Wow

Wow. Everything has just happened so fast that Albert has hardly been able to understand the full gravity of this situation that he has found himself in. No. This is far beyond the time he almost dislocated his brother's chin with the coffee table. No. This is far beyond the first time he sat for an Add math test. No. This is far beyond the time he got kidnapped for looking like a criminal. No. This is far beyond the time the received the tissue with a lover's words strewn all over it in bad grammar which he mistakenly shrugged off as a joke which turned out to be all too frighteningly(and embarrassingly) real. No. Well maybe not way beyond for the last 2, but still,

WOW.

About a year ago, he filled out a preliminary form to join the program which he thought would never happen. Fast forward to now, he is sitting in front of a computer, with a faster Internet connection than all you suckers in Malaysia, in a small double storey plus basement house, on a farm, in a small town called Starkweather, in North Dakota, IN THE U, S OF A !!

Well, one of the biggest things that hit you(and hit you very hard), is the WEATHER. Usually when its -20 here, you consider yourself lucky. Simply because the temperature can very well dip to -30 or more, then, and only then, can the weather be considered "cold". But its not too bad really, Albert has acclimatised to it, as long as he has his 3 inch thick winter coat, he'll be fine outside(for about 10 minutes or soo, after that icicles start forming). But if you stay INSIDE, then theres nothing to worry about, in only gets chilly when its -30 c or colder(of course in case of the usual blizzard, theres a nice little basement to shelter in). So its all good.

But hey, snow comes with a price right? Not to mention ice skiing which he tried out yesterday, and after almost twisting his ankles and being buried in snow, he actually was skiing for a whole 5 seconds before falling. Not bad for a beginner. Close to bad but not there yet. Theres still snow mobiling and ice fishing still to come.

He also saw REAL snow actually falling from the sky, which wasn't as magical as he thought it would be, but in all fairness it was a very light one, so he's still waiting for some proper North Dakota snowfall(or blizzard, which ever comes first).

Then theres school. At first he really was anything but impressed because its was soo small it made SMK SS17 look massive. From grades 1 to 12 theres only 95 students. It was a small town anyway. But on the flip side everybody knows you and you know everybody here because they practically see each other in every class. The "see" part needs to be emphasized here because, surprise, surprise, there are quite a few blond bombshells here, and they are so friendly! How often do you get goodlooking blonds that aren't a b@#$! eh? They sure make up for quantity with the quality. The school itself is not too bad either, there's free lunch(which is great because at least if the food sucks, at least you know you didn't pay for it, which is what happens a lot of times in SMKSS17's canteen). The food here by the way, is much better that the usual school canteen fare back home. Nevertheless theres nothing that readily available salt and pepper cant fix when it comes to American food.



Ah, and his new family. His host family.His host dad, a 62 year old bachelor, Mr David Ericstad, and his host brother, Gigih(another exchange student from Indonesia) are a real sweet deal. David's only rule is that all rules are negotiable(if only all parents were like that). But he really has been very nice, and he is a awesome cook too. Albert has had lasagna, pumpkin pie, muffins, this thing they call hotdish and a whole load of other good, delectable home cooked American food that David whips up. And Gigih, well he's been here 5 months before him, which helps make the whole adjustment process for Albert as painless as possible. Just the first week in, and Albert has already been to birthday parties, basketball games(theres an awesome girls team here) and the lot, because Gigih here is like a ticket to a social life. Where he goes, Albert goes, his friends, are Albert's friends.

Although he lives on a farm, its just crop, so theres no animals or anything like that like you'd imagine on a farm. Even then, theres nothing much to do in winter time other than staying indoors, so Albert has yet to experience the farm life yet, but he's in no hurry anyway, after all, theres a good 6 months to look forward to.

And by the looks of it, its going to be a blast.