2013-The Year of Firsts

The Mayor of London said that 2014 will be the year of Firsts. That was their catchphrase in promoting their London New Year Eve countdown 2014 in partnership with Vodafone. I don’t know what to say about 2014 since I can’t predict the future (and wouldn’t want to anyway), but, for me, I would say, above all, that 2013 was the year of Firsts (hence the aptly titled post).
Every year, as always, I do a year-in review at the end of the year and an academic review around June. This (or last) year, however, I didn’t do either—I’m doing the year-in review only at the start of the new year and the academic review is still pending. I guess that’s mainly because I’ve been doing things I don’t normally do in 2013 and I’m still trying to adapt. And woe be me; if by the time I’ve adapted I already need to go back home to Malaysia. Alas!

For someone who doesn’t travel around much like me, being accepted into the student exchange programme by Nottingham was a big step to take—both for me and my family. It was something I’d only talk about, not something I was quite ready to accept. In fact, when I was rejected at first, I was honestly quite relieved. I would have been happy to have just remained where I was; a two-hour drive away from my family and home and with most of my friends around me. But still, how could I let the chance to study overseas—something I’ve always wanted to do—just slip through my hands without even trying to grab it? I wrote an appeal letter and I did not even get a reply from them and thus gave up hope. But a few months later, towards August, the university gave me a call and asked if I was still interested in the programme; and the rest is history. I flew to Nottingham, and thus began my year of Firsts.

I mentioned that it was a big step to take for both me and my family. It was for me because I was never one to travel much. I definitely preferred to stay home with all its benefits and comforts. But the problem lies thusly: if I continued to stay in my comfort zone, my growth would definitely be limited. And I’ve stayed in there for so long it was difficult for me to move out. The student exchange programme was a huge kick—something that forced me to do something I’ve never done before. And I’m grateful for the opportunity.

It was a big step for my family because I would be the first member to ever go overseas for such a long period of time. We didn’t know what to expect, really, and had to cross bridges just as we got to them. Thankfully the distance doesn’t really feel that far (sometimes it does though when in want of a warm touch) because we have the wonders of technology on our side. I still talk to my family almost every day through Skype after finding a suitable time after compensating for time zone differences (8 hours!).
Anyway, that’s enough background information.

The first half of my year was more or less like any other year. I was studying in UNMC and staying in Semenyih. I drove back on a fortnightly basis and played basketball or badminton almost every other day in the warm Sun (oh gosh how I miss the warm Sun). Sometimes, Jia En and I would jam together—other times we’d perform on stage for some event with our band. We’d go for lunch and dinner together in one-of-five stores—so much so that the restaurants already knew us. When I’m at home, if Isaiah is back too we’d go play basketball together at Yok Bin in the evenings and go out and drink tea at night.

Everything changed sometime in August though—when I had to prepare all the things I needed to go to the UK.

For the first time, I recorded myself in a video. I performed the ‘Cups’ song in my house before going to the UK as a sort of ‘see you again’ gift. I also started a V-log that I semi update from time to time.

For the first time, I flew to the UK. When I stepped out into London’s Heathrow airport, the cool air that greeted me was something I definitely welcomed—much moreso after sitting down in the plane for 13 hours. There were a lot of us Malaysian students on that flight because I suppose we were all thinking to arrive for the international students' welcome programme.

It’s quite an eye-opening experience, really, studying in a foreign country. Suddenly, you’re not part of the locals, but the foreigners instead. The norms back home are now obscurities. Pork and dogs are everywhere (I found it hard to accept seeing dogs in shopping malls). English is spoken all the time here too (d’oh, right?). But I was pleasantly surprised. And generally, the people here are all very nice too although I’ve been told that I was lucky to only meet nice people so far.

The weight of the currency difference and cost of living also became clear to me. These people, who were earning dollar-for-dollar the same as us (and probably more) had a cost of living that was much less than us. Normal, everyday groceries like fruits and vegetables, dairy, and meat all can be gotten for (reasonably) less than 10 pounds. 2 pints of milk would set you back only a pound. Fruits and vegetables are mostly one-pound denominations and a kilogram of pork could be as low as 6 pounds. Surprisingly, though, chicken is quite expensive here.

For the first time, I was on the receiving end of a hospitality programme. The Howell-Thomas family, consisting of Helen, Ben and their baby Evie, invited me over for dinner where we had fajitas and talked all night long. They’ve invited me over a few more times but somehow or rather our schedules just don’t match and thus I haven’t gone to see them again (yet).

For the first time, I went on an overseas holiday (really unless you count Singapore, and even then only a few times ever). I mean, I have been to Japan before but that had a specific purpose, although I suppose that could be considered a holiday too. I’ll be more specific then; for the first time, I went to Germany and Switzerland. Germany was a nice place which had nice people but even better yet affordable yet delicious food. The country is known for their sausages (wurst), breads (brot), and pork (and to a lesser extent cheese). The best thing is that different cities are famous for different varieties of food. For example, in Nuremberg, they’re famous for their Numberger Rotwurst, or roasted sausages. In Berlin; currywurst. In Hamburg; Frikadelle (a Hamburger. No, really.) and Franzbrotchen. And so on. And me being the foodie I am, I was ecstatic to try everything (and I did!) and was delighted to know that everything wasn’t really that expensive (quite a bit cheaper than in the UK, actually, even before converting back to GBP). Germany had amazing cities too—very well landscaped and built. Did you know that most of Germany was destroyed in the 2nd world war and that the country known as Germany was only formed in 1990? You wouldn’t be able to tell from looking. They’ve really come a long way.

Switzerland also had very nice and friendly people who generally spoke good English as well as their own variety of German (mixed with French). However, about food, the Swiss held the other side of the coin; Swiss food is really very expensive and isn’t really that great. I should say that generally the cost of living there is very high. Then again, it could also be because I only went to Zurich, their capital. The Swiss are known for their cheese (kase) and chocolate and Swiss army knives from Victorinox. They also serve a variety of sausages, but most if not all of these paled when compared to German ones. The dairy, however, was really, really delicious (best cheest and milk I’ve ever had, really). They even have a cheese fondue but I didn’t get to try it as it was around 30 Swiss Francs per person. Did I mention that the food in Switzerland was very expensive? “Cheap” food for them is around 15 Francs, so I needn’t explain more.

For the first time, I got to see snow! It was in (you guessed it) Switzerland and Germany. I took a train to towns called Uetliberg and Ringlikon in Switzerland where I had my first experience with snow. It wasn’t as cold as I expected (or maybe I was simply wearing too many layers) but snow is really just… shaved ice. It was also hailing in Uetliberg and I could really feel the bits of ice hitting my head there. Snow is also really dirty. In Germany, however, I saw snow at the town called Fussen near the Neuchwanstein Castle. It was smoother and softer than that of Switzerland, and I had my first snowball fight there. Arguably, because not many cars drive to the castle, the snow was much cleaner too.

For the first time, I cut my own hair. I didn’t do a very good job, but I did get the job (somewhat) done. If you see me you’ll probably laugh. But it was a good experience and I could probably save quite a bit of money if I cut my own hair here in the UK considering that it costs around 8 pounds per haircut while in Malaysia I can cut my hair for around RM 3.

For the first (and maybe only) time, I went to the London New Year Eve countdown. I was tired from all the travelling in Germany but #YOLO-ed and decided to go see one of the biggest fireworks display in the world located around the River Thames and the Eye of London. It was definitely impressive but me being me; I would probably not want to see it again because the things I had to go through in order to see it was… for a lack of a better word, exhausting. I waited for about 5-6 hours getting squashed from all sides just to see a display that lasted around 11 minutes and then had to spend another 2-3 hours fighting the crowd just to get on a train to go back home. Props to the police and crowd control officers, they did a really good job. But when you have a few hundred thousand people all in the same area, there really isn’t much you can do.

So, for those of you who have read till this point, I applaud you. 2013 has been a roller coaster year for me with arguably a lot more ups than downs. I’m really thankful for all the great people I got to meet and got to know better this year and of course, the privilege of going overseas to study for a year. Sometimes I think that “only” a year feels too short, while sometimes I feel that a year feels far too long to be away from home for. It really helps to have someone to come back to after a particularly draining day or week.

Anyway, I think that this post has dragged on for too long now. If I were to include everything that happened in 2013 I’ll never be able to finish.
So to everyone I know, and to everyone I have yet to meet, thank you for being (or coming to be!) a part of my life. I would say ‘for better or for worse’ but everyone I know is great in their own way and has enriched my life whether they realized it or not. Let me end this absurdly long post by saying: I wish for you, as well as all of us, a very happy new year and that 2014 brings us more happiness, joy, satisfaction, contentment, wealth and good health than we need and that we’ll find ways to not only enrich our own lives, but the lives of those around us as well.