~May Your Light Shine :D~

Thursday, March 22, 2007

as requested by Val, I am now updating my blog.

Well I am back on campus, not in the big and comfortable units but in the small but homey townhouses. Less space means less to clean. I was initially worried about where to put everything, but after setting everything up, I realized I have more than enough space and I have pretty much settled down into my room. Being on campus also means you won't be seeing me update as often (more so out of laziness/busyness than stingy-ness) but I'll try to be better this year cuz internet is cheaper! Not really actually, but I need to use more to make my money's worth.

I forfeited my bond... can't be helped I guess, but my landlord managed to find someone to move in like the next day. Emailed him, hoping he replies. Maybe he'll be gracious enough to return me part of my bond. *praying hard* On hindsight, if I had been honest with him about the girl changing her mind about the room, I might not have had to forfeit the bond. Oh well...

The reason why I moved out in such a hurry was because my landlord billed me $120 for bringing people to see the room. Well, he brought 8 ppl and the first 2 are free and the next 6 were at a discounted rate of $20 per person. The costs include picking them up, showing them around the house, answering phone calls, etc. The thing was when I asked if it was ok if I referred people directly to him, he said ok and did not mention anything about billing me. So I was so shocked when I saw the bill. Thankfully I had 2 friends with me (who were there to look at the room) who brought me to the International Students Services Unit where I was directed to the Office of Consumer and Business Affairs. There I was told, that no matter what I shouldn't be paying for such a thing. Well, it'll be awkward to stay on if I do not pay for such a thing right? And initially there was a girl who said she wanted the room but she changed her mind.

Back on campus, I was faced with another dilemma. Qin says my life is like a drama, someone ought to help me write my life story. I chose a townhouse in which there is 1 Singaporean, who is graduating in April and 1 Chinese girl doing her PhD. When I moved my stuff the day before I got my key, I was really happy to find that they are both nice people. However, my Singaporean housemate wasn't all too pleased about the arrangement. You see, as she grads in Apr, she decided to share the contract with another girl who will be coming back at the end of this month. This way, the both of them need not pay rent for the whole semester. But there will be an overlap between the times she leaves and the girl comes back. So she thought that she could just simply move into my room, since it was empty. There were other rooms in other townhouses that were empty too and 2 girls from another townhouse even came to find me to try and persuade me to move in with them. The thing is I felt really comfortable in my current townhouse and I was too tired to move. So I decided to stay put.

Some of my friends felt I should move, since my current housemate didn't really want me there. While some felt that I should just stay where I was, why should I move based on the convenience of others? Another friend put it this way:" You asked for that room, and God gave you that room."

I have finally settled down and starting to catch up on readings and research for assignments. It feels good to be doing what I need to do. My housemate is fine with me now, no animosity or anything and I am enjoying long talks on the phone with others on campus. I guess you can never underestimate the power of support from friends nearby, esp when you are away from family.

All is well now, thank you all for your prayers. Sorry for making you worry. Just missing my old housemate, Samantha...

Lydea blogged at 4:22 PM

May your light shine...
in the darkness...