It's like 10,000 spoons

There's something deeply ironic about Paris , for one , you see all this dog shit lying around , along the streets , but all you do smell, is the smell of fresh baguette each time you wake past a bakery . You may be 14 hours away from home , yet the similiarities are striking . The "Direct-soir" , which is sorta like the today paper in Singapore , has Dell computer advertisements on the back. The metro feels just like singapore when it's underground, yet , buskers come up to the train , playing their saxophone or putting up impromptu puppet shows on the train. I think these things jump out at you more apparently when you're in a foreign city . Your heightened senses pick up the minute detail of this strange land. Did you know that the university that i'm on exchange with is still using blackboard and chalk , together with OHPs , yet after extensive conversation with people around paris, the school is actually quite a good university. Everyday at school seems to be an adventure with you trying to find out which classroom that you're actually in, and getting through the bureaucracy and administration is truly a work of art that makes you appreciate the set infrastructures in place back home. You really want to kick up a big fuss, because that is what you would naturally do if you're back in Singapore, but here in the foreign land, your perspective changes, you give more room for other people and you start taking a back seat and understand that perhaps , the french, just simply enjoy chilling. Afterall, this is the place where the international relations office is closed on wednesday afternoons. The one hour train ride does not feel like much of a torture as compared to the 45 min journey from home to SMU.

I've been saying that i feel comfortable here , but this nagging sense of familiarity is what that impedes your inquisitive take on the world around you . We take too many things for granted in Singapore and we fail to see the beauty in everyday things. William Blake did say that you could see the world in a grain of sand and heaven in a wild flower and this is exactly the case right now. I wish my camera was working so i could take more pictures and capture what i see , but in Singapore, i'm guessing that the very same thing could material in front of my eyes and i wouldn't be able to spot it.

I dunno .. it's late and i'm rambling so happy valentine's day and au revoir .