Post #2: Two Girls, A Wedding And A Dilemma

Everyone, meet Lucy!

            LUCY is a bubbly, optimistic and fun girl who is currently studying in NUS.  She loves meeting new people. Despite her enthusiasm in widening her social circle, she never forgets her old friends, especially a group of girlfriends that she was very close to during her secondary school days. She regards everyone as her best friends and has no archenemies because she doesn’t like to pick favors or rank her friends. However, she tends to keep her feelings to herself and is a very sensitive person. She was also shy and prefers being a wallflower as she doesn’t like to stick out. After graduation, Lucy would text-messaged her friends, asking them out for dinner. Much to her surprise, everyone is always busy. She always jokes that the only time they will ever meet is during her funeral. Of all her friends, she was the only one who made it to university.

Say hello Ethel!

            ETHEL is one of the Lucy’s secondary school friends. She managed to get into an ITE and complete her nursing diploma. Ethel was very competitive back in her school days. She would try means and ways to beat Lucy in everything. This includes boys, sports, studies and even being the teacher’s pet. She has even resort to hacking into Lucy’s email to see who Lucy is going out with. Not surprisingly, she would always come out top because Lucy can’t be bothered with such trivial matters. Years later, Lucy got to know that Ethel is dating her distant cousin.

All The Fuss!

            About 6 months ago, Ethel wanted to borrowed money from Lucy and she readily agreed. After that, whenever Lucy text-messaged Ethel regarding having dinner together with the rest, Ethel has never failed not to reply. She avoided Lucy like a plague. Lucy’s instinct tells her that maybe Ethel is worried that she might pester her about the money issue. However, it has never crossed Lucy’s mind as she is not in need of money. At the same time, Lucy is also wondering why are the rest of the girls avoiding her too?

Recently, Lucy found out that Ethel is getting married to her distant cousin. Lucy was shocked and bothered that she wasn’t invited to Ethel’s wedding. All of them made a pact in secondary school that they would be there for each other during memorable moments like this. Could it be that Ethel was trying to avoid Lucy? If she did, then it would be her over-sight as Lucy will be invited since she is related to her husband-to-be. In no time, Lucy gets an invitation from the groom’s side. 

The Dilemma!

Should Lucy go to the wedding and if she does, how should she face Ethel without sharing an awkward moment with her?

Should Lucy continue to try to keep in contact with Ethel and the rest of the girls or move along? 

Lucy and Ethel from ‘I LOVE LUCY’.

I loved this show when I was a kid.

Illya 

Awkward? Totally NOT!

Male-Male interaction

As discussed in class today, men in Arabic cultures tend to kiss each other. Be it on the cheek or lips.  Embracing and holding hands is a norm in their culture.

I've seen Indian men in Little India holding hands. It's awkward at first because one's immediate reaction was to read it as homosexual behavior. However to them, it could be a sign of brotherhood or friendship and a sign of welcoming.

Now, now, before you go off embracing and giving peck on cheeks of others when you enter Islamic countries, do note that this practice is ONLY between male counterparts. Don't go trying to place a wet one on the lady in veil. Contact between male and female, especially in public, is considered as close to obscene. 

Well, I guess it's up to every individual whether they want to practice this gesture when meeting Arabic counterpart. If you are uncomfortable with the close proximity involve in this gesture, then a simple nod, a handshake and a smile would do. Why do something when you are probably going to be self-conscious and reluctant? You are probably going to give off weird vibes if you do so. I'm pretty sure that some Arabs are aware that not everyone in the world practice this. If you are comfortable just like President Bush, then go ahead.

About a girl

HELLO WORLD!!!

So you have made it here to ILLYA’S 1st ever blog. I’m new in this blog era because I’m still into the old-school ‘Journal’ and doing v-logs to give my two cents worth on current issues. So, do forgive me if my blog doesn’t exactly fit into the norm way of writing a blog.

About this girl:
I am a random, laid-back and sometimes a bit queer person. I like passing my time taking random bus rides. The kind where you just take any bus that comes your way and you have no idea where it goes. Watching your surrounding change as it goes into neighbourhoods and into industrial areas seems to fascinate me. People-watching is a habit to me especially late at night where you see the forgotten people of Singapore. The construction workers, the road sweeper, the buskers in Orchard. I like watching trees too. Yup, trees! The structure of the trees especially those that you find in NUS carpark. The way how the sunlight pierces through the branches and how it snows yellow and green when the wind blows.

Music is definitely a big part of me. I love the Singapore Indie music scene.
PSSS… BAYBEATS ARE ON THIS WEEKEND. Click on the poster above. I love all type of music, even Beatles. Hence, the blog name. You can check out what’s on my Ipod under my profile.

I’ve caught the travel bug ever since my parents gave me the green light to travel on my own. I’ve been to certain places in Asia and I love exploring their culture. I hope to travel across India or to Vietnam at the end of the year. Any takers?

Ok. I guess you could read about my interest under my profile. It’s all lifted from my Facebook account.

Cheers, Illya

Blog Post #1

Post One!

Being an EFFECTIVE PROFESSIONAL would definitely help or solve some of the problem areas that I have identified in my daily life.

1) Oral Presentation
Problem: I tend to get excited and animated when I give a presentation. I would inject some jokes, snide remarks or the occasional references to popular culture so that the audience would not get bored with my presentation. HOWEVER, when does ‘playing’ up a presentation becomes too much that it crosses into being ‘unprofessional’? How should I make my presentation interesting without losing focus on the main agenda?

Remedy: Teeter-totter! Finding the right balance to keep their interest! I’m pretty sure with the communication skills I enquire, I could still keep their focus mostly on the main agenda of the presentation and at the same time, keep those wandering mind of theirs at bay through my enthusiasm.

2) Writing
Problem: My major flaw is I describe way too much. Verbally conveying my ideas is much simpler than trying to put it in ink. If I had my way, I would have painstakingly drawn a mind-map or draw out a diagram to get my point across. However, sometimes it gets too wordy. Like verbal diarrhoea except on paper! Some reader might take it as unnecessary information.

Remedy: By having the skills to write a well planned document, I will be able to make it concise and yet, getting my point across. From there, I can write a meaty essays, reports and even a short and impressive resume that won’t annoy my employer with all the CCAs I took in my school days.

3) Active Listening
Problem: Yes, I’m guilty of being distracted when my tutor is rambling in class. Especially when the speaker takes a whopping 10 minutes to get to his point. How frustrating! So how can I can be more of an active listener when faced with such a situation?

Remedy: I’m pretty sure with the right skill, I can sieve out the conversation for main points. This would allow me to ask intellectual (not redundant) questions which is beneficial to me!

I hope you enjoy reading this post. Yes, it has its flaws and but hopefully, by the end of the module, I can write an awesome blog post with all the communication skills learnt. AND sounds PROFESSIONAL too. Fingers crossed!

Signing out, Illya.