Re: The table has turned! Brett, I separate high level competition and Sports, whereas one's objective is to win while the other is for self improvement. Sports is healthy and high level competition is not necessarily so. Look at Carl Lewis or Florence G. Joyner. I do not mix them. Period. Adel, you are really good at expressing your points. I see you will be very successful in your studies. Staying away from your closed ones will be tough but you are a very intelligent and strong young lady. Your new friends will help you ease a little bit the initial period. I know how parents feel when their children goes away. Even for a short period of time. For us parents it seems that our sons are always the little babies. My eldest son is 16 years old and will travelling with his team for 2 weeks to France and Spain for football tournaments. Believe it or not my wife is making similar arrangements. So believe me, I understand that feeling.
Re: The table has turned! Adel, every badminton fanatic are welcomed here. whining or not. you better learn your Korean quick. or else those adorable guys will have retired and you'll get no chance to chat with them. you have smart parents. i will remember to have my future kids cook and clean for me 4 months before they go to college!! and about staying off-campus. don't, at least don't for the first couple of years. friends are much easier met in dorms. and dorms are not that all bad. ok, no good food, but hey. when did Badminton Central become a college counsel???
Re: The table has turned! I will be completing intermmediate Korean in the first 2 years (2003)... it's a perequisite for doing Int'l Studies. If those adorable ppl haven't retired by the Athens Olympics, I will at least have learnt enough to ask for autographs and say sth like "you're so adorable"... hahaha. Thanks for the college counselling...kam-sa-ham-ni-da (that's Hangeul for you)! I was juz wondering what this has to do with badminton... =)
Re: The table has turned! so sweet. i am sure his heart will melt.... just like the shuttle melting in those "million miles an hour" smash.
Re: The table has turned! Adel, I agree completely with Kwun about staying in a dorm for the first year. You may pay a bit more for dormitory living, but it's definitely worth the extra money to have the opportunity to meet and become friends with a broader spectrum of people whom you'll be around much more than just in a few classes. You can start thinking about living off campus with some friends during the second semester of your freshman year. Your timing is lucky - in the past five years Northwestern has experienced a re-birth of its athletic program. For decades it was a safer investment to bet on Northwestern finishing last in the Big Ten Athletic Conference in virtually all sports than it would be to buy a US Savings Bond. They have had some good football and basketball programs recently. Just don't start rooting for the Bears in the NFL.
Re: The table has turned! I'm thinking of enlarging a picture of Lee Dong Soo and hanging it in my hostel room... one, it will cure me of my badminton blues; two, it will motivate me in learning my Korean. I'm just afraid my potential room-mate will mind =) =) =) =) Kwun, did you get to watch any badminton during your time at Brown? Oh, and why are you working in the US btw? Dun wanna go home?
Re: The table has turned! Adel, strange people can be found in universities. pay no attention, be friend with them, or be one of them. i doubt your roomate will mind, unless if she has something against badminton or Koreans.. Brown was a badminton dark age for me. no court, no people to play with, no tournaments watched. i religiously brought my racket with me though. i am a geek in the computer industry. there is little opportunities back home. take a look at the pictures in <a target=top_ href="http://www.hi-clear.co.kr/pds/pds_photo.htm">this link</a> (there are quite a few of them), it should complete your good week nicely..
Re: The table has turned! Kwun, thank you... xie xie... doh zei... kam-sa-ham-ni-da... terima kasih... arigato... kam-sia... that's about all the languages I know to express my hearfelt gratitude... =) =) =) =) =) =) =) =) =) =)
Re: The table has turned! alright. you can stop staring at him now... so why is his mouth *always* opened?
Re: The table has turned! Who knows? Open or closed, he looks good!!! I esp. liked the one when he was on the winner's podium with Yoo (last yr's K-open)... it's nice to see athletes smiling so brightly...
Re: The table has turned! Just a bit about the segragation topic. Even though I grew up in UK, I still had a problem of feeling truly comfortable at University. There is a strong "pub" culture and although I would go down to the bar with other students, I was never entirely at ease. It became quite boring for me. Used to run out of things to say. I never had a regular Chinese or SE Asian group so Brett's point of ethnic self-segregation doesn't come into play. The big change around occurred a couple of years later when I met a group of Chinese who had, like myself, grown up in UK. Funnily enough, I thought they were from HK (so me not being able to speak Chinese) and so had never spoken to them before. Likewise vice versa. Life was a real scream after that. We really got on well. Enjoying ourselves wasn't just about drinking but joining other people, cooking and eating meals together (important for Chinese), playing badminton (of course), going bowling, listening to music together. Most important of all, I had found a set of people who had the same understanding of the cultural differences being faced. We were on the same wavelength. A clear cut example was a conversation which went something like follows: (Me) "when my parents get older, I will help support them, give them money, look after them etc"...(My friend) "I don't see why you have to look after your parents. it was their duty to bring you up. You don't owe anything to them...." In Chinese culture, that is a horrifying thing to say. I was lost for words even though I had supposedly grown up in UK and should understand. So the points are: I agree that people do segregate themselves. Many people do. Some make the attempt to fit mainstream. Many of these are unsuccessful because of cultural/language differences. These people also deserve respect because of having at least made the effort to try. Adel, I hope that this little story can help in times when you feel you don't fit in even though you may try your hardest. Don't try too hard because then you are only trying to change the person inside yourself. you may need to seek out other S'poreans who will understand.
Re: The table has turned! trying to fit in is fine as long as one doesn't compromise basic values. just my 2 red canadian cents.
