As I'm writing this, I start to think back upon how living in hostel life has been and changed me, because of you. I was already adamant on staying in the hostel, especially after hearing how my friends, seniors, relatives raved about their 'very happening' hall lives back then when they were still in NTU during their graduate years. Apart from the convenience, part of the reason I wanted to stay in hall was because I was afraid that my university life would be uninteresting. I didn't want my three years in this school to be a routine of just going to school, studying for tests and exams, and at the end of it all, graduating with a certain honours and that's about it. I would look back at my university life, or lack thereof, regretting for achieving much more than just the desired grades. It also didn't help when my brother was actively looking for connections from his seniors, so that they could pull him in to a particular hall. Furthermore, my parents' 'encouragements' reinforced my decision to stay in hall.
'What if you couldn't wake up for your lessons? I know you can't wake up with the alarm clock or hp. You would be late for class! Better not stay at home, if not nobody can wake you up and you'll miss your lessons!' My mum's words rang loudly then. Acually, I still hear them every now and then, because of the heavy sleeper that I am. Yet, ironically, Carol turned out to be much of a heavier sleeper than I am. She had (needs) three alarm clocks, while I needed only one, and even though I have not heard them for a long time, I can hum the tunes of every single one of them in one bated breath. Those annoying polyphonic ringtones that goes on and on, sometimes it freaks me out when I can hear them playing at the back of my head over again, even though they were not actually ringing. One thing for sure, that alarm clocks are something that I'm definitely not going to miss! Apart from that, it didn't help when my roomie was a much heavier sleeper than me, because that would mean the alarm bells rang for a good 5-10 minutes, before I dragged myself out of the bed to switch them off, then indulging in my beauty sleep once again.
And, to have two sleepyheads living in the same room can be a nightmare especially when we had 8.30am lessons. A couple of times we woke up at 8.30am, but fortunately it wasn't so bad because our hall was a short 3-minute walk to the seminar/tutorial rooms. But having your school located so near your room can be a downfall, as we took the close promiximity for granted almost all the time, only getting out of our rooms 10 minutes before classes start. Fortunately for me, there was only one 8.30am lesson in my timetable but to be honest, I have never ever made it on time for any one of those twelve lessons! What a disappointment! Ha! Oh well, punctuality can be one of my resolutions next semester.
Before school began, me and my roomie decided to join the hall camp, which was held in the 1st week of August 2008, if I remember correctly. They split us up into 4 different groups, and of course, as expected I was not in the same group as Carol. Nevertheless, I was really thankful for the group I was put into. Although I didn't really engage myself in all those hockein/chinese conversations that were surrounding me perpetually all the time, the people there were really amazing. Very thoughtful, enthusiastic bunch. A few of the guys were incredibly friendly too, very humurous and practically full-of-nonsense most of the time. Hall culture was different, hockein and chinese were the main lingua franca, which was partly why I felt out of my element the whole time there. Expletives were used like punctuations of sentences, and it was the first time I ever had friends who smoked. Guess my first 18 years had been a pretty innocent, sheltered one, unexposed to all these ugly side of people. It took me quite some time before I could 'break out of my shell', yet the phrase can only be used in the most subtle manner because I don't think I even broke out of my shell for the four days of orientation. Thankfully, I made friends with this girl, 'Miss K-K' early in the camp, who became one of my closest friends in hall too.
We were sitting next to each other even before the whole camp commenced and we started bonding over many interests we had in common. She played the oboe, the same instrument I played in band, we both had the same tutor from the SSO, had the same conductor, and was part of the family-of-bands our conductors were in charge of. It was amazing how we clicked so fast and opened up to each other a lot even in the first day. Sometimes we would go over to each others' room when our roommates aren't around to have some heart-heart girl talk. I'm going to miss this tiny, bubbly girl a lot I'm sure. :)
Above: Sitting Around in a circle before camp officially started. Miss K and I were already busy talking to each other.Having her around to talk to during the camp made surviving the camp a whole lot more tolerable. After every day of camp went by, I couldn't wait for it to be over. I wasn't a fond of the cheers we had to shout, ridiculous games which involved a lot of physical interactions with the opposite sex. And how can I ever forget 'SP' night or 'Special Partner' night, a night in which girls and guys get blindfolded and randomly paired with each other to perform stunts together and forced to talk to each other. It was an absolutely mortifying experience for me. My partner was the total opposite of me, which made it so difficult to talk to him already for a long 20 minutes. In fact, I was also told we were the last pair to finish all the activities, which really goes to show how poorly we cooperated with one another. My SP smoked three-four packets of cigarettes a day (I was appalled that he was willing to share with me that information because we were not allowed to smoke in hall), rides a motorbike, drinks heavily, loves loud-pumping disco music, and is chinese-speaking. Lol, what a matchmade pair in heaven!
Shudders.
Thankfully, I didn't get too involved with any of the hall activities subsequently after that. The only thing I joined was the sing-and-strum social comm club, because playing the guitar and performing was something I really enjoy. Throughout the year, I was grateful to be given the opportunity to perform with my dear roomate during supper performance night; She the vocalist, and me the keyboardist. We borrowed a keyboard for a week from our hallmate and had fun playing with it and rehearsing together :) Honestly, I actually auditioned as a guitarist, but through this experience, I didn't know I could actually play the keyboard as well. :)
But what my hall life truly memorable was all the day-to-day things me and carol did together in the room. As much as I can describe it down, I'm sure that only the both of us know how crazy we actually were in the room. Once the door closed, we were like little kids, harmonising every now and then, punching and squeezing each's other's tummies, sitting on each other's beds and talking throughout the night. It might have caused us to waste a lot of time, but it was imperative. Without them, hall life wouldn't be that meaningful anymore. It was the talks we had every single day which I enjoyed the most. We were both entirely honest with each other and knew almost everything that happened to each other at the back of each others' palm. It was a long time since I felt this close bond with another school mate. And of course, she helped me grew a lot in my spiritual walk with Christ, always encouraging me, praying with me, making me adopt the habit of praying for others out loud etc.
Even though we may have our little hiccups, the amazing thing was that we rebounced back quickly with a stronger friendship and understanding for each other.
Thank you, Carol.
Thank you.
Some pictures We took on our farewell day:
Above: Carol's neat table. 
Above: My messy table. Actually, this is already in its neatest state :P because I've already moved out most of my stuff. The drink cartons were for edi's birthday celebration. 
Above: The corridor outside our room. Most of the time, you'd see at least someone in pyjamas walking around. But since its the last day, it's rather empty. 
Above: Edi, smiling with her birthday cake. She's our friendly and cute neighbour, always feeding us food. :)
Above: With Kaye, a smart neighbour and close friend from aero. She taught me how to play the violin, while I taught her how to play a few songs on the guitar. We have loads of fun bickering and teasing each other. :)
Above: With the lovely michelle, edi's roomie. A very friendly and sweet-natured girl. Someone who would go all out for her friends. She was willing to come back to NTU from the east, even though she was staying at her aunt's house during that day, for a while just to celebrate her roomie's birthday with us. We were all very touched. Such a selfless girl!
Above: Me and edi! AC power! 
Above: My first new friend I made in hall, the tiny and cute 'miss K-K!'And.....last but not least...
Above: My dear roomie Carol, and Me
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