Between heaven and hell

On 24th Feb 2006 (Friday), I arrived at Baltimore-Washington International Airport, Maryland, USA for a one-year attachment at Johns Hopkins University after more than 24 hours of flight. I was picked up by my boss, Prof. August and colleague, Srini. Boy, was I delighted to see them 'cos I was lugging four baggages. Two were 23kg each, a 12kg hand luggage and a camera bag. I wonder how I had managed to bring about 60kg of clothes, etc with me. They drove me to The Broadview Apartment where my company in Singapore has kindly arranged a room for me.


The room, at USD90 per day plus 5% state tax, was like any hotel room that I had stayed before except that it was larger. It had two walk-in closets, a kitchen, a bathroom and a main bedroom. The kitchen had microwave and pots for cooking where I wasted no time to prepare food for the coming week. The main bedroom had TV, phone and two single-beds. Life was comfortable.




One week later (4 Mar), I shifted into my permanent apartment at Broadview, but this time, it was an empty apartment. There was no bed, no lamp, no cooking utensil, no chair etc. Nothing!!! Though I had been told to expect it, I just could not accept the state of the apartment that day. I actually felt homesick at that moment. The rent is USD670/month which exclude electricity. Luckily, water and gas are included, else I would live from hand-to-mouth. Haha...


To survive this current nothingness, I have to improvise on lots of things because I could not get anything around walking distance. (I regret not getting a car license now.) I have to wait for my colleagues with cars to bring me to some far a way shopping centres to get the essential stuffs.

To drink water, I had to buy bottled mineral water from a supermarket, located 2km away in the freezing, biting cold winter. Worse, I had to spend two nights without light in my main apartment. This is the most terrible part. It's like going back to primeval time where early men lived in caves. Haha.... I really appreciate lightings now! I bought some candles but the flame was too dim for me to read. Moreover, the floor was carpeted, so I don't want to bring the whole place down.

The toilet has a bath tub without shower curtain. If I were to shower standing upright, the whole toilet would be wet. And you definitely don't want to step on cold freezing water in the middle of the night when you use the toilet. So, I had to use a bowl (a gift from Srini) and used it as a scoop while I sat in the bath tub, minimising the splashes. Pathetic!

I also managed to get a small pot from another colleague living nearby. I had to boil water about 12 times for me to get sufficient volume to last me for one day. Meals were taken while standing or sitting on the floor 'cos there was no chair!

This episode has taught me not to take ordinary things like lightings, bed, chair etc for granted. Life has been comfortable back home. It's through changes that you are forced to re-assess yourself.