One month!

I realized yesterday that it had been exactly one month since I had set foot in Singapore.  I decided to write a blog entry to commemorate this.  I was however thwarted by some internet difficulties so that entry was pushed back until today.  So, one month and one day.  It certainly feels like it has gone by very quickly, which I think is a good thing.  I like my research a lot and it feels like I'm making some progress (I have TEM time again tomorrow, so I'm being optimistic here).  I'm still enjoying exploring the city and meeting people here.  I start my Chinese class next Monday, so hopefully these will help me get past just making weird sounds at my computer when I'm using the CDs I have.  And I should be hearing back soon about the project that I'm hoping to get started with Lien AID (the NGO that does water sanitation projects).  So, all in all, pretty happy with the way things are going.

Not that there aren't things that I don't like about Singapore.  I can decisively say that I would not want to live here past my 9 months that I have planned.  While some areas of Singapore have a "personality" the majority of it seems to be quite planned and ends up feeling sterile.  I really dislike the mall culture that they have here in which the mall is basically the center of each town or area, contains everything from the bank to the grocery store, and is where everyone goes to hang out in their free time, but then again I've always sort of disliked malls.  The crowds definitely still get to me, although not as much as they did at first.  One interesting ideological clash that I noticed the other weekend was that people here don't seem to be very independent and won't go out and do things on their own.  Last Saturday, as astute readers will remember, I headed out by myself for some museum visiting and a trip to Little India.  When I later told my Singaporean friends about this and that I had gone and done it by myself, they seemed amazed.  They couldn't understand why I would want to just go and do something by myself.  I realize that most people in the US also don't understand this, but the ideological clash seemed a bit more extreme here - my desire to just hang out with myself was unfathomable to them. 

Anyways, I finally remembered to take my camera to school, so here are some pictures!  First, the materials science building where I work:

 

And the nice view you get when you turn around:

This makes me laugh every morning as I walk down the stairs to my desk:

It's written on the airducts that run down the side of the building.  It is, however, erroneous, because I work on the bottom floor and I totally fall into the RAD category.

Also, here's a picture of the condo that I live in, taken from my window.

There are always a sorts of reckless children running around the pool and I have to exercise restraint no to yell at them to WALK PLEASE in my best lifeguard voice.  And finally, here is my room:

One more con about Singapore: things are always made WAY more complicated than they need to be.  Case in point: my internet (this is connected to the story of my work pass, which is in a similar vein).  It's late and I'm tired, so I'll save that story for another post.