Because public service is…

On Obama’s first day in office, he

ordered that the salaries of senior staff earning more than $100,000 a year be frozen. … “During this period of economic emergency, families are tightening their belts, and so should Washington,” he told about 30 members of his senior staff. “However long we are keepers of the public trust, we should never forget that we are here as public servants.”

- The Wall Street Journal, January 22, 2009

Singapore reports ’similar’ pay cuts:

Cabinet ministers in recession-hit Singapore will earn a salary of about US$1 million each this year – even after a 20 percent pay cut, a cabinet minister told parliament yesterday.Ministers can expect to take home about 1.54 million Singapore dollars (US$1.04 million) after the cuts, said Teo Chee Hean, the minister in charge of the civil service.

There was no discussion in yesterday’s parliamentary session of Lee’s salary but The Straits Times reported in November that he will earn 3.04 million Singapore dollars after a 19 percent cut due to salary components linked to economic growth.

Singapore officials have said high salaries are necessary to recruit and retain talented individuals, and to prevent corruption.

- AFP, January 20 2009

Hm…

Post-Vacation, Pre-Term

Winter break in Europe was so relaxing and refreshing, my mood is still benefiting mildly from its afterglow.

As holidays go, our tour of Europe moved along slowly. Having just finished a rough term of finals, it was hard for me to get used to the new snail’s pace of life. My travel mates went slowly from destination to destination, taking their own sweet time to snap as many pictures as they pleased and soak up the sights and sounds. I was even a little moody during the first few days in London because the hectic fall term had me accustomed to having goals, time limits and results. I was annoyed that there was no plan or itinerary to stick to.

But as the days passed, I started to appreciate the freedom and leisurely rhythm to our timetable. Wake up at 9am. Take 2 hours to get ready. Leave the hotel at 11am. Walk around ’til dark. Get back at 6pm. Laze around. Sleep. Repeat. I was really enjoying myself. The company, the humor and the freedom. Also, being in a foreign country without the urge to fit in, like I always feel in Ann Arbor, was cathartic.

Most of the time, there was also no computer or internet. I did not check Facebook every 10 minutes or refresh Gmail every 10 seconds. We can live life without email! How amazing. I made a half-hearted resolution to not check email so obsessively when back in Ann Arbor, but of course you know how that goes. Less than one week back here and I’m already glued to the laptop. Here I am, blogging at 8am because I have nothing to do.

School started on Wednesday, and I’m already tired just listening to the professors go through our syllabus, homework due deadlines and exam dates. Hello hard work! You’re back. I can feel you beginning to gnaw away at my soul and sanity.

I wish holidays and their benefits lent a little more permanence to our lives, but that is just what they are – a temporary escape.

Hungarian New Year

I didn’t think celebrating New Year in a strange foreign place like Budapest was going to be any fun, but I was so wrong.

We were planning to finish sightseeing in the evening, then return to the city square to join in the festivities at 11.30pm. But as we were walking back to Sofitel at 6pm from St Stephen’s cathedral, we heard some loud sounds and saw fireworks in the sky! So we headed down to the square and saw a crowd forming a circle around a small clearing, and realized that the fireworks were being launched by civilians! In Hungary you can buy your own fireworks and launch them, how cool! And it was only 6 but the celebrations had already started! But we didn’t want to hang around for 6 hours til midnight, so we returned to our hotel.

Fell asleep after showering because we had spent the whole day on the Buda side at Castle District on Gellert Hill. Haha did I mention that the area on one side of the Danube is called Buda and the other Pest? That’s how Budapest got its name. I thought Aloy was kidding when he first told me that, but there you are, it’s true. Anyway, it was so cold even in the day that I was awfully reluctant to get up at 11pm to go to the square for the festivities, but you simply CANNOT spend New Year alone in a hotel room in Budapest. So I went.

When we arrived at the square, we found it was even more crowded than before. People were setting off fireworks nonstop and I was so enraptured I just started snapping photos indiscriminately.

So we watched the fireworks as we heralded the arrival of 2009. People were blowing some horn-like thing nonstop and making a lot of noise, drinking and partying. I thought standing around was rather boring, so Aloy, Gerphy and I decided to go join in the dancing in front of the live band. It was so fun! People were making merry and the atmosphere was great. Suddenly a strange man reached his arm out towards my head and I was like erp what’s going on? I leaned away so he wouldn’t get me but oh..I realized he wanted to just tap my cap for a bit all in good fun. Then I realized he was kinda cute. (PS. Hungarian boys? Super cute!) After dancing for a bit more, people started to get really into it and a conga line formed! We were so amused and decided to join the conga line! It got longer and longer and longer, until it finally broke up when the song ended.

All in all, it was such a great celebration. Fireworks and people and fun, what more can you ask for?