first day wyoming

Well, as many would know, I am in Laramie, Wyoming already. After the horrendously long flight, I touched down to battle the extreme cold and snow. Haha. Carmen, Mazlynnah, Wei Yen, Alvyn & Shane came to send me off early Thursday morning. It was really nice of them to wake up so early and reach the airport just to bid me farewell. Thanks guys! =D

When I reached Los Angeles for transiting flights, the US custom officer told me I wasn't on the passenger list on the plane. Due to terrorism, the security in US is pretty tight and they are quite anal about certain details. But luckily, he just added me into the flight and moved on to check my visa. Los Angeles was cooling, even though we can see glaring sunlight on the wall, the outside of airport was like air-conditioned, like a hugh-ass crystal ball covers Los Angeles just to pump cold air into it. I donated US 5 dollars to some charity campaign, I thought it would be nice to start by doing something nice.

When I reached Denver International Airport, it was already 6 degrees F (-14.5 degrees celsius) outside. Haha. It was like living in a laboratory or the fridge already. Guess what, when I reached Laramie, it was -35 degrees celsius! Who on earth can live in such harsh temperatures!? It was so cold that I was expecting to see some penguins or polar bear around. Thanks to the warm clothing I received, I was greatly sheltered from the freezing cold. But I still feel like a meatball in a freezer.

Wyoming is in the West. Cowboy west, wild west, whatever. You get the meaning. The capital of Wyoming is Cheyenne, which is a 45 minutes ride from Laramie. It's the first state to give women the right to vote, hence, it's nicknamed the 'Equality State'. The cowboys and cowgirls culture is still quite prominent, just by looking at the apparels they sell. Haha.

University of Wyoming provides pickup services for International students coming in from around this region. I figured out why this service existed on my ride to my hall. There were not much street lights, probably one or two, plus there's like nothing in the scenery for 10 km of the journey. On top of that, it's snowy and the cold is rather unbearable. They don't have skyscrapers here, and their tallest building is like only 7 stories high. Hahaha.

This is my room. There's one poster on the left side which I don't really want to show. It's my roommate's. Haha. Well, it's quite cosy in here, with carpeted floor and brick walls. There's a heater inside here too. It isn't really useful, but mai hiam buay pai la. My roommate isn't around, but he has a TV, PS3, Hi-Fi set and a whole lot of stuffs. Looks like I won't get bored so easily with him around. Haha.

This is the view outside my window. Looks very welcoming and appealing to go out for a walk right? With the golden sunshine hitting your face as you throb on the gentle snow, I tell you, this is all a scam. It's freaking cold outside, and the snow are as slippery as.. um.. snow. Haha. My ears, fingers and feet hurt like hell from the cold. But it's still nice seeing snow for the first time. Haha. The weather was so dry that I got hurt folding the blanket. There was static electricity everywhere.

I know I look like an idiot here, but who cares. Hahaha.

And today was the first day of orientation, so I managed to find the other 3 Singaporeans who are here freezing with me. There are other hot ang mohs and pretty babes, but I am not going to show them to you so soon, lest you lose interest here quickly. HAHA. I had a first taste of their food and their respective proportions. Haha. They have 2 slices of bread and a meat of your choice (mine's turkey) plus 2 cookies, 1 small bag of chips, 1 apple, and 3 sauces with a drink. I almost couldn't finish the sandwich alone.

After orientation, I went to his huge super mart called Wal-Mart. They sell everything inside, literally everything. It's something like Carrefour back in Singapore, just that they sell things very cheap here. 2 litres of A&W is only 88 cents in US currency, and the Post Selects Cranberry Cereal is only 2 bucks! The alcohol here is also cheap as dirt. Maybe can courier some stuffs home from here.

I found something disgusting in Wal Mart.

This is why they are fat. It contains the same amount of calories as a Mega Mac.

As we were out, I stopped at Subway to eat healthier stuff. The pizza sub on a flatbread I ordered is really good. And their cheese toppings come in Shredded mozzarella, Monterrey Cheddar & 2 others. It's really very good. On top of that, it's only worth 4 USD.

I will be going downtown tomorrow. To check out the bigger stores and the capital, Cheyenne. Maybe I can buy some branded there.

See you guys here soon. =)