An awesome April

Today's the last day of April. Before May rolls around in a few hours' time, I thought I'd dedicate a post to what has been a special, wonderful and memorable month for me.

Turning 21

First of all, April is special to me because I was born in April. This April is particularly significant because I turned 21. In Singapore and many other countries, I am therefore officially an adult now. A woman, at that. Thinking back about my growing up years, I have indeed 'grown up' in many ways: I have gained more self-confidence, independence, street-smarts and assertiveness. The ways I think about topics like politics and social issues have changed too. It's an achievement, to be sure, but somehow, while I'm proud of how I changed for the better in several ways, I also find myself hankering to retain the child and teenager in me. Perhaps I'm just being nostalgic, but youth has a kind of aura to it, an aura that is partly grounded in innocence. Innocence may have the negative connotation of naivity, but the cynical and sometimes world-weariness that accompany the rise to adulthood is not all that positive either, it it? Right now, even though I'm officially an adult already and in some ways already act and think like one, I still have quite a bit of childishness about me, reflected in my personal preferences, interests and quirks, and I intend to retain them! I think there's such a thing as a healthy dose of childishness. Heck, I believe that in some ways, I will always be young at heart.

Travels in the UK

Whatever it is I feel about turning 21, the occasion is without a doubt a cause for celebration. And celebrated I did, not just on D-Day itself but the whole month. But first, there was some exam preparation to be done. If I had my way I'd rather spend the whole of my Easter holiday having fun, but with exams round the corner that was just not possible. So the first two weeks were spent on some intensive revision, the rest of which would be done during the study break in between the end of holidays and the start of the exams.


The fun began in mid-April, when I embarked on some travelling with my Mum, who visited for a while. Travelling around the UK was part of the British project mentioned in the previous post, and it was also part of another personal project to mark my turning 21. My UK travels this month were significant in that for the first time, I was heavily involved in planning and organizing the trips Mum and I took. Mum helped, of course, but mainly when it came to finance matters and hotel reservations. Otherwise, I did quite a lot of the researching or scheduling when previously my parents would do it. Anyway we covered most of Yorkshire, the county Leeds is in, this holiday, as well as some of the nearby county of Cumbria where the famous Lake District is. In Yorkshire, I aimed to see, experience and live in the countryside (something I've always wanted to do, having grown up in a city-state all my life). So most of our time was spent in the Yorkshire Dales, the huge rural countryside area of Yorkshire famed for its beauty and nature. We spent hours exploring the vast and lovely countryside, savoured the bleakness and stark beauty of the moors, stayed in villages, ate in county-style tearooms, sampled local produce etc. A most rejuvenating and enlightening experience on the whole. Lake District in Cumbria was just as wonderful and beautiful. We took lake cruises, popped in at lakeside villages and also travelled along the coast of Cumbria to see the sea.



The Royal Wedding


Then Mum left and I was off on a trip I signed up for to London. Talk about a change of scenery! After about 2 weeks in the rural countryside, I found myself in the hustle and bustle of one of the world's most important financial capitals. What's more, when I arrived, London was particularly buzzing because the wedding of Prince William and his university sweetheart Kate Middleton was about to take place. The event was generating a great deal of hype, not just in UK but worldwide (though I think it was particularly big in USA and Australia), and it was this event that brought me to London in the first place. Why not, I figured, since I happened to be in the right country at the right time for what is certainly going to be one of the highlights of 2011.

The trip I signed up for was a whirlwind 2 day one that left me really drained at the end but in the end it was all worth it because I saw and experienced what I wanted. I was there at Buckingham Palace at 7am and when I arrived the place was already packed with people, some of whom camped overnight just to secure a good viewing position. The members of the royal family as well as Will'n Kate would only appear at about 10am, which meant a 3 hour wait for me and my friends. It was a cold, dreary day and there were forecats of rain (in the end, no rain fell, thank goodness)and my friends and I were so tired from having to wake up early and the hectic schedule of the day before. I think most of the crowd felt tired from all that waiting too, and to keep spirits up, some people orchestrated mass cheerings of 'WE LOVE KATE' and 'HURRAY'.

The fun began at about 9.30am with some parades by marching guardsmen in their big furry hats and red uniforms playing band instruments, then some celebrities who were invited to attend the wedding ceremony at Westminster Abbey turned up in their finery. At aorund 10am, members of the royal family left Buckingham Palace for Westminster Abbey, waving to the cheering crowds as they went by in their armoured vehicles. Excitement reached fever pitch when the Queen and then Kate Middleton passed by. I caught a glimpse of the Queen in her sunny yellow dress and matching hat, waving to the crowd withher white-gloved hand. As for Kate Middleton, I caught my breadth when I saw her, for even though I only caught a glimpse of her as her car went by, it was enough to strike me how stunningly beautiful she looked. I was pleased to see that she wasn't wearing one of those boringly common tube-top wedding gowns, but a lovely bodice with elegant long sleeves made of lace. I later learned the designer of the wedding dress was Sarah Burton, creative director of the Alexander McQueen fashion house. Kate's look was complete with a veil covering her face and a beautiful smile.

Seeing the members of the royal family and Kate Middleton perked me up, and the rest of the day passed by relateivley quickly. The wedding ceremony was a private event for invited guests only held at Westminster Abbey, but an audio of what was spoken and sung was recorded and played live, so we heard Will'n Kate exchange vows and rings. Everyone at Westminster Abbey then returned to Buckingham Palace in fancy cars and horse-drawn carriages accompanied by smartly-attired cavalry men on black horses. At about 1.30pm, the newly-weds, the royal family and the Middleton family appeared at the balcony of Buckingham Palace to wave at the crowds. A thumendous roar of joy and a flurry of flag-waving greeted their appearances. Then some people started chanting 'KISS, KISS, KISS', impatient for that intimate moment so many were waiting for. I missed the first kiss, there was a forest of raised arms with cameras and furiously waving Union Jacks in front of me. I did manage to catch a glimpse of the second kiss, and it made my heart flutter and I went crazy cheering along with everyone. There was a a bried fly-by of military planes to salute the new Royal couple, who would now be known as the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. Then all too soon, everyone on the balcony left and it was time for the crowds at Buckingham Palace to leave and for the nation-wide partying and celebrations to begin.

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All in all, it was a very memorable, fun and well-spent April for me. Many thanks to all who sent well-wishes, gifts and surprises, they were most touching. Such outpourings of love are what make events unforgettable, and I'm sure Will'n Kate would agree too.

And there goes half a semester

I can't recall when exactly I arrived in the United Kingdom to begin my semester-long exchange programme, but I do know that it was sometime in late January. This means that I've been living here in the UK for 3 months already, therefore I've another 2 months left before I leave. Or to put it another way, my time here is more than halfway done.

The UK is a popular destination for many students all over the world who want to study abroad. My motivations for picking the UK are largely personal: my parents did some of their studies there, and I had once visited the country as a child and had a good time. What surprised some people about my going over to the UK for exchange is the city in the UK I lived in. Leeds is by no means a small town or minor city, but it is not as well-known as London, Manchester and Liverpool. Several people I know have never even heard of it. As for the university I go to, the University of Leeds, it has some international renown but is definitely not so prestigious as to be in the Oxford-Cambridge-London School of Economics league. Looking back, I do wonder why I picked this University in particular, and why I was so eager to get a place. The reason I gave back then was because I was really interested in their School of Politics and International Studies, which is funny because in the end, I did not take any modules from that School.

Don't get me wrong, I don't mean to suggest that I regret coming to the University of Leeds. On the contrary, I have had a great time studying in this University and living in Leeds. It's just that I find it interesting that my initial reason for coming here does not hold any more, which begs the question, why an I here in Leeds? Perhaps it does not really matter, for ultimately the purpose of my coming to the UK on exchange is to experience British life and culture more deeply than a tourist would. If so then which British city might not be so important, for as different as they may be in terms of size, economic importance, richness in history etc, they are all essentially British in character. Leeds is one of many British cities, but one that will always be special to me not just because I studied and lived there for a while, but also Leeds is the starting point of my journey to discover British life and culture.

Sadly, it seems that I won't have much time left to do so. Hence, I am determined that for this Easter holiday, I will immerse myself as deeply in the UK as I can. It's a good time to do so, especially since Prince William's wedding is drawing closer and to mark the historical occasion, people celebrating all things British. So, I will be eating as big a variety of British food as I can, learning to prepare some British dishes, travelling to the British countryside ... and ultimately will be there at the Royal Wedding to celebrate with everyone else. Six months is too short to thoroughly know a country, but considering how my time here will be coming to an end soon and how now is the best time to explore the various aspects of British life, I am determined to make good use of my holidays. Let the Easter project begin!

First Post

Aura: a "presence in time and space, (a) unique existence at the place where it happens to be" (Benjamin, 1935).

If you thought there was something familiar-sounding about the name and title of this blog, then it is likely you are either familiar with cultural critic Walter Benjamin or his essay "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction". Benjamin came up with the concept of aura, which refers to the particularity, authencity and uniqueness of an object or physical reality. That's just the very basic and general idea, and I won't dwell further on aura as defined by Benjamin lest I bore anyone (including myself, having written and submitted an essay on the very topic a few weeks ago and not wanting to revisit the whole thing again in all its complexity). But anyway, the idea of unique points in time and space sort of struck a chord in me, and I decided to create a blog to chronicle and cherish such moments. I don't have the most interesting life, but I do have many experiences and memories, as well as thoughts, I want to preserve. It would be nice to share them too. Hence I decided to carve a space out of the vast bloggersphere and call it my own.

This post has its aura, to revisit the term again, in that it is the first entry in this blog. Ehhhhhh... YAY :D I suppose another significance is that today is the last day of university before the month-long Easter break begins. Then it could also be said that today's special because it's April Fool's Day 2011. On a more personal level, April is a special month for me, for reasons which will be explained in later entries. Wow, this one post is loaded with aura all right.

That's all I'll say for now. Keep an eye on this space, for more to come!