Today marks day 2 of my academic semester. So far today, I’ve been for both the tutorial as well as the lecture for HW101 (the craft of writing) and had my first French lesson. My timetable in general is not packed as I had feared it to be. I hear horror stories of seniors having back to back lectures whose locations are miles apart. In the NTU context this would mean running from the North spine to the South spine or vice versa. Or, they have lessons from 8.30 am till 8.30 pm, with occasional half-hour breaks interspersed between classes. I suppose Lady Luck has been smiling down on me (in this department) because despite having lessons everyday, the maximum number of lessons I have a day is 3 and they are spaced out pretty evenly.
Since it’s only been the second day of classes for the freshmen, i.e. me, I find myself constantly engaged in introductions. With my poor brain inundated by new names and faces in every class, I have a strong feeling that these names and faces will overflow out of my memory box and make their way into The Pit of Unknown, a proverbial self dug hole that I will find myself falling into when I meet up with these people again. I foresee future interactions with people will have to involve covert name discovering techniques or subtle sentence structure and body language manipulation so as to avoid having to name names. Or maybe, my brain will cooperate for once and remember hence rendering the techniques useless. Go brain, go!
With all the introductions I have been making, I irrevocably start to question if people should even bother to know me. We’ve all been there; after the exchange of names, there will be the exchange of little nuggets of informaton about yourself. I always have to rack my brain for these exchanges and then find myself repeating the same stale information to other new acquaintances. Am I that boring? Does my life have no peaks? Why am I even here?!
Dramatics aside, I have been doing a lot of self reflection, as cheesy as that may sound. Since I am pretty much cut off from my usual circle of friends, I don’t really have the comfort of familiar faces to accompany me to different places around NTU or go for events together. So I steel myself to go for events, tutorials, lectures and workshops alone. I must say though, that I feel a sense of accomplishment everytime I manage to reach my destination with minimal detours and help. For example, today I managed to procure my French notes from an obscure printing shop in one of the blocks in South spine and I managed to find my turorial rooms by myself! I feel the need to say that I didn’t get lost and even arrived early. Such a surprise, I know. This being independent thing really enhances your sense of direction. I mean, I find myself giving directions for once! I think I deserve a pat on the back, no?
But of course it’s not all rainbows and butterflies here. I think I have a lot of reading to do. I’m not just talking about my core texts for Literature. I feel I have to supplement them with texts beyond what is given. During the holidays, I read mostly horror and fantasy fiction, with a couple of chick flicks thrown in there but nothing literary that I could use to supplement my readings for my courses. So now I have a head full of supernatural beings, myths and lore and all sort of nonsensical things that have to be cleared away until a later time should there be a course that relates to all these things.
Aside from feeling woefully inadeuquate, I also had a brief reunion with Frustration and Insanity during the first few days of course registration. It was such a nightmare! For the life of me, I could not register for my fifth course as there were absolutely no vacancies available anywhere! My plan of course was to camp in front of the PC and keep refreshing the page till something comes up but of course plans never go the way you want them to. My mom (of course) wanted me in the kitchen doing domestic things and so I was wrenched away from my PC in the name of gaining wifely skills, or rather, as my mom puts it so eloquently, “not humiliating myself in front of my mother in law in future”. Eventually, by a stroke of luck (thanks!), I managed to clinch a spot in French Level 1. I really didn’t know how I got it because when I first tried to register, the site replied that there were no vacancies. Still, I found it registered in my list of courses so yay me.
Hall life so far has been going smoothly. I have a great roommate, Sabrina, whom I met on Facebook and so far waking up for Sahur has not been an issue. I am pretty thankful that we’re both relatively light sleepers who awaken when the alarm rings else we would have received complaints from our neighbours by now. The walk from Hall 13 to the main part of the campus is not too bad. Though I wouldn’t suggest forgetting a file and walking all the way back to the room, located on the fourth foor when you’re already at North spine AND THEN walking/ speed walking all the way to HSS because the feeder bus just takes ages to arrive. I speaketh from experience. I like to think that by the end of a year here, I would have either supermodel legs (and butt!) or in the worst case scenario, thighs to rival the Incredible Hulk’s. Of course, there’s always this niggling worry at the back of my head that pesters me to do something to ensure a place in hall next year. Join a CCA, the hall committee thingies etc. The thing is, I think I missed out on a lot when I didn’t attend hall FOC. Not due to laziness mind you but Ramadhan. I already spent the first few days of Ramadhan at HSS FOC and while I had loads of fun, it wasn’t exactly the most convenient for me, the group or the organizers. In effect, I’m not exactly sure the “important” people know that I exist and hence don’t involve me in anything. So, my roommate and I don’t exactly know when hall events are happening nor are we called out for supper etc. like my seniors keep telling me. But I’m doing what I can in other aspects. I might be thinking of joining the Lit club (though I have no background whatsoever in drama etc) and I think I am a member of NTUMS. I’m not really sure. Does it count if you’re attending the AGM? I have to say, worrying about securing a place in hall next year sounds very much like something a student here would worry about. Am I fitting in or what!
Thus, despite being a newcomer to this foreign land lovingly known as Pulau NTU, I think I am assimilating into the culture here. I know my way around relatively well, and I’ve gone for a few events, making friends everywhere I go. Yes, that’s right, making friends everywhere I go. I should have a Care Bear named after me. Or even better yet, a guest appearance in Sesame Street.
