Finally, the trees in Raleigh have begun to change colours after I came back from Charlottesville the first weekend of Nov. Before this, it seems that everytime I travel out I see nice fall foilage, only to see green trees again when I return to Raleigh. Not so anymore. Almost all the trees here have changed colours in the past 2 weeks and leaves have been falling everywhere. Now it feels like fall has really arrived in Raleigh, with the fall foliage and the weather as what I would have expected it to be like during this season.
The view from the corridor of my dorm in level 3 has changed from this
on 21st Oct, where the first fall colours are spotted on campus
To this
on 6th Nov (I love these bright red colours!)
And this
on 14th Nov, with the leaves falling all over the ground.
The weather in Raleigh has gone through many changes since mid-September. The week after I came back from Grand Rapids, it rained for a few days and the temperature suddenly dropped to about mid-10 degrees, which took me by surprise and I fell sick for a few days. I thought I wouldn’t be able to go out and read in the park or play sports anymore. Then about 2 weeks later, it became warmer; high-20s in the afternoon and I was able to go out in t-shirt and jeans again, and sit on the swing in the park to read. Then another 2 weeks later, it rained and became cooler again. It seems that it has always been raining on the weekends. Well I actually escaped the rainy weekends in Raleigh when I went to the Great Smoky Mountains and Seattle on those 2 weekends, but it was bright and sunny wherever I went. God really gave me very good weather when I travel. In Charlottesville it was such an excellent weather for hiking that I didn’t even need a jacket. However, after coming back from Charlottesville it rained for a few days and the weather has been pretty cold since then, so I haven’t been able to read in the park anymore. The past Saturday was an exception, when the weather went up to 21 degrees in the afternoon after it rained the whole of Friday. I wonder how long more I can still go to the gym to run in my t-shirt and shorts. I thought I wouldn’t be able to do that since mid-Oct but so far it’s still ok getting from my hall to the gym (which is like 1-min in the open) in my t-shirt and shorts in 10-15 degrees. Quite shiok actually, though I wouldn’t have thought I would do something like that.
And so, after travelling for 4 consecutive weekends, I have been in Raleigh for the past 2 weekends, but they have been just as packed and happening. Was supposed to go up to the mountains nearby with some friends on one of the Saturdays, but because the weather forecast says it’ll rain, we cancelled the trip. Here’s some of the stuff that has been happening over the past 2 weeks (other than the usual weekly Bible studies/homeless outreach/Crusade prime time):
Tue, Nov 4 – US Election Day
Well, I didn’t do anything special except to watch the presidential election results with the others from hall at the basement. Apparently, after President-elect was announced, there were students running, shouting and screaming along the streets. (I won’t have gone to check it out were I not in t-shirts and berms then, plus I had a test the next day.) I didn’t get to hear Obama speak in person both times he was in Raleigh. First time cos I didn’t get ticket and second time cos I had class. Not that I really wanted to go either but it would have been pretty interesting.
Thu, Nov 6 – Flu Shot
I actually got a flu vaccination at the Student Health Center cos it’s free for students under the health insurance which is compulsory for us to get (and this health insurance is “free” for me too).
Fri, Nov 7 – AO fellowship
AO fellowship gathering was at NC State instead of UNC (which is a 30-min drive away) so I naturally chose this over going for the Chinese student fellowship. The last time I went for AO was actually on Sept 12! I was really glad that I managed to invite two friends to go as well
Post-AO activities were attending a Christian hip-hop music event where one of the guys was playing in and then guys/girls lock-in (which is basically a stay-over somewhere for guys and girls separately). I didn’t intend to go for the lock-in cos their plan was to return to campus at 10am the next day but I needed to be on campus at 8am. However, one of the girls was driving back that night so I decided to go hang out with them too and ride back with her. The girls had the lock-in at one of the girls’ house. It was a fun time of eating and chatting. Before we headed back to campus we stopped by church to pick up someone who went to the guys lock-in (which was at church) and ended up staying there for almost an hour before heading back. That day was the latest time I reached campus!
Sat, Nov 8 – (guess what this is?)
Now, this day has got to be one of the highlights of my exchange experience. I did volunteer work but it was a kind which I could have never ever done in Singapore (unless our land area increases by thousand times). Singaporeans spend hundreds of dollars to buy an air ticket to be involved in this kind of work in neighbouring countries. But I could just do it here and they actually have this every week. However, it rained that morning so we had to do a different kind of work but it’s equally interesting and it’s something that Singaporeans will probably never get to do on the overseas trips that they go for. So, guess what this is? (I’m sure most of you know this organization. If you think you know the answer you can send me an email before I reveal this activity in another blog post and maybe you will be rewarded with something if you have the correct answer).
Alexander Hall Winter Formal Dinner and Dance
Quite weird to call it Winter Formal when it’s still fall season but anyway it was a good time with the other hall people eating and taking pictures.
Sun, Nov 9
Church as usual, though I haven’t attended RCCC for the past 3 weeks. Had my first choir practice in the afternoon for the Christmas musical on Dec 14 which is gonna be my last service in RCCC. It’s pretty exciting
Wed, Nov 12
Had my last test during the semester before final exams! So now I’m only left with a mini-project and a paper before the finals. Time for a breather first!
Thu, Nov 13
AO people “jio-ed” me to watch James Bond movie which premiers at 12 am. Didn’t really like the movie cos there was so much shooting and fighting and there was no plot or story.
Fri, Nov 14
It was a difficult choice to make between going for AO or the Chinese fellowship. I haven’t been to the Chinese side for quite some time already but this will be the last AO I can attend. In the end I went AO cos they were gonna practice for Christmas musical. As usual there was post-AO activity, and this time it’s another midnight movie! Watched Dark Knight at UNC for free! Each UNC students gets to bring in a guest for their movies and it’s free for everyone. Had to queue up early though. Enjoyed this movie much more than the James Bond one cos it has quite good themes.
I will really miss AO and everyone there. This bunch of people has been a significant part of my life here in the US. The fellowship group is very similar to SMU CCC and youth cell back home. The people, the ministry, and the things they do all remind me of SMU CCC and youth cell, not to mention it’s on a Friday night as well.
I actually got an AIM account so that I can keep in touch with them since most don’t use MSN. So now I have 5 IMs!
Sat, Nov 15 – same volunteer activity as the previous week
Also, I went with a group of Chinese/Korean/Japanese friends to k-box.
Sun, Nov 16
It was combined worship service at church, as the second session was used to vote for the deacons for 2009-2010, like the LCEC. Reached church half an hour late and had to sit in the overflow room, not to mention I missed the whole praise and worship. :( Combined services here at RCCC are really similar to the ones at KY. The one we had in Oct was mainly in Mandarin with English translation. This one was in English with Mandarin translation. I almost felt like I was back in Singapore cos Pastor Po-Wing is a Singaporean and still speaks with the Singaporean accent while the Mandarin translation sounded Singaporean too, or at least there wasn't any strong accent. After service went out with the AO people for lunch (the first time on a Sunday cos I usually eat lunch at church with the Chinese congregation people), then choir practice again.
Alexander Hall International Desserts Night
Held in the evening, where we had desserts made by people from all over the world. This is probably less than a fifth of all the food we had.
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Time flies so quickly. In exactly one month, I will have to leave NC State!
The past two weeks have also seen many changes in my plans for thanksgiving and post-exam. It has been pretty complicating and frustrating for me and being the indecisive person that I am, I spent a lot of time thinking what the best arrangement is. To cut the long story short, my initial plan was to visit San Francisco during thanksgiving break and my return ticket to Singapore is on 29th Dec. Both are unrelated events, but because of certain constraints I kept changing my plans and they affected one another. My final plan is to stay at Jen’s house during the thanksgiving break, and we might go up to the mountains for a hiking trip, stuff ourselves with food on thanksgiving day and go shopping on black Friday where they have huge sales! I guess I should take some time off to reflect on my time in the US too and start to prepare myself for going back. Also, I have changed my return ticket to 3rd Jan and go to San Francisco the last few days, hence I will touch down in Singapore on 4th Jan, hopefully with enough time to rest before the new term starts on 6th Jan.
