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Sunday, March 20, 2011
12:51 AM

Hello! It's been a while, I know. Needless to say, I've been terribly busy fighting for my "survival"!

Well, it's all fun and games until mum and dad left. After that I finally had a real taste of what it's like to live on your own. No one to cook for you, no one to buy your groceries, no one to wash your clothes, no one to wake you up, no one to bring you home from school... On top of worrying all of that, the first two weeks of uni were just horrible. I didn't know anyone and I always had to check the map to know where I'm going. I meant the campus map! It is so huge. So yeah, I kind of do a lot of walking everyday.

I'm doing four subjects. Engineering Systems Design 1, Informatics 1, Accelerated Mathematics 1 and Japanese 1A. I'm doing Japanese as a breadth subject and yes, we have to choose a subject outside of our field of study. I chose Japanese because I've always wanted to go to Japan and I thought it would be cool to learn a new language. It's been three weeks and I can tell you it's not easy. They are expecting us to learn really fast and I hardly have time for that... Anyway, the subject I struggled the most during the first two weeks was Maths. I have four lectures per week (and that annoys me a lot) and the pace is really fast. I couldn't catch up at all. Everyone else seemed OK with the pace and they seemed to be able to catch things quickly. Made me feel really stupid. And everyone seemed to have friends. I felt so stressed out and depressed for the first two weeks, but I managed to get through it, thanks to a bunch of people who were there to support me.

Last two weeks, I was either doing chores or doing assignments or doing revision 24/7. I felt like I don't have a life at all. There are times when I wished I could give up and go back home, but I just kept reminding myself why I chose this path at the first place. Plus it's always a bit better if there's someone to hang out with. Someone who shares the same cultural background with you, more specifically. There's Ket's eldest sister (Ching) with me. She's great. Been taking care of me and cooking dinners for the both of us. She's a good cook! I don't know how I'll survive without her here. Because sometimes I just can't stand speaking English everyday! And then there's Ah Boy who hangs out with me every Friday. We both have a long lunch break on Friday so we'll just walk to Lygon Street and have lunch there. Too many restaurants on that street. I don't think I can even finish visiting them in one year. So yeah, I'm glad I still have both of them. Today my cousin just came back to Melbourne so things will only get better from here!

Just last week I asked myself if I will ever be happy living here alone because I wasn't happy at all at that point of time. But this week things have been better. Last week I revised my Maths before doing the assignment. I got full marks for the assignment. Perhaps it's not really a big deal, but I was super relieved. This week I've started to get the hang of things. I can understand the Maths lectures now. My favourite subject has to be Informatics. Not much contact hours per week and it is far more interesting. We've been learning formulas and functions on Google spreadsheet. Kind of like programming. Next week we start learning Python, a programming language. Can't wait! Engineering has to be the most boring one though. I always wanna fall asleep during the afternoon lectures.

I've started to appreciate the freedom and solitude now. Reminds me of why I was so excited to leave Brunei at the first place. I now have my own room (with a balcony! - show you guys some pictures next time). I am free to choose my lifestyle now - what to eat, etc. And every morning I enjoy walking to the tram stop. Mocha in my KeepCup, cool weather, beautiful plants, great music on my iPod... And there are so many things here. Whatever you want to buy, whatever you want to eat. As long as you have the cash. I'm also keeping good track of my expenses. Make sure I don't spend over my budget. Yesterday after parting ways with Ah Boy, I went to Borders and just hang around the bookstore. Felt awesome. I bought a music mag and an adorable mini "amplifier". Loving my new toy!


So yeah, I'm enjoying life here now. Don't you guys worry about me! I'll be fine! Blog again soon!