Closer to America


Well, the American dream isn't all that hunky dory sugar and spice and everything nice. -32 C temperatures, narrow mindedness, religious ignorance, boredom(not all of them are happening people), intense homesickness, bland food, xenophobia and cliques to overcome. And yet there were 54 students who made it to the final selection who will be fighting for 30 places for the exchange program scholarship to the US for 6 months. Dumb asses.

Well Albert was one of them. They refers to the eager beavers from all walks of life, from the orang asli to the 10 race(literally) rojak jock to, erm Albert. They had lofty dreams of promoting Malaysian culture and fostering greater understanding between countries as young ambassadors. And somewhere along the lines, help the world attain world peace. To them, its worth it.

To Albert, well, its free what, so what the hell man. Plus the hotel(where they stayed overnight for the selection) food was damn nice. And the jacuzzi was pretty cool too. Naturally world peace would show up somewhere down the list. And Carishma.

Its indeed a wonder how someone(Albert) who managed to screw up the number of American states in his interview(genius answered 44) actually got past the 1st interview. Out of the 600 people, he ended up here, the top 54. Must have been his dashing good looks.

Nevertheless, here he was, in Hotel Singgahsana, for a 2 day 1 night stay for the final selection. Everything was sponsored by the American government, the stay, the breakfast, 2 lunches and dinner. The food was really good. The jacuzzi too. All FOC. Including Carishma.

The interview, was spread out throughout the 2 days, and Albert along with the rest of the Selangor batch was the last few. So while waiting for the interview, just like the 1st interview not too long ago, they had a couple of activities. From what he can remember, there was this game where you had to inter-hold each others hand(in your respective groups) in such a way that it was an insane matrix of a complicated chain of arms interlocked. And you have to unravel it to form the circle that you started with. It was a long, tedious process. Sweaty bodies slithering around and tilting aromas of the body. Albert should have had deodorant on. Then there was one where you tied a balloon to your toe and you had to burst balloons of your rival members and protecting your group mates at the same time. Albert really should have had deodorant on. Then there was one where you have to walk on this grid of similar looking boxes. The trick here is that there are certain boxes which you cant step on. There is only a certain path you can follow, and you cant figure it out without trial and error. And there was this one where you had to build a tower of straws.

Then there was a debate. At first, Albert was excited about it, but by the time he was through, he told himself he probably shouldn't debate for a while at least. It was like meeting an ex. The initial excitement that drew you to them in the first place comes first. Then the painful memories. Debating broke up with Albert. He hasn't got over it. Its difficult-la.

During this whole thing, he met a really nice person. Guess. Bet you think its Carrishma right? WRONG!

Got you this time.

Its spelt with a single "r".

Shes really nice, like the food, and the jacuzzi. Except that she has a great personality, and can carry a conversation plus shes probably one of the more "real" people that he met there. Not being an inanimate object also is a plus. And, yeah, she is good looking. Hey its not ALL about the looks ok. But actually yeah, she is ....

The interviewers were really nice. And no, no major screw ups this time. He's got a pretty good shot at this. Who knows, he might just get it. But even if he doesn't get through its cool, just the experience thus far is awesome enough. All the great people. And, the jacuzzi and the food. Yeah.

It was SO much fun. All jokes aside, the people there are awesome, and if he had to make way for them they would sure as hell deserve it. Time flies when you're with awesome people. 2 days and a night just went by SO fast, it feels like it was almost just yesterday.

Well, it WAS just yesterday anyway.