hi people.. i know it has been a week ever since i ''disappeared'' from your ''life''.. haha.. well, jus wanna assure you that i am fine.. it is horribly cold here though.. finally i have had my class timetables settled (last week).. uni life is really smething realllly different.. i have had my fair share of struggles.. trust me.. you do not know what emotional roller coaster i went thru.. =(

about where i am staying.. i m staying at cReston cOllege which is just a zebra crossing away from the uni so it is reallly convenient.. BUT it is a cAtholic ''themed'' place so there are quite a number of restrictions (WHICH I WAS QUITE PISSED OFF UPON KNOWING THEM DURING INTERVIEW TIL THE POINT OF I WANTED TO FIND ANOTHER PLACE TO STAY. since everywhere is packed, if i were to stay in an apartment and i am to lazy to cook my meals, i rather NOT EAT.. seriously.. afterall everything is expensive here..) thats how irritated i was.. hmm.. where to begin.. maybe i will jus list a couple.. like there is NO teevee watching, NO locking of doors, NO personal telephones in rooms, NO watching of vcds on personal laptops in own room (ESPECIALLLLLLY DRAAAMAAsS !! you know me.. i brought a few unfinished drama dvds and concert dvds..), NO internet in own room (means why did i even buy and bring a laptop from spore? and means grace's youtube manuel for me is not useable.. webcam on msn? fathope.. etc).........

bUt !! my parents really like the place.. like it is clean and ''everything'' is provided.. also, God cleared my fustrations by giving me a place to stay there.. (if you dun understand the previous sentence, you're normal coz it is really hard to explain in words..) anyway, lets EVALUATE the good points okie ? afterall, i still have 16 weeks to stay there (til i fly back spore to see you guys!! muackzz!!).. hmm.. meals are provided, everyone has there OWN room (though the bathroom is shared), they have people to vacuum your room, they wash the bed linens for you, it is an all-girls dorm, they have ''high-class'' kinda of ''doing things'' (LIKE THEY USE DIFFENENT PLATES FOR MAIN DISH AND FRUITS ?!? i was like why cant use the same plates ? you save water that way ! (by the way i am too used to taiwan's way of environmental friendlyness) and no one had any answer. haiz. like simple dinner also use two set of forks and knifes ? arg. come-on. you say treat the place like your home. but I SURELY DUN WASTE SO MANY PLATES AND UTENSILS TO EAT !!)... nothing to say seriously..

i can or rather, we can only surf internet in the common room WHERE THERE IS NO PRIVACY ? 5 computers only.. for 26 people staying there ? o yar, half of the people there are like studying their masters and phds.. i am like ONLY A FRESHMAN STARTING SEMESTER ?!? anyway, no privacy to webcam !! and the internet is realllly slow.. it swallows your window browser at times too.. haiz.. but i think i shld be thankful that i hav a place to sleep i guess..

the people here hav a lot of fillers.. if you understand what i mean.. they dun talk straight to the point.. they play hide-and-seek first then maybe perhaps later you may hear something related to your question.. haiz.. and they smile a lot.. a lot of HI, HOWS YOUR DAY etc.. ALLLL the greetings you can ever ask for.. yes it is nice BUT NOT EVRYTIME please.. and they dong4 bu2 dong4 jiu4 smile.. AND I HAV TO RETURN WITH A SMILE AND MAYBE MURMUR SMETHING.. it is jus.. not our chinese custom like to smile 24/7 bah.. then at the dinner table (or sme gathering), if you dun smile or talk, they ask if you're tired or in a daze.. does their dictionary hav the words ''normally silent'' ?? haiz.. do you know if you smile toooo much, you get winkles around your mouth earlier in life ?? anywayz..

so first few days it was a struggle coz i had to get soo much stuffs in order BUT i hav NO IDEA about doing them, the WEATHER is horribly freezing cold (news say it is the coldest winter australia has had in 10-20 years esp that faithful night that we touched down in sydney.. it was the lowest temperature sydney has had for years.. wao.. wad perfect excellent timing..), the time here is TWO WHOLE HOURS AHEAD OF SPORE (you know i LOVE to sleeeep) etc..

BUT i am extremely thankful that both my parents came with me here.. if they were no around, i would have probably hide in a corner and rot to freezing death.. seriously.. they helped in alot of ways.. and after most stuffs were settled, we went around sydney.. the usual opera hse, harbour bridge, bondi beach, chinatown etc.. ate quite a substantial amt of seafood esp osters.. my newly added into seafood list seafood.. haha.. it was really a fabulous time spent with my parents.. i mean.. they bicker every now and then, and i simply just tag behind them.. in the first few days, my mind is really not in the right place.. (i never smiled. i hardly open my mouth to speak. my face was 24/7 black. the thought of giving-up and running back home was ALWAYS on my mind and dream. scary dreams i had. wondered whether i really shld be here. etc) simply tooo many worries.. til one day we went to the beach.. the waves were slamming against the shore.. the wind ready to blow me away into the air.. then i smiled.. for the first time in 4 days.. so you could imagine.. that face of mine when i am moody and down.. parents esp mum keep saying my face shows as though they are gonna put me into jail.. well, i was REALLLY unhappy.. dad keep pinching my cheeks to make me smile.. then when they wanted to take photos of the uni to show my big bro, i wouldnt smile then they ask alot of time then i smile for one second.. jus for the camera. that was the situation.. but they never once fare up.. never once they scold me for my blackfaceness and non-responding mouth.. but over the wkends, my mood was very much lighten up.. i talked more and we would hold hands (shi zi ko.. you know the dating kinda of holding hands.. that's is with my mum.. and i would hook my arm around dad's.. like marching down the aisle in weddings) as we walked along the streets.. so it was a realllly good time with eachother's company..

but all good thing gotta come to an end.. they flew back to spore today.. i rushed to where they were staying after my lessons (thank God that there was NO afternn class coz if not i cant spend time with them bfore they flew).. we had lunch tgt and walked the nearby streets tgt.. i jus couldnt help tearing evry now and then.. dad didnt allow me to send them off at the airport though it is realllly near.. so all i could do was a final hug and goodbye.. and tears (i tried so hard to hold them back.. didnt wan parents esp mum to be sad) kept running.. their taxi dropped me off at my dorm doorstep and i simply run back to my room to cry.. (and i am crying now as i typed this..)

in case you start crying too.. let me tell you smething happy.. i made a new fren today.. when i call smeone a fren, i really mean it.. as in i like the person's character and it doesnt clash with mine.. she is from hk and she has EXACTLY same views of the dorm as me.. likes 5566, wu zun and taiwanese dramas etc.. and most importantly, we can relate coz we are of same age.. just that she is into her second semester already.. last nite, we and another two (one exchange student from hk and another foreign student from taiwan) did smething we shldnt do.. haha.. guess.. anyway, i gotta sign off le.. coz i'm using the library computer (luckily we stay close to sch and in the day, there is alot of students using the computers in the lib) and library is closing soon.. til nxt time, nitez..