Oh my gosh! I can't believe I'm in Minnesota!!

I still can't get over that thought even till this very day. From the anxiety of not getting a visa, to the nerves of not landing at the airport, to the worries of not adapting well, I've sure come a long way. I am so glad that I finally managed to pull my muscles together to sit in front of my lap top and write the experiences I've gone through for the past four months. To my friends whom I said I would blog once I got to the states, I apologize for not keeping my words. Voila! Zis is ze blog of Sylvia Sng (syok sendiri pula..).

The journey from KLIA to Minneapolis-St Paul Airport wasn't that bad, considering it was a 24 hour trip - 4 hours to Taipei, 12 hours to LAX, 4 hours to Minneapolis, and 4 hours of transit waiting. Guess what, I survived without puking and without anti-puke medicine. I'm so proud of myself. Don't take it wrong, I don't mean to brag, but I seldom survive long-distance flights without puking.

Ok, let's get back to Minnesota. Minnesota, 10,000 lakes as it is nicknamed, is really beautiful. Minneapolis, a unique amalgamation of urban and nature is mesmerizing even from the air. I could see lakes and trees all over the metropolitan. It was just breathtaking. Even in the plane itself, I was certain, I made the perfect choice to come to study in the University of Minnesota.

When we landed, Tom Iverson, a volunteer for the International Students Friendship Ministry (ISF) fetched Azlin (a returning student of the U of M), Yi Cheng a.k.a. Keith (my compatriot from INTI and the co-pioneer to the U of M from INTI), and I (the other co-pioneer =D) from the airport and sent us to University Village, the place Keith and I crashed in for a couple of days before we moved in to our new places. Mr. Iverson was a hillarious man. He was very friendly but he kept making wrong turns. Azlin and I gave each other the understandable look of worry. We wondered, "Does that man know where he is actually going?" Nevertheless, we were very grateful that he sacrificed his early morning to pick us up. Speaking of gratitude, I am very grateful to the Malaysians who helped Keith and I before and when we got to Minneapolis namely Azlin, Mush, Simon, Naim, Rosh, Ahjen, Azwan, Raihan, Azam, and Izzat. They were really helpful. A special thanks to Kak Azlin for taking care of me, showing me around, and helping me throughout my period of adjustment; to Simon, who gave advice on what and what not to do as well as the ways to maximize our university experience, and to Ueng "Koko" for his great experience sharing and constant advising that helped me a lot especially when I was in great distraught. I would also like to thank the ISF members and Mr. Liew, former counsellor of INTI who is now here in Minneapolis too who offer endless help to Keith and I. I am trully grateful to all of you.

The first day here was of course filled with excitement and disbelief that I was in the states. But as soon as I called home, I felt like I was jabbed with a spear. I felt homesick. I could still hold back my tears while on the phone but when night fell, it was horrible. Tears just streamed out of my eyes and I just stared at the ceiling, feeling empty and missing home. I got up early that morning looking horrible as my face was red and my eyes were swollen. Azlin was concerned of course given the fact that I looked conspicuously hideous but I knew that adjustment takes time and there was a whole new experience ahead of me.

Things were great after that. I was totally enthralled by the whole American experience. In my first week, there was a workers' strike for higher pay to meet the rising interest rate and there were also bomb threats. It's amazing, isn't it? It was so interesting. LOL. I think the biggest challenge I faced was to balance work and play. I had too much fun in Minneapolis that I neglected my studies. I joined a lot of student groups such as ISF, International Friendship Group Program (IFGP), and the Cross-Cultural Discussion Group and I participated in a lot of their events and outings. On top of that, my friends always asked me out to have fun and explore the city. It was tough to say no. I got so caught up with having fun that I did not realize how important it was to put studies first. I wanted to do so many things that I forgot I actually have three or more years here to have fun.

Then came my first Abnormal Psychology test result. A big fat C! ARGH!!!!! My first C since I started college. A 74% is a C. I was thrown off my seat. As expected, I broke down. In addition to that, I was already confused and unsure about my major due to several reasons. I even went to see a counselor for my very first time regarding my major. So I cried to my parents and Jin Sheng and fell into depression for a couple of days before I got back to my feet. I was stressed from performing below the expectation I had for myself. I was overwhelmed by the assertiveness of Americans in class participation, and I was all puzzled about my major. It was all for a simple reason: I had too much fun! What an irony! I got stressed from having too much fun.

I expected studying in America would be easy as people always say Americans aren't that smart, and so I took it easy and wondered why I was not performing very well. Gee, that was very smart of me. By the way, that notion of Americans are dumb and ignorant is not true. I stayed with Americans and they are culturally informed and hardworking. I also did not like the two psychology courses I was taking (Cognitive and Abnormal Psychology) as they were very technical. I forgot the reason I wanted to study Psychology and nearly quit when I stumbled upon a brick wall. How could I? Well, I learned my lesson.

Another one of the other challenges I faced was applying for the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program. It was tough having to find the faculty mentor and write a research proposal, but hard work pays off. I got into the program and I'll get $11.50 an hour working with the professor and gaining invaluable experience in my Spring semester! Yay!

I also worked as a student attendant in the dining hall. It was fun on the first day frying eggs and making smoothies. But after awhile, I got bored and tired considering the fact that I got the 6.45 am shift on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and the dining hall that I could find suitable shifts was on the West Bank, across the Mississippi River. "Sigh". I quit after a month. I could not take it anymore. It was too tiring for me. Nevertheless, I had quite a few intriguing experiences from the job. After the second day of work, the university sent emails to us announcing that there was a robbery off campus near the place I worked so I was scared and called the security escort service, which serves students from 7pm to 7am, to walk me there. Because my escort was going to be late in submitting his report, he decided to drive me to work instead. Lucky me. The second time I called, they couldn't get me an officer so they sent a police officer to fetch me instead. I rode on a police car for the first time in my life. It was cool but creepy at the same time as I had to sit on the back plastic seats for criminals. I was "locked" behind the bars that separated the back and front seats. HAHA.... It happened again for the next two times. After that, my officer stood up on me. That got me so upset and caused me to be late for work. I called the escort service and inquired about the lateness a couple of times, but all the lady on the phone said was, "He will get there when he gets there." I was upset so I called another time and just canceled it. I was already late. I did not use the escort again for a couple of times until it rained heavily one morning. Hehe...

Despite the challenges, as you know, I had lots of fun too and learned life lessons at the same time. Go to my facebook for pictures to tell the story. I'm too lazy to slowly upload them here.

There are lots of things I would like to share in this blog but if I do so I will not have time to write about the daily things I've gone through. So, I'll stop here for my intro and proceed with actual daily blogging.