eleven: hall

i've thusfar been lodged into raffles hall and to be honest, it's been quite an experience for me. cultural shock is one of the first thing that struck me because for once, being singaporean is a minority in this microcosm. i'm now in an environment where i actually have begun speaking chinese again which i thought was quite funny at first, given my inability to express much in chinese. i don't feel like i'm in singapore anymore, like NUS is a United Nations where the predominant nationality is not mine. it's been an eye-opening experience. there are actually even two exotic hungarians there speaking in their native tongue.

another aspect of hall life which i actually have problems with is how it is able to operate completely independently from the outside world. through the bustle of activities and people you are forced to interact with, and this is actually after speaking to a senior for a first hand opinion, one is able to cease interaction with much of the outside-hall world. i don't know if it's true but the first day of orientation and feeling the zeal and enthusiasm of the seniors, i really have the opinion, that i'm asked to suspend all externally related relationships, be it medicine faculty, old friends, or even the semblance of a personal life, in order to commit myself wholeheartedly to the hall. and this is not from the foreigners in the hall, i can see how being a foreigner makes things very different, but rather from some of the locals, singaporeans like me. i constantly get the feeling of a certain aloofness in that they interact as an insular group. please prove me wrong. there is really so much more to hall life in this world. and my personal, possibly stunted view, is that most of the rest of our lives will not be operated on such nice personal and cosy terms.

i risk being an outsider in my own home but i think i need to do what i believe is right and best for me. i know i'm justifying myself here but heck. at least, maybe you had a good read and laughed and my false earnestness.