After landing, I got a taxi, so I could get to my hostel. A Mercedes decides to pick me up. I guess Singapore likes to ride in style. I was cool with it! I finally arrived at the hostel and was not able to check in early, so I was forced to buy a room for the night (a whole $22 Singapore)! I walked into the room and did not expect what I saw. 3 girls and a guy were sounds asleep on bunk beds! This was no hotel room! I had not prepared myself for such a different atmosphere, but I was able to finally fall asleep and get through the night with these strangers. Can anyone say culture shock!?
The night/morning was quite an experience, I must say. I'm not sure how I even fell asleep. I was even confused about exactly what time and day it was. I guess that's what jet lag does to you? I guess I had it pretty bad. Today has been much better. I woke up and took a shower at the hostel and met another student volunteer! Finally, someone I could relate to and hang out with. And so it began, a slew of student volunteers started packing the hostel and I was not alone anymore!
We went to eat because we were all starving and decided to just get Burger King for the time being. (Yes, they have Burger King here!) The city life is very different than what I am used to. We are staying in a place called Little India and everyone is just roaming the streets constantly, night or day, rain or shine, it doesn't matter. A very different culture than America, that's for sure. We went to the mall and I'll have to say that I have never seen so many people in a mall before. This was HUGE and yet it was still packed. I would guess there were 7 floors to this mall and, on every floor, the walkways were packed!
Overall, I think it will take a few days more for me to get adjusted. This is so much different than I had ever imagined, which makes me thankful that I am with an organization and have already made friends with many student volunteers here. The people here seem pretty friendly and are quite helpful. The city is very clean, which is a product of the strict laws here. I will post pictures, but on the form I had to fill out to enter the country, in red, was the sentence. "Warning, death to drug traffickers under Singapore law." They don't mess around here. I will post pictures in the morning, when I am able to get online with my computer. There is no wireless internet at out hostel! Ah! So, I will have to wait until I am at the convention center.
Make sure to check back! I miss you all!
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Hey Josh! Its good to hear that you made it there safe and sound. Singapore quite a change from the norm, huh? What all have you seen aside for burger king and the mall? Do you usually go out on the town once you're done with the volunteering at the conference?
ReplyDeleteIts good to hear that you've got company though! How's your schedule for volunteering? What kind of things have you seen at the conference?
Keep us posted and have lots of fun bud! Take care
Vamsi! It is a very big change, that's for sure! I have seen a lot of the city, just a bunch of shopping centers, Suntec, and the surrounding areas. I hope to explore more throughout the week.
ReplyDeleteWe all just hang out after we are done student volunteering. We went out to dinner last night and SIGGRAPH paid for it. It was actually a team leader dinner, but we won't say anything because I'm jsut a student volunteer. Shhh!