My CNY week

The first week has gone by quickly. These are some photos of the university...it's pretty empty since its still the holidays. Exchange students have started school though because we have 7 days of intensive German classes: 830-10 am; 1030-12 noon; 130-330pm. The campus looks really old from the outside, but its actually really nice inside..(to me at least!). It reminds me a bit of the old RJ campus at Mount Sinai..i think its the staircase!

This row of nice houses are actually offices of the faculty!

This is my classroom where I have my German language course. My teacher's name is Frau Franziska Schumann. (Sie heisst Franciska Schumann). I really like her, she's probably in her late 30s but she's really chic and a really good teacher. She absolutely refuses to speak in English at all (ok, until it came to the point when she needed to collect money for our German textbooks haha). Sometimes its quite hilarious because she will just ramble on and on, and then question marks start appearing all over our faces...and we all sit in silence for quite a while. But then, Frau Schumann perseveres and repeats herself, this time with exaggerated hand actions until we get it. In a way its good, because we are forced to listen closely and look at her all the time. I don't have a picture of her yet, but I'll definitely get one at the end. I would liken to audrey hepburn actually...

The German language course is seriously quite intense. Back in SMU when I took Spanish, we had 2 days x 1.5h of class max, here its 1.5h x 3 per day! And the thing about learning languages is the need to listen really attentively to get the pronunciation and meaning right, to jot down notes and in my case- my own 'spelling' for each word to make sure that I can remember the right way to pronounce the word. On top of that, one has to be really conscientious to revise after every lesson...Having said that, I really like learning languages..I find it fun!

Its only the 2nd lesson and already we are swamped with many many worksheets. Homework is 'Hausefgabe' (House-earth-gar-ber) in Deutsch. The first time Franziska said that, I was desperately trying to guess what that meant..."House of garden?...what on earth is that...come on!"

If I were to compare German vis-a-vis Spanish, I would choose the latter anytime. Learning German somehow makes me want to learn Spanish even more! I'm definitely going back to Las Lilas when I go back to SG. I really miss my Spanish class and Aida! Made friends with another student Jorge Garcia from Mexico and I was really excited because I could practise my Spanish...haha! I knew he could speak spanish because his name is just classically spanish- its those kind of names that appear on Spanish textbooks..!

We have been packing sandwiches to school, simply because the food at the school cafeteria really isnt nice and its expensive! Our sandwiches are much better!

I made this snow angel!

Postcard worthy, yes? There was also a frozen swimming pool nearby!

My house mates! Couldn't ask for better ones! Haha!

This week we also signed our housing contract. The lady in charge (Antje) gave us an inventory list of all the things in our house and we were supposed to check that they existed and were in working condition...but when we saw the list of items listed under the kitchen...(see below)

KITCHEN:
Ceiling yes
Window yes
Floor yes
Wall yes

...hmmm don't think we need to walk to the kitchen to check if those items are there or not. Plus there was nothing like '6 plates/ 4 cups' or something like that...so queer!

This is one of the shopping streets at Marktplatz...many things to see! ;)

Last but not least, this is one of the dinners I cooked! Curry!

Zurich

So today we made our way on the SBB train to Zurich at 1148am to be exact. The plan was to stay in Zurich till past 7 so that we could get back to St Gallen for free. Saw many more Asians there...

Bingkai's theory is that usually people who cook for a living are not highly educated therefore they can't really spell properly...

This photo looks like as though I was holding onto Bing Kai's arm...but look again...I'm not hehe...

This is proof of JR's photo taking prowess because of his long arm...

I really like this photo!

This was some park where there were many many seagulls. If you have food, they become quite aggressive and swarm to you. Just like when the lady below was feeding them...

Ok so now I have to share the story about Yoko & Billy. See at first, I was just minding my own business until JR started playing with some random dog (see below). So I decided to be nice and help him take a photo. Then the owner tells us that the dog's name is Yoko (after Yoko Ono).

Later, she suggests that JR carry Yoko...so he does...

The owner further suggests that I sit on the bench and call 'Yoko' and 'Billy'. (Billy is the white dog named after Billy Holiday!) So after calling their names, both jump on the bench on either side of me and obediently wait until I've got a photo taken! How lovely! Canines over here in general are really well behaved which is why they are allowed to go into shopping centers and hop onto public transport with their owners. We had quite a surprise that day when we were in Migros buying groceries and this big dog suddenly crossed our paths..haha! They don't bark in a crazed manner like how many dogs in Singapore do...

So this year, Mac, Bing Kai & JR are my 'family' so we had our dinner at this restaurant selling Singaporean food. We think its run by Hongkongers.

The three of them shared 2 plates of sweet and sour pork with rice + a plate of fried wantons.

I didn't feel like sharing, so I ordered dim sum..there was only 4 small pieces! I also ordered a vegetable soup with glass noodles. The bowl was so small it was almost negligible- hence there isn't a photo. Hmmm not very satisfying. Although my 'cuisine' mode on my camera makes the food look pretty tantalizing...truth be told...it really cannot compare to all our moms' cooking at home. Not that we expect to eat chinese food of high standard over here...its just a comment. I THINK I can cook better. I think. Not very sure.

Ok, now everybody please pay attention. THIS is what my family had for dinner in Singapore. I could almost taste the food just by looking. Mushrooms with xiao bai cai and scallops (instead of black moss this year), steamed prawns & sharks fin soup!

Fried tempura (lady's fingers, fish & aubergine) & steamed chicken; look at the bowl of chilli! that must be for me..!!!

Mummy I miss your food! Its not really fun eating what I cook...not that its bad or anything...its just that somehow its hard to eat whatever you spent a few hours labouring over in the kitchen for some reason...

Alright, I shall post the photos for the previous few days soon. For now, here's wishing my family, friends and all those born in the year of the rat especially a very good year ahead! (Its imperative for 'rats' to have a good year since I'm hanging out with 3 here! haha)..ok bye!

Why people do the things they do

In St Gallen, I wake up thinking of what to do with myself for the rest of the day and I find myself making a conscious effort to walk slower cos everyone else is behind...Im not used to it. Im a wild child haha. No no its not that, its just a bit too slow...today we stayed home from 2pm onwards as we had to get our laundry done. The silence was quite loud since we were all holed up in our own rooms doing our own stuff.

This cannot go on. Tomorrow we are going to Zurich and probably have dinner at some chinese restaurant since its CNY eve. Day after, school starts. Hurray!

Left to Right beginning from the top row:

1. Our apartment block

2. The entrance

3. A very small kitchen

4. Fully equipped with utensils and crockery

5. Living room 1

6. Living room 2

7. My room 1

8. My room 2

9. Bing kai's room

10. Maccann in his room

11. Common toilet

12. Hallway leading to the door