LOVE, Kloudiia

For quite a long while, I was deceived. The cheery blue sky made me think that time had stood still at 5pm, when it had already turned 8pm. Night had come, yet, it didn’t show. So, this was the first greeting that this city had offered me. What a nice way, I thought.

The colour of the sky at 815pm in Iowa

Another view from my window

At 930pm, the sky looked had turned grey but still hiding a tinge of light. It looked like 7pm in Singapore.

Coming here holds a very special meaning for me. I’ve always dreamed of going overseas to study since young – mixing with people from different nationalities and cultures, lying under the shade of the big oak tree, or elm, or whatever tree that offers its huge crown invitingly to anyone who wants to sneak under for that tinge of coolness, and breathing in the foreign air while I learn have been living in my imagination for a long, long time. Finally, I get to live this dream in reality! Gosh, is this real? It has to be, for I travelled from the other side of the Earth in a span of twenty-four hours to be where I am now. So yes, this is real! I’m attending the 24th Annual Iowa Summer Writing Festival! Yoo hoo! I’ve breathed, dreamed and imagined writing for so long, even though this dream got interrupted for a while, but when it came back, I couldn’t ignore it and push it aside any further. So here I am, learning from the masters the art of the words.

My first night in Iowa is worth remembering, even though the things I’ve done till now weren’t that worth mentioning. My first night as a student here has been plain so far: I scanned the nearby co-op store (aka our supermarket) for food prices, wowed every other second and ended up buying three bananas only; I did some ironing and I had cup noodles for dinner. The last event, I proudly credit to my ingenuity for remembering to bring it here. Simple, fast and tasty – you won’t go wrong with cup noodles when you’re in a foreign city for the first time and suffering from jet lag.

And now while my brain is telling me that I really should hit my head on the pillows, my body doesn’t seem to be in agreement. Though I feel a wee bit sleepy, yet I’m itching to write something about today, about tonight. I could write it tomorrow, but it would be the second day, and not the first, in Iowa. So, I have to write these thoughts today.

Well, watch out for this space as I continue to fill you in on my journey to becoming a better writer here in Iowa City.