My friends went to Saint Paul...
... and all I got is this shirt (and cup)!
Seriously, I'm very grateful. Those are not just some random cheh kai cup and shirt okay, those two were bought from the bookstore of my dream college!
Or, it was my dream college. I dunno why I wanted to get in so badly back then. I mean, it's just as unknown in Malaysia as Grinnell is, it's just as crazy cold as here, and it's neither higher ranked nor more selective (which reflects badly on my being rejected grrrr!).
Anywaaaay.
My friends went to Minneapolis for spring break (SPRING! I thought it'd never come!), and me, being the crazy kiamsiap person that I am, decided seconds before we hit the "Book now" button on this hostel website that I don't want to go anymore.
I want to save money.
(Seriously expensive. $50 for ride to Des Moines, $140 for shuttle to Minneapolis, $150 for hostel, and an estimated $200 for food and museum entrance fees etc etc. For FIVE days only okay!)
So of course my friends protested loh, tried to justify why $550 is a reasonable price for 5 days in Minnesota (4 days if you don't count traveling and settling down time and all). (And if you were wondering, $550 is equal to a little over RM2000.)
But the big difference between me and them? I have to pay for it out of my own pocket.
It's very easy to say "Just go!" when your parents are paying for you loh, but when you see all the money draining out of your own bank account you seriously feel the pinch.
BUT BUT!!!!!!!!!
The big big BIGGEST difference between me and them is......
I just bought a new camera!!
Yes, a Canon Rebel. Oh yeah.
(Or also known as Canon EOS. America always has to set itself apart from the rest of the world eh?)
/happy happy happy/
I finally succumbed to my 2-year-long dSLR lust.
Still had to pay for it myself, so I'm feeling the sting of an emptier bank account, but so worth it loh.
(Side story: I got an email from Wells Fargo about an overdraft in my checking account. But I didn't remember doing anything also! $500 was somehow transferred from my savings account to my checking account, and ultimately to my PayPal account! But then I logged into PayPal and my account balance was $0.00! ZERO! Like OMGWTFBBQ where did my money go?! So damn menakutkan my heart was about to burst! But a simple-yet-kancheong phone call to PayPal customer service solved it all. But can you imagine! Suddenly going online one day and realize five hundred dollars mysteriously vanished from your account. All I can think of at that time was "My mom is going to kill me!")
Aaanyway. A friend of mine was surprised my parents weren't paying for it.
I was surprised that she was surprised!
I mean, why should they? These are "extra" stuff what, things that a person should buy only if, after careful evaluation, he decides that it is worth his money afterall. (Emphasis on "his" money, not "his parents'" money!)
So weird la, some of the people here. They are so close to being 20 years old, yet they are amazingly dependent on their parents.
So far everyone I've talked to have their parents book their plane tickets to fly back home and to college for them. When I found out, I was so shocked. I cannot ever ever imagine my parents doing that! (Somemore, before I came here, when I found out I overlooked time zone differences and would be arriving in college a day early, I had to figure out my own transportation and place to stay for the night.) (Not that they don't care la, just that I should figure things out myself, and go to them if I memang dunno what to do.)
And would you believe, some of their parents even came with them when they flew to Grinnell. Went to WalMart with them, helped them buy stuff, helped them settle down.
They have credit cards for which their parents pay, all the way from home!
APA ITU!
My parents gave me a bank draft with enough money to last my 4 years when I flew here, and that is it!
I opened my bank account, and the credit card that I have right now is my own. I am responsible for paying my credit dues and keeping track of my funds so that they last me 4 years la.
I am damn proud of the fact that I pay for my credit card balance with my own hard earned money okay! (Er I have a campus job.)
Maybe that's why they happily spend so much money la. Always traveling during each school break la. They swipe their parents' credit card saje, don't have to worry so much about the funds in their own bank account also.
Sometimes their dependence can be very enduring. Like when this girl says she doesn't know how to cut apple because the maid does it for her, or when I get asked to help repair a hole in a pair of jeans (19 year old dunno how to sew?!), it is very amusing, and the teasing that ensues gets a lot of laughs.
Those are all very cute la, but when it comes to financial matters dependence is not not NOT a good thing!
Next time I have children, I make sure I pay for only the necessities, make them pay for all the extras themselves. Make them learn how to save and spend money wisely.
Because when your kid buys more coats than she needs and tries to reason that she "cannot wear the same thing too often", you know something has gone wrong.
(Coat story completely true loh btw.)
Oh my oh my I digressed.
Oh and I discovered the amazing coolness that are Crumpler bags.
Seriously! Crumpler bags emit coolness like none other. In the world of bags, they are Zeus, king of all Bag-Gods, and all other bags are mere mortals. Crazy good-looking!
No need to say, of course more expensive than average la.
But because they are Zeus-bags, and also because they do not scream "I am a camera bag! I have a big fat DSLR in me!" I got them.
As a reward for myself for working so hard these few weeks LOL LOL LOL KIDDING.
But seriously, I think having a camera bag that is obviously a camera bag may be very risky if you take it out with you everywhere you go, because it's like dangling a bait for people who want to have money but sendiri too lazy to go earn them themselves.
Crumpler also has (cool-looking) bags for normal use la of course. If anyone wants me to get a Crumpler from here for them I'll be happy to oblige, 'cause I know KLCC punya Crumpler can go up to a few hundred Ringgit more expensive than here!
(Update on the side: I'll be back in 1.5 months!!!! SO EXCITED!!)
It is spring break, but I have to do research and write a position paper on North Korea and its nuclear issues for Model UN punya security council session. Cannot complain too much also la, sendiri sign up for it one.
This is me, signing off -----> "OFFFFFFF!!!"
Seriously, I'm very grateful. Those are not just some random cheh kai cup and shirt okay, those two were bought from the bookstore of my dream college!
Or, it was my dream college. I dunno why I wanted to get in so badly back then. I mean, it's just as unknown in Malaysia as Grinnell is, it's just as crazy cold as here, and it's neither higher ranked nor more selective (which reflects badly on my being rejected grrrr!).
Anywaaaay.
My friends went to Minneapolis for spring break (SPRING! I thought it'd never come!), and me, being the crazy kiamsiap person that I am, decided seconds before we hit the "Book now" button on this hostel website that I don't want to go anymore.
I want to save money.
(Seriously expensive. $50 for ride to Des Moines, $140 for shuttle to Minneapolis, $150 for hostel, and an estimated $200 for food and museum entrance fees etc etc. For FIVE days only okay!)
So of course my friends protested loh, tried to justify why $550 is a reasonable price for 5 days in Minnesota (4 days if you don't count traveling and settling down time and all). (And if you were wondering, $550 is equal to a little over RM2000.)
But the big difference between me and them? I have to pay for it out of my own pocket.
It's very easy to say "Just go!" when your parents are paying for you loh, but when you see all the money draining out of your own bank account you seriously feel the pinch.
BUT BUT!!!!!!!!!
The big big BIGGEST difference between me and them is......
I just bought a new camera!!
Yes, a Canon Rebel. Oh yeah.
(Or also known as Canon EOS. America always has to set itself apart from the rest of the world eh?)
/happy happy happy/
I finally succumbed to my 2-year-long dSLR lust.
Still had to pay for it myself, so I'm feeling the sting of an emptier bank account, but so worth it loh.
(Side story: I got an email from Wells Fargo about an overdraft in my checking account. But I didn't remember doing anything also! $500 was somehow transferred from my savings account to my checking account, and ultimately to my PayPal account! But then I logged into PayPal and my account balance was $0.00! ZERO! Like OMGWTFBBQ where did my money go?! So damn menakutkan my heart was about to burst! But a simple-yet-kancheong phone call to PayPal customer service solved it all. But can you imagine! Suddenly going online one day and realize five hundred dollars mysteriously vanished from your account. All I can think of at that time was "My mom is going to kill me!")
Aaanyway. A friend of mine was surprised my parents weren't paying for it.
I was surprised that she was surprised!
I mean, why should they? These are "extra" stuff what, things that a person should buy only if, after careful evaluation, he decides that it is worth his money afterall. (Emphasis on "his" money, not "his parents'" money!)
So weird la, some of the people here. They are so close to being 20 years old, yet they are amazingly dependent on their parents.
So far everyone I've talked to have their parents book their plane tickets to fly back home and to college for them. When I found out, I was so shocked. I cannot ever ever imagine my parents doing that! (Somemore, before I came here, when I found out I overlooked time zone differences and would be arriving in college a day early, I had to figure out my own transportation and place to stay for the night.) (Not that they don't care la, just that I should figure things out myself, and go to them if I memang dunno what to do.)
And would you believe, some of their parents even came with them when they flew to Grinnell. Went to WalMart with them, helped them buy stuff, helped them settle down.
They have credit cards for which their parents pay, all the way from home!
APA ITU!
My parents gave me a bank draft with enough money to last my 4 years when I flew here, and that is it!
I opened my bank account, and the credit card that I have right now is my own. I am responsible for paying my credit dues and keeping track of my funds so that they last me 4 years la.
I am damn proud of the fact that I pay for my credit card balance with my own hard earned money okay! (Er I have a campus job.)
Maybe that's why they happily spend so much money la. Always traveling during each school break la. They swipe their parents' credit card saje, don't have to worry so much about the funds in their own bank account also.
Sometimes their dependence can be very enduring. Like when this girl says she doesn't know how to cut apple because the maid does it for her, or when I get asked to help repair a hole in a pair of jeans (19 year old dunno how to sew?!), it is very amusing, and the teasing that ensues gets a lot of laughs.
Those are all very cute la, but when it comes to financial matters dependence is not not NOT a good thing!
Next time I have children, I make sure I pay for only the necessities, make them pay for all the extras themselves. Make them learn how to save and spend money wisely.
Because when your kid buys more coats than she needs and tries to reason that she "cannot wear the same thing too often", you know something has gone wrong.
(Coat story completely true loh btw.)
Oh my oh my I digressed.
Oh and I discovered the amazing coolness that are Crumpler bags.
Seriously! Crumpler bags emit coolness like none other. In the world of bags, they are Zeus, king of all Bag-Gods, and all other bags are mere mortals. Crazy good-looking!
No need to say, of course more expensive than average la.
But because they are Zeus-bags, and also because they do not scream "I am a camera bag! I have a big fat DSLR in me!" I got them.
As a reward for myself for working so hard these few weeks LOL LOL LOL KIDDING.
But seriously, I think having a camera bag that is obviously a camera bag may be very risky if you take it out with you everywhere you go, because it's like dangling a bait for people who want to have money but sendiri too lazy to go earn them themselves.
Crumpler also has (cool-looking) bags for normal use la of course. If anyone wants me to get a Crumpler from here for them I'll be happy to oblige, 'cause I know KLCC punya Crumpler can go up to a few hundred Ringgit more expensive than here!
(Update on the side: I'll be back in 1.5 months!!!! SO EXCITED!!)
It is spring break, but I have to do research and write a position paper on North Korea and its nuclear issues for Model UN punya security council session. Cannot complain too much also la, sendiri sign up for it one.
This is me, signing off -----> "OFFFFFFF!!!"
isthisme exuded garlic breath at 9:41 PM
