Monday, September 17, 2007
two weeks in helsinki + Sitsi Party
it's been two weeks since i've been at helsinki, finland and i must say i'm starting to settle down and all. things are getting rather routine... getting to know people better and well, adapting to living by myself and improving my cooking skills with every time that i cook. haha.anyway, it's amazing how i've survived for two weeks by myself. i mean like being the only singaporean. i guess it's often how you are not in your own comfort zone that you start to appreciate home and country. i never felt that way in US because i guess i did not had to adapt very much, having all my singapore people around me all the time, and the fact that English is everywhere there, there wasn't much of a big problem except that we had an advantage over the americans because we can speak mandarin.
but over here, i have yet to meet a single singaporean since i've landed in this country! in fact, my last physical + social + verbal contact with native singaporeans was with the maastricht people that i travelled with in holland. i've been out of touch with my own native singlish in my daily life for 17 days and i'm still surviving! haha. i miss my singaporean language! it's like the chinese people here all have their own people to talk their own language to... taiwanese in their taiwanese accented mandarin, hongkongers in their cantonese, and china people in their accented mandarin. only poor me singaporean has to speak to taiwanese and china people with my singaporean accented mandarin, and to the hongkongers with my half bucket cantonese mixed with mandarin and english. hahaha! no more singlish like kiasu, sian, pang sai, lao sai. nobody understands these here. and nobody talks with their la, leh, hor, meh inside their sentences. *sobs* but of cuz, there's still the webcam to talk to singapore people... but still, it's just different when it's not part of your daily life anymore because it's just something that has always been in you.
and well, i really start to appreciate the efforts and the education that i've gone through at home. i really appreciate the fact that we are mostly so proficient in both English and Chinese. it really helps alot in terms of communication. and although sometimes the accent is different, it takes a bit of adapting to be able to understand. in fact, i think that some of the europeans do not have such a good command of the English language. and well, my 10 years of studying so hard for my chinese in primary and secondary school did not come to waste. i think it has definitely served me well when conversing with the Chinese people. also, Chinese and English are two vastly different languages in terms of their sounds, words, tones etc. whereas many european languages are similar so it's much easier for them to master it since they are all still made up of the few alphabets. i'm so so glad we were taught all these since we were young because honestly, English is the language to communicate with the rest of the world. and Mandarin, as a Chinese, it is ultimately our roots and the window to open us up to the largest population in the world... CHINA!!!! that makes up almost 20% of the world's population!! it's amazing how china people are really just everywhere around the world! you'll always see them. i honestly think lee kuan yew is just AMAZING in terms of his foresight and all that he has planned for us. and so i really appreciate being a native singaporean all my life. i love my country!!! hahaha. okay, sometimes only.
anyway, enough of my thoughts and feelings. Last Friday morning i went to attend this talk by the CEO of PwC. his name is samuel dipiazza. and since as an accounting student, i figured it was natural that i should attend it. and i am so glad i did. at first i thought it was only like the CEO of the finnish PwC that was there.. but actually, he's like the biggest on top... being the CEO of the HQ of PwC in US!!! woah. he was talking about emerging markets, changes in the accounting profession and attracting talent. and i must say, he was such a good speaker! i was attracted to all that he said and i paid alot of attention! he is so knowlegeable and interesting when he speaks!!! it's so amazing i think. and well, during the Q&A session, i managed to ask him a question too!! woah so honoured!! haha. honestly, he must be one of the smartest and most intelligent american i've seen so far!! he was really good. motivational speaker i think... think he's probably a great leader in leading the whole PwC man. the way he said it was like... auditing is THE THING man. haha! but i must say, because of his visions and beliefs, is probably the reason why PwC has turned out to be the best amongst the big 4. i finally understand why.
then at night we had Sitsi Party for all the exchange students. it's this traditional party in the scandinavian countries. people get together in long tables, singing, laughing, eating, drinking and just having fun! i had alot of fun and entertainment and it was a pity it ended quite fast i thought.
on the bus to the party!
this is my papa, anders from denmark. he's korean by blood but was adopted by a danish family so he's just danish.
my mama, wei-in from taiwan. she's from a denmark school together with anders and they are a couple. well actually, i started to acknowledge wei-in as my mama cuz she teaches us how to cook.. then anders became my papa too because both of them just gives me such a family feeling. haha.
then during the party, they will bang on the table and call each nationality up... it goes like... "we want *** on the table!" *bang bang* then it just repeats. so then all the people from the same country would stand up and either sing a song or bottoms up. germans were the first because they were the majority! like so majority man.then next were the french!
the tutors at the front.
me with hanna... from my tutor group. both of us were the only girls in our whole group during the first day of orientation! ha it was quite strange. she's a finnish but wen to holland to study. so she's now on exchange back in her home country. she told me she wanted to go to singapore but exchange actually but the time didn't fit because of her summer internship. haha. how sweet is that. she's been to singapore and she likes it!
this french guy that i learnt some french from.. haha he's quite a good teacher i would say. but i just realized... err i never knew his name! haha.. not yet.
anu.. one of my tutors!
danish people on the table!
swedish people on the table! only two of them.. one's from my tutor group and the other is my roommate carin!
daniel... from my tutor group!
3 guys. haha.
timo.. the swedish guy in my tutor group.
alex, another german from my tutor group! he stays in the same block as me... so we kinda hang out more often sometimes!
all the different flags on the wall.. but.. NO SINGAPORE!! haha.
all our party stuff.
dale from taiwan! he stays in the same building as me too!
and so well, they called all the nationalities and i was all along just so sure that Singapore would never be mentioned. simply because it's so small and insignificant that people would remember! i was so sure i wouldn't have to stand up to perform so i didn't really prepare anything. then towards the end, they asked which nationalities that have not been called. and of course, my german friend markus and another finnish tutor i was talking to who were sitting opposite me started shouting SINGAPORE! plus all the other people who knew me that were sitting in other tables all just added in to.
and so i stood up. this only poor lonely singaporean who stood up ALL BY HERSELF.
and because i could hardly remember the lyrics of our national anthem... i just sang one verse of my favourite community singing songs in primary school, Singapore Town! i just love that song. and well, after i ended everyone started screaming and cheering for me. the only girl who sang up and sang such a nice song about her country. or so they said it was nice. i figured because the song itself was nice, plus i sang it well, plus it was in English which everybody understood so they liked it. haha.
this must be one of the BRAVEST thing i've ever done in my life honestly! i don't even know how i managed to do it! all by myself! but i must say, it was alot of fun!!! i would do it again. haha.
the chinese people... errr.. from the more developed countries? haha. lewis, dale, kelly, vicky and me. (taiwan, taiwan, hongkong, hongkong, singapore)
me with the 3 hongkong girls!
candid shot.
me outside the KY building.
me and vicky at the bus stop... way to go home!
overall, i would say it was a pretty fun and entertaining night. i had 2 shots, 1 beer and 1 cider and i thought that would allow me to have a good night's sleep. but unexpectedly, i couldn't sleep when i got back! which was really bad, having to turn and toss in bed. i wonder why too.
that's it for now! :)
