Days before class starts in Bemidji
How’s life here in Bemidji? Erm… It’s considered a tourism spot especially during summer cos of the lake. The Mississipy River flows into the lake & Bemidji’s the first town next to it. Beautiful scenery, according to the locals.
Went shopping on the 2nd day of arrival. The groceries are actually cheap here (dollar for dollar of cos). We had a full trolley & it only costs about $70. If it were to be in Malaysia, it would be at least rm120. The oriental stuffs here are kinda expensive. Seniors advised us to get "great value" stuffs cos here, ppl don look at the brand. Everything is about the same so it’s pointless buying a more expensive stuff. Guess wat? The lake’s in Bemidji and yet they don’t have SEAFOOD here!!! Can u imagine? We were shocked when the seniors told us that… No seafood for one whole year *sob sob* They do have life lobsters though & their shrimps are all COOKED! No ikan bilis here. Hard to make soup… Hmmm… Kinda regret not bringing spices from Malaysia. Sigh… Walked in Wall Mart (similar to our Carrefour) for a whole 2 hours, buying all the necessities. We can actually get lost in there. Serious, it’s huge… Went to the BIg K Mart. Saw shoes. Darn cheap! Much cheaper than Malaysia! I almost bought a pair of Nike shoes for $19.99 which is like RM80 only! But i didn’t cos didn’t feel like buying. Haha… Did i mention i’ve gotten my winter boots already? Luckily Didn’t buy them back in Malaysia. I bought mine for only $9 (RM36)!!!! In Malaysia, a pair’s about rm300-rm700. *I bought a kid’s size though* Haha…
Visited a senior’s family friend before shopping. Everyone calls her "mama". She’s about 60++ I think, a grandmother of 2. She’s very used to International students, asking us to treat her home as our home far away from home. Very nice person. She rily makes it easier to be here especially when we’re all home sick & bf sick. Haha… She’s a very strong christian & she actually takes the role of "parents" among the students - as in preventing us from going to pubs/ bars, no pak toh with American guys (haha) etc. So with her around, it’s kinda a relief cos she’s somesort of a guardian.
Ate pizza for dinner. Ate 3 pcs & full like crap! But the seniors were eating to theirselves. I overheard one girl eating 6 pcs. Wow! It’s impossible not to get fat here, according to the seniors… I DOWAN!!! NO WAY!!!
On the 3rd day, went over to our lecturer’s son’s house. Played snow fight along the way… Very nice & cozy house. We were all wrapped up while the rest of them were saying it’s WARM. OMG! Suppose we’re still not used to the weather yet… Haha… After that went over to Amanda’s house to take the stuffs that we wanted. She rented the house’s basement. Very low ceiling & "kouk". Cannot tahan staying in there for long… Carried heavy stuffs back all the way to the campus…
Intravarsity Christian Fellowship at night. Very friendly couples staying in there. Met a few foreigners. Played "apples to apples". Quite interesting. A fun way to learn about American culture…
Next day went to the mart again. Spent $120 this time cos we got ourselves humidifiers. THe weather here may be cold but it’s dry to the max (my skin is "peeling" ugly!!!) We did our laundry & it dried the very next day. Jeans?! Dried in a night’s time?! It’s super the dry here… The rest of them went over to Payless (shoe shop) to get their winter boots. Mine’s still the cheapest hehe… Val got hers for $28, Fang & Yi - $25 (they got the same pattern, only different sizes). Ate at the burger shop. EXPENSIVE! One meal for $7! The portion’s huge though…
Blog for day 4 later… C ya!
P/s: Have been entering kitchen these few days more often than I have in a year’s time back in Malaysia. Haha!
