DISQUS

I'm feeling pretty happy. Then again, I almost always feel pretty happy, so I guess today is no different than most days.

How about yourself? I hope midterms aren't getting you down.

I knew you would enjoy life in America =). I'm happy that you're settling in well over here.

Sweatlee, I still cannot believe that the explanation you came up with was AN ABORTION. Lol, you crack me up so much. You are my hero.

Honestly though.........an abortion?

Lol, wow, its so funny to finally hear your voice for the first time. In many ways you sound both very similar and very different to the way I always expected you to sound like (not that I can actually articulate any of those expectations).

I also think its cool that you already use NYer slang like "how it all went down." On the other hand, I'm not a NYer and I still like to use that phrase sometimes.

I know I wished you happy b-day on Facebook already, but once again:

HAPPY B-DAY!

After reading about the part where you and your Malaysian/SIngapore friends discuss all of the interesting Americanisms that you've noticed, I'm curious. What are all of the interesting or maybe irritating Americanisms that you've noticed?

Or is that the topic of a future post?

That's ridiculous that journalists can be detained under the ISA for doing their job. What explanation is the government giving for using the ISA to detain the journalist?

About the safety thing, big cities (NY/LA/Chicago) are all pretty dangerous for a girl walking alone at night. Walking with friends is always a smart thing to do. Of course, girls in the US always go together to do everything so I think that they might not notice it as much. I'm sure dormmates/friends will always be willing to go with you if you ever need to get around.

College students in the US always dress super casual, so I'm not surprised that they roll around in their pajamas. Cal Berkeley used to be famous for the naked guy that they had who attended all his classes in the nude (Berkeley is a bit more extreme than most).

I think its funny that you're worried about tanning. I've noticed that white people are always worried about being pale, Asian people are always worried about turning too dark. (Also I'm sure you would never do this, but never call a white person pale/pasty to their face, many white people consider it offensive.)

Referring to other people's advice about getting a debit card versus a credit card: In many ways a debit card is not as good as a credit card. With a credit card, if its ever stolen, then you are not responsible for the items that are purchased with the stolen credit card. With a stolen debit card, you might be responsible for the items that a thief purchases if you don't report the loss of the card if you don't report the loss within a day or two. Also, having a credit card and paying it off every month helps you build your super important "credit score."

However, if you might be tempted to buy things with a credit card that you don't actually have the money for, then a debit card might be the way to go.

Whether you go with a debit card or credit card, you probably need a bank account. Look for a bank with free checking/no fees banking for students. Your university probably has a credit union with free checking, if not Bank of America has free checking accounts for students, and I'm sure other banks have such accounts as well.

Su Ann, there's no need to sugarcoat things, because that will just affect your credibility with them. Rather, what you should do is give them both the good and the bad. You can tell them about the bad drivers, etc. but then also share with them all of the wonderful things that you love about your country. Give them the whole picture and I'm sure it will be fine.

I mean I was born in the US and I lived my whole life here, but when I lived in Asia I loved it as well and I still miss it. Your discussions of Malaysia have really incited a desire in me to visit Malaysia even though you talk about the good and the bad of Malaysia (i.e. corruption, everything). So don't worry about sugarcoating anything, share with them your love for your country and they will come to see it as you see it - a wonderful place that produces wonderful people.

Pinkpau, you should feel loved. Look at all the commenters who are here to wish you good luck and good friends that are going to miss you when you leave.

Of course, perhaps once you're in the US, there will be a lot of things that you miss about Malaysia as well or think that Malaysia does better, so maybe you'll understand the expats attitude better.

Welcome to the US!

I know you're already beginning the process of missing everyone, but remember, absence makes the heart grow fonder. You'll be able to cherish your time with your friends even more when you see them in the future. Most importantly, by the time you come back home next, you'll have a bunch of new friends.

Oh and good for you for being brave enough to go half-way across the world for school. I always wanted to do it, but I never was organized enough to accomplish it.

As for the expats, I hope you don't see them as proper representatives of Americans. They always manage to send the most ethnocentric white people abroad. When I was in Asia, I hated every last white person I met there. If I had to judge white people based only on expats, I'm sure I would have a very negative view of white people.

You are to be applauded for a very comprehensive guide to HK. I love how you begin by describing it as almost a brief and incomplete description of Hong Kong, when it turns out to be almost encyclopedic.

Your description was also very accurate. It brought back to mind many of my memories of visiting HK (I'm an ABC, but my parents are from HK).

Whenever you decide to retire from being the Prime Minister/President of Malaysia, you could always make a living creating a line of books for tourists called "the Definitive Pinkpau's Guide to [Place X]."

Lol @ your description of the US embassy interviewers.

I'm so happy you're finally coming to America.................but so sad that you're going to be on the exact opposite end of the country. Tell me if you ever get a chance to come to LA.

As for the laptop, I like my Sony better than my bro likes his Dell laptop. However Dell's tech support is way better than Sony's. With Sony, I always wait for hours and have to call some stupid long-distance number. They're probably not too different in reliability is my guess.

Your friend is so cute. Completely random/quirky friends are awesome. I have a friend that has a personality just like her, except that she's not really shy.

This post was really enjoyable. I think you should have this type of post become a recurring theme (i.e. Meet Friend X of Pinkpau) and give each of your close friends their own profile.

I just saw the Dark Knight as well. That movie was incredible. Heath Ledger's performance is really Oscar-worthy. He was the center of attention in every scene he was in without trying.

I was also impressed with how they based the story around the duality of good and evil and how complicated both are.

Last, I agree with you, the Bat-gear/Bat-tech is great. I really want a Bat-bike. That thing was awesome. Especially when it flipped over the huge truck.

Your dad is just like mine. My dad always cracks lame jokes that makes him laugh like crazy but which none of us kids ever think is that funny.

Su Ann, you shouldn't worry too much about the friends that you can't fully trust/rely on and just focus on the good times with the ones that you can trust. When you go abroad to school, there's going to be a natural filtering process. The ones that are truly good friends will keep in touch with you and those are the ones you're really going to miss. The others will disappear. At least, that's what my experience was like when I moved to Asia for a couple of years after college.

So really, you don't have to worry about the friends that offend you, don't treat you well because after you leave for the US, its unlikely you'll have to deal with them very much ever again.

Sperm whale?

Don't let the world get you down Pinkpau! The world is suffering from many problems, and it always has, but the important thing is to focus on doing things we can to help alleviate those problems.

Love is knowing that no matter how bad your day is, no matter what is going wrong in your life, that at the end of the day, there will be someone there to hold you, comfort you, and bring you peace.

When you're happy, everyone is there for you, but when you're unhappy/moody/depressed, only the people who really care for you stick around.

I understand exactly what you mean. The Asian education system does its best to eliminate any last vestiges of individuality out of its students. I remember when I agreed to volunteer teach a couple of English classes when I was in Asia. The kids all seemed scared to death of participating, raising their hand, or even doing anything except stare down at their desks. I was really surprised at how intimidated/meek all of the students were.

I've always been glad that I grew up in America because I've always loved to challenge the conventional wisdom. I'm sure that in Asia I would probably have been deemed a troublemaker. I'm so glad that you're coming to the US for college so that you won't have to worry about teachers trying to pick on you any more.

Just because its in Singapore doesn't mean you can't go, does it? Or is it hard to get to Singapore from where you live?

That is pretty evil of Singapore to steal away Death Cab though. Oh well, once you're in NY, you won't have to worry about things like that happening.

Su Ann, I am always impressed by your writing. Not because of your style or your structure, but because of the poignancy of your writing. You allow the reader to truly step into your shoes and understand the emotion that drives your posts. That is a skill that very few people today possess.

As an attorney, I deal with many individuals whose very livelihood depends on their ability to utilize written language to express their ideas and convince others. As such, I have met many good writers, but you are a superb one.

Referring to your post, I am guessing that you are referring to your father. The sad thing is that Asians of previous (and perhaps current) generations often lack the ability to communicate affection. We rarely say "I love you," we don't compliment one another enough, and we often fail to share our true feelings with those we love. I'm sure he (whether it be your father or not) really does love you, even if it is very difficult for him to communicate that love to you.

Yeah, all of a sudden I can start posting again. I'm not sure why. I guess your blog doesn't hate me any more.

I have a couple of albums from Taking Back Sunday, "Tell All Your Friends" and "Where You Want to Be." Are you a big fan?

Once again, I have to say that you are my hero for being a fan of Death Cab! To be honest, I had no idea that American indie rock had spread to Asia. How did you find out about Death Cab?

You also need to try The Postal Service's "Give Up" album, Ben Gibbard's side project. I'm sure you've probably already heard "Such Great Heights," but if you haven't, its amazing.

I love how all of your friends are so easily fooled by those pictures. The first girl with the puppy kind of looks like you (although you are prettier) but the second girl doesn't look like you at all. I really don't know how they confused you with the second girl.

I'm also a fan of people's random responses to your status updates. You should post the other ones too if you ever find them.

I'm sad that David Archuleta lost because he was a friend of a buddy of mine. Oh well, since I don't really watch American Idol, it wasn't that big a deal.