Pretty tired now after the journey of 17 hours flight and 8 hours transit in Seoul on the way to San Francisco. Had a brief immersion in the Korean culture, though I never did go out of the Incheon International Airport. Watched 3 movies on the way to San Francisco from Seoul.

God prepared the way for me there. In San Francisco International airport I intended to take the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) train instead of the taxi or van to be the most cost efficient. So on the way to the BART terminal in the airport I bumped into an American guy, Sean, who was also going to the BART Downtown Berkeley station. We had a good chat on the train and later on I intended to walk to the temporary hostel from the station. (But I had a lot of luggage, 2 x 23kg bags and 2 hand-carried bags) It turned out that Sean’s mum was going to pick him up from the train station and so he offered to give me a ride to my place @ Piedmont Ave. Wah, so ngam wan. Really wonderful. (We exchanged Facebook contacts.) Thanks to you and your mum Sean!

Then in the hostel I met a Malaysian guy, Alan who is coming to Berkeley from U Melbourne on an exchange student program for 6 months (he knows Su San, my cousin, and he was also an ASEAN Scholar from AJC). Another coincidence. We’re planning to visit San Francisco tomorrow =) And in the same room in the hostel I met another American guy, Mike, a middle-aged gentleman who studied in Berkeley in the 1970s and was on visit to the campus. So we went out to dinner together at the International House Cafe and had an intellectually insightful chat. After that we went on a stroll around campus during the evening. Later returned to the hostel and found another Japanese guy staying with us in the hostel (it is a 4-person room), so we (Alan and I) had a chat with him.

In all cases I encountered today, the Americans are so friendly, they help you before you can even open your mouth to ask for it. After alighting the BART train and seeing the stairs with a blank look and wondering where the escalators or elevators were (due to my very heavy luggage), an American lady quickly pointed to me that the escalators were down the corridor. (I did not even open my mouth!) And then there’s Sean giving me a ride. They are all really ready to speak their mind and ask when necessary or unsure, unlike me who likes to hesitate and act timid and try to figure things out on my own. (or rather I should compare with Asians in general, many of whom are timid and unwilling to ask or speak out.) I wonder if I would change to be more like the Americans here… more helpful and more willing to go all out and ask ask ask. And another thing, the cars stop obediently when you face the zebra crossing. So civilised. And also the Americans are so polite with each other, and at times they (perfect strangers) always like to ask me, “How’s things doing?” to which the answer is always “Great, thanks!”

Took a solo walk around the Berkeley town in the afternoon too. The campus is so beautiful, I can’t even begin to describe it. It’s like from another era, modern and classical all in one. Buildings of all shapes and sizes cluttered in an orderly spread around the campus compound. The buildings have well thought out designs and are splendid looking, with many never showing any signs of aging despite having stood for decades. The surrounding town area around UC Berkeley is quite happening with many food joints, cafes, convenience stores, book stores, etc. Perfect place to locate a university. The area is like Cameron Highlands, temperatures of 18C in the day and lower in the night.

I’ll post pictures another day, but perhaps with my photography skills the pictures would not do enough justice to the beauty of the place. OK, I really need sleep. Bye for now.