Menyeberangi Lautan Pasifik

Becoming used to student life in Davis is not that difficult. It probably helped that I had spent a year in the Netherlands sometime ago. For one, Davis, is synonymous with bicycles. The cars ride on the right side, winter is around 13º daytimes (though the Dutch winter was colder) and school is just 5 minutes away from my apartment. I can't help but to draw these similarities with my Dutch experience.

The good part is that settling in a foreign country has become easier for me. In fact, it felt as though I've "came back" from a long stay in the tropics. However, some things remain different so I am constantly reminded that no, I am no longer in the Netherlands, but right here in California.

The main difference is that everyone speaks English here! Another thing is the overwhelming population of Asians. And for once, I am not the only vertically challenged person around town! (Dutch people are known to be the tallest people in the world.)

When I first arrived at the San Francisco International Airport (SFO) after the long flight from home, I saw mainly people of Asian ethnicity around me... I pinched myself and checked the notice boards several times (I'm not joking) to check that I have arrived at the correct destination and not, maybe, at Hong Kong. It was weird for me (and still is) because they look like me, but when they start to speak... their accents are unmistakably American.

I was happy that Liwen, another NUS student, could accompany me on my journey from SFO to Davis. We took the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) to Richmond then the Amtrak train that goes directly to Davis. I think we looked pretty 夸张 / exaggerated haha... our luggage took up quite a substantial amount of space on the trains.

BART is like the LRT (Kuala Lumpur) and the MRT (Singapore). It connects the major areas, like San Jose and Berkeley, that are in the Bay Area, the surrounding region of San Francisco. It cost between USD 2 to 7 to board the BART, depending on the distance travelled. Unfortunately, most of the BART tracks were underground so we did not get to catch much of San Francisco scenery.

Talking about the BART, something funny happened when I was paying through the ticket machine. I inserted a 10 dollar note to buy a USD6.50 ticket, expecting some small change. Yeah, small change. Hah! The machine became a slot machine... and churned out a total of 70 5-cent coins, enough small change to last me a decade =D So when it was Liwen's turn to buy her ticket, the machine flashed a signal "no change".... haha

Back on track... the Amtrak train ride was really pleasant and there were scenery to see throughout the journey! Amtrak is the main railway artillary connecting the whole of USA, in case you are wondering. Liwen and I met a very nice elderly lady and we had intermittent conversations throughout our one hour train ride. She was taking the train from San Francisco to Rocklin just so she could enjoy the scenic view en route home.

Getting to Davis was a breeze but getting from Davis Amtrak station to our apartments turned out to be our biggest problem =D Now... that's totally unexpected! We were so near yet so far. Taxis are scarce. You have to call to get one. There are buses but they come by the hour. Anyway, we weren't exactly certain which bus line to take to our apartments so it would had been a bad idea, especially since we were lugging luggages.

However, in the process of searching for the elusive taxi, we have come to the conclusion: people in Davis are really friendly. Friendly encounters have recurred many times since then, even in a city like San Francisco. The cashiers in the groceries and bookstores even take the care to ask "How's your day?" and make small talk when there's time. Even the taxi driver who finally brought us to our apartments gave us a warm sense of welcome.

Friendly, nice weather, peaceful, quiet, yet brimming with life at times when you least expected it - ah, such is Davis!