The Brink of Tomorrow

Less than twelve hours till it's time to fly off, and finally, the adrenaline's kicking in! Heh I think the most defining thing about this time's buildup to departure is how I haven't really had the luxury of time in which to get all excited. These few weeks have been mostly taken up with planning for somethingood, which I strongly appeal to all of you to join! =) 10 Dec to 24 Dec, 11am to 7pm daily. Contact somethingoodenq@yahoo.com for more info!

Anyhoos, I realise that writing formal letters isn't all that big a deal once you get into the swing of things. It's just rearranging the same phrases in different combinations for different recepients. Actually I much prefer this to actual talking to the officials we have to ask for permission to use their venues and stuff. Anyway, now that I'm leaving, everything's been transferred to other people. I hope they can handle it. Feels a bit like I'm leaving them in the lurch here, what with all the venue contacts starting to respond to our enquiries...

Heh well, this time tomorrow I should be in Taiwan, perhaps having dinner or unpacking in Young's house. Man it will be good to see them all again, especially that trio, Young, Yvonne and Enlai =D Hehheh I'm bringing some gifts over for that exchange of gifts ceremony tomorrow...an RJ brick, Young's slippers that he left here, some souvenirs that he ordered, and a huge kueh lapis that my mum got for his family.

I wonder what it'll be like this time, in Taiwan. It surely won't be very cold...the temperature isn't expected to go below ten, let alone anywhere near zero. That means no snow this time round =S And that also means that I don't have to pack as much as for Frexprog, which feels weird, cos now there's lotsa space in my luggage. Gives one the impression that one is forgetting something important at home. But Mel is right...all that space will come in handy when I have to pack all my shopping =P And anyway, I've more or less run out of winter clothes to take along...gotta leave the warmer stuff for Greg, who'll go to Boston/NY on the 6th.

But I guess lots of things will be the same. Taipei is still a very Asian city, probably most like Singapore, globalised and modern. And there'll be skyscrapers this time...Young lives in an apartment, and there's Taipei 101 (that's the thing that's sticking out of the top left of this webpage =P). We'll go to their schools, which will probably not be too different from our JCs, and they'll be having exams when we're there, which means that definitely some things will be eerily familiar =P

In fact, I think Taiwan is quite conceptually close to Singapore. Not much likelihood of a culture shock on the scale of Yunnan or Lyon. But I'm always ready and willing for surprises! Heh I hope there's some quirky tradition that we can import back to Singapore...like the French bisous =P

Hmm but I guess I should stop trying to compare Taiwan with France. They're in wholly different continents, after all, and the experiences they will offer will be different. Indeed, who's to say that one of the experiences is better than the other? The thing is to keep an open mind, and be willing to be surprised. And of course to jump into everything head-first, barring suicidal escapades =P There'll be some things I learned from France that I want to put into place in Taiwan, but beyond that, I don't think it'll be fair to either party for me to compare from my unique standpoint.

Hmm...and the most important thing that I learned from France, which is to make friends before going, has, I sincerely hope, been accomplished already. And rumour has it that I'm living quite close to school, and quite close to Ying Shan too, so there'll be a source of company. And the other RJ pple going to Yang Ming, Ben Moh and Kevin, will be good company during the lessons. And the other JC people look most amicable =) It's time for the fun to begin, man!

Oh well...but one thing is that I won't be here to see either Yvonne or Greg off on their trips. I hope that they'll have a good experience in France and the US respectively. Heh, I hope they'll be able to appreciate as much of the experience as possible, and bring back lots of stories to tell. And it's all quite exciting...so many people hanging on the brink of tomorrow, and with tomorrow promising so much.

Godspeed, you guys. I'll be waiting for you guys when we all get back.

And finally, I find myself at this juncture, a place which I've been anticipating since Pre U Sem. Nothing between me and Taiwan now except one more night's sleep. Heh, and though it started late this time, I'm glad that I'm all excited again. It feels good to be here.

Well, wish me luck, guys, and stay tuned. I'm determined to keep complete records this time round, and no flamers are gonna detract me. Taiwan, here we come!

pondered by phoenican @ 19.11.04