i have happy busking music from south kensington tube station to share with everyone =)

finally updating since ages.
this is week 6 of michaelmas term. how time flies!
and the reason why i actually do have the time to update is because our weekend trip to cornwall which is supposed to see me board the bus at victoria coach station in 1.5h time has been postponed (cancelled for me as i cant make the new date). so suddenly im disoriented for a moment with the excess time that i suddenly have in my hands. after 5 days of rushing out work and still squeezing in as many things as possible, suddenly im presented with the luxury of time. took me 10 seconds to realise that hey, this isnt too bad at all. other things that i can do now..

the past few weeks have been packed, to say the least. this week alone, was eventful (in a good way)
a few highlights:
- appeared in my first pro 'film' today. a short film by wilder films thats been commissioned by the foreign commonwealth office here in the uk to be showed to commonwealth leaders 10days b4 the copenhagen leaders this dec. film is made with the intent of appealing to commonwealth leaders to do someth about climate change. so there're 20 of us kiddos appearing in it saying some lines. quite an impactful script - altho i've not seen the end product, can almost imagine wat it wld be like. minimalist, simple with a clear message to urge the leaders to make the right decisions.

was truly an eyeopener being on a professional set. following the director's instructions (paul, i didnt have to memorise any script. lines were fed to me by the director so that it wld sound natural, fatherly and commanding respect), seeing the whole entourage in action: cameraman, lighting people, makeup artist (noella who travels all over the world to do makeup, how cool), producer (clare, payments, overseeing logistical aspects), runner (matt, poor guy has to buy food, call up 'actors', pick them up when they were lost just like i was). found out that i had a lazy eye that was causing me to look weird on camera, so they made me look at someth else under than down the lens. haha the cameraman was saying that happens all the time.

director and me the next guy filming

was also somewhat a little speech and diction lesson. the imptance of tone and articulation. especially when u need to sound like you really mean what you say. yes, i tend to speak on the fast side. how adjusting the ups and downs of the sentence can affect the tone of the message, how pauses in between bring out emphases on certain words..

the whole thing was rather lucky too anws. thank my lucky stars=) had sucha busy day on tues that i cldnt make it down for tryouts and wed. almost didnt want to go down on thu because i was so tired but went down anws to their cosy little office off oxford street after pulling myself out of bed for econometrics lecture at 9. a blessing was in place, i guess. a surprisingly pleasant opportunity to try someth different =)

- watched stephen levitt and steve dubner, co-authors of freakonomics. who were in lse to promote their second book, superfreakonomics. was 50% entertaining. with the journalist being the more engaging 50% (vis a vis the professor). didnt buy their book (have too many things to do/read). also from another talk this week (economists' careers forum). am inclined to think that americans are better speakers than brits. yes you cld call it a sweeping statement that is wholly subjective but after hearing so many speakers, theres just something about the american way of speaking that is just more upbeat and engaging. of course, ive enjoyed listening to many brit speakers such as my economic history professor last year tim leunig and tim hartford (undercover economist author). surely there are americans that induce me to sleep too like prof lev*tt. but everyth on the equal, 2 boring speakers - an american accent is more likely to hold my attention longer.

- chamber concert meeting on wed. with interested musicians. glad we got things going. and we have some items to play around with for our concert in 3 weeks. hmmm tighttight

- also got to know that ive been offered an edb internship for summer. which is happy happy stuff =) which means that i can relax a bit for now. someth definitely worth considering. woe be me and my internship and job issues.

- last week also caught a concert at royal festival hall by the RPO: tchaik piano concerto no.1, dvorak new world symphony and verdi overture (la forza del destino). lovely!

leaving you with positively the happiest tube station in london:

as i was plowing my way through some pof example
a familiar song caught my ear
..
looks up to the screen
scans spotify playlist searcing for title
..
lo and behold
discovered the coolest song of the year
aunque no este bien - je t'aime
(spanish + french version of the original patrick bruel song)

awesome

the start of a fresh new week! second week of year 2.

monday
9am macro lecture - oh dear sleep inducing had to shut eye for one minute.
10-11 waiting for things to happen actually, waiting for 11am class. but catching up with friends, discussing finance hw and realising how this is actually difficult..
11 first class of year 2 - principles of finance. by russian phd finance (her second phd) baffled by the solutions. difficult times ahead.. met familiar faces in class like ben sida and another hk guy yay. 
12-2 in comp lab checkin things out - got my 2 outstanding textbooks from chinese soc second hand booksale yay. goes to meet cat (who's in london for mini pupillage coolios) and queue up for hara krishna - free vegetarian indian food which we have in the lse main street every lunchtime 1230-130 and everyone queues for it (best hara krishna lunch ive had ever somehow - cos its all veggie and its not spicy curry so is just nice for me. and its hot food wooo. but of course dont think anyth fancy - shall post pics one day..)
2-3 macro class. good. class is participative. i like!
3ish to 430 visited roger, italian restaurant manager. wanted to enquire about job ended up talking over coffee while he was doing the accounts about business is down (-20% compared to every other year growing 10%), how promotions not workin, how even after having promotions (2-for-one/wine) people stop comin, how its not about price differentiation but non-price differentiation ie. quality ambience service 'effort', how pound has fallen and so imports have bcme more expensive so costs gone up
5ish drop by marchmont community centre pick up brochure *ouch my throat hurts*
6ish meet angie in sch and walk to fleet street. goldman sachs presentation  
till 9 omg the longest i ever talked to someone at employer presentation... french lady in investment banking division (financing - debt and equity) coolios thought she was really sincere and helpful. saw many familiar pp at presentation and made new friends.. walked back with johnny bumped into ruui and get my packed meal from joseph. now just drinking my chinese medicine and rushing off to zzzz

so that was a positive day on the whole. thank god for a good start to the week.  
hi mum and pa!

bought this 15yuan CD of Schumann piano concerto (my new found love) and prokofiev 3rd piano concerto, realising that all the clips on youtube are too poor quality to be ripped - now mac refuses to read the CD!!! seems like it works only on a CD Player???? =(

day of exploring the chinese unis. the unis in beijing are situated in haidian district, northwestern part of beijing. not to be mistaken to be part of the outskirts (which i initially thought so since its far from the CBD and centre) - check out the traffic and number of people. huge tall buildings. bustling with people. in fact, my friend calls it a 繁华 part of the city.

( first stop: tsinghua )

( beida )

( BLCU )

quick peek: yesterday went out with yining, couchsurfing friend who's been living here all her life. shes studying mandarin teaching at beijing language and cultural uni - a uni that specialises in teaching chinese language and culture to foreigners. shes going on to her masters.. after completing 4 years of undergrad - thats another 3 more years to go =0 its not really what she wants to do but apparently one cant get a (good) job unless you have a masters degree here in china.. thats similar to europe to. not what the scene is like in singapore now? didnt have the impression that doing a masters was very common. 

Went to the 西单 area. A modern commercial + shopping area. didnt take many pictures of the place - had gone there last winter.

We had 陕西菜 for lunch (shaanxi or Shǎnxī, shld not be confused with shanxi province, which is an entirely different place. capital of Shaanxi = Xi'an ) Popped into this random restaurant upon finding out that our original lunch destination was closed (at 1230, yes) when we got there. Turned out to be a pleasant treat, food was to my liking and economical too! 15 yuan each.

Had a cold dish XX凉皮 (cant rembr full name but it was a simple dish with vinegar, vege and kwayteow), 羊肉烩面 for yining and 羊肉泡馍 for myself - was told this was typical shaanxi cuisine, decided to give it a try. 泡馍 is really like having a 饼 thats cut into little cubes, to serve as the substitute for the staple instead of ur usual long thin noodles for eg. See bottom most dish in front of left pic. Lamb was really tender, soup was tasty minus MSG taste (i like).

visited another 秀水街 type shopping building in the vicinity - omg they are everywhere. cant rembr the name, either 明珠 or 民族市场 or so says google. 5 floors packed full of small vendors selling clothes, hand phone accessories, soft toys, bags, wallets, shoes, tattoo (you name it they have it). This wld be (one of the many) far east plaza equivalent in beijing - local youth shopping place, didnt see too many tourists. decided to give manicure a try for 10yuan. keke. got conned to pay another 10yuan for an additional effect which was erm not much difference if i hadnt done it..


Was surprised to hear that 胡同(pronounced tòng) were first built by the mongols during the yuan dynasty - gotta verify this. Interesting to see the juxtaposition of old and modern - narrow alleyways right smack in the city, surrounded by commercial bldgs and youth hangouts. At least on the surface, these different 'communities' seem to coexist quite well. 

in other news, the boy's gone to kathmandu yesterday, to scale (partially) the tallest mountain the world. the mum's in singapore. the dad's busy with board meetings this week, brothers in school. im left to my own devices - looking after the house and of course, doing many other (inconsequential) things.

 

we have so many apples at home, this is not funny! apple recipe ideas, please?

today manda goes solo in beijing - 王府井 and 天安门

..on her trusty economical travelling buddy - the beijing subway - for a decent 2yuan per trip!
thats the nearest station to home - 金台夕照. behind the station, one can see the burnt cctv building (its the one on the left of the second pic - its charred state not clear from the pic due to poor air visibility)


first stop - 王府井 - the champs elysses/ oxford street of beijing (i reckon they have another one here called 西单）nonetheless the upmarket street of beijing is teeming with locals and tourists alike on a wednesday afternoon. 
 
there i visited the 书局. theres another one in xidan which i went to the last trip and they strike me as rather similar. both are huge (with dusty books) both had many people browsing and not looking like they were planning to leave anytime - i decided to read up on some beijing guides and took some ideas down


next was the 小吃街

there were all kinds of food - sweet and savoury

dead and alive (yes those things on the right were movinn')

in the end i settled for a very benign 鸡肉串that cost me 1yuan - i hesitated for a split second before putting it into my mouth, what with mum's reminders of not to buy foods from such places... i cld smell this not-so-subtle stench in the air... or was it just the over-sensitive nose
here's a pic of one of those bug sellers trying to persuade a potential customer to try his creepy crawlies - 来呀，很好吃的呀。。


en route the next stop there were kiddos playing in the fountains - a nice carefree moment for all, including adults who stopped in their footsteps and stood watching those gleeful young 'uns


a few photo worthy buildings and attractions further down 王府井大街. the one on the left is the first departmental store in china (享誉中外的新中国第一店-----北京市百货大楼，创立于1955年) and further down another notable bookshop..   

this is the well that gave the 井in the name 王府井 

walked on to St Joseph's Cathedral aka 东堂, east church.
nothing too spectacular if you have seen all those european cathedrales and notre dames..

wandered further not knowing where else to go and came across a 胡同 (old peking streets) and decided to take a few shots of these dingy alleys -



walked further in direction of 天安门 and along the way some sights
restaurant staff head count

dusty wide roads - despite having so many cyclists, china's air quality still leaves much to be desired

天安门
    
so this is 天安门, the first main gate (left) built in the 15th century and rebuilt in 17th. There are 5 doors to the gate and 7 bridges spanning a stream - only the emperor cld use the central door and bridge. and that of course, is the portrait of Mao. Behind which there are 2 more walls - 端门and午门（yes,端午which im yet to find out the significance of..). The forbidden city (故宫) is behind the second wall (on the right) and theres an admission to fee. by the time i got to this last wall, it was a rather long walk, 15min at a leisurely pace. The palace grounds are really huge and as you can guess the place was thronged full of tourists.

this centre path over here was for the emperor to walk on in olden days as he made his way to his abode and thats me in front of 端门


then i crossed the road to 天安门广场 where there were other monuments.. like the National Flag..
1 flag, 2 perspectives
人民英雄纪念碑 Monument to the People's Heroes

there were other monuments like the Chinese Revolution History Museum and the 人民大会堂 Great Hall of the People (where congress sits), more info here:


tiananmen square is at least two times trafalgar. just vast.

and so that ends manda's inaugural trip out in beijing - more to come? hopefully hehe.

leaving you with the power of the chinese language spotted on the subway (it says 老弱病残孕专座)

home cooked meals ftw

the black flowery thing there is chinese fungus - very tasty eaten fresh (boiled, of course) and with oyster sauce and vinegar


back track to where we got our ingredients from.. the champs elysses of agri products 农作物

where we got our onions
 
an entire stretch of (giant) spring onion sellers

truckloads of watermelons (pardon my reflection on the car window)

this is where we got our boxloads of dragon fruits, apples and kiwis

this is the cold room where all fruit supplies are kept

checking our fruity loot

the weekend: 

my 250yuan rebonding + haircut (vs my dad's and bro's each 25yuan haircut whoops)

this shop over here in tianyi (~45min drive from our place) - the yellow shirted hairdresser was telling me about how he left home (ha er bin) when he was 16, he didnt want to live in a 农村 and wanted to come out to make his own living. asked about his parents and he said, 你知道我爸只有41岁(and he's 23, holy 18 and a father..) "你知道没饭吃的感觉是怎样的吗？" and i learnt how to say white/blue collar work in chinese - 轻工业，重工业. 

after the haircut that took hours literally (nearly 4 hours =\) and a mad traffic jam back home, went for a seemingly lavish but actually not too expensive dinner near home. 109 yuan for 4 of us in a decent restaurant =) 



and then we saw some pretty battered ice cream in 7-11 on our way home


pics from sunday post dinner evening walk

slightly off estate grounds. in the background, the largest sky screen in asia at 世贸天阶 - one of those lavish orchard ion/central kind shopping places

they were having this messaging service on the sky screen for 20-min blocks of time, thought we'd be patriotic and send in a msg too

hope your sharp eyes can spot our little patriotic message =p


leaving with you a thought-provoking picture - a barricade in the middle of nowhere.

Sooo i hafnt updated this page for ages. its a quiet monday evening and boy does it feel good. realised its been a while since i had a quiet free peaceful evening to myself and mac.

saturday marked the end of the slogging - think i was jus so focussed on wanting to reach the end point that watever came my way i just took it on and pushed through everyth else and told myself 'you're almost there, its all within ur reach, some more $#@*? - nvm just bring it on, ill do it.' anw it was rather adrenaline pumping and i did enjoy reaching small milestones along the way.

lets see-
1: get all $(#@*& sponsors on - there will be a career fair... right? a mad scrambling and scouring of classifieds and contacts and the internet... wats our strategy? .. erm strategy? we no spam. we personalize, do up the lousy proposal, solid email address. quality not quantity.
2: tiers messsssss - to give in or not to give in? ohdearwhatamess.
3: getting all the $#*@& logos and ads and write ups in in 5 days - surely, asking for a logo aint too much...? a mad scrambling of correspondences with 18 sponsors ensues... witness the power of g(0d)mail (and chloe) 
4: LAYOUTTTT PLSSSSSS someone, no one? fine!
5: BOOTHS... SHELL STRUCTURES?? help logssss
6. okayokay here you go with the visuals..
7. time? erm ok gold and main 1300 onwards, the rest 1345 onwards
8 .. and the booth space is.. erm steph?
9 .. internet? okay.. erm stan?
10 .. parking? okay.. erm tim?
11 .. lanyards? erm stan?
12 waitwait, so now theres a blockout time? okay change gold and main 1245-...
13 okay, let's just make a sponsors' brief once and for all. 
14 now its time to see if the layout we drafted long long ago actually works...
15 PHEW it does. hallelujah
16 VIPs rsvp?? how many lanyards do we need - sponsor reps rsvp!! again g(0d)mail to the rescue.
17 media release?? hollers over g(0d)chat: sihui...
18 wait.. now its time to show we actually care about how you feel... how about a feedback form?
17 [on the actual day itself] oh dang, you wanted an electrical point??
18 and you too?
19 and you three?
20 wayneeee...
21 cordone off the VIP reception "we need a queue post" "we need a sign that says VIP reception"
22 oh noooo remove the cordone!!
23 hurry hurry - N*S looks like they're going to slaughter you, manda..
24 hi guys, pls go visit the N*S and E*B booth alright..? pretty pls..
25 oh and pls everyone, help yourselves generously to all the fooood
26 now to go up to as many of you that i can check to talk to you personally. and E*B and their scare tactics thxalot
26 ahhh and now the mountain of goodie bags and pens and booklets and papers and .. cheesecakes =) 
27 heyhey but alls worth it...


manda panda is a happy girl.

Fri 0745 touchdown with wayne Changi T3!
auntie karen and dehong fetcheth me from airport
first local food tasted: tah mee (somewhere in kembangan coffee shop)
first local item bought: singtel sim card (new number: 93551908)
settle down into new room and... sleep for 6h *bows*

first gathering: dinner@geylang with relatives 
first dinner: homecooked geylang dinner!!

saturday:
first proper breakfast: nasi lemak
lei and rolling @ marina square
yawen, wayne and inconv co. @ substation

sunday: 
state of play with wayne
exciting trip-back-home (shame on MRT)

monday: 
parkway parade to get FBTs and run errands
first jog since touchdown
bryon and darren @ katong

tuesday:
cheryl tian lei @ orchard (nice orchard ion comin up!)
h2h talk with lei at home
large bloated meal at home =( took my weight for the first time since i left HAHA

hall of yummy fame (in chronological order):
durian
nasi lemak
meesiam (abit)
mixed rice
chicken rice, wu xiang, toufu @ katong
macs
nasi padang
below all, HOME COOKED FOOD OWNS ALL. (all hail green leafy vegetables)

im not feeling in emo mood anymore. settled in already. even tho MICA says they only want to see me next monday, because i have to be well for at least 7 days before reporting to work. b4 this, was missing london alot. and everything just seems so much duller and the humidity was stifling. im glad ill be away for another 2 years. 1 years way too short ><

manman's memorable ticket stubs list:
2008
24 oct Wicked
11 nov Dr Rangin Dadfar Spanta: The Prospect of Democratisation in Afghanistan
16 nov Take 6
3 dec In Conversation with Cherie Blair
2 dec Edward Scissorhands
9 dec Malam bakti '08: Gold rain and hailstones
15 dec Don John
2009
13 jan Dr Ben Bernanke: The Stamp Memorial Lecture
28 jan A Midsummer Night's Dream
18 feb LSE Thai Night: Khun Chang Khun Paen
14 mar ULSO Spring Concert
27 mar Picasso: Challenging the Past
21 apr Lang Lang, Tan Dun and LSO
27 apr Martha Argerich, Charles Dutoit and RPO 

大董烤鸭店 - beijing, winter break 2008 with my family. Undoubtedly one of the best restaurants i've eaten at! Here you go: 
金橘手撕鸡 Shredded chicken with orange sauce
盐水鸭肝 Brine duck liver
松鼠鳜鱼 Deep Fried Sweet and Sour Mandarin Fish in Shape of Squirrel (!!!!)
卤水鸭胗 Soya Duck Gizzard
瑶柱扣松？？(word i cant read) Dried Scallop with Matsutke
大董酥不腻烤鸭 DaDong "Superlean" Roast Duck (!!!!)
红花汁豆腐 Bean Curd with Saffron Sauce (!!!!!)
And all for less than 80£!!

momentous day of the year #2349872398
wanted to officially claim this is as the most momentous day of the year, but decided that there have been other great days too.
wow, wow.
ended with EH101 paper. awesome. huge sense of achievement (yea, and im only first year. the road ahead doesnt look too stress-free..). while i was writing about why countries opted for the gold standard in the 19th century, about why politicians and academics thought that apartheid could work efficiently, about why the east asian countries recovered so quickly from the financial crisis, in what aspects did the soviet system fare well 1918-1980... i was actually thinking to myself, this is going to be the last time i torture myself by taking a qualitative course at the lse (whoops). physical torture included, see my poor elbow. but then again, the sense of satisfaction is awesome - altho i shant bet the same for my results. ive never really felt this way for a paper before. from the start, i never thought i could even decently muster up 10 sentences for any of the topics covered. and today i wrote on 10 freaking history topics that i had the remotest knowledge of 8 mths ago.

i absolutely do not hate the subject at all. i draw an analogy to failed cases of import substitution industrialisation, producing domestically goods that you had absolutely no comparative advantage in (think saudi arabian wheat). this results in inefficient production that raises costs and lowers productivity. thankfully, this policy is temporary and has come to an end today. nonetheless it has diversified my knowledge economy - forcing me to write more than mere numbers and symbols (and ruler-free diagrams). probably good in its own right, such that i wouldnt be overly reliant on specific quantititative domains.. nonetheless according to the habakkuk hypothesis, we should economise on endowments that we have relatively scarce of, and substitute into those that we have more of. perhaps a wiser theory to subscribe to as i move into trickier second year waters next year...

okay thats it for me, and my boring narrow uncool life that has revolved around the academics for the last 5 weeks. nows the time to live it up. my life starts NOW! woohoo. playing tmw for flaustist and singer, gallavanting oxford street (the summer collection doesnt look all too appealing..), library book hunting (i actually do want to read up on africa and russia!), good food tasting and to the boyfriend's rescue i go.. hurhur

oh yes and congrats to the barca fans! (in the spirit of footie raving fb nicks) a hug for titus ge tho. i share ur sorrow, bro, indeed..

and did i say spotify rocks? i am absolutely lovin the luxury of listening to every album that i had sought after in the past.. enchanted OST ftw.

Tue, apr 21 Concert at Barbican Centre

Programme included:
European Concert Premiere of Tan Dun's Internet Symphony 'Eroica' conducted by Tan Dun himself
UK premiere of Tan Dun's Piano Concerto played by Lang Lang, conducted again by Tan Dun
Mahler Symphony No 1 played by LSO, conducted by Daniel Harding

re Mahler, the first symphony that i stayed awake throughout and very much, the first symp that i cld appreciate (sort of) on my first hearing. yes symphonies are tough nuts to crack. but im slowly getting them.. was really taken in by lang lang's performance though. if this one man is sitting 2 floors below you, and he is able to draw you into his music and his emotions, and to involve you every step along the way, i say he is good! a riveting performance, rarely do i get this feeling from performers. wld like to see his solo recital in the future! it was also really cool tb able to catch the internet symphony (had heard all about the ytso but didnt think much of it) conducted by tan dun himself! energetic and catchy piece that incorporated themes from beethoven's eroica and the comparison with the original masterpiece was inevitable. and there is always the risk of taking an uber famous theme from somewhere, putting it in a different context, and letting it sound a tad 'comical' (at least on the first few hearings). still i thought the piece was innovative and really apt for commemorating this piece of music history - the formation of the world's first online 'collaborative orchestra'! ahh the idea of it just gets you all hyped up and happy =D

on another musical note, id gotten back my viola results and happy to say that all went well! got my second distinction for viola. so happy! am really tempted to do a dip but am thinking its gonna take alot more hard work, and 3+ mths of practise aint gonna take me far this time round. although i admittedly did work hard for this, im really thankful that my exam date got pushed back from mid march, to end apr (and later on, even further back to the last date of the exam period where it wldnt clash with my insight week). and that my hallmate was kind enough to accompany me and also dedicated enough to think about the music with me. i also got an aural book and CD from my flautist who decided she didnt need hers anymore. all this has really got to be god's blessing. really thankful for the friends who supported me (esp wayne who had to put up with my incessant whining and paranoia, and rolling whom i know was 'accompanying' me in spirit, yawen val and titus too) and pa and mummy who were supporting me from back home. THANK YOU!

next up, though, i wld like to focus on getting back to french over the summer. and also to run regularly again! hurhur its been ages since ive been able to do 3 consecutive runs without subsequently feel unwell =( nonetheless, in the immediate short run, all resources to be devoted to the summer exams...

Quel expérience surréaliste! Une singapourienne, un australien et trois francaises. c'est destinée? peut-être. Les dernières deux jours à poitiers, c'est plus de ce que je peux demander. Les gens, les rires, l'hôspitalité, la nourriture, le bonheur de vivre simplement, la liberté de faire tout ce qu'on veut..

Une petite randonnée. Jouer la chanson 'la vie en rose' au piano dans le centre du centre ville (!!). Visiter des églises et autres monuments l'apres-midi dimanche (quand tous les magasins ont été fermés). Chanter les chansons françaises et disney. Goûter la cuisine francaise - des plusiers types de fromage (que j'adore) et bcp de pain. Jouer aux fléchettes. Des conversations des stéréotypes nationales. Naviguer toute seule de la maison au centre ville aux pieds..

( en anglais )

the arduous journey is finally over! after 3 mths of practising nearly every evening. for ~2h. it started off at 1h and then gradually became 2h. and in the final wk, came bac down again. exam was held in this nice english house in zone 5, pinner, the home of the stewart. weather was great. but there wasnt a warm up room alas..

( how it went..  )

Visited Picasso: Challenging the Past at the National Gallery. Quite amazing, a mentally draining 2 plus hours though i must admit. Lorena, a spanish fine arts student (how apt!) and i were lucky enough to each pick up a set of audio guides from these two ladies who were done with the exhibition and decided to pass it on. What a difference those audio guides made to the whole exhibition viewing experience, thank you so much!

learning how to appreciate the genius.. ( Read more... )

yesterday - the most surreal social experiences ive gotten since i got here (house warming party of one of my polish friends, M). one that i was half dying to escape from due to the whole out-of-comfort-zone experience and sheer sleepiness, yet half being in slight awe that i was in a midst of a sea of nationalities/characters that i'd prob never find myself in again.

( Read more... )