Goodbye ’09, welcome 2010~

2009 came and went just in a blink of eye! 

It is a wonder how time passed so fast, the hours and the weeks. Looking back it seems just yesterday Sue Yi was sharing her 2009 resolutions with me.

One year away from home has been rather challenging. Doing things on my own, being more independent and taking care of myself. Managing time, self and of course, money( especially with the exchange rate difference) ! The toughest part would be handling homesickness. Being pretty close to my parents and younger brother made me miss them terribly but instead of it being an obstacle, it became my drive to strive for the better.

Life in Sydney was not a total culture shock to me with a large population being Asians and due to the fact that I have been overseas quite often. However there is a difference between being in a country for a short holiday and studying for long term. It was nice experiencing all four seasons although it does not snow here and we have hot bright Christmas instead of a white Christmas. Of course the tough part was handling the weather change when the season changes, especially right before winter.

Uni life is not as smooth a ride as most people claim it to be. First year in university has been exciting, acquiring knowledge of all sorts, an education that will be a stepping stone for my career. A glimpse of my future life. Certain times it seems like a breeze and yet at others, it can certainly weigh you down, with the weekly tests and chasing assignments datelines. The main hurdles were overcoming my short term memory and lack of self discipline at times. Not to mention, laziness.

Aside with studies, uni life is interesting. Making friends with people from different nationalities, may it be the locals, ABCs or Asians is an eye opener. I have by far friends from Australia itself, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Thailand, Korea, India, Singapore and Malaysia. They have taught me much, Holly with the history and culture of Australia, Bradley with his wisdom in most areas of studies as well as the lifestyle of Australia and Carol, David and Cecily regarding China.  Hopefully my circle of friends will keep on expanding.

Even Malaysians from different states shared much with me- Kai Xian with his knowledge about his Hainanese  background (Suukee Suukee we are all suukee). I even learnt to play mahjung and won a few times. =P Of course, the few Malaysians that played a large role in my first year is Eugene, Ivan and Kai Yi. They have been such great friends, guiding me and helping me all the way even right before I arrived in Sydney. I am touched by their great hearts and how much they can share- the time, knowledge and effort they put in.  Without them, I would have been one lost sheep.

Each and everyone has left their footprint in my life, may their presence be short term or long term and I really appreciate everything I have learnt from them, consciously or subconsciously. I may not be able to share anything with them but I will definately pass the knowledge on. They have taught me to be a much better person.

I too have been active, volunteering around uni, trying out the gym (once or twice), applying for jobs and recently managed to get a part time job in Coles! Not only that, I have joined in the fun of different activities organised by the Arc Club and ISS in uni from weekly parties on Thursdays to the trip to Manly as well as going for free food in the ISS lounge and free BBQ. Besides that, I have visited the Careers day and UNSW open day which taught me new things from different areas of career and was pretty fun, not to mention getting freebies. The greatest satisfaction was helping out juniors that came in for the July intake.

Last year has been a year of ups and downs but away with the downs and may only the ups be remembered! There is much to share but as usual, I tend to put it aside for some time and end up not blogging about them. To summarize them, it may not be much but it was eventful enough, beginning with sightseeing to Eastershow to orange sky to the trip to Canberra to my parents’ visit.

It is amazing how on the eve of New Year I have been all unexcited about 2010, feeling as if I have not achieved much, feeling as if 2010 does not seem like a brand new year but just another day continuing from 2009 but penning down everything done and completed makes me feel bubbly.

There is 2 ways to look at things,

first option- I have not achieved much especially with the not so excellent results or

option 2- I may not have succeed in acquiring all HDs but at least I have completed my first year of degree

and I am definately choosing option 2!

Each day is a learning process with me taking baby steps all the time, opening my eyes to a whole new horizon, seeing things in a whole new perspective. May this year be more fruitful than the last. May I give more than I receive. I may not have achieved much this year but it is a start to a better me!