And My Heart Will Go On
and on, and on... :D
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Sunday, November 21, 2010
I Talk Too Much
Or rather, Malaysians talk too much.
When we first arrived in England, our lecturers told us, 'Go ahead and make friends with the locals. Don't be discouraged if you find that they're not as friendly as you hope, because British people are generally reserved and take some time to open up.'
That's true in some cases.
However, the lecturers forgot to mention that compared to British people, Malaysians talk a lot. In fact, I think we talk too much. And maybe it scares them a little. Or a lot.
In my case, since I'm a Gemini (yeah well, blame it on the horoscope), my mind works a little bit differently and in a conversation, I veer off in many different crazy directions that I forget what the conversation was originally about. And sometimes, I get so engrossed in talking I just go blabbering on and on and on and on and on and on. I once recounted one of my conversations to my friend, and she said 'If I were the person, I'd have punched you in the face for talking too much.' {=_=}
Still, there are people whom I enjoy talking to and who enjoy talking to me. And those conversations have a tendency to be punctuated with lots of laughter, which is good. I still have to remember though, about 85% of conversations in England, or at least in Canterbury, start off with 'Hey, you all right?'
In general, maybe I should learn to control the amount of things I say (well, people's minds work differently, and most of the time they can't catch up, or can't see the link).
On the other hand, this is actually good practice, as I'm going to be a teacher, and I need to talk a lot anyway. ;)
Ciao!
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
~Culture Shock in the UK~
It might seem a bit late for me to write about experiencing culture shock in the United Kingdoms now, since I've already been here for more than a month. However, it also means that I've already had enough time to settle down and observe the things here in Canterbury that's so different from what I'm used to in Malaysia.
1) Dry Toilets
All the toilets here are well-furnished with toilet papers and a good flushing system, but no WATER TAPS/HOSES!!! For us Malaysians who are *ahem* used to cleaning ourselves using our hands rather than the toilet paper, we had to take some time getting used to using the toilet paper (and slowly killing Mother Nature) instead.
2) Traffic and Rules
When the light flashes red in Canterbury, the drivers actually STOP. No, they don't see the yellow light and ram on their gas pedal to speed towards their destination. They slow down, and they stop for pedestrians to cross. Also, drivers give way at any zebra crossings if they see people waiting to cross the road. That's how courteous they are. In Malaysia, you are already risking your life by crossing even when the light is red, just because there will always be one or two motorists who can't wait for one single minute for their turn to move.
3) Recycling
The government, or rather the city council here places a lot of emphasis on recycling. All food packaging are labelled clearly whether they could be recycled, and the council sends workers to pick up recycled stuff once a fortnight. You can argue with me that Malaysia has the 3-coloured bins for recycling too, but frankly, we are still a long, long way behind.
4) Greetings
Somehow, I find the locals here a little 'on the surface'. Sure, they are friendly and everything, but somehow it doesn't go deeper than the surface. For example, when you meet them, they smile at you and say 'Hey, you all right?', but they do not actually wait for an answer. Somehow, I'm baffled as I always tend to answer the question. However, a little more than a month is too short of a time to gauge how friendly British people are, and things might change :D
5) Lack of Bolsters
Bolsters. Hugging pillows. Whatever you call them. No, I can't seem to find any in Canterbury. I miss having something long and soft to hug at night. Oh well, when I get a little richer, I'll try to get one from Ebay.
6) University Culture
Here, people address their lecturers by name, regardless of their position and qualifications. The lecturers treat us as mature adults, and there are not so many restrictions on whatever activities the students want to carry out. No paperwork, no invitation cards, none of the jiggly-wabbly-wasteoftimeandpaper-thingy all students have to go through when trying to organise anything in Malaysia. Now, this is what I call true democracy, and true support for learning.
Anyway, there's more, but these are the few main ones I can think of right now. Ciao!
1) Dry Toilets
All the toilets here are well-furnished with toilet papers and a good flushing system, but no WATER TAPS/HOSES!!! For us Malaysians who are *ahem* used to cleaning ourselves using our hands rather than the toilet paper, we had to take some time getting used to using the toilet paper (and slowly killing Mother Nature) instead.
2) Traffic and Rules
When the light flashes red in Canterbury, the drivers actually STOP. No, they don't see the yellow light and ram on their gas pedal to speed towards their destination. They slow down, and they stop for pedestrians to cross. Also, drivers give way at any zebra crossings if they see people waiting to cross the road. That's how courteous they are. In Malaysia, you are already risking your life by crossing even when the light is red, just because there will always be one or two motorists who can't wait for one single minute for their turn to move.
3) Recycling
The government, or rather the city council here places a lot of emphasis on recycling. All food packaging are labelled clearly whether they could be recycled, and the council sends workers to pick up recycled stuff once a fortnight. You can argue with me that Malaysia has the 3-coloured bins for recycling too, but frankly, we are still a long, long way behind.
4) Greetings
Somehow, I find the locals here a little 'on the surface'. Sure, they are friendly and everything, but somehow it doesn't go deeper than the surface. For example, when you meet them, they smile at you and say 'Hey, you all right?', but they do not actually wait for an answer. Somehow, I'm baffled as I always tend to answer the question. However, a little more than a month is too short of a time to gauge how friendly British people are, and things might change :D
5) Lack of Bolsters
Bolsters. Hugging pillows. Whatever you call them. No, I can't seem to find any in Canterbury. I miss having something long and soft to hug at night. Oh well, when I get a little richer, I'll try to get one from Ebay.
6) University Culture
Here, people address their lecturers by name, regardless of their position and qualifications. The lecturers treat us as mature adults, and there are not so many restrictions on whatever activities the students want to carry out. No paperwork, no invitation cards, none of the jiggly-wabbly-wasteoftimeandpaper-thingy all students have to go through when trying to organise anything in Malaysia. Now, this is what I call true democracy, and true support for learning.
Anyway, there's more, but these are the few main ones I can think of right now. Ciao!
Saturday, November 6, 2010
~Happy Re-Birth Day, Me. 07.11.2010~
It started off as a practical joke...I changed my birthday on Facebook to the 7th of November just to see how many people will go 'Happy Birthday' on my wall XD
Not surprisingly, I received a lot of birthday wishes, some even from the people who've wished me on my real birthday - 3rd of June. That's really funny, and it shows how much people depend on Facebook these days to remember their friends' birthdays...but there were some who remembered though <3 And I can't really blame those who just added me recently either, since they probably don't pay attention to or won't remember birthdays :P
However, after the joke progressed and I read through all the birthday wishes, I felt as though it was really my birthday. Firstly it's because I didn't do much on my real birthday as I was in a camp (BTN) and there were no cakes or stuff. Secondly, it seems like a long time since I've been in Canterbury, and lots of things have happened. Next, birthdays are fun =)
At the same time, I've finally sorted out my feelings and thoughts. It didn't happen gradually - it was more like a flash since I discovered the way out. Before this, I would be dwelling over trivial things, such as other people's selfishness, bad ways, stupidity and such. Those things range from irritating me to making me angry to making me stew in solitude or disturb my emotions in general. Also, I tend to get obsessed over things that I cannot have, at least, not in the near future.
However, now, I've figured out (at least I hope I have) a way to work around these negative emotions. The principles are:
-Smile (and everything will be all right)
-Don't do upon others what you don't want done upon yourself
-When someone does bad things to you, it's not necessary that you should act the same way back
-Go with the flow
-When you can't get/do something, you can always get/do something else to replace it
-Loss of things, as long as they are not lives and your loved ones, are replaceable
-Money hoarded is not happiness
-Remember that not everyone is born with the same strengths and weaknesses as yours
-Don't be jealous of other people, as they might envy some things you have that they don't too
-Forgive and don't hold grudges
-Help people as much as possible without expecting anything in return
So, the 7th of November, 2010 is going to be marked as my REBIRTH DAY.
Let me gain the strength to close the chapter of the old, calculative, sensitive, lazy me, and begin a new chapter of an optimistic, happy, helpful and better me.
Not surprisingly, I received a lot of birthday wishes, some even from the people who've wished me on my real birthday - 3rd of June. That's really funny, and it shows how much people depend on Facebook these days to remember their friends' birthdays...but there were some who remembered though <3 And I can't really blame those who just added me recently either, since they probably don't pay attention to or won't remember birthdays :P
However, after the joke progressed and I read through all the birthday wishes, I felt as though it was really my birthday. Firstly it's because I didn't do much on my real birthday as I was in a camp (BTN) and there were no cakes or stuff. Secondly, it seems like a long time since I've been in Canterbury, and lots of things have happened. Next, birthdays are fun =)
At the same time, I've finally sorted out my feelings and thoughts. It didn't happen gradually - it was more like a flash since I discovered the way out. Before this, I would be dwelling over trivial things, such as other people's selfishness, bad ways, stupidity and such. Those things range from irritating me to making me angry to making me stew in solitude or disturb my emotions in general. Also, I tend to get obsessed over things that I cannot have, at least, not in the near future.
However, now, I've figured out (at least I hope I have) a way to work around these negative emotions. The principles are:
-Smile (and everything will be all right)
-Don't do upon others what you don't want done upon yourself
-When someone does bad things to you, it's not necessary that you should act the same way back
-Go with the flow
-When you can't get/do something, you can always get/do something else to replace it
-Loss of things, as long as they are not lives and your loved ones, are replaceable
-Money hoarded is not happiness
-Remember that not everyone is born with the same strengths and weaknesses as yours
-Don't be jealous of other people, as they might envy some things you have that they don't too
-Forgive and don't hold grudges
-Help people as much as possible without expecting anything in return
So, the 7th of November, 2010 is going to be marked as my REBIRTH DAY.
Let me gain the strength to close the chapter of the old, calculative, sensitive, lazy me, and begin a new chapter of an optimistic, happy, helpful and better me.
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