The colours of spring just get brighter each day, and I have certainly been going crazy with my camera all around campus. Love the roses and carnation-like yellow flowers. Also, I realise that there are cherry blossoms here, how amazing is that! Kawaii nei! Not only are the flowers blooming, the trees have also started growing young leaves, and it's quite a beautiful (ok, very beautiful) sight both near and far. Some of the vegetation is still pretty bare, but under the sunny skies and bright sunlight, the bare tress still form quite a cool sight.
One of the highlights of my American adventure is without a doubt the witnessing of the changing of the seasons. It's really amazing the way nature works, like how it could be all snowy and dreary for all of 4 months, and then, the winds change and and the sun comes out bright and cheery to herald the spring. People have started lying on the grass in the sun all around campus, many in just shorts and tank tops, as if they have been deprived of Vitamin D and have finally found their antidote. I really should do the same one day...
The past week, I've also found something really interesting that has occurred here, and that is the sprouting of wildflowers all over the place. Many of the grass patches beside the sidewalks seem to be just filled with a whole variety of blooms, all of which are very colourful, and under the unrestricted sunlight, the colours are definitely very striking.
The flowers actually grow in a fairly orderly fashion, and I initially thought some people have planted them, but it seems that they are all wild. Amazing.
Some photographs here to share. Click on each picture to see the flowers in their full technicolour glory.
The sun goes down only after 8pm nowadays. I managed to capture these two shots of the evening the other day.
Today the weather was exceptionally sunny. Much more sunny than I expected, in fact. The temperature was around 15 deg C, but it felt rather warm. The wind was comfortably cool though, just like air-con, but without the stale air. Au naturel...
Went grocery shopping, and decided to replenish my supply of drinking water (only Aquafina for me, thanks to a friend who used to study in the US and got me sold on it....), so I could not take the bus but had to push my shopping trolley from the supermarket all the way back to my apartment.
Anyway, I realised that I was wearing the exact same clothes as when I first arrived in Ann Arbor last year (sometimes I remember strange things like that), and as I was pushing the trolley along the pavement, I somewhat recalled my first day here, when I had also gone grocery shopping and a sense of deja-vu washed over me, as I looked around. Has it been so many months now? It's such a cliche to say this but it feels as if I was walking down the pavement just days ago, and yet it's actually much further in the past.
Do I still feel the same sense of excitement? Honestly, I cannot tell. As I've always said, I cherish the opportunity to be independent and to lead life as a student abroad, and I believe I will continue to enjoy the next few months. But I think I would very much like to see my loved ones when the time arrives. Family, friends, even the duck rice aunty....(ok, maybe more the duck rice...).
Conflicting thoughts? Not really, more like just strange feelings.
In any case, I'll just continue the rest of my adventure here for the moment.
Saw this video of a new song recently, bittersweet feel. Great for a day like this.
And so April has arrived. Soon, it will be May, June, July, then August.
I'm nearing the end of my second semester here, and it's all starting to get pretty hectic. Many people here are looking forward to the end of the semester, as they will then go for their 4-month holidays before they return for the Fall semester.
Not me, though. I will be taking summer courses so that I could complete my course in "double quick time". But it's fine, I guess, I think I still have the stamina to continue.
The sun's been going down later this week, and there is generally fair, sunny weather all day. Reminds me of the time when I first arrived. Was it really that long ago?
