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2008年9月29日星期一
Do I look like I cannot cook? Haha I can cook..and very well!
Here's some more proof - fried rice and baicai with tofu in oyster sauce..



Went to San Juan Islands over the weekend and is now super tired. Need to catch up with readings.
Will blog about it soon. Meanwhile, here're some pics.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/28112938@N03/

“Jd dropped by Kynthos at 09:47”

2008年9月25日星期四
OMG Jay's 稻香 is out!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

TT______TT

“Jd dropped by Kynthos at 20:23”

2008年9月24日星期三
我要为上一个entry 道歉。。可能写得太感伤了,引来好多关怀和你们的担忧。其实我现在很好,过得很开心。所以大家不要为我担心了!我只是发发牢骚罢了。。

爸爸妈妈,
你们一定要吃饭吃得安心哦。。
我每天在这里都有自己煮蔬菜吃,还有水果,果汁之类的。。所以营养很充足。我已经吃完了剩下的pizza啦。。哈哈,因为我喜欢吃pizza 嘛!以后不会吃剩下的东西了。放心。

这些我自己煮过的东西。。还能吃。。放心吧,我很注重营养的。

番茄炒蛋

菠菜面(Spinach Noodle) with a lot of spinach which I bought from Sunday market (it's a market where all the farmers in Seattle come tger and sell their fresh farm products), in miso soup.



Actually i realise i'm a very lucky person. I got only 3-day week! LOL..so today i finished class at around 3pm..and is going to have a long weekend! haha..That brings up my mood. (Even though readings for the weekend is piling as high as Mt Rainier).
I'm really enjoying my 'loneliness' here, like walking on the streets alone, shopping in the supermarket alone, and studying in the library alone. It's kinda exciting to feel free and independent all of a sudden. And realising, '我长大了’。 I dont really like to have people always tagging along with me or always talking to me non-stop, even though i can't live without company. But having some private space and being alone for sometime to explore on my own is very important for me.
I've made a great accomplishment by speaking up in class today. It was daunting cuz it's in front of so many experienced and more mature (age wise) people. Even though my point is not really on the point lol and made the prof frown for a long time, at least i made a little improvement on my own part in terms of gaining some self-confidence. I think it's like a vicious cycle. Once you start to speak up you'll gain some confidence which leads u to want to speak up more in the next class. At least that's for me. And if you don't speak up for this class and the next class ur confidence level just diminishes class by class..until it's harder and harder to put up ur hand and gain the prof's attention. So today I made it an effort to prepare for my readings ( i read one particular case for at least 5 times LOL) and sat quite in front in class (so that I dont see the faces of people staring back at me when I speak). Haha donno why i'm just excited by this and I think this gives me more adrenaline to prepare harder for my next classes so that I can contribute more in class, and show them that an undegraduate student can think as well as them. Btw, i realise some grad students are as dumb as George Bush..even though they speak alot and come up with long sentences and fancy terms, if u listen closely they really have no substance in what they're saying (not that I have any substance YET hehe).

Anyway, now i have the time to update u guys on a little bit more of my life here.. hope it's interesting enuf for u to read on hehe..

I went with my hosts to watch the Phantom of the Opera musical in town on Saturday. The place is just pure quaint and antique and everybody dressed up for the event...and i feel like some country pumpkin back in the earlier centuries, who got a cheap ticket at the back and was trying to get involved in upper class culture. Luckily my hosts arent dressed up either.

This is a theater call "Paramount"..


This is the entrance to the theatre hall..



And the hall itself looks like this.. ( i got scolded for taking this pic LOL)

The opera was in English mixed with french accent..and I had a hard time understanding what they're singing out. The music was too soothing and sounds like bed-time lullaby, and the hall was quietly dark..and it was raining outside..so u can expect wad I did.. i slept through 50% of the show. I just couldn't keep my eyes open! LOL..haha a waste of 40USD..but it's a good exposure..and a good sleep too. At least I got the general idea of what the story was about. Opera is like for you to listen rite...so don care abt the content la..just sounds nice to me will do haha (trying to make my own excuses for not understanding 50% of what was going on).

And on Sunday, I went for a boat cruise organised by my sch's orientation society (call "FIUTS"). I will attend a lot of FIUTS's stuff in future, cos they always organise activities every now and then. It's so fun meeting new people from all over the world!
It's a 3 hr cruise with lunch on board.



These are some visiting scholars from Africa. (from right): Jean (Madagascar), Carol (Zed) and Fazel (Afghanistan). Din tok much to Fazel. But I was excited to know that Jean (pronounced as 'John' in French) is a judge in Madagascar. Carol is working with her government in Africa on some public policy on human development (don't quite get what is that haha).
And this is Claudine (West Africa..couldn't remember the specific country T-T). She is working under her government on the control of HIV in Africa, and we had a good talk about that, as well as African culture..like what food they eat there. Anyway it's really nice to meet these people from totally different parts of the world, some parts where we've never even heard of..and they're all striving hard to learn new stuff in America like me. The worse thing for them is that they left their family and kids back home and made a big sacrifice to come here.

Made quite a lot of thai frens haha..(Noon, me, Seo Hoon, Apaporn, and *a thai girl whose name i din ask!*)








Okie, thats the end of my entry. TOO LONG isnt it? U guys must email me or tag me so that I don feel like I'm always talking to myself haha.


All the best for assignments during term break, and don forget to play abit before sch starts!!
Love,

“Jd dropped by Kynthos at 15:32”

2008年9月22日星期一
I had my first day of class..and am really mentally drained. It's a day from 8.30am to 6.30pm.
When it reaches around 4 plus my mind totally went blank and words from the professor's mouth no longer makes sense to me - meaning i totally cant concentrate.

Anyway I guess there's a challenging route ahead of me. International law class is big and everyone is JD...International Arbi is very international, with students from korean, japan..and of course (singapore -me). We have to do an introduction of ourselves for two of my classes today. Everyone has at least got one degree and got some work experience as a lawyer/public officer etc. But when it comes to me..i was like 'i'm an undergrad exchange student'.
Had lunch with Hui-yi, a grad exchange student from taiwan, who is struggling as much as I am..so we have some kinda common topic lol. Thanks to her, at least my year in law school may not be as lonely as I had imagined. And i met a korean LLM student in my other class who offered to eat lunch with me someday..I'm really glad when people do such kind gestures to me :) Cuz in this cold (literally the weather) place with many strange faces and happenings, all you need is some kinda support and encouragement from random people.

Felt abit emo today
maybe cuz the weather is getting colder;
school work is piling up and I am struggling to catch up with it;
a friend here told me that if i have any problems i can always tell her, and that's the first such encouragement which I've heard for so many years of my life, sincere and straightforward. Usually it's me telling others, but not the other way round;
was eating pizza leftovers from orientation (I went to da bao their table leftovers) for a whole day;
walked to the bookstore only to find out a book which i have to read up for tmr is out of stock;

And this song comes in at the right time, to keep me going. Hope it encourages u all too.



Hope the original mp3 version comes out soon (for downloading LOL).
Haha, but i'm only a bit bit emo..and I'll be alright. I dont really have time to be emo LOL. I gotta do my readings now..

Love and jia you,

“Jd dropped by Kynthos at 20:08”

2008年9月20日星期六
Mt Rainier Photos!

(uploading them while i do my readings LOL)













“Jd dropped by Kynthos at 20:10”

2008年9月19日星期五
When i checked my email yesterday, I am HORRIFIED to see the emails from my profs...giving us readings to do even before sch starts! 59 pages of international law, 43 pages of arbitration, 29 pages of legal research..not sure about the last class (the prof has not emailed YET) all to be done before going to classes next week! And the reading pile goes on for next week..and on and on..with assignments and presentations..




CRAZILY STRESSED UP



And to my further HORROR, class participation stands for 40 percent of my arbitration class. T-T I'm definitely going to DIE.




By the way, I think i'm the only undergraduate who has not gotten a degree existing in this law school. The other exchange students are all graduate exchange students.


Am i gonna make it?




Gah..I can ..I can..just move along...........




Anyway I went to Mt Rainier today. It's a very very scenic national park in Seattle - an active volcano too!


Nice snow capped mountain with green trees and colourful flowers decorating its base. Seattle is turning cold these days, with cloudy skies and drizzling cold rain. But it's so sunny up in the mountains!

老爸老妈,很漂亮吧?这里叫天堂哦!-"Paradise"- 还不快点过来!!哈哈!


I've taken too many pics today and needs to complete too many readings, so i'm only going to upload two here..




Cya guys..

Me have not studied for 5 months already and does not know how to start mugging LOL..

Love,

“Jd dropped by Kynthos at 23:37”

2008年9月17日星期三
Went to the zoo today!


Spot me!
At an african classroom..
Outside the zoo..the view behind me is a beautiful lake..
Trying to be artistic lol..

Nice Mr Goat posing with me..
This cute kid gets in front of my camera so that I'm more interested in him than the gorilla behind. Haha there're tons of kids in the zoo today! EVERYWHERE and they're all super cute. Dabian ur paradise!

“Jd dropped by Kynthos at 19:33”

2008年9月16日星期二
Law orientation dinner was a little scary. It was held at the university law club and it started with a random socialising session where everyone stands around talking to each other, grabbing a bottle of Heineken or champagne as the waitresses walked pass. I found it difficult at first to join in those circles of japanese visiting masters students. So I decided to start with somewhere familiar- Indonesia! Haha. Luckily they're very nice people and talked to me even though I wasn't of much 'use' to them..since i'm only an exchange student. Apart from a German exchange student (LLM) I'm the only exchange student at the dinner. So yeah, I was the youngest. Some or many of the students there are my father's age!
Anyway the dinner was sumptuous. It's a candlelight banquet with a nice sunset view of the Washington lake and downtown. We have free flow of wine and champagne and the main course was baked salmon with olive rice! I was really excited to mix with the people there cos they're all big shots...I talked to vice president of Yamaha from Japan (when he handed me his name card I was smiling and gasping to myself..and he was like o.O wads wrong w u) ..doctors and professors from Indonesia..master students from top universities in China and korea..practicing lawyers from former Soviet Union, India, Japan..
And me..an exchange undergrad. :s But well, I'm here to gain..and I have nothing to lose! At least I ate dinner for free!

Food I have been eating so far:
At a thai restaurant..


Had authentic green and red curry chicken..
And fish and chips for dinner!
Here I am at Chinatown!
And had shao ya! (roast duck) for $6..haha only got meat..but i think i was too hungry then..all i can rmb is it tastes super good..and the cantonese uncle gave us warm water and let us sit down in his shop to eat even though the price is for take away.
As I was feeling sinful eating out everyday..I decided to share teriyaki with Seo hoon..and reduce my meal price to $4..
And finally..i decided to cook on my own to save more money! Chicken pasta..and it's edible.

Okie I've blogged two entries in one day!! Going to the zoo tmr!
Sleeping now..every one good night and good morning..

Love,

“Jd dropped by Kynthos at 22:41”

I attended my law school's orientation today. I was amazed at the wide spectrum of backgrounds and expertise the students here have..and of cos, the experiences of the law profs. The orientation kicked off with a 'parade of the profs' with every one of the professors who was free to give a speech on himself/herself and the area he or she teaches. Every one of those classes sounds interesting to me!! I think I may be going to sit in for some of the classes even though I'm not registered for them. By the way, my law school really specialises in Intellectual Property Law, and it is actually one of the best IP law schools in the states, or in the world. This is cuz of the unqiue setting of the law school - in the pacific northwest, with a lot of technological innovations going on in the area, like microsoft! I managed to get myself on the 'waiting list' of the IP intro class..together with many other J.D students! Haha hope i can get it, although it's gonna be a heavy module with lotsa hours in the library.
Anyway, I was a little bit surprised that I feel excited about law school now. Before today I was always nervous but when I sat in the orientation class today, I was so anxious to start going to classes and know more about what each prof was talking abt..
I made frens with some chinese+taiwan students and one indonesian visiting scholar. There're a lot of japanese LLM students (around 60?) and the students at orientation today all seem to be either lawyers or profs back in their home country. So when many profs made the same comment in their speech that 'i'm sure u're all excellent lawyers and academics in ur home country..and has lots to share in class' I was like o.O I hope I can pull off with the heaty discussions in class.
Class registration was a painfull process cos the 3 classes I'm really interested in all clash with each other - International Commercial Arbitration, Japanese Law, IP Survey. So I gotta sacrifice TWO of these..T-T .
I registered for the following classes as for now, subject to change (and may be crashing other interesting classes too)
1. Internationl law (like public international law)
2. International foreign research (teaches us hands on research skills on legal materials from many different countries across the world, some even on original language texts)
3. International commercial arbitration
4. Legal problems of economic development (focuses on sustainability of legal systems in developing economies)

I'm going to crash/sit-in:
5. IP law
6. Japanese law

I'm now sitting in the big quad in school under a big beach umbrella with some other ang moh and waiting for my law orientation dinner to come near..(and of cos, spying on people as they walk pass me!)
I feel so peaceful and like I'm in a dream! Many people are surprised why I didn't have any problems while settling down in America. Maybe part of the reason is because I've been yearning for this day to come for so many years (ever since sec sch!), and it's like a dream come true. I'm not a bit regretting that I have chosen USA and UW, and is getting excited about the wads coming up. One big thing I really like about American unis (or maybe just UW) is that the school has so many programmes and activities to help international students (or students in general) enjoy their student life here and keep them mentally healthy at the same time. I feel that I'm cared for and have a sense of security and there's always some one to seek for when I have various kinds of problems. For example the international student orientation group ( which is a very large and well organised non profit organisation) organises many activities, at least once a week, to get students together and mix with each other and maybe travel together, to vancouver etc. I signed up for most of their actitivies as I as I can and didnt feel shy or anything like when I was in Sg. Maybe cos everyone is international and nobody knows you so u feel less of a burden to socialise and start a network afresh.
Yesterday I went for a pub quiz ( like mixing around in a pub and getting into groups competing with each other on international knowledge) ..haha I didn't drink at all so I looked kinda uncool in front of the 3 spanish girls who were at our table drinking like everything were free. Haha but they're very nice people and I feel more relaxed mixing with ang mohs than with fake ang mohs (if u get wad i mean LOL).I also chatted with girls from Hungary, Thailand, a PHD from Taiwan etc.
Oh i signed up for this trip to San Juans Island on 27th and 28th Sep --> (http://www.clippervacations.com/packages/overnight_sanjuanisland) for whale watching. It's the last weekend the tour is going on, so I have to quickly sign up before the whales go home! Hope it's fun..if I see a whale I'll post up the pics for sure! As for now, I'm too tired of uploading pics -_-''

Jia you with sch everyone!!
Love,

“Jd dropped by Kynthos at 16:51”

2008年9月15日星期一
Here are some more pics of my room (haha these are for my parents' information)..quite luan but i've tried to clear the mess by now:



This is my roof top's day view.
Helped Seo hoon with moving into her dorm. This is Hansee Hall, the oldest resident hall in UW. Looks very antique!

Mr Squirrel! Scared me and Seo hoon as he dashed across the walkway..he must be hungry for his nut..Mr Squirrel no.2! He purposely stopped and posed for my pic before he hopped away..

Me trying to be artistic..and shooting this dandelion..with a shuaige on the bench as the romantic background..LOL
I really like this quad..my fav scene of the sch..with pple playing freesby..
Gah..i've spent 1 whole hr sitting in front of the com uploading these pics..
Lao ba!! I rly need to reduce my picture size! I'm so tired and sleepy and u still want so many pics! ;(
Tomorrow I have my law sch orientation at 8am..so I need to sleep early now.
Coming up next..pics on things I have been eating so far..
Love,

“Jd dropped by Kynthos at 20:23”

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