I am long overdue for an update. It seems like they're becoming more and more infrequent, and I'm beginning to wonder if I'm tiring of diaryland, but at the same time I'm not so sure I can just leave it completely. There's something about having four years worth of my life recorded here that's hard to say goodbye to. So here I am back again, to tell the world that I'm still alive, and to write because, frankly, there's nothing much else to do right now.

So I went back to Singapore over break, saw family and friends, celebrated Christmas, turned 20, and came back to Austin. The trip was alright I suppose, but it's not exactly something I'm in the mood to talk about, so on to other things. I've been back in Austin since tuesday evening, and I'm glad to be back home. There's something about this place that makes me feel like I belong here more than I ever did in Singapore. I guess that figures why I want to stay here and not go back. We'll see what happens. I graduate at the end of this year.

Anyway, so today was a really good day. I've spent the past few days hanging out with the new exchange students who have come over from the National University of Singapore (NUS), which is good because I've been kept busy entertaining them and bringing them around. They're three girls and a guy, and all predictably business students ready to try their hand at our renowned Red McCombs Business School. I hope they get what they're looking for, but if anything, I think they'll have fun in their five months here in Austin.

Right, so today was shopping day, so Andre, Jan, Alice and I took the four of them down to Barton Creek Mall, which is by far my favorite mall in Austin. Possibly because it's nicer, newer, and has Nordstrom's, but whatever it is, it's still a really nice mall. You could say that today was kind of stereotypical in that the only reason the guys were there was to 1) drive us to the mall, and 2) to offer their services with all the shopping bags, but I think we all managed to have a good time. So far all of us have been getting along great, so I do think we'll be hanging out with the exchange students quite often this semester.

I'll admit that I wasn't exempt from all the shopping done today, but hey, most of the stores were having huge clearance sales with as much as 90% off, so who could resist? And with a mall as big as Barton Creek with all the shops calling out to you... well, let's just say I ended up adding my share to the load of shopping bags that the three guys divided amongst themselves to carry. *grins* I can see some of you shaking your head right now.

Anyway, today was also a good day because I got surprised with presents. Andre surprised me with a belated birthday gift that, as it turns out, he spent the whole day putting together. Now that I think about it, I should have figured it out sooner because he was buying and shopping a lot more today than usual, and all for me too! He got me a card and three gifts along the theme of "body, mind and spirit." Basically, it was a gift card to Bath and Body Works (body), and two books - The Science of God (mind) and Mere Christianty by C.S. Lewis (spirit). All I could do was smile and say thanks as he pulled me into a hug, because I really hadn't been expecting anything.

Do I need anymore reasons to show why he's my best friend here?

I think what surprised me even more was that Jan bought me a gift too. I don't know if it's because he remembered I celebrated my birthday back in Singapore, or if Andre told him, but either way it was really sweet. He bought me two more books - The Mocktail Bar Guide, and The Little Black Book of Cocktails, explaining that one's for this year, and one's for next year when I'm legal. Of course, he grinned when he said this because he and I both know we'll probably be trying some of the recipes before I turn 21.

We ended the day with dinner at Jason's Deli, near my apartment, and now I'm back, sitting in the comforts of my rooms once more with new purchases, my gifts, and a general feeling of happiness and contentment. If God wanted to show me how much I'm blessed, He really did a good job of it. And I'm hoping that this is a sign for how the rest of the year will go, because I feel like lots of things are going to happen this year and I'm excited and a little scared, but I can't wait all the same. So school starts tomorrow and the cycle begins again. And just like that, I'm one more semester closer to finishing college. I'll be sure to let you know how that goes...

Oh, and one more piece of good news? Instead of bombing school, I ended up attaining university honors from last semester's grades. Yay!