Reminescence

Well I've been in the UK for almost two weeks, and I'm entering my third week in a wholly foreign country.
How have I been?
Hmm... I've been better but I am surviving.

Define the phrase 'better but surviving'

I can't say exactly that I'm thriving, nor can I say that it's a torture here.
Homesickness hasn't struck, and I don't cry myself to sleep every night.
Well that's because my dad wants me to call home via Skype every day (which I sometimes don't because I have a life and I'm busy).
But I do miss mom's cooking, but never to the point of crying.

I do miss my bed and my room, considering that the my bathroom at home is merely a few feet away from my bed.
I have to climb up two flights of stairs just to get to the bathroom of the block that I'm staying in.
There are perks to staying on the ground floor though, like I can keep my cookware and cutlery in my room instead of in the kitchen and that I don't need to walk up and down the stairs just to get my bowl I left in my room.
I do miss my big screen TV at home, and the shows that I watch.
Here, you have to have a TV license to watch live TV; pre-records are not tied down to that rule though.
I miss my mint green van, too.
It's true that I'm much healthier here, since I walk to class and to buy grocery every day.
It's the bad weather days like today that I miss the fact that the only form of transportation I have are my own two legs.
Sure, there's always the public transportation but what's the point?
It's monetary, carbon footprint and health (walking is very healthy, more so if you're carrying stuff) over getting sick or getting wet.

The cost of living here isn't too high though, disregarding the exchange rate.
I still can get vegetables and home ware for a few pence.
For instance, a head of cauliflower is only 40 pence at the market and I got my clothes detergent for only 1.98 at Wilkinsons.
A meal out is sure to be dear but since I got my rice cooker (yes, I finally got it), I've been cooking everyday.
The costs only add up to about half of a meal outside.

The first week of classes have commenced and they are generally simple.
As my lecturer Mdm Price would say, it's only to bring everyone up to the same level.
And yes, I'm the only Malaysian Chinese girl in the whole class; the others are locals or foreigners from other countries like Annabelle from Mauritius and Irina from Belarus.
There are also plenty of mature students who come from different walks of life; some are married with families while others are working.
I guess I am pretty lucky (or unlucky, considering the fact that I'm the odd one out) to be in this course and this situation.
I wouldn't be having any final examinations in the whole of the first year. (No, I'm not kidding)
But what I will have would be assessments and I'll be assessed for most of the labs that I'll be doing; I'm having the first lab assessment tomorrow on pipetting.
Biochemistry is currently like my first semester in Foundation Chem; I'm pretty sure it'll deviate to the biology part very soon.
Human Physiology... The first lecture was about the nervous system, which I've already learned back in Biology 102.
They did mention that it'll be a rather easy year for those who did A-levels or equivalent.
Did I mention that I signed up for Japanese classes?
Yeah, finally did.
First class is this Wednesday, which is immediately after Biochemistry.

I've also met most of my housemates (it's still a house no matter how you see it).
Darnish, Eilvane, Beatrice, Sammy, Adela, Hannah, Danielle.
Nope, there are currently no guys in our block.

I haven't got a permanent phone yet.
Well long story short, they said I wasn't in the UK long enough to qualify.
I don't know what it has to do with the duration of my stay in the UK, since Allen got his iPhone a day before I went to register for a Nokia X6.
It's 20 per month, which is approved by my dad.

After the whirlwind of going overseas to study, I haven't actually forgotten about my PSP games.
I've already completed SYK and am currently waiting for 恋愛番長　命短し、恋せよ乙女！Love is Power, ワンド オブ フォーチュン～未来へのプロローグ～ ポータブル and other 乙女 games from オトメイト.
And then, there's always my special 不思議の国のアリス.

Well, I got to stop writing now because a human's concentration span is only up to 20 minutes.
Since it takes an average person 3 minutes to read a page of text, I'm sure my long babble has already taken up most if not all of the 20 minutes.
So, I'll see you the next time I feel like writing.

PS: If you're interested in seeing the pictures of life in the UK, currently limited to Sunderland (Tyne and Wear), here's the link- Winternite's Life and Times in Sunderland