It's rainy and cold. It's the perfect weather to sleep in but I woke up at 8 just to do my laundry, only to discover that all the washing machines were already taken. Ish.. I stayed awake anyway. No point in going back to sleep. I fell asleep extremely early last night while my 4 roommates "practiced" martial arts. It's a wonder I could sleep through all the ruckus they must have made. (Sleeping with monkeys in the room apparently trains you to sleep like a log)
It never ceases to amuse me how people react when they find out that I stay in a hostel, in a room of 5. They think it's amazing, how we can all stay away from home and spend our days with our friends. It's fun and all, really, but staying away from home, I'd say, is something you need to give very deep thought before you actually put yourself through it.
Yea, sure, it's cool being on your own. You're free to move around here and there without having to ask for permission, but, really, freedom has never been an issue for me. I got transported from doorstep to doorstep and I was allowed to go wherever I wanted to anyway. When I'm here, I have to find my own way around - using public transportation. I had only been on a bus a few times in my whole life before I came here! Now I use the MRT every day and the bus too, occasionally.
Money management is, I think, one of the biggest pains of staying on your own. See, I've got two bank accounts, one is where my monthly allowance goes, another is where my parents supply me with whatever extra I need. Every time my wallet thins out, I have to go withdraw cash. I had never even possessed my own ATM card before! Okay, the withdrawing thing is really simple (trust me, I had my ATM card retained by the ATM and I spent about 4 hours going around to replace my card - all that after a whole day of school!), anyone can do it. It's managing the money that you withdraw that gives you a headache. Sure, you go buy the little things like food, shampoo, soap, etc. Add that on top of your lunches in school every day and by the end of the month, it scares you just to see the balance reflected on your bank receipt and how much thinner your wallet seems (which is why we all turn into super scrooges when it nears the end of the month).
And then there's the issue of handling all the petty house chores. Have I told you how housewifey I've become?! We clean out the room almost every Saturday. My room is one of the most anal about cleanliness it seems. We haul all our luggage out of the room and mop the floor three times. Mad, I know. Since when do I care about a few little dustbunnies here and there? Told you, it's the housewife syndrome kicking in la..
I'm not trying to scare anyone, nor am I unhappy being on my own. Staying on your own has its upsides as well. After all, you have to learn to stand on your own two feet at some point in time. We just have to take it as it comes.
I went for my first debating club meeting yesterday. It was.. nothing like I expected. Come to think of it, I'm not very sure what is it that I expected it to be. =p We J1s were assigned the topic 'this house deplores globalisation' and we were supposed to deliver our 3 points after given a short time to prepare. O.o I felt ready to scream to the floor to open up and swallow me whole. I'm not joking. Our coach wants us to start training as soon as possible because there is a competition coming up very soon. I was caught off-guard. Compete already, just when we all joined in the first meeting? I left school only at 6.45 pm yesterday (meeting started at 4 pm). It brought back memories of staying up till 3 am to work on scripts. Oooooooooookay..
The connection's going bonkers on me again. Gotta run.
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