Like a Chicken Without Its Head Cut Off

Short post today, dear readers, as I'm still working on the DREADED Georgetown paper, but I had to tell you a few stories so I didn't forget. This blog is sort of my diary, too, not just entertainment for the folks back home :)

Singapore has two pastimes, shopping and eating. It seems to me that an American can only do one or the other while here. The reason? Asian people are tiny. I know it sounds like a huge generalization, but the clothing stores here all stop at US size 10. There are literally no bigger sizes. I feel like Gulliver in Lilliput. As I pass bakery after bakery (there are three on my block), I marvel at genetics. These people never stop eating (and sweets, too! Noodles and bread. Unfair.) and they STILL get to wear tiny clothes. It's just baffling-another of Singapore's many contradictions.  (Also, I have seen fat people here. I am not fat, and I am the largest size they sell here. Where do big people get their clothes? There must be a secret Big and Tall buried miles underground or something. I will investigate.)

I am in the Battle of the Books here. Bookshops are repulsively expensive. I saw a 5.99 copy of "the DaVinci Code" that was on sale for $20. Since everything is imported from US, it's all hideously expensive. So, I decided, no bookstores for me! (I am hoarding books now. I have one I'm reading, then two more, then I am BOOKLESS! I cannot let this happen. I am actually avoiding the book I'm reading because I like the security of knowing there are books on hand when I'm done. I NEED that safety net.) So, I decided I would beat the system and go to the library. Ha HA! Library subscription is $53. Sort of defeats the purpose, doesn't it? A. told me that in Holland, library cards also cost money and that as a result, no one has them. Well, you can take your universal healthcare, Holland, but I will never leave the Land of the Free, where libraries are truly public! Jerkfaces. It really put a huge damper on my day. My last option is a craigslist wannabe where you swap books online, then mail them around the island...we shall see. Doesn't Singapore understand I NEED BOOKS TO LIVE?

Not going to lie, the homesickness is really starting to kick in. I know it's because I'm working on a paper I no longer enjoy (because of the endless revisions I've done) and the fact that school here has not started yet. However, that doesn't make it much better. I have not cried yet (came close on the phone with Mom and Dad this morning), but I am feeling a little blue. I had to pick up detergent today at the store, and as I scanned the aisles in vain for products I knew, I gave myself a little peptalk. Don't bemoan the lack of familiarity, Laura, that's why you CAME here! Remember when you were a snotty pretentious high schooler and you bought everything you could on vacation so you could casually display your lipgloss in class and say, "oh yes, it's French, I bought it in Paris"? You went out of your way then to be different because you thought it was exotic. So get out there, girl! Try that dessert with the dodgy looking stuff on top, it might be delicious! And don't be afraid of the unlabeled meat! You eat American hotdogs and there's nothing worse than that! Be adventurous! Just as I was feeling heartened (I'm a great self-motivational speaker), the woman in front of me at checkout bought a whole chicken in a bag of liquid. By whole, I mean it was plucked, but still had its head attached. It was one of the grossest things I'd seen since freshman lab. I nearly laughed out loud. I am a long, long way from exotic lipgloss out here. But it's good to know that God has a sense of humor :)

Ooh, almost forgot! Mystery Girl, my room mate, has arrived! Well, when I came back from the library, her stuff was here, but she is not. I will keep you posted, of course. Love you all!