Extracts
(From early emails, also to you)

When, after all, I was depressed
I'm a little under the weather because I can't like Virginia, the way Adam had no love for Omaha but got a song out of it anyway. It is very, very different when you're not here for a holiday. I can barely decide what to do with myself like the Japanese woman in one of my new schoolbooks whose last relative died and she couldn't bring herself to even look for a new place to stay because that would take too much energy. I try to tell myself that this is typical starting-new-school meltdown, but of course the stakes are higher because Daddy paid about a million dollars for my Dream and if I don't have the time of my life it would be a waste of everything, then...

I should tell you the major funny event that occurred - I was out-and-out hit on by this black, hiphopishly-dressed dude when I went down for breakfast this morning by myself (mum was still sleeping/trying to sleep due to her insomnia). I was walking back to the room with my tea when I passed him and he was doing the whole checking-out thing the Sims 1 folks do, with following conversation:
He: "You here with your boyfriend?"
Me: "No."
He: "You a student here?"
Me: "Yes, it's my first year. Are you?"
He: "No, I'm from New York, just visiting some folks here. Where're you from?"
Me: (slowly) "Singapore."
He: "Singapore?" (nods knowledgeably) "China?"
Me: "No."
He: "Korea?"
Me: "No. It's in Southeast Asia, next to Malaysia, but it's a country by itself."
He: (nods knowledgeably) "Ah see, ah see. You flew all the way from there to UVA?"
Me: "Yes."
He: "That's hot. What's your name?"
Me: "*Says name*" (because the whole thing was getting increasingly lame.)
He: "*Repeats name* We should hang out sometime." (Continues checking-out, now starts staring at my butt, which BORDERS ON FREAKY)
Me: *Weak grin and literally, scarpers with excuse*

It is night now and Bernice (my roommate) talks on the phone all the time which is ok because it is funny. From rapid-fire Spanish to her mum, to her friend Crystal and she says random comment like "I know I'm supposed to but I don't really feel like socializing with white folk." DING! Hit the nail on the head. She's the only first-year Hispanic on this floor and I'm the only Asian. We're getting along okay, which is cool. And I'm sorry if I use that word too much but that's the main one Americans understand.

Might as well add that while there are plenty of interesting-looking guys around here - because long curly locks, hiphop gear, pierced lips, T-shirts with messages that are actually funny, even preppy clothing and the UVA all-male choirs that keep popping up to sing the school song of sorts are an entirely new breed.

One of my Singapore seniors, Kai, picked some of us up at the IRC where I was visiting the other girls. So I'm waiting by the door to catch him while the other girls unloaded and he drives up in this little white car with an open moonroof and I run over to tell him to wait a bit, expecting him to roll down the window. But he hoists himself up out of the top, all act-cool like, and yet it works. I want to hit him for that because hello, it isn't fair. Chinese guys get away with so much here they'd be slaughtered for in S'pore, even something as basic as an ABC accent. Then he spent the whole time in the kitchen making Italian-style ice-cream for everyone.

Just letting you know that I've changed my schedule - decided to drop my Japanese class because it was causing me a lot of unnecessary stress, especially since I found out that I really don't need so many high-level classes. I'm doing Physics instead (PHYSICS! MY WORD!)