I Need Room To Breathe

It's not easy to live with strangers, especially in the same room. I always felt awkward since I moved into the dorm and share a room with two other roommates whom I didn't know and don't know very well. We have total different habits. I'm a night owl and they're early birds. I used to tip-toe in the middle of the night, do my thing in the dark and wake up to the TV at the break of dawn. I didn't wanna compromise anymore so I found a place to live off-campus. It's an efficiency bedroom right downtown. Since I don't have any furniture, I'm sleeping on my hobo bed for now. Not the comfiest but bearable. Despite that, I love my new room and most importantly, I love my space!

First Christmas In The States

It was my first Christmas in the states! My day started with watching Avatar in 3D at the theater with Nesta. It was an awesome movie! It was by far, one of the best movies I've ever seen in years. But sadly, 3D movies make me sick, literally! My head was spinning in circles. I felt nauseated and dizzy but my eyes were just glued on the screen because the movie was so good. Too good to even miss a second.

After the movie, I went over to Nesta's family dinner. There was a table of home-cooked food, a pile of presents with colorful ribbons and a family of loving people. The room was filled with fun and laughter as everybody socialized around the dining table. Then, it was unwrapping presents time. I wasn't very excited as I was the one who picked my own gift. But of course, thank you Nesta for the hair dryer! Not forgetting the hospitality and the yummy food. You made my first Christmas in the states so merry!

Thanksgiving

It was my first Thanksgiving in my entire life and I was invited to Jean's house for dinner with her family. Jean is my FIS friend and if you're wondering what FIS is, it's Friends of International Students - an organization where each international student who participates is paired with volunteers in the Iowa City area who are interested in helping or making friends with international students.

Jean had her granddaughter, Michal to pick me up in the afternoon. I was pretty nervous at first. I was being the usual shy person I am around strangers, but Jean and her family was welcoming, friendly and gracious, which helped me be less scared. I bought Jean and her family a meat and cheese gift box because I thought it was necessary when she totally wasn't expecting a gift at all. We were then sipping wine, chatting over the dinner table and enjoying the scumptious food. I enjoyed the homely atmosphere, the lovely people and the delectable food. It was a more than decent dinner.

She's a wonderful lady and a great friend =)

"Anyong-haseyo" Who Left For Maine

"Be realistic." That was all you said to me which made me cry a river.

Halloween

Halloween's quite different from what I expected. It's more like a sexy dress up Halloween day. What does Lady Gaga or Little Debbie or a man with three-foot-long pennis have to do with something scary? Anyway, I talked to friends about what to wear and if dressing up as a gothic Victorian would be a great idea but my friends protested, "NOOOOOOO! Nothing scary but sexy." Then, I was told a hundred times that Halloween here is a dress up party and I ended up getting a French Maid costume.

The scariest thing I saw that night was a man in a clown mask looking out the window while driving a car which sent a shiver down my spine and reminded me of IT Clown. This.

I'm anti-clown.

Love And Friendship Betrayal

Love is a horrible thing when it goes wrong. It made me vulnerable. It led me to open up my heart and allow someone to mess it up. Then, a simple phrase like 'Maybe we should just be friends' broke my heart into a million pieces. It was excruciating pain but love is not only a feeling, it could be a choice and I'll find myself proudly saying, "Yeah, I moved on and I'm enjoying the company of a new friend now." Oh well, friendship lasts longer than love after all.

On the other hand, what can be worse than betrayal of a friend or a person you thought was your friend? I wonder why I never saw through the I-am-a-goody-girl-and-true-friend mask that you've been wearing for so long but now that you've revealed your devil fangs, tail and horns, I've built up a whole suit of armor so that you won't be able to hurt me again.

"We have to distrust each other. It is our only defense against betrayal." - Tennessee Williams

Tequila, Lime, Salt

Shots of this Mexican liquor is one hell of my favorite drink to order at bars but I paid the consequences for taking seven shots in one and a half hours. Yeah, I'm a super lightweight drinker and I know it.

Friday night was a disaster. I'd rather not elaborate but the night started with Tequila, lime, salt and ended with vomit, cops, fragmentary blackouts. I can taste alcohol and blood in my mouth still and it's nasty. I'm never gonna drink like that again.

May Wee Hung's birthday be extra special and filled with goodies! ~~<{@

Currier Hall E408

I'm staying in the dorms for the first semester but hopefully I'll get an off-campus apartment soon. It's way cheaper than staying in the halls. My residence hall, Currier is located in the East Campus. It includes a baby grand piano in the main lounge, a fitness center, a computer lab, a marketplace and a quiet studying area. I was assigned to a triple-bedroom with two other roommates. One from Bettendorf, IA and another from Japan. Here are pictures of how my room looked like before we moved the tables and beds.

A sink to the right of the doorway. My bed and desk to the left of the doorway.

My closet.

Macbride Hall

Macbride Hall was one of the five buildings of the Pentacrest on the campus of the University of Iowa. Yoojin and I was really bored so we decided to explore the museums in Macbride Hall.

This is the auditorium where I have my Statistics lectures at.

The Museum of Natural History.

The Hall of Mammals.

This huge thing which was hanging above my head reminded me of "Night at the Museum". Pandas are one of the cutest things on earth!

The Hall of Birds.

Ice Cream Social

Ice Cream Social is an event organized by the Office of International Students and Scholars (OISS) on the Pentacrest Lawn. Suresh, Soung and I just basically went there for free ice creams after our trip to Crossroads Tattoo in Coralville where Soung made his appointment on Saturday for his "Kaizen" (Japanese for "Improvement") tattoo. It's quite a good choice, I think since he gotta make massive improvements in himself and that's gonna be a lifetime reminder. There's nothing much to talk about except for some pictures to see.

Look at Suresh! How on earth did he manage to do that? And I'm not talking about how good he is at performing his "sticking-spoon-on-nose" stunt but didn't he realize that he was actually doing a "sticking-dirty-contaminated-spoon-filled-with-saliva-on-nose" stunt? Ew, that's kinda gross!

Coming back to ice creams. I'm growing to love strawberry toppings and I'm so addicted to Whitey's yogurt ice creams. I just can't get enough of those!

Frisbee Golf

I've heard of frisbee but never have I heard of frisbee golf. Frisbee golf also known as disc golf is a game in which players have to throw their discs into a basket. The fewer number of throws the better. So it's pretty much the same as golf.

Last Sunday, Madison invited me and Suresh over to his crib for hamburgers. His house is huge! The decorations and a fireplace gives it a cozy feeling that gives Suresh another reason to live in the states =P

After eating hamburgers, we went to the Turkey Creek for some fun frisbee golf time with Madison's twin brother, Queenie. Suresh's first throw was terrible! It landed by the side of the road but after a few throws, he got better! Halfway through the game, Madison gave me a rainbow disc to join in the fun. Needless to say, I did worse than Suresh. My number of throws were triple theirs and so I ended up taking pictures!