Hello readers! Boy it's been a while since I've posted here. If you can't tell by the title, I am a university student! Or rather...I have been a university student since last summer. Yeaah...I have been SUPER busy last year so I had absolutely no time to write anything here. Anyways, let me tell you guys that a LOT of things have happened.
About America:
Let's first talk about what I think about America. I like it! I like the peace and quiet of the small conservative town of Valparaiso that has everything I need to live -- food, shelter, shopping marts, community, and movies. The people are super friendly. There's even a free bus service for uni students like me to take me everywhere around town! However, some of the things I will never get used to is using Fahrenheit instead of Celcius and using English units instead of Metric units. Other than that, everything here is mighty fine.
Dorm Living:
Living in a dorm proved to be more pleasant than I thought. Each floor and building has its own kind of community so I'll never feel like I am alone. Of course, I have to do my own laundry but there are free washing machines so I'm just fine and dandy here. My roommate is from Wisconsin and he's pretty cool I guess. He's a music major who can play the cello, guitar, and piano. He has a kind of morbid obsession cause he wants to be a funeral director when he grows up and music is only for his free time. Also because he says that he "gathers positive energy from negative music," meaning that he almost always listens to depressing music. He's pretty cool though and we can talk about everything.
Food:
As for the food here, it's pretty nice and diverse, but the healthy ones are so damn expensive! More than $6 for every meal? Crayy. And the cheaper ones are all fast food! No wonder Americans are obese. No really it's true; a lot of Americans are obese, especially the locals. As a result though, I am now cooking my own food! I guess expensive food is a blessing in disguise then :) I'm still a noob at cooking though, only cooking really simple stuff like rice, eggs, pasta, and microwavable stuff, but i'll get better with time!
Community:
There are not many Indonesians here at all. There is only one other Indonesian student who I'm friends with and he's already a senior, meaning that he's leaving next year. There are also two Indonesian faculty members, meaning that mereka udah tante-tante. They're very friendly and they have families living here, but that's it. No more Indonesians. *sigh* I guess this is what they meant when they said that I'm going to experience American culture here.
However, there are many international students, most of them Indian, Chinese, and Saudi. Of course, many random Chinese people approach me, thinking that I'm Chinese -__-. Anyways, I'm involved in the international student organization and I even got a board position next year!
Academics:
When my counselor told me that this school has a challenging program, they weren't kidding. I'm doing fine...but...it's just that...I keep on taking too many courses. Out of the 18 credits we're allowed to take each semester, I keep on taking them all. Most people take only 13-15 because that's already a pretty packed schedule. Furthermore, I'm taking FOUR online courses for summer. Yup, I basically have no summer vacation. I told myself that this sacrifice is all so that my last uni years will be less stressful, but sometimes I think I'm way too ambitious.
Love:
No need to mention this lah, dating is definitely not on my priority list right now. However, I'll mention that there are seems so be prettier girls on average here. I'm not sure though, maybe it's only cause people here show a lot of skin. I think I'll quote a funny but true quote by good friend of mine here, "It's not fair -- all the hot girls here are taken!" As for me, no one really captured my heart just yet, by previous standards.
I'll be keeping up to date with my other thoughts cause I'm hoping to have a lighter year next year, so I can blog more! Yayy!
