Well.. the day started off really early. i was dreading the 2 lectures and 1 practical lined up thinking that it was going to be another boring day of class. however i managed to finish off my environmental science practical early (we were doing nephanalyses and weather plotting) and got back to my room at 4pm instead of 6pm. hahaha~. i offered to prepare dinner for anna since she was busy studying for her exams.
we had mexican chicken and rice; the lack of vegetables was supplemented by fruit later. anna's strawberry swirl ice-cream was dessert. really thank God for the good time of interaction and conversation during dinner! anna thought the chicken was a little spicy and asked about the kind/variety of food singaporeans eat. i decided to start by telling her a little bit about the history of singapore (sang nila utama in the 14th century, raffles in the 18th, growth of a free trading port, entrepot trade to modern day manufacturing base etc.. i remember my history!! haha i can't believe it!) and how singapore is so culturally diverse, thereafter linking it to the absolutely yummy food back home. she was quite impressed (& she loved the food too =P).
Anyway.. anna is russian and she was born in Kazakhstan (formally part of USSR). food in russia is basically a mix of british and french food. (the british diet typically doesn't consist of much veg (all they seem to serve here are green peas. yuck (x3)); french have more greens ~salad etc.) so according to her, a typical russian dinner would be a combination of meat, potatoes and salad. ok.... i guess that's what u would get in a standard western restaurant in singapore. (eh...??)
Moved on to the topic of gardening because anna's pot of flowers happened to be in the kitchen and she was thinking of re-potting it. (i can't remember what variety it is but nvm). it reminded me of my garden back in singapore and how mum's plants are crowding almost every little spot there is; looks almost like a mini nursery. i then went into detail about the type and cost of housing in singapore. anna was amazed because it is the exact opposite in russia. i know that russia has abundant land but i never thought the cost of land to be so low - anna's father was planning to buy a LAKE (!!!) last summer but later banished the idea because he has no use for it (btw, he already owns a few FORESTS (!!!); her grandmother has 3 houses (one in town, one near the river, one in the MOUNTAINS (!!!)); and at her current property, she has a RIVER (probably stream) running through her garden (!!! - O MY GOSH!!! imagine the size of the garden). i burst into peals of laughter - the comparison and contrast (to singapore) was just too much to bear.
just days ago, i was telling her very briefly about the education system in singapore, how we have major exams every 2 years starting from the age of 10, how we're made to study 10 out of 12 months a year (excluding tuition, ballet, piano, art class etc. etc. during holidays). she was shocked and commented ,"you guys study in summer??" (what summer?) and that no one could ask a kid to study during the summer in russia (and probably most of europe, usa and australia); everyone's out playing in the sun, enjoying the breeze kissing their faces and the chirping of carefree birds. the Beauty of SEASONS!! (btw, their summer holidays are 3 months long, there is also a one month christmas holiday and often a one week to one month easter vacation (depending)).
(*** side thought: is that why pple in/near the tropics study so hard? no seasons - therefore no need to/cannot appreciate the coming of a new season and what not => nothing to do (mundane life)=> study la!! it follows on later in life - work, work work!! - weird thought but possible contributing factor.. hmm... i will spare my readers the other reasons which are at the back of my head.)
Helen was preparing yorkshire pie in the kitchen - the typical side dish u get on a sunday roast in britain. basically just egg, flour and milk mix popped into the oven to bake. the pastry rises and u can either (a.)eat it plain or (b.)fill it with anything u fancy (sausages in this case). it was rather entertaining to see her make it. lucy popped by and all of us took a few pictures together (too bad huiqi wasn't around - btw, she's moved into county college with her bf for reasons i will not bother to explain - think very straight though).
To sum it up, dinner was great (it made the whole day seem better too. haha!!) Good conversation with anna, something different from the usual serious religious/christianity-related topics, guitar, flute or music. cool! i'll probably propose the idea of taking a trip to the ingleton waterfalls walk together after our exams (even though she doesn't seem to be a very outdoor person).
- Ecc 3:1 -
For everything there is a Season,
and a time for every matter under heaven
-.-*Adiós!
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