*Updated*
I LOVE IT HERE!!!
I decided to save even more money by changing my mobile plan ($36/mth excluding tax) to a pay-as-you-go plan (if I don’t call much, I think I can keep it within $10/mth?). To do so requires a $25 service charge. After doing some calculations (my favourite activity these days, huh), I’ll still save quite a bit ($79) after paying the extra $25 for my impulsiveness in signing for a mobile plan that costs so much (but has perks like free incoming calls, and unlimited outgoing calls during evenings and weekends! But I realized I don’t call nor receive calls that much?). Anyway, the customer relations officer at Fido tried to persuade me to change my plan at no charge to a $15/mth plan, which is apparently only offered to me and not at retail stores because I intend to downgrade my plan? After doing the arithmetic with her offer I was adamant about changing my account to a prepaid one and she relented and proceeded with the deactivation. The thing is, she deactivated my account without letting me have any value in my phone first, so the line was disconnected and I couldn’t make any calls! I couldn’t even top-up value in my phone even though I thought I was well-prepared by having purchased a prepaid voucher the other day? I used Skype to call the customer service line again and managed to input value into my line. The girl called back later and apologized profusely and thanked me for staying with Fido. She then told me the great news — due to her oversight, the line got disconnected, so THERE WILL BE NO $25 CHARGE for my migration from my mobile plan to prepaid! Yay!
Then there are the other obvious reasons:
1) Very fresh air
2) Very enforced and successful environmentally-friendly system
3) People here are very friendly and eager to help
4) Everyone holds the door for everyone
5) My campus is surrounded by beaches
6) Wheelchair-friendly public transport and infrastructure
7) Those who manage to get a seat on the bus first sits at the window seat
Easy to navigate your way around, especially with the help of trip planning by TransLink
9) Very, very diverse community
10) You can just voice out your dissatisfaction/grievances
11) I rarely hear car horns
12) Not a single spit on the ground has been seen
13) I am experiencing the beginnings of Autumn (a season negligible in Shanghai)
14) Even when there’s noise from nearby construction work, the noise stops by 5pm or so
15) I can access any site I want on the internet
16) Professors hand out the syllabus on the very first lesson so we know what she will be talking about for every class so that we can be well-prepared
17) There is REESE chocolate
18) Ice-cream like Ben & Jerry’s is relatively cheap?
19) The view from my room is very refreshing
20) Overwhelming eye candy. There seems to be something about the weather or the whole environment to produce such aesthetically inclined people. Hmm, now I know why I could concentrate better in classes back in Fudan. Haha.
21) Homework for class is to watch a trailer from Youtube!
22) Classrooms have tables for left-handers
23) Students debate with what teachers say almost all the time
24) Cars stop for you even if you’re jaywalking
25) The fact that the list cannot stop? The fact that I can think of many things to add on this list every single day.
…
Have I told you I love it here?
I LOVE IT HERE!!!
