24th Nov 2007 - Sleepless in Durham

It has been 10 days since I last blogged. These 10 days were mundane, nothing much worth mentioning. I did a little catching up with my international friends this week, since I haven’t seen them for the past 3 weeks or so. It’s always nice to set aside some time to catch up with friends, in a way, reckon it’s a little luxury in itself? This warm and fuzzy feeling of being surrounded by friends… and being abroad all alone actually accentuates this warmth. I tried to go on a “money” strike for the past 2 weeks, and its success was lukewarm. Despite cutting back on my daily spending, grocery shopping really upset my “grand” plan of saving money. Haha, I don’t even know why I’m talking about this, think perhaps there isn’t much to write on? Anyway, just suddenly changing your lifestyle can push one to the brink of insanity! Hee, perhaps I’m exaggerating but it’s not easy to do so especially when you’re already not living in luxury all the time.

Yesterday, I was so wrecked when I went for my laboratory session. I was so tired while walking down to my venue and out of the blue, I thought my vision became blurred. I saw fine whitish specks in the air and I thought to myself, is the air so dusty? I looked around and I saw there was construction going on about the area, thus leading me to the conclusion of “dirty” air. Surprisingly, about half an hour later, my laboratory room was filled with squeals of delight and wonder. It was snowing outside! Haha, my British friends asked if I’ve seen snow before and upon finding out that I haven’t, one of them brought me outside to “play” with snow. I felt like a small kid once again, like in the movies where children get so fascinated by snow. It was only snowing lightly and for a short period of time but I did manage to catch some snow =)

Sleepless in Durham has become something of a common “theme” for me now. Being unable to sleep well at night took its toll on me. I have become something like a walking zombie, with my friends rubbing it in… “you always look so tired”. However, I still managed to impress people. I kid you not, everyone was so surprised when I styled my hair for the 1st time since arriving in UK. They all complimented that it looked good and asked if I did go to the salon for a haircut or went there to style my hair which I obviously didn’t. My mom said that I would come back with a pony tail, so I have to be filial and do so accordingly! Actually, the reasons why I didn’t bother about my hair were laziness, lack of hair styling wax (haha, I only had a ¼ of tub left, so I had to use sparingly) and lastly, there wasn’t anyone to impress. Maybe I’m lying but I did tell someone before, if I don’t look good now and yet I manage to attract people, isn’t it all the more better? So when I start to groom myself again, haha she would be so impressed!

Tonight, there’s an Arabic party going on at the postgraduate college. I was invited by my tutor to attend the party and it seems pretty fun. After all, I’m in UK to receive exposure and experience the various cultures of the world right? Not going would be utterly rude haha… alright, I’m just giving myself an excuse to attend. Yup, I’m kind of looking forward to it since the past 10 days were quite horrible… Next week would be packed with more activities though it means having to spend more money =(

Lastly, this Taiwanese drama “转角遇到爱” that my friend recommended me to watch was delightfully and absolutely entertaining. I would highly recommend it to anyone who understands Chinese haha! This show kept my loneliness at bay as I lived through my palate-less week. I feel that my life is like a stage, or rather like a drama. Is this what I hope for, to live life in a fantasy setting, reconstructing the numerous scenes that can supposedly only occur in movies? If I had a wish, what would I wish for? If I could, I would want my story to not only unfold but to also conclude as in a drama. Hopefully in time to come, my days would be filled with florid moments… and memories... of 她&他.