genna and Nat, you'll have to find out what! May the sexually explict story telling begin!

Oh, I just realized that I had this in my stash. It's a mini tabasco sauce. I like use it everyday for virtually everything I eat, because It adds so much flavor. Boo to america for not having Chilly Padi! (small chillies that would blow your minds out, yes that's you, American :D )




Regards,


Ian - Action Potential (I bet you don't know what that is.)

A Post for Nat.

Dear Natalee,

It's tragic, you know, how I won't get to see you this year. You mean so much to me in so many ways I just can't describe. Your birthday is tomorrow, and my mind can't help but to fluster over the good times we've had in the past. Flashbacks keep occuring as I go throughout my day here in KU.

You've always supported me the way you would red house. (I know it's a sucky caption!

Remember the first time we met? Well, frankly speaking, I don't. But what I do remember are the time I spent leaning back and scratching my hair causing your table to be filled with a layer of dandruff. You'd always get so mad it'd put a smile on my face. You felt I was entirely unbearable back then, it's quite amazing to see how far we've come, hasn't it?

It depresses me alot, when I start thinking of times we had back in school. The day when you decided to separate from the majority to accompany me and Fen. I'll never know if it was for me, or Fen, but I'm thankful till this very day that you did just that. Ever since then, we've become inseparable. The times we've had fighting and arguing are by far the best times I ever had with you. Although I may deny this at times, you are one of the brightest people I'll ever know. I also love the way that you and I had a passion for Art and the creating. Remember how we would come up with stupid ideas together, talk about for like sometime and realize it was too stupid to ever come true. I can't give you any examples, because I can't remember any, all I can remember is that face you made when you realized how stupid those ideas were.

And don't forget those times we spent running around PJ and KL. Times where you'd be so reluctant to go out, and I had to literally beg you so you'd come out with me. I like getting lost with you, it's so funny. When you're so sure, and I'm so sure, in the end no one's sure. It's a pretty amazing feat that we ended up at Genna's in one piece the other night. There were so many more things we could've done with my car! I can't believe I'll never get that chance again.

Remember your last birthday? I do. I happened to search through my very small picture album and managed to find some pictures of you. (There are hardly pictures of ANYONE, mind you.)

Trying to make a lameass joke, as always.That's the face she gives when she thinks she's right, but somehow proven wrong.

Just to jog your memory, your friends decided to hold a surprise birthday party for you. I don't know if you knew about it, but isn't it nice to see so many people care for you?

Ohh ohh! Remember how I came up with the idea of tearing up the boxes as paper plates?!

I love it when you doubt my claims to fame, and agree with me just for the sake of agreeing with me. Especially when you feel aggitated and you get angry. I still remember the time you cried when nobody wanted to cooperate with you during the choral speaking thing. But you were great, you definately have some inbound leadership qualities.

Doesn't this just remind you of how horny you are sometimes? It's astounding that so much sexuality can be contained is such a small body.

I can imagine you blaming Li-Tjen already. But you've always been the horny core of our group. The way you indirectly imply things and they somehow turn sexual. I.e. "Wah, why your carrot so hard one?" I don't think you remember that, but you said it when I bought that white carrot and masturbation set for our dear Li-Tjen.

There you are again, wanting to take the picture, but never wanting to be in one.

You've taught me some things I may never learn outside of school. Some have given me perspectives no other human being can ever posses. The angle of which you look into our world is so entirely different, it defines your entire being. You are by far the weirdest girl I've known and ever will know. From the pirate island project to the class page, you have definately proved yourself to everyone.

I still remember the final thing you've done for me that made my heart melt. The way you dragged me out of the house to even though I realized I didn't really want to go out anymore. Went to pyramids while my parents were secretly planning a party for me. This may be cliche, but it's the sweetest thing anyone has done for me. You were even the one that planned the entire thing, that was the part that got me the most. Because you cared, so much.

I'll never forget this last feat you done for me.

It's sad, that I didn't get to see you one last time before I left Malaysia, but it was sweet of you to drop by my house and pass me a weird little present that's sitting in my cupboard right now. Regretfully, I've lost the card you gave me, but it's just something material.

The hamster you recieved from Wei Ken

Nat, I can't thank you enough, for these few years you've given me. I know I haven't exactly been the bestest friend that I can be. Nor have I given you very easy moments. I may never give you extravagant presents, nor make you the happiest person alive. But, I want you to know, deep down through the satire, the hate,


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I love you.



And that's all there is to it.

The last present I gave you.

I wish you the best of luck in your future, be it with or without me. I'll be there for you, even in the worse of times, even in the best of times, even if you're far away, or even if you're right next to me. because that's what friends do.

So long old friend,
It has been fun
But my work here is done.
To watch you grow
And get to know
The woman you have become.


Goodluck, oh and remember - Peanut.





Ian, Loving you since 2003

Maybe it's time for a proper post.

I know, I know, I haven't been posting very well lately, it's most likely because of my business on campus and parties and crap. But I'll make up for it this time, I hope? Lets see if I can crap this blog as long as my previous ones.

Leon the lion says hi

Life in Kansas, to sum it all up, is pretty erratic, that is, the weather. One day it can be cold as Ice, another can be hot as the very pits of hell, today happened to be one of those days, sadly. But my oh my, the scenery here is just spectacular, way better than Malaysia - You don't see random garbage on the floor, the air is fresh, and it's mostly low story buildings here. I don't exactly know why majority of em' are only one story, but my guess is that It's hard to build something when the weather comes and goes as it pleases, so maybe they were attempting to build it when the weathers' nice? I don't know! But all I know is, you hardly find a building (except dorms) that surpass 5 stories.

This was me walking to school from off campus for the first time, though I live on campus now.


The first thing that hit me when I got here to America is how expensive the food was. I remember having dinner at Perkin's the day I came to America, a ceaser salad costed me like 8 bucks.


That building way behind is the camomile - It's said you can't walk under it until you graduate, or you'll never graduate from KU.


I'd really like to show you guys some pictures, but pictures I took around campus and Lawrence are just too large in size for me to upload, even with the almost flawless internet here, it still takes like 5 minutes for 5 pictures, so I'm not going to take small pictures from now on, so they'll be easier to upload and crap.

I'm really thanking god for staying in templin, it's so so SO much better than McCollum, I'm talking about dorms. McCollum is a pretty old dorm where most freshman reside for atleast a year before they move out. It's 100+ years old, and the rooms there are just horrid. Not to mention the toilets which look like toilets right out of a horror movie

I saw this on the inside of our room door and I was like.. "I wanna take this down" It's annoys me, but 4 weeks later, I still not dare rip it off. Wonder why.

My roommate's names' Reece Petrick, (weirdly enough it's not Petrick.) He's pretty quiet, and he just lives and let live. He's like a sloth sometimes, it's really freaky. There's always some latency whenever I'm trying to convey a message. He's pretty nice though, but very low on the entertainment scale.


Reece Petrick - He usually just sits there and minds his own business.

Lately, I've only been consuming Ramen because I'm too lazy to go to the cafeteria and eat real food. It's like I have ramen at least once a day, cup noodles, it only costs a dollar, so I reckon it's cheaper than most other methods out there.

Our Kitchen that always has unwashed.. something in it.

Sometimes the tale of the air stewardess who died just eating cup noodles everyday scares me. But, who cares? All you need is chilly powder, hot water, and a instant ramen bowl and you're good to go! Mrs. E's (Cafeteria) Isn't as bad as I thought it would have been. I mean, compared to some of the testimonials some of the people gave me before I arrived here it's pretty tasty. But of course, I always try to avoid the fatty foods such as cheese cause I don't want to gain the "freshman 15". What's that?! I hear you ask, it's a myth that says all freshmen in their first year shall gain 15 pounds or more. I've heard some stories where "Freshman 30" occurs too. Just proves how much more healthy the food is back home.

As for my Circle of friends, I mostly hang out with asians, this guy named Nigel, an indian, is the guy I usually have my meals with, not lately though. He's pretty nice and everything, but I have to admit, his inability to think thoroughly and intelligently gets to me sometimes. I miss intellectual company, especially the four girls who used to sit in the back of the class. Trixie, Weng Yee, Jia Lik and Amanda, I mean, I used to be the dumbest guy (or so perceived) in contrast to them, but here? I feel like I'm Stephen hawking and the people I hang out with are just dimwits. Not all of them are like that though, some do stand out and still manage to give a smart comment or two. Urg.

Ximena (Heee-meh-na) A South American girl that was volunteering for the international orientation, through the weeks we became pretty tight friends.

Classes here, are so much more amazing compared to those given in Sri KDU, some can be boring, but for the most part, the classes are pretty interesting. Like Philosophy, this class I'm taking requires me to watch movies for my assignments, ain't it just amazing? Psychology, is super interesting, I can actually STAND reading the text book, not to mention I remember some, if not all details. The homework they give here isn't that lethal, but can be if you don't start early, i mean some papers ask you to write 5-7 pages easily. I was pretty daft though, my first English assignment said 5 pages, and only after I wrote 4 pages, did I realize that you needed to DOUBLE SPACE. So I technically already wrote 8 and was only half way through the story. I'm writing about the whole cheer 2008 experience, even though it can be pretty mundane at some point, I've managed to spice it up. I.e. when jon falls from a cupie, he breaks his arm, and there happened to be a sharp rock on the ground which pierced his back, causing him to bleed profusely onto the mat. He moans and screams in pain, blah blah blah, you get the gist.

Post it notes - Very efficient and smart way to keep track of what I needa do.


Anyway, I think I've done my part to give a pretty okay description of my life here in Kansas, I really miss Nat and my family sometimes. It seems like people here are just so caught up in life they don't have a moment to stop and take in the fresh air. It causes me sadness. Oh! I forgot to mention something really tragic! The cinemas here have like 2 movies out at once, ONLY. So unlike Cineleisure and crap, you only have 2 selections! It's so wtf! It's 8 dollars for a movie too, killar ain't it?

Desk - I turn to my comp on most days when i'm just plain bored and reluctant to do work. There are some sites here that allow you to watch full seasons of many different shows, so, marathon, away!

So, guys, for those of you in Malaysia, I look foward to coming home to you guys and bring some of you to Zanmai Sushi again, it's going to feel so good spending less than 5 dollars on a full meal back home, I can't wait. Other than the food prices though, I really like it here, and sometimes I don't even feel like going home! But I guess I have to anyway.

Oh, and my roommate has a fish! :D



Damien Beezlebub Nemesis - His best friend decided it should be evil, and I don't know why. O_o It's a fighter fish though, I think.






Ian. - Inferred Reality.

I know the question all of you are asking.

Where did Ian go?

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.





I still love all of you,

Ian

Pow

We're all praying for time.






Ian

I am, so sad.

I wrote a another poem, but I don't think I'll be posting too up.


This is a beautiful song.










Ian

A poem to the daylight break.

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 6^th floor In tempin is generally nice. The 6^th 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

Now I’m going back to my room. Woohoo :D

Ian.

i'm here.

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







Ian - tripping the life idiotic

Here in 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.



Ian,

Ian is safe in Irvine.

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.


God.


I WANT TO SETTLE DOWN IN MY DORM ALREADY.





Ian