Hangover January

and so... delirious december is over. whats left is a busy january ahead of me. i have my citizenship issue to settle, ntu disruption letter to ignore, on top of my daily work at the office. 2 project deadlines closing in on me. and an sutd interview today.

i only received notification of an available interview slot the evening before yesterday. needless to say, preparation was rather hectic. just enough time to find all the documents i need, prepare my 战服 and gather my thoughts.

with time running short, i did my best to ensure i was mentally prepare and have the proper documents. i trusted that my 战服 would not fail me. and murphy struck me JUST there.

my leather shoes which i havent worn for ages, looked fine yesterday under the dim living room light. granted, the leather was peeling a bit, but it still looked okay. but to my horror, the "a bit" turned into "a lot" the moment i stepped out of the house this sunny afternoon.

i thought i only had to pretend that my shoes were perfectly alright, and make sure the interviewer wouldnt focus on them... but i was wrong - as i walked to the interview location, my usually reliable 战友 decided to go one better by deciding to detach its sole halfway. i was forced to make the painful decision ripping the sole out totally. now i have to pretend that my shoes are NEW and its sole is STILL INTACT.

r.i.p. i will never forget the countless battles we fought together.

thankfully, thing changed for the better from then onwards. the interview took place in a small room around a conference table; my shoes were thankfully out of the interviewers sight. the interviewers (a professor/provost, an associate professor and the admissions director) were really nice people and they helped me to settle down comfortably. also, i guessed my condition was good, and i had a lot to talk about.

the associate professor is a korean, and it was with him that i had a first conversation with a korean. in korean language! the conversation goes like this:

him: hello.

me: hello.

(short pause)

me: its nice meeting you

him: how do speak korean well?

me: i only can speak a little.

him: how long have you been learning korean?

me: two years?

it was a really short and simple conversation, but im still glad i managed to pull it off! the associate professor was impressed that i could understand him and commended me on my pronunciation. that really made my day : ) i made my way home continuing the pretense of having perfectly normal shoes.

icing on the cake? i found $10 on my way home xD