it is SO HOT today, i am practically melting into the floor. a bunch of us went for a picnic in Morningside Park nearby, but what little sunday morning enthusiasm we had was quickly worn out by the scorching sun. so we sat around playing some half-hearted frisbee (what is this Ultimate Frisbee thing?) and lazily debated the virtues of aspartame in a fake cola drink. then we trudged home. lazily.
pictures of my campus because the weather has been nice enough lately to produce some photos of vast blue skies!:
#1 this is a picture of College Walk, which is the quad area of the campus. i put my foot there to signify that i was in an elevated position! i was actually sitting on a really tall wall that has a statue at the end, under which is a secret spot of sublime shade and people-watching opportunity. actually it’s not very secret – lots of people love to sit and study under that statue. me included. my only gripe is that the statue isnt very pleasant to lean on cos it’s got all these painful statue-vertebra jutting out of it. and i also am always half afraid of falling off the wall :(
#2 from the other side of College Walk. that huge neoclassical building in the background is where that tall wall is
#3 and this is the building! it’s called Low Memorial Library, but it’s no longer a library. it’s an admin building now. it’s huge, prominent and smack in the middle of campus.
#4 people usually meet and hang out on the steps of Low cos it’s nice and sunny, and is right in the midst of everything. that’s good ol’ Alma, who also provides good shade!
#5 Low Steps when school started
#6 and this is Butler Library! i havent yet been in there, but from what i hear, come exam season and study breaks, people camp out at the doors so that they can secure a good study place. i think i will eventually have to join them in line, because the cafes around college are so busy that they dont really let you study in there, and the closest Starbucks has harsh lighting. i miss Starbucks Telawi, the most perfect study place on earth :(
#7 these are two of the residence halls! mine is the one on the right. the sky in this pic is so blue it’s surreal
#8 the lawns outside my hall. also a good place to sit and study. or sunbathe in bikinis, as many people have been doing. i’m not sure if this is common practice, because when i got here, already a handful of girls were laying out blankets and tanning in bikinis. so i thought this was normal (hahaha in Malaysia confirm kena suspend), and thought of doing the same to even out my tan, but then the other day i overheard a couple of people saying that people who tan on the green should stick to the beach. hmm! such confusing americanisms. but i’m learning.
#9 this is the Mathematics building, where i take my Econ and Calculus classes. buildings here are funny; they dont always open up to the first floor. the Math building opens to the third floor at ground level!
#10 and that’s Havemeyer, another building of classrooms
#11 The Lion, a symbol of Columbia. our collective athletic teams are called The Columbia Lions. our official color is a beautiful light sky blue :D
#12 the fountain at the quad, where Scarlett Johansson’s character was last seen contemplating a postgrad degree at Columbia in The Nanny Diaries. a little bit further up from here is Hamilton Hall, where i have my Italian classes, and also where the protest scene in Across The Universe (which is an amazing movie) was filmed
#13 spot the flag! :D this was taken during convocation (convocation here is not graduation, but is instead the welcoming of new students). i’m the only Malaysian international for this intake, though i’ve met two other Malaysian-Americans who mostly grew up here in the States.
#14 the Pupin building, which is wayyyyyy on the other end of campus, where i have my Literature Humanities classes. my Lit Hum teacher looks so much like Renee Zellweger…
#15 St Paul’s Chapel. it’s beautiful on the inside. behind it is Casa Italiana and beside it is Maison Francaise, though i forgot to take pictures of these two. from what i know, they function as some kind of mini Italian and French embassies on campus, where you can go to for information or research on both countries.
#16 the inside of St Paul’s
#17 more green. grass here is really different from back home.. you can sit on it and not get your bottom dirty or wet!
#18 the dining hall in my residence hall. i’ve discovered that the food’s not too bad! the other day they had chinese food… jasmine rice (but they put green peas in the rice O_O) and sweet and sour pork!!! the pork tasted just like what we get back home
#19 this was taken during a large Activities Fair on campus, where all the clubs, sports teams and societies would set up recruitment booths. i signed up for SO many mailing lists, but i still dont know what i want to do. i’ve shortlisted ballroom dancing, performing arts, figure skating, parliamentary debate (which has to be taken off the list because i decided not to go for the tryouts today :( sigh i immensely regret this), model united nations, political science group, the south east asian league.
#20 i followed it but didnt find anything absurd :\
#21 College Walk again. oh! that red brick building would be Maison Francaise
#22 the side of Low Library
#23 a really funny poster i saw on campus during activities recruitment week… hahahaha i laughed so hard
more to come soon! i havent actually explored very much of campus, but when i do, more pictures shall come. i really have so many things to blog about but i dont know where to start. not just about my new life here, but also things that are going on back home.
i’ve also been getting more and more emails regarding US college applications, and most of them seem to be asking the same questions about how to navigate the forms, how to write the application essays, and how to increase chances of admission into the Ivy League. so to any college applicants reading this, would you guys like me to write a walkthrough post on the whole entire process and also some tips and advice for essays and constructing your application? i give good advice :D leave me a comment if you do. if enough people want it, i’ll do the post.
okay, homework time :( i have another 3 calculus problem sets to finish.
