Monday, March 31, 2008
Darn, I realised why I didn't want to start PV2 until the 15th. Because 15th is TSD IS-es, therefore I'll be pretty busy til then. Oh darn it. Nevermind, I can probably pull it off the week before, all the same. Maybe. Lol. If not, I can just postpone it =/ Oops.Posted by nayrakroarual at 11:43 PM
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Saturday, March 29, 2008
Something I've noticed about languages, is that they aren't just learnt, they are understood. We have an amazing memory, even people like me who can lose their wallets 3 seconds after finding it (after scaring the whole bus into helping me check under their seats).Think about the thousands of letters, words, things, names, places, little facts that we just "know" - that we have unknowingly memorised so well it's just ingrained into our memory. It's amazing.
When you see a traffic light, you don't have to think about the day your dad told you red was for stop and green was for go, then look back and match the colours to a rules book (this is red, this is blue, this is yellow and this is green...). You just 'know' because you've already memorised it all. That's how amazing your memory is.
Anyway my point was that languages can be learnt, but to be truly used, they need to be "known" in the same way we know colours, or we know our own first language. In Spain, when we saw a sign, I'd match it to my knowledge of spanish - Spirt-something means Exit, entrada-something means Entrance, etc. I'd think back on what I'd learnt - the words and phrases we'd memorised, etc, and match the words I saw. But they didn't mean anything to me. I know they had meaning, but to me they didn't, because I didn't understand them. They were symbols in a complex code that led me back to my own primary language, english.
Even for Chinese, which I suck at. When I look at a page of (simple) words, they can mean something to me. I understand them, and the characters aren't just code, they've got meaning. That's what's so cool about languages. You don't need a code, you already understand them. It takes a while, and that's why some people can never learn a language. It can't always be taught.
Posted by nayrakroarual at 11:55 AM
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One thing that going overseas makes me realise is how beautiful Singapore really is. We always complain so much about the strict government, the fines everywhere, the dreadful service, the rising prices, the lack of scenery, the weather, etc etc etc, but actually it really is a great place to live in, and a beautiful city. In Barcelona, we took pictures of just about everything. Even some rundown alleyway which we wouldn't even look into in Singapore. Even a broken streetsign, even some random statues. Typical tourists, photographing everything.But see, in Singapore, you don't have to hug your bag everywhere you go for fear of pickpockets. The public transport system is still RELATIVELY cheap, despite the terrible jumps in fares recently. And the MRTs and buses are efficient, clean and fast. Unlike the Metro, which is fast but old and dirty and disappears into scary dark tunnels =P.
And the buildings, while guaranteed not as gorgeous as old town Girona, are often sparking new and pretty. Though yes, Spain definitely trumps Singapore for architecture, any day.
There are fines everywhere, and no smoking signs just pop up at every corner, but it does somewhat help that you don't breathe in cigarette smoke or step on dog shit everywhere you go. And the service might not match up to Japan's awesomeness, but they don't take forever to process your purchase or bring you a different size. Which helps when you have 2 minutes left to the meeting time and you are at the other end of the mall =P.
And in Singapore, you pay $5 for a bowl of noodles, yes, but you don't (always) pay $5 for a tiny scoop of ice cream. And when you do, at least it's usually good. Haha. You can get lots of food, everywhere. Although Spain has the most awesome chocolates. At exorbitant prices.
That being said, Barcelona was awesome. And we won Best Theatre Performance in the whole dance competition! OH THAT WAS SO AWESOME. And the shopping and sightseeing and partying at night was really serious fun. Thank goodness though, the post-trip blues are mostly countered by the fact that
a) I have my computer back, and therefore can once again play werewolf =P
b) I am seeing the dancers again, and probably almost every day from monday
c) There's a post-trip party at Mrs Ting's - not settled yet, of course
d) Dance concert is coming up!!
Of course I'm glad to see all my friends in school and church. But then the tutorials kinda take the fun out of it =(
I dunno if I'll type up more on the trip later. It was awesome cam-whoring the first couple of days. Oh I need to get photos from everyone else. Must remember. (Everyone on the trip now knows I can lose anything and everything =( Even though I didn't lose my hotel key - probably because PeeHua, the awesome efficient super funny and able to not lose things and wake up on time roommate, kept it). Oh well.
Anyway, the weather here IS great, even if it's terribly hot. It's humid too, but that's okay. Moisturizing all the time is tiring, even if you have Loreal Hydrafresh ;) And we DO get nice sunsets and skies, we just never take the time to look.
So, a tip - next time you have a few moments, look up and breathe.
Posted by nayrakroarual at 12:31 AM
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Sunday, March 16, 2008
Posted by nayrakroarual at 10:46 PM
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Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Xh: Hey, I hear you guys are going for a dance trip this year!!me: Yeahhhh! I'm really really excited about it! YAY
Xh: It'll be so exotic!
me: Err... Yeah, sure.. I'm excited about going to cold country again! Barcelona will be so cool XD literally
Xh: Eh. I thought Barcelona was in South America. Cold meh?
me: No, Barcelona is in Italy!
:p
Posted by nayrakroarual at 10:08 PM
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Tuesday, March 04, 2008
I know I'm being naiive and more than a bit dumb, but it does seem a bit like somebody died. The whole thing about virtual reality is that real life often differs quite a bit, but sometimes they get entangled. And when your relationship with the person is only tied through the virtual link, and that link gets severed for whatever reason, it's like that person died.It's kinda sad. I'm being overly emotional, though.
Anyway, KI was stressful but not terrible today. I was sitting at the front so I could only see yirui and martin who were beside me, and boy did they write a lot! martin had written about as far down the page as Ihad when I first looked up, except that his was the back side of his paper. Yirui was about the same volume as me, except that the density of his writing is far higher. It was a little freaky.
