Luckily I managed to figure out the system and get all my classes. There was only one I didn’t get, so I substituted it with another. I’m in (1) Abnormal Psychology, (2) Intro Philosophy, (3) International Security (politics), (4) 20th Century History, and (5) Postmodern and Postcolonial Literature. The professors here are very good; most of them make class really interesting. One of my professors is American, and another is Malaysian but has been in the States for 15 years, so it’s a lot like being in class at home. I’ve been meeting people in my classes, which is really cool. I met a Japanese girl because she was wearing a UNC Tarheel hat, so I got all excited and asked her about it. Turns out it was a gift and she told me she knew nothing of the school or North Carolina, but she asked me to join her and her friends, so it worked out well.
Last weekend was a lot of fun. On Friday we went to a salsa club. Nobody knew how to salsa, so it was pretty funny. The school is offering salsa lessons, so maybe I’ll try to improve my skills so I can go back without embarrassing myself. On Saturday, we went to Funkamania. It was a hip-hop dance contest in the city where teams from NUS competed. It was cool seeing all these diverse groups of people dancing like they do on MTV and BET. They were very good dancers. I was impressed. A few Singaporeans took us there, so I met some new people.
When we were sitting around waiting for the show to start, I met Jenna’s Asian soulmate. He was 4 years old and extremely talkative. He was talking to me, climbing on me, showing me his Army outfit, pretending to shoot me in his Army outfit, and offering me cookies. I couldn’t understand half of what he said between the 4-yr-old lisp and the Singaporean accent. His mom apologized to me and said he was just really chatty. I told her it was okay because it was like being home with Jenna again, so the little boy gave me cookies to take home to my sister.
One thing I’ve noticed is the difference between being an exchange student here and being an exchange student at home. At home, anyone can walk in a room, and you would just think they were American. If I asked an Asian student at UNC if he was an exchange student, he would say, “No, I’m from New Jersey, fool.” But here, it’s very obvious that I’m an exchange student. In almost every class I’ve been in, the person next to me has asked me where I’m from. It’s a bit difficult to blend in around here. My friend Natalie told me the other day that she wasn’t even thinking about it, but she brought a t-shirt that says “blondes do it better.” She decided she’s not going to wear it here because she didn’t want to offend all the non-blonde people here. I thought that was pretty funny.
Also, I feel really weird every time I walk into a McDonald’s. I’ve only been there three times, and I felt like I really stood out. Not a lot of westerners live in the area I’m in, so when I go there, my friends and I are usually the only westerners there. Probably I walk in and all the Asians think, “Oh yeah, the westerners in McDonald’s. How typical.” You know, just how we think when we see a Japanese dude with a camera.
Hopefully this week I’ll finish the last of my paperwork and errands. I’m getting a phone for local calls and I’m buying all my textbooks. I still need to get my Student Visa, but the school is still stalling on that for some reason. I’m not too worried about it – right now I have a 90-day Social Visit Pass, so I have a while.
Bad news about my room. I thought the wood strips running along the wall near the window were just dirty, but it turns out that it’s really mold growing all over it. I left my backpack there, and the mold attacked it, too. I had to throw it in the washing machine. It was disgusting. And mold grew on my flip-flops. I keep my fan on all day and I keep my windows open when I’m in the room, so I don’t really know what else to do. I guess I will just have to complain. I think I can manage that. :)
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