so. i have less than 36 hours of fresh american air.

i'm still praying there'll be a blizzard on the 28th,
and our flight gets delayed.
weather man says "light snow" on friday.
make that "superdeeduper heavy snow" you doofus!

it's great here.
super cold. but great.
i walked outside today.
with only my light blue cotton jacket,
on my 302 shirt. it was 34 degrees.
[2 degrees C]
most nights, it hits 20 - 22 degrees.
i'm going to miss this serious cold.
either i'm getting used to the cold.
or lt1 has helped alot in prepping me.

[don't get me wrong.
i'm not icewoman.
indoors is about 20 deg C.
that's OK.]

but it's probably good i come back.
leave me here another month -
i'll bankrupt my parents.
[and gain 20 more pounds]
we came here with 2 suitcases of stuff.
now. i've finished packing one suitcase
solely with newly bought clothes
and christmas gifts.
i need to stuff 2 suitcases
worth of stuff into 1 now.
and i still have one more day left.
pray i don't buy anything more.
pray very hard.

but you can't blame me
for almost spending 400 bucks!
SALESSALES everywhere.
before christmas sales.
and after christmas doorbuster sales.
i love it!
[my parents don't know yet.
if i don't turn up in sch.
you will know -
they have pulverised me.]

ohoh. the bomb was when i found
a really nice long sleeve.
which said. MADE IN SINGAPORE.
!
everything here is made in china.
or india. or vietnam.
whenever something's made in america,
there's a HUGE sign.
but still. variety is GREAT.

and it's not just clothes.
christmas was great.
it was semi-white.
nonetheless, great.

the tree, our gingerbread house,
a small get together.
[we even watched that madhuri dixit movie -
it was quite awful btw]
and the PRESENTS!
((:
everyone celebrates christmas.
the holiday cheer is in the air.
it's really nice.

okok. i'm gg to be severely depressed tmrw.
as in. this wasn't a
'let's go to disneyland trip'...
it was a 'lets live the american life' trip.

and it's a nice change.
the malls are HUGE.
they're not glitsy on the outside and 7 stories high.
they're WIDE.
and i love the department store concept.
JCPenny and Macy's and SEARS and Nordstram.
and so many more.
[made so much money from me]
twelve oaks mall is my new haven.
for one more day].
NOOO.

):

i mean, i'm getting used to the cold.
i love it when mist appears as you breathe/talk.
the nice houses.
THE SNOW! [probably this comes under 'cold'.]
the left side driving thing.
even the money. george is a dollar.
and lincoln is 5.
and they're all green.
(:

maybe farenheit too.
but definitely not miles and ounces and pounds.
and FEET! that's one measurement i'm annoyed with.
it simply doesn't make sense to me.
yeah - simple ref. divide feet by 3 for metres.

but not everything is foreign.
in the mall. i run into more indians than in singapore.
this is novi, mi. NOT LA or NY.
and yet this!
i heard tamil being spoken by strangers,
not pple my cousin already knows,
at least thrice.
heh.
[my cousin has the sivaji movie.
i refused to watch it.
although. cming all the way here and then watching it.
would be superhilarious.]

and hey. one more thing.
service.
service is sincere. and great.
regardless of whether big tatooed punk
or small little teen serves us.
it's sincere.
it's casual and not rehearsed.
everyone communicates well.
they make conversation so naturally.
and that's when you realise.
the world's seriously bigger than where we come from.
not physical space.
but this culture.
this culture's true for more than just the US...
and it makes me feel small.
like. hello. i talk more than most other pple i know.
[from s'pore].
and i have lousy communication skills by this standard.
it's a change.

and OH. movies.
atonement is out here. it's top on my must see movies.
james mcavoy (my latest 'top actor') &
keira knightly.
out on jan 24th in singapore.
am so gonna watch it.

otherwise - i've watched...
alvin and the chipmunks (overrated)
i am legend (brainless entertainment)
and
national treasure 2 (cute)

and trailers. whoa the trailers.
20 mins of them.
movies which are released A LONG TIME away.
[but still way earlier than S'pore.]
here's a few notable ones:
1. inkheart - a rip off of
2. spiderwick chronicles - which is a rip off of hp.
3. penelope - movie about girl born with pig snout.
super funny. there's reese witherspoon. and...
james mcavoy! yayyy.
4. the dark night - next batman movie. christian bale man!
5. kungfu panda - funny pixar movie. cute.
6. this george clooney, renee zelweggar movie - forgot title.
who cares. cast list is enough to go.
7. AND OHOH. 21 - movie about MIT kids. gg to vegas.
to beat the house at blackjack. really great looking.
8. jumper - sci-fi-ish. pple who can transport.
vini! this one's for you. hayden christensen.
and he actually looks decent in this.
9. this m.night.shyamalam movie with mark wahlberg.
supposed to be his best script since sixth sense.
10. king caspian, chronicles of narnia - looks big scale.
11. this funny martin lawrence movie - forgot name again.
about him meeting his crazy family with his fiance. hilarious.
12. this really funny adam sandler movie - he's some
israeli agent who come to america for a new life. hilarious too.
13. and OMG so many more! AH.

and the theatres here. are seperate from malls.
the one i've been to - amc 20... has 20 screens.
all comparable to GVMax @ Vivo.
the popcorn's actually good! [fattening i know]
entertainment paradise. and this is novi, mi.
not even LA or something.

omg. leave me here.
then add 'growing blind'
to 'bankrupting parents'
and 'growing enormous'.

but yupp. i can't guarantee US has my choice of college yet.
[although i did see the grounds of UMich and Brown.
pretty good, pple. pretty good.]
we saw a car with 6 bullet holes in the trunk area.
yikes.

but definitely JCPenny and Old Navy
haven't seen the last of me (:

and definitely not my broomheaded cousin!
she's now a potter puppet pal fanatic!
she better come over next year!

AH DOBBY'S SOCK.
2008 is TOO CLOSE FOR COMFORT.

and blizzard. do come.

radhika.

and PS:
i remembered something else!
[if you don't realise, i'm trying to recount all i can before i forget.]
they de-ice planes sometimes.
it happened on the way to providence.
and we travelled in a DC-9. haha!
my first DC plane!
it was like giving the plane a carwash.
seriously cute.