2013: The World Is Still Alive And Kicking

New Year's Eve is tomorrow. Time passes by so quickly. It only seems like yesterday when I was in college mugging for my A Levels. Now, here I am, in university, far away from home. This year seems like 2 years crammed into one. So much has happened.

The first milestone of the year was finishing my A Levels. A Levels was the first time that I actually took my studies really seriously. I worked my butt off even when my parents don't seem to see it. I am really satisfied with my results even if my parents aren't. I have learned that I'm not living my life for anyone. To me, happiness should be accessible and not that elusive thing people pursue. Everything can bring you happiness, you just need to know where to look.

Second milestone of the year, I got my first job. An internship at a local bank. People were great. Job wasn't too hard. But to be honest, I wasn't happy with my job. This experience showed me that no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't work for the money, not that I was paid a lot. In any case, it was invaluable experience even if it wasn't what I wanted. I do admire people who can work for the money. I can't. But I do appreciate the money I got from it.

Third milestone of the year? Flying off to a place I have never been to before and staying there for the rest of the year. I am not going to lie, this may be the start of the best years of my life. I may not be studying a course that I really want to, but it's been good. So far in university, I have been able to do so much stuff that I would not do if I was back in Malaysia. I guess that's the benefit of not having my parents watching my back every step of the way. I joined the Glee club and no one judged me. I formed a band with some random people I met at a social and played my first gig. I got drunk, puked and no one laughed. I have non-Asian friends. I found that partying is my best stress-reliever. I learned to cook. I saw a fox. I have learned to be myself in front of strangers. I do think that university has brought out a lot in me. Learn to take the leap, you never know where you'll end up.

Milestones aside, it's time to reflect on other aspects of life. Future career-wise? I am definitely much closer if I decide to get a normal job involving banks or accounting (thanks to the internship). In terms of what I really want to do, there's progress but not as much as I would like. Have to work on it. I really admire the people around who are so motivated to get internships and stuff. They know what they want and are working towards it everyday while I am here juggling preparations for 2 different career paths at once. Still no luck in the love department, but I have managed to open up more to people. Maybe next year will my lucky year?

I still do miss home and the people back home. I don't feel like I'm talking to them as much as I should. I feel so distant (literally). I do want to go home. But there is still so much I haven't done yet.

New Year resolutions:
1. Get better at piano. Don't let my bandmates down,
2. Get an acoustic guitar (with my own money) and get my arse down to learning it properly.
3.Apply and get a spring internship or get an internship in a record company.
4. Talk more to people. (I have made progress this year but it could be better.)
5. Ace my first year.
6. Be happy.

Have a happy new year everybody!

YiJiun

Week 14: LATE!!

1. Sorry for the late post. I am writing this on the Monday of Week 15. I only remembered that I haven't updated this blog when I was just about to fall asleep last night. So, here it is.

2. I spent most of the past week in London. (LONDON!!!) Met up with my cousin and a few high school friends. I arrived on Monday just before noon. I was actually supposed to be the last one to arrive on that morning but someone decided to walk all the way from his bus station to my cousin's place, got lost and took 2 hours. So, I wasn't the last to arrive. Anyway, Monday was a terrible day in terms of weather. It was windy and rainy. AND, the wind was so strong that day. The rubbish bins along the roads were filled with broken umbrellas, courtesy of Mr Wind that day.

The highlight of going to London was Boxing Day. For once, I became a shopping enthusiast. I bought a turtleneck shirt thingy, a scarf, a sweater, a pair of pants (from ZARA!), a bag and almost got a Bershka jacket (Why weren't there any smaller sizes?????). Well, there goes my shopping budget for the rest of the year. I also got a care package sent from home (lap cheong!!). I have another care package sitting with my friend in Warwick (yay!).

3. On the way back from London, my train got delayed because of "crew arriving late". When the train was finally ready for boarding, there were tons of people running towards the platform because the previous train for that destination was cancelled. Anyway, I managed to get a seat and fell asleep nearly right away. When I woke up, the train was on its way. Then, the train just stopped at a station and stopped moving. Apparently, another train hit something near the station we were at and all trains were stopped to allow investigation to be carried out. In the end, it was found out that it was a deer which was hit (Poor deer.). That resulted in me only arriving in Coventry 40 minutes past midnight. More than 2 hours late. Sigh. Had to take a cab back to campus.

Signing off,
YiJiun

Week 13: Back in Uni (For Now)

I am finally back from the Czech Republic. I can say that I had a very good time there. The place was beautiful and people were friendly. Even a random Aussie dude who shared a room with my friends and I for 2 nights. That guy really made me want to just go off and travel alone. It seems really interesting. Meeting new people everywhere you go. Not knowing who you'll meet. Maybe I'll do it over spring or summer.

I have to say, the highlight of the trip were the random "truth sessions" that we had. I really learned a lot about my friends and also about myself. We would never know so much about each other had we not gone on this trip together. I will upload the photos of the trip on Facebook later. Lovely trip, really.

Now, I'm back on an empty campus with literally no other people left on my floor. Everybody has gone back for Christmas. I'll be heading down to London again in a few days time for Christmas and to meet up with some high school friends.

I really should be getting started on my 2 essays though. I really didn't think about it when I planned my holidays. I didn't think that the essays would take so much time to do. One of them is actually 100% of the module marks, so I should finish that one properly. The other isn't counted towards the final mark so I'll do that after I finish the first one. Sigh. I'll be taking my laptop down to London to try to do my research if I have any free time.

Till next time,
YIJIUN

Week 12: Off to Prague

This is an early post because I will be leaving for the airport tonight to go to Prague!! Yay!

Spent the past 2 days running around trying to find money changers with my friends because we are lousy planners. Anyway, we cleaned out 2 money changers of the Czech Koruna yesterday in Coventry. Haha. Anyways, I'm really looking forward to going to Prague. I heard that it's very beautiful. Since I'll be going for 9 days, I'll be visiting another 2 towns in the Czech Republic too.

Visited Leamington Spa properly on Sunday. Before this, I had only seen Leamington at night. So Sunday was quite fun. Visited a nice park. Had reasonable Thai food. It was a good day. Expensive though. But if it wasn't so far from campus, I wouldn't mind staying there for my 2nd year.

ANYWAY, see you guys in 9 days!! Bye~~

Week 11: End of Term

It honestly just seems like yesterday that I arrived at Warwick. So weird. Most of my flatmates are leaving for the winter break, so it'll be extremely quiet when I come back from Czech Republic and also after Christmas.

I really had a good time this term and I'm looking forward to the rest of the academic year (not so much to the assignments and exams though). The people that I met here are all so nice and I made so many new friends. I thought that coming to a university with such a big Malaysian population would mean that I'd stick to mostly Malaysians but I actually proved myself wrong. I have made friends with people from so many places that I'm actually impressed with myself. Good job, self (syok sendiri!!!!).

To be honest, academically, I have not done much. So I'll be working through the holidays to finish my two essays and make them as good as I possibly can. I don't want to disappoint myself again.

On non-academic stuff, it has been loads of fun. I joined the Glee club, I joined a band, I went partying, I got drunk. I guess that's quite a good experience of uni life. Next term, I will seriously cut down on partying because it really hurts my wallet sometimes. Only 2 parties max next term. I will do it!

I still cannot believe that my first term at Warwick has already ended. Time passes by so quickly. I haven't even gotten to know so many people properly and now they are going home for Christmas. This is the first year which I won't be going on a vacation with my family but I'll be receiving not one but TWO care packages over Christmas (yay!). I really miss home but I do love Warwick as well. Life is good.

Happy and sleepy,
YiJiun

Week 10: Hmmmm

2 notices of failure came. Not very happy but it was good experience. Better luck next year. Can't wait for the gig tomorrow. :)

It's December already???
Yi Jiun

Week 9: Drunk

I got drunk for the first time in my life last night.

I was supposed to get some work done actually, but I just couldn't. I fell asleep halfway through watching a video. I also fell asleep while writing down notes. So I decided to give myself some time off considering I had a busy week. I had 2 auditions including one for Masters of Show Choir. I also had band practice.

So, I went to a party. Before that, I went to a pre-drinks session. Bad idea. Things started off rather slow. Everybody had some cider. Then subsequently, the vodka and whiskey came out. We were playing a drinking game and I had at least 5 shots of vodka. Since I never gotten drunk before, I didn't know my limits. So I downed a few shots. Finished off a can of cider. Before I even got to the party, I already puked once. Went to the party, danced a bit, then I had to sit down because I didn't feel well. I ended up sleeping for like half an hour. Then I went to the toilet and puked again. But after that I felt much much better. So, to the dance floor! Danced till the party ended. Some people wanted to go to an after party in Coventry but I didn't feel up to it. So I left and met up with some random people I met at the party. Had some noodles and chatted with them. Then I began my lonely trek back to my room. It was so ridiculously cold and I was nearly KO-ed. It was a wonder I managed to even get back to my room in one piece.

Well, everything is well, right? NO! Just a few minutes after I manage to fall asleep, the stupid fire alarm goes off at 4.30am. So it was another 20 minutes of standing in the cold with my flatmates. Anyway, I went back to sleep after that and I woke up at 1pm today. Even now, I feel like shit. Never again will I get drunk. Seriously.

Week 8: What?

This week has honestly been a blur. And it's even because I had a lot to do. I just have no idea what I did this week but I didn't find time to do my work at all. Then when I try to do my work during the weekend, I fail so badly. At this point of time, I'm sort of halfway through a piece of work that I need to finish by tomorrow. And tomorrow, I'll have to finish off 2 pieces of work that is due on Tuesday. Then I'll have Wednesday to do 2 weeks worth of reading because I have to present during a seminar on the following week.

Well, time really flies, doesn't it? My 8th week in the UK is coming to an end. And I can proudly say that in addition to doing what I should be doing, I am also doing what I like to do. Glee is quite fun. Auditions for Masters of Show Choir is next week and I hope I get in. My band is playing in a jam session in about 9 days time. I hope that it'd be as good as the last time. I have to admit though, I am a bit homesick. But that is inevitable.

In the coming week, I decided to prepare all my meals alone. Just to see how I fare. I started yesterday and so far it's been going good although I did manage to ruin my pot. Now I have a stainless steel one. I honestly will never buy any non-stick pot ever again.

Oh oh oh. I actually had a quite interesting night yesterday. I went out to the bar last night but I didn't drink because my throat was killing me. Anyway, 2 of my hallmates and I decided to leave "early" (around 1am) and we didn't take the usual path back and went on sort of an adventure. It was a really interesting walk which involved a lone white lamp among yellow lamps, killing a flower, carrying a random log and climbing over gates. Then we watched an episode of Neverwhere which is just plain weird but it makes me wanna continue watching it because it just so weird.

Bye for now. Life is always lovely. It's always the small things that make me happy.

Signing off with a smile :)
yijiun

Week 7: Early Post

Now that I have sort of fallen behind on my reading, it actually seems more like uni life. Haha. I always imagined uni life to be filled with lots of reading and researching and stuff. And it finally has become what I imagined. I do not necessarily like it but I guess this is the week to settle down and focus on my studies more. Last week was filled with a lot of fun stuff. A band jam session, performance with Glee at the local pub/restaurant, Halloween party. I have done a lot of stuff which I have never done before and I am pretty proud of it.

A lot of my flatmates have reading week and my block was quite empty over the weekend. Many of them went home or went on trips. My neighbor is only returning on Wednesday. I wish I had reading week to catch up on my reading. A couple of assignments also popped up which actually counts towards my first year marks, so I'm trying to get started.

I have to get myself more disciplined. At least for this week. Most of the Malaysians will be gone on Saturday to the Malaysian Games. I'm not going. So, I guess I'll use this opportunity to catch up on my work.

Till next time. :)
Yi Jiun

P.S. I may have a second post coming up this week.

Week 6: Winter is Coming

It's currently late autumn here in the UK. It has been raining a lot and the temperature is dropping. I can't just go out with just a hoodie on top of what I wear now. This year's winter is supposed to be even worse than last year's. I just hope that I am prepared enough.

There is a strike going on today. So all my lectures save one are cancelled. So I am pretty much free today. That is why I'm writing this. I'm trying to update this blog every week. Just as a record of my time here in the UK. I want to be able to relive my life through this blog. That would be cool.

I have been so busy this week. I'm a keyboardist for a band and we performed at a jam night on Monday. Then on the following day, I performed at the Dirty Duck (on-campus pub) with the Glee club. I did a group number and also a solo. I was quite happy with the solo one because I got to perform my own song. The response was quite good, considering it's the first time I performed an original song in public. Although, I should try not to write such dark songs. I don't think people noticed though. Haha.

Till now, I'm still not quite used to how the locals here greet people. They go "You alright?" or "You okay?" or "How are you?" The last one is quite normal. But I still get caught off guard with the first 2. Most of the time I just smile at them unless I remember to open my mouth. I'm actually guilty of adopting their way of saying thanks. It's actually quite fun to say it to the locals.

This post is just a bunch of random stuff thrown together. There isn't even a flow between paragraphs. But I don't freaking care. Byeeeeee.

Week 5: Of Bugs And Talking

You know, those who went to UK and came back all said that they didn't see bugs around. Me? A fly invades my room the first day I move into it. In the following weeks, at least 10 bugs have died in my room because they couldn't get out, including a wasp. Sometimes, I actually feel bad for the bugs. I should stop opening my window. But it gets so stuffy at times.

The weather has been very fickle lately. But today was great. Sunny but not hot. Feels so nice. I hope this sort of weather lasts.

On another unrelated topic, the way people talk around here is really fun to listen to. Haha. You get the locals speaking in British accents with variations (Irish anyone?). Then there are the HK people who speak English like the locals. All of them. It's so weird. Then you have the Malaysians, Singaporeans and Europeans who have their typical accents. It's fun playing around. Like the locals here say "Cheers" as an informal "thank you". And I like to use it sometimes. When I first arrived, I didn't even know why they were saying it until one day, I just woke up and realised that it was their way of thanking people.

I wonder how people back home will react if I just started talking in a British accent when I go home next year. It'd be fun.

Actually enjoying myself better than I thought I would.

Signing off,
YiJiun

Week 3: Me Time

My 3rd week at Warwick is nearly over and it has been so hard to find "me time".

If you didn't know, I'm the type of person who needs some "me time" at least once a week. I didn't have any on the first week. I had like an hour last week. And I'm having one now which I hope will last for at least 2 hours.

For me, "me time" is for me to escape from everything happening around me. A short time when I can just stop interacting with anybody both virtually and physically. Even back home where life was not as fast paced as it is here, I would spend hours just listening to music and staring at the ceiling (and also occasionally falling asleep in the process).

I have been busy with only 2 societies so far. Only 2. And the Malaysian Society hasn't even started doing society stuff yet. I already have a bunch of seminar work that I have to finish. So, yeah, quite busy. I don't think that things will ease up anytime soon. I'll probably have to wait till Christmas break to enjoy more "me time". Till then, I'll just have to be content with 1/2 hour sessions each week.

Cheers from the UK,
YiJIUN

Wash Wash Wash

Okay. I'm surprised at how little time I spend in my room. It's so hard to even find time to write this post.

Warwick has been nice so far. Except the cooking part. Okay, not exactly the cooking part. It's the washing part. I don't understand how a person needs to wash so many things just to cook a simple meal. It's ridiculous.

Today, I wanted to cook instant noodles and fry it together with bacon and egg. But then, I thought of the amount of things I had to wash. Pot, pan, plate, fork, spatula, knife, chopping board. Okay, not so fun. Even breakfast ain't fun. I ate cereal for 3 days in a row and I still had to wash the bowl and spoon.

I have managed to avoid cooking alone so far because I can do a smaller part instead of having to everything myself. The bolognese spaghetti with bacon and mushrooms was actually quite nice, in my opinion.

First real week of the term hasn't been much. No lectures this week. Only induction programs. Lectures will officially start next week. I hope that everything's uphill from here.

Short One From UK

About a week has passed. My first week in Warwick was actually quite nice. Met a lot of people from all over the world (especially Malaysians). It's been a bit crazy. But I'll update again later. I'm tired. Bye.

One Day More

I'm scared. I'm nervous. I'm excited. My flight tomorrow night will mark the start of a new chapter and a new story in my life. The past week was like the prologue to it.

I will be moving to live in a new environment halfway across the world for approximately 9 months. That is if I don't stay back during the summer to work or something.

I have been packing my stuff and I didn't realise there were so much stuff that I want to have with me. Of course, there is no way I will be able to bring everything I want with me. So a few things have to be left behind. The hardest thing to leave at home is actually my guitar. I'm not going to lie, I suck at playing the guitar. If I brought it with me, people will probably complain about my guitar playing. But that guitar has helped me write quite a few songs that I am pretty proud of. It has been a better guitar to me than I have been it's owner. Sigh.

I hope that the next 3 years will be good to me. I hope that Warwick will be good home for me. I hope that the people I will meet there will be good to me. I hope that my flight will take off and land safely. And most of all, I hope that I will be good to me and everybody else.

Cherishing the moment,

YiJiun