Calling all super-organized and time-conscious people:

Need help with packing for a two-year trip within two week time period. Inquire within.


So I met a girl who will be starting school with me in a couple weeks. I met her through my classmate from undergrad who is already there. And upfront, I will say that she is a really nice person, pretty outgoing and very, very detailed. Very.

Our first meeting was at Tim Horton's. I thought it would be just a casual chat about ourseleves, how our application process has been, and what special things we'll be taking with us. It was surely all that, but then some more.

For starters she brought a laptop - ok, fine, cool - she thought it'd be a good idea to take notes or look up things she has saved etc. Smart.

Then came the spreadsheets on Excel - how much money she spent on tuition, postage, the annual interest rate on her mother's credit card that her tuition and other expenses were charged on calculated daily, the amount of interest her savings account and term deposits in the bank were earning...you get the idea.

After that she asked what I was bringing. Alright, also fine, a seemingly general question, right? I ticked off a list of items : regular everyday clothes, business suit (for mock trial), desk lamp, couple electrical outlet adapters, toilettries. That was all that I had remembered (which was not yet packed).

Then I asked her.

She owns 5 cardigans, but will bring only 4: white, black, beige ("well, not beige, but more like a wheat colour, a light wheat colour"), and green ("a forest green, like pine"); 7 pairs of jeans (Guess, Seven, and Gap were the brands mentioned, I believe); 3 skirts (that come just to the knee - floral and solid colours).

And so the list went. When the question came to how many bras and things I'm bringing, I about tuned out.

Again - she's reeeaaallly nice. A genuine person who I guess you could say is refreshingly open and honest. Not seen in people. She just threw me for a bit because I didn't expect that level of...meticulous-ness? I have no idea how many cardigans or anything I own (so am apt to buy things in repeat designs, at times, but this is besides the point).

But, unbeknownst to me, I gave her the impression that I was a shy and wallflower type of person. I can be shy, but just depends on the situation. I do have an issue with being too self-conscious, but we all have a bit of that, don't we? So with all this in mind, she started to give me advice on how I should use this time to branch out and try to meet new people and that it was ok to dress up and put on jewelry now and then. That I should be more confident. That wearing tank tops and skirts would be ok because I should try to be more "open to new things".

I was a bit flabbergasted at all this. As the eldest in the family (siblings and maternal-side cousins included) I'm used to giving advice and pep talks to others. I've never been on the receiving end like this especially from a perpetual stranger...! I had no clue what to say so I made attempts to clarify that I was not a wallflower and had I been such, I wouldn't be making this huge trip across the world! I've lived on my own for a bit, and lived in different counties. I'm not afraid of speaking up when I need to. And, above all, I am not afraid to be open to new things but I will not compromise my beliefs and current way of living to do it.

I know she didn't mean any of this in a insulting way at all. She was trying to be nice and encouraging with her tone, but in my mind I was laughing because this person had no idea what I was like (since she'd only known me for an hour). People who read my blog know me better than she did at this point..!

Is it just me, or would anyone else be uncomfortable with this? Just a tad? Call me crazy (actually that name was reserved for the last post), but I'd like to have at least meet you more than once (or at least be reading your blog for awhile...ha!) before I even think about discussing undergarments, past relationships and how much money I have in the bank.