♥
Thursday, March 09, 2006
Almost A Month
Hi Everyone!
It’s me again. So sorry for not being able to update everyone what’s happening over here earlier! Definitely not my intention but a result of circumstances. Especially those who dropped an e-mail to find out how’s things here. Anyway here’s the latest update, after almost a month! Read on if you are keen and stop if you get bored! It’s going to be lengthy!
First of all, a big thank you to those who sent me off at the airport and those who gave me a call before I became un-contactable. Seeing and hearing all of you one last time is precious to me *hugs*
A big thanks also to those who gave me a bag and mouse for my laptop! My apple feels so protected and secure! I’m sorry for not being able to thank you personally!
Here’s what happened at the airport for those who missed the action: had lots of things to bring over and my luggage definitely exceeded the limit even though the kind lady over the counter gave me extra luggage weight and that my sis traveled with me. Thank God, there were some of you who could bring over or ship over to me, esp my precious textbooks! I wouldn’t be able to make it without you guys!
The flight was smooth and we managed to reach Canberra safely. We were very fortunate to be given comfortable seats with big leg space and I had a good sleep on the plane after nights of packing and unpacking my luggage. There was a little hiccup though. We missed the connecting flight from Melbourne to Canberra because we were guided to the wrong place in the airport! But all was fine, as we just had to hop on the next flight, which was only an hour away. Hohoho, lesson learnt. Know the layout of the airport well and ask for directions from many, many people instead of just 1 person!
Life was a bit hectic at the beginning; trying to settle down, buy groceries and also complete the admin work like enrolment, deciding which modules to take and getting my student pass and computer access. It was frustrating trying to get to the right place to have them done. Thank God it was over and that He sent wonderful people to help me. They certainly made it easier.
The campus is a very big campus. I have to walk about 10 to 15 minutes to reach my faculty and 25 to 30 minutes to the city to buy my groceries! There’s no internal shuttle bus within campus and there’s only 1 bus to the city every half an hour. I have to walk around with a bus timetable if I plan to get on a bus. Anyway, here’s something interesting I noticed. Everyone here is so grateful and polite to the bus driver. They will greet the bus driver, ‘Good morning’ or “Good afternoon’ when they get on the bus and ‘Good bye, See you later!’ when they alight. Funny huh? Will you do that to our bus captain who scolds us when we refuse to move to the rear of the bus or when we ran so fast to catch our bus only to see it disappear further and further away? Ha, not likely right? And well, the likelihood of seeing the bus driver later is pretty remote after I get off and back to my college. Just some polite talk I guess.
The weather here is very hot and dry. It's still summer! There is cool breeze every now and then, which makes you think that the day is cool. In fact, you are losing all the moisture without realizing it! The skin would just dry up and demands loads of moisturizer to nourish it. The sun is not very forgiving either so sunblock and sunglasses are a must when I go out. If not I’ll contract skin cancer and go blind very soon!
Canberra is a very nice and quiet place. The place has very few tall buildings and has lots of greenery and trees surrounding every area. There’s no busy street or happening nightlife. Pubbing is a quite activity here and it closes really early by standards elsewhere. It is generally safe to travel around at night but one still needs to be careful. Urban legend has it that the campus has a Unibus that operates at night every hour to ferry students back to the colleges because a girl was violated and killed. Her dad advocated for it and is the driver of this service. Students here are reminded again and again to use the unibus or have a friend to walk together in campus at night.
Classes have started and I must say that the lecturers are very knowledgeable in their field and confident in delivering their lectures. They are also pretty casual: lecturing in jeans or Birkenstock sandals! Oh well, they’ve got 'substance'… so it’s enough to make up for their appearances.
Generally I feel that the quality of education being delivered here is good and I’m learning much more things. The facilities, however, are not too good with some still replying on OHP projector, which I thought should be kept in the museum. Haven’t we advanced to visualizer or the computer? Maybe it’s because of the lecturers’ ability to just stand there in front of everyone and explain the concepts without much reference on their end.
I’m trying to gain my momentum, after all, I've not studied for so long! Trying to recall what I've learnt while waiting for my antique lecture notes and textbooks. I was demoralized at the beginning as I could not understand what’s going on during lectures and I could not do my tutorials. I hate it when I don’t know what I am doing! Have been spending lots of time in the library studying. Hahaha even during weekends. Oh my… I’ve never been so prepared for school…
About my shelter, it is great! The place is better than I expected. My apartment mates are 4 lovely girls and I love them! We share the apartment in the College at the uni where we share the living room, kitchen and bathing facilities. They are from Japan, China, Sydney and Singapore (2 of us from Singapore). Generally, the postgraduates living in my College are left on our own thus the area is quiet and we keep to ourselves but things are picking up as the tutor, taking care of my block organized some activities for us to get to know one another. The undergraduates, on the other hand, were a lot noisier and active. They were having parties every night during O week!
I've made a couple of friends from Malaysia and Singapore but the Malaysians were a whole lot friendlier and warmer than Singaporeans. Found someone who is doing almost the same courses as me and she stays in the same college! We’ve been going for classes together. Well, at least going for classes is not a lonely affair.
Generally the people (Australians and many other countries) here have a very good impression of Singapore. They find that Singapore is a very beautiful place and Singaporeans are very nice people. Plus the fact that I studied in NUS before, they are so impressed because NUS is a very good university. Ha, makes me really grateful that I'm a Singaporean and I think we have an advantage for the fact that we can speak good English and Chinese. It really helps me a lot in communicating to my lecturers and making friends. Got to thank God and MM Lee. Hahaha!
I’m still hopping around for a church and a Christian organization to join. So pray for me! Can’t find any at the moment. Guess, I’m really spoilt in BBTC!
I am pretty adapted to the environment here except for not having ready access to the news. Reading the newspaper and watching Channelnews Asia or the news on Channel 5 used to be a daily affair. But I hardly get to do it here. I feel very cut off from the world! Here, damn 'ulu' but a good place to retreat, reflect, read the bible and study. But I still want the news!!!
Ha, my other complain is that it is difficult to surf the web and send regular e-mails because of the restriction they place on internet usage plus the computer access in my room is not working, which I have to pay! I have to ration my usage and money if not I have to hit the library for free wireless access if I want to surf for hours. I really hate this system! The web and the news is something I can’t do without!!!
I guess being so cut off from all the available entertainment possibility, it forces students here to really study. Alas! There is an underground software floating among the student population which allows us to download songs, movies and drama serials for free and it does not eat into your limit! Whoah! Finally some free stuff!
Studying fills most of the time here and entertainment is down to zero. It gets very quiet at night and there’s hardly anything to do except to study or chat with friends. After studying, there’s just no energy to do anything else but rest and sleep. Was my time better spent than I was in Singapore? I don’t know… but time was freed up to build relationships than to watch the telly and the constant need to pack the day with activities, which sometimes I do not know why I do. New knowledge is acquired, new relationships are formed and new lifestyle is adopted. But one thing I miss are the faces of everyone who are dear to me in Singapore.
The blog is nothing much. Just my thoughts and pics. The bare minimum. Nothing personal, nothing fancy. No juicy gossip, no malicious talk, no gorgeous pictures. Just some updates about what’s happening here. Wanna put up the pics I've taken but this will take some time... wait ok?
Meanwhile, take care you guys and update me about what’s going on at your end too!
♥
Thursday, March 09, 2006
Almost A Month
Hi Everyone!
It’s me again. So sorry for not being able to update everyone what’s happening over here earlier! Definitely not my intention but a result of circumstances. Especially those who dropped an e-mail to find out how’s things here. Anyway here’s the latest update, after almost a month! Read on if you are keen and stop if you get bored! It’s going to be lengthy!
First of all, a big thank you to those who sent me off at the airport and those who gave me a call before I became un-contactable. Seeing and hearing all of you one last time is precious to me *hugs*
A big thanks also to those who gave me a bag and mouse for my laptop! My apple feels so protected and secure! I’m sorry for not being able to thank you personally!
Here’s what happened at the airport for those who missed the action: had lots of things to bring over and my luggage definitely exceeded the limit even though the kind lady over the counter gave me extra luggage weight and that my sis traveled with me. Thank God, there were some of you who could bring over or ship over to me, esp my precious textbooks! I wouldn’t be able to make it without you guys!
The flight was smooth and we managed to reach Canberra safely. We were very fortunate to be given comfortable seats with big leg space and I had a good sleep on the plane after nights of packing and unpacking my luggage. There was a little hiccup though. We missed the connecting flight from Melbourne to Canberra because we were guided to the wrong place in the airport! But all was fine, as we just had to hop on the next flight, which was only an hour away. Hohoho, lesson learnt. Know the layout of the airport well and ask for directions from many, many people instead of just 1 person!
Life was a bit hectic at the beginning; trying to settle down, buy groceries and also complete the admin work like enrolment, deciding which modules to take and getting my student pass and computer access. It was frustrating trying to get to the right place to have them done. Thank God it was over and that He sent wonderful people to help me. They certainly made it easier.
The campus is a very big campus. I have to walk about 10 to 15 minutes to reach my faculty and 25 to 30 minutes to the city to buy my groceries! There’s no internal shuttle bus within campus and there’s only 1 bus to the city every half an hour. I have to walk around with a bus timetable if I plan to get on a bus. Anyway, here’s something interesting I noticed. Everyone here is so grateful and polite to the bus driver. They will greet the bus driver, ‘Good morning’ or “Good afternoon’ when they get on the bus and ‘Good bye, See you later!’ when they alight. Funny huh? Will you do that to our bus captain who scolds us when we refuse to move to the rear of the bus or when we ran so fast to catch our bus only to see it disappear further and further away? Ha, not likely right? And well, the likelihood of seeing the bus driver later is pretty remote after I get off and back to my college. Just some polite talk I guess.
The weather here is very hot and dry. It's still summer! There is cool breeze every now and then, which makes you think that the day is cool. In fact, you are losing all the moisture without realizing it! The skin would just dry up and demands loads of moisturizer to nourish it. The sun is not very forgiving either so sunblock and sunglasses are a must when I go out. If not I’ll contract skin cancer and go blind very soon!
Canberra is a very nice and quiet place. The place has very few tall buildings and has lots of greenery and trees surrounding every area. There’s no busy street or happening nightlife. Pubbing is a quite activity here and it closes really early by standards elsewhere. It is generally safe to travel around at night but one still needs to be careful. Urban legend has it that the campus has a Unibus that operates at night every hour to ferry students back to the colleges because a girl was violated and killed. Her dad advocated for it and is the driver of this service. Students here are reminded again and again to use the unibus or have a friend to walk together in campus at night.
Classes have started and I must say that the lecturers are very knowledgeable in their field and confident in delivering their lectures. They are also pretty casual: lecturing in jeans or Birkenstock sandals! Oh well, they’ve got 'substance'… so it’s enough to make up for their appearances.
Generally I feel that the quality of education being delivered here is good and I’m learning much more things. The facilities, however, are not too good with some still replying on OHP projector, which I thought should be kept in the museum. Haven’t we advanced to visualizer or the computer? Maybe it’s because of the lecturers’ ability to just stand there in front of everyone and explain the concepts without much reference on their end.
I’m trying to gain my momentum, after all, I've not studied for so long! Trying to recall what I've learnt while waiting for my antique lecture notes and textbooks. I was demoralized at the beginning as I could not understand what’s going on during lectures and I could not do my tutorials. I hate it when I don’t know what I am doing! Have been spending lots of time in the library studying. Hahaha even during weekends. Oh my… I’ve never been so prepared for school…
About my shelter, it is great! The place is better than I expected. My apartment mates are 4 lovely girls and I love them! We share the apartment in the College at the uni where we share the living room, kitchen and bathing facilities. They are from Japan, China, Sydney and Singapore (2 of us from Singapore). Generally, the postgraduates living in my College are left on our own thus the area is quiet and we keep to ourselves but things are picking up as the tutor, taking care of my block organized some activities for us to get to know one another. The undergraduates, on the other hand, were a lot noisier and active. They were having parties every night during O week!
I've made a couple of friends from Malaysia and Singapore but the Malaysians were a whole lot friendlier and warmer than Singaporeans. Found someone who is doing almost the same courses as me and she stays in the same college! We’ve been going for classes together. Well, at least going for classes is not a lonely affair.
Generally the people (Australians and many other countries) here have a very good impression of Singapore. They find that Singapore is a very beautiful place and Singaporeans are very nice people. Plus the fact that I studied in NUS before, they are so impressed because NUS is a very good university. Ha, makes me really grateful that I'm a Singaporean and I think we have an advantage for the fact that we can speak good English and Chinese. It really helps me a lot in communicating to my lecturers and making friends. Got to thank God and MM Lee. Hahaha!
I’m still hopping around for a church and a Christian organization to join. So pray for me! Can’t find any at the moment. Guess, I’m really spoilt in BBTC!
I am pretty adapted to the environment here except for not having ready access to the news. Reading the newspaper and watching Channelnews Asia or the news on Channel 5 used to be a daily affair. But I hardly get to do it here. I feel very cut off from the world! Here, damn 'ulu' but a good place to retreat, reflect, read the bible and study. But I still want the news!!!
Ha, my other complain is that it is difficult to surf the web and send regular e-mails because of the restriction they place on internet usage plus the computer access in my room is not working, which I have to pay! I have to ration my usage and money if not I have to hit the library for free wireless access if I want to surf for hours. I really hate this system! The web and the news is something I can’t do without!!!
I guess being so cut off from all the available entertainment possibility, it forces students here to really study. Alas! There is an underground software floating among the student population which allows us to download songs, movies and drama serials for free and it does not eat into your limit! Whoah! Finally some free stuff!
Studying fills most of the time here and entertainment is down to zero. It gets very quiet at night and there’s hardly anything to do except to study or chat with friends. After studying, there’s just no energy to do anything else but rest and sleep. Was my time better spent than I was in Singapore? I don’t know… but time was freed up to build relationships than to watch the telly and the constant need to pack the day with activities, which sometimes I do not know why I do. New knowledge is acquired, new relationships are formed and new lifestyle is adopted. But one thing I miss are the faces of everyone who are dear to me in Singapore.
The blog is nothing much. Just my thoughts and pics. The bare minimum. Nothing personal, nothing fancy. No juicy gossip, no malicious talk, no gorgeous pictures. Just some updates about what’s happening here. Wanna put up the pics I've taken but this will take some time... wait ok?
Meanwhile, take care you guys and update me about what’s going on at your end too!
