In less than 5 days, I'll be waving goodbye to my teary-eyed family as i board the plane to the states for 2 months, to experience something new and get a fresh perspective of this world and of myself.
A number of people have posed me some qns regarding my trip, and i thought some Q&A would help me understand what went through my mind when look back at this trip.
Why did I choose to go on this trip?
As i ponder over this, i realised that there were many many insignificant incidents which contributed to this decision. But once I pieced all of them together, the decision to go for the trip became so very apparent.
I would say that army played a very impt role here. A very scary thought surfaced while i was serving the nation...I've done more during my 2 years in NS compared to the 20 years before. I was totally freaked out by this thought, realising how much of a hermit I've been since young and the first 20 years went to waste already. Coupled this with a number of my friends flying overseas and i came to a conclusion that I need to let loose more often, have some fun and see the world. Eventually decided to do something different each year. Last yr was diving, this year is this trip, next yr is exchange, the year after is skydiving. Time waits for no men...not even me
Doctor Who also had a part to play. The Doctor is a time traveller and brings his companions around to different places in time and space. When the Doctor offers to bring someone along on an extended journey, the companions always have overwhelming burdens and responsibilities on their shoulders. Martha Jones has an exam the next day, Amy is getting married in the morning amongst many other companions. But then The Doctor would repeat his offer...A chance to see the universe, to be in any time and any space of your choosing and the companion gets enlightened. I guess this applies to me as well. We all carry our individual baggage, be it exams, family, friends, other half etc. Perhaps it's time for me to shed all of them, be selfish for once and "follow The Doctor".
The last piece of the puzzle came at a place where I least expect it to be. After I ORDed, i worked for 6 months in the library. During a random lunch conversation, one of my colleagues was talking abt her trip to the states to work when she was sill studying. I knew that was it already. The signs could not have been more obvious...
A need to do something different every year, a passion to visit different places to broaden my horizons and a random suggestion by a colleague. Throw all of these into the mixing bowl and here I am...4 days away from my flight.
Why the States of all places?
Actually, i wouldn't mind other places as well. It's just that US is more open to such things and a lot of international students tend to flock to the States. I would loved to mingle around with aliens from other lands as well.
Why not get a job closer to my course of study?
Someone posted me this qns only yesterday. A couple of reasons here. I'll probably be counting money and slogging my guts out for the next few decades. Do i really want the ordeal to start earlier? That person told me that she's going to be a 老师 for the next 30 years and i was thinking that she's gonna be 一个真 的很老的老师. So work can definitely wait until i graduate and i can be 一个真的很老的 whatever after 30 years.
And also, once I graduate, i'm likely to enter lower-mid level. There are actually many things u dun get to learn when u enter at that level. Things like photocopying, faxing, laminating, emptying trash, serving customers. I've seen people at the top who can't get a photocopying machine to work. So i guess this is also an opportunity to brush up on my "Duh Skills" I call them "Duh Skills" because it's like...Duh, everyone knows how to photocopy a piece of paper. I actually pretty proficient in photocopying, faxing etc but could use some brushing up in my people skills.
And lastly, it's not that easy to find a internship in the states and i have this feeling that an internship will spoil the whole experience. Interns are probably treated like slaves, won't get much time to travel around and relax one corner...
Then why this job?
Growing up, there's always this part in me that wonders how does it feel like to be Peter Parker, mixing up orders from customers during the busy lunch hours in New York, sweeping the floor in the restaurant, getting screamed at by bosses (Jonah Jameson comes to mind) and receiving the "YOU ARE FIRED" notice from them.
There isn't much of a choice here. I think it was between a fast food chain in New York or Amusement Park in Virginia. I would like to work in New York, go through what Pete went through but my budget wouldn't allow me to. The housing, meal and transport expenses are way too high and my budget has already been blown sky high. And also, the mad rush in a fast food restaurant would probably not give me enough time to observe and interact with people, just facing hordes and hordes of hungry New Yorkers in front of me. On the other hand, at the amusement park, i'll probably get more chance to interact with both the Americans as well as foreigners, slow down my own pace of life and enjoy some peace of my own.
Did I miss out any other more popular qns? Feel free to just shoot! For now, I better get down to packing.
Mark
PS: I know my blog tends to be very wordy, hard to comprehend, slightly darker and emo. But i promise I'll throw in a lot more pictures, sunshine and light into this one as I start every morning, for the next 2 months with a roller coaster ride!
