Girl and City

Everyone has habits or quirks that are particular to them. Sometimes, we’re not even aware of these behaviours until someone points them out to us or something draws our attention to them. These little habits are what makes each of us unique from another, but some of us have more quirks than others.

I’ve been told by many people that I surprise them, that I’m not quite what they expected. Although I’d like to credit this surprise factor to my unparalleled sense of humour, I am starting to think that perhaps it is due to my strange habits. Or what I’d like to call “curiousities” – as in, “Oh, that’s curious” (although no one talks like that anymore).

• I watch Friends in my spare time. In all of my spare time. As in, if I’m not sleeping or working or in class, I am watching Friends. I have watched the entire 10 seasons of Friends at least 10 times. I have memorized every line, and yet I never seem to tire of Chandler, Joey, Ross, Monica, Phoebe, and Rachel. Unless I am in the midst of watching another movie/TV show, Friends is in my DVD player. My roommate doesn’t understand how I can have Friends on repeat incessantly. What she doesn’t know is that, to me, they are almost like real people, waiting for me at home at the end of a long day. Their trivial problems and lame jokes that I’ve heard a hundred times are a welcoming escape for whatever else might be on my mind.
• I have to look good for exams. I will always put thought into my outfit, blow-dry and straighten my hair, and put on make-up, before going to an exam. I know no one’s going to be checking me out during an exam, but the point is that I want to look put-together. I don’t want to look like I was cramming until the last minute because I wasn’t. I don’t believe in last-minute cramming. I figure, if I look ready and confident, maybe I will feel ready and confident. It’s the best good-luck charm/ritual there is.
• I spend more time preparing breakfast than any other meal. I never skip breakfast to begin with, but even when I am too lazy to cook lunch or dinner for myself, I am willing to cook breakfast. Even more so on important dates, like exams and interviews. Somehow, it’s like starting the day off right makes me feel like I accomplished something, and if I feel accomplished by 9am, it’s hard to bring me down the rest of the day.
• I don’t talk to strangers. Even harmless, friendly strangers. It’s not that I don’t know how to chat, it’s that I don’t want to. Perhaps it was ingrained in me when I was much younger, because friendly strangers were not as prevalent in China. But I’ve been in Canada for nearly 10 years and still, I do not want to have conversations with strangers. On the other hand, I can instantly become best friends with someone I’ve just met, but only after a formal introduction.
• I believe in formal introductions. For example, if I am talking to Bob, and Bob’s friend joins our conversation, I will not acknowledge Bob’s friend until Bob says, “SG, meet my friend, X.” And then I will warm to X immediately. But if Bob never introduces us, I will ignore Bob’s friend and probably drift away from their conversation and let them continue without me.
• I use the Thumbnail Method to peel a banana from the stem, and I cannot understand people who peel bananas from the opposite end.
• I always use British spelling, and Canadians who use American spelling irk the hell out of me. I am even more riled when I see American spelling on Canadian sign-posts.
• I always mix wasabi and ginger into my soy sauce when I eat sushi, even though I know it’s wrong. But I eat sushi because of the wasabi-soy sauce mix, so it’s not something I am likely to change anytime soon.
• I like to wear heels but I hate the sound it makes on hardwood or granite floors. To mitigate this, I sometimes tiptoe in high heels so the heel doesn’t hit the floor.
• If there is an ingredient I don’t like in a food, I will pick it all out, every last bit, even if it’s messy. If the bad table manners is really unacceptable in that setting, I will not eat it at all.
• I am a picky eater, but I hate people telling me I am a picky eater. Because when they say it, it sounds like they’re chastising me, whereas in my mind, I am no different from a food critic (i.e. I am critical of the food I eat). On the other hand, I hate to waste food (of food that I actually will eat).
• I only eat Navel oranges by slicing them into wedges with the peel still intact. I will never peel a Navel orange.
• Before a night of drinking, I always make sure I have some fattening foods stored at my apartment. When I get home that night, I will always pig out and watch TV for a few hours until I pass out. So even though I may get home at 2am, I definitely won’t be in bed until 4am.
• I can’t go to bed immediately after getting home, drunk or not. I always have to “de-compress” by watching TV or something, so that my mind is cleared before I go to bed.
• I prefer to hang, rather than fold, my clothes. In my dream home, I’d have huge closets and no drawers at all.
• I do not wear or own yellow clothes.
• I feel naked without nail polish, even though most of the time, I wear clear or nude nail polish.
• I eat cereal as a snack. When I am on vacation, the first thing I buy is a box of cereal, which can be both a snack and a meal.
• If the United Nations does not recognize a state as a country, I do not recognize it as a country. And if anyone ever mentions it, I always immediately point out the fact that that state is not a country, even if it is not the time or place to start a controversial discussion. It’s like an instinctive reaction, even though sometimes I really should keep my mouth shut.
• I like the idea of eating eggplant, but I don’t actually like eggplant.

What are your curiousities?