Let's call her C.
She was one of the classmates that I got to know on exchange. After having gone through a number of 崇洋媚外 experiences with the local students, I thought that she was just another one of them after seeing how quickly she'd warmed up to another new exchange student who is an ang moh. C proved me very wrong, and I was quite ashamed of myself later for judging someone based on a very brief first encounter.
I later learnt that she was my next-door neighbour in hall while making dinner one evening; we ended up talking for a whole 15 minutes in the pantry. C shared with me some of her experiences in the immersion programme that she'd been through in England that night, and introduced me to her room-mate too. Two nights later, she brought me and 2 of my other exchange friends for a grand 大排档 feast that included some delicious roast pigeons. That was my first pigeon experience and it was quite a yummy one.
We haven't been meeting that regularly ever since she had to go for her teaching practice, but on the day that we did have a chance to bump into each other, C pinned a bag of crisps on my door and left a post-it note with well-wishes, knowing that I would be heading back to Singapore soon.
How much nicer can a person get!
From C, I learnt that judgments based on first impressions don't usually count. It's much easier for me to say it than do it though, guess I'll just have to keep reminding myself.
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