I dont know about you guys but ever since young I always envied foreigners, the so called "guai lou" in Malaysia. Now you may ask why? I always thought their body feautures are attractive and will always pull my flat nose back than hoping it will grow as long as theirs (i know this sounds silly but this are the few silly things i have done when i was young).
Now as i grew up, I learned to appreciate myself more and started to accept my looks and eventually stopped pulling my flat nose. This time, I envied another aspect of the foreigners. I always wanted to experience the 4 seasons -summer, autumn, spring and winter. Spending 20 years in a tropical country, i have no idea what it feels like. My greatest desire was to experience winter - a white Christmas. That has been always my desire, my dream.
This dream of mine was beginning to be a reality when I was still studying my diploma in Malaysia and my father encourage me to go overseas to study. I begin surveying for a good university online, doing the preparations and above all persuading my beloved girlfriend to let me go overseas and study. Time flies when you are busy and boy this is so true, before i know it i was about to make the biggest decision of my life - to study abroad in UK or continuing studying at Malaysia at a local Uni. I am well aware that my decision will change the rest of my life and there is no turning back. Weighing and considering both options carefully, i decided to study abroad. Making this decision may not sound a big deal but it was a real challenge for me.
Being hit badly by the economic crisis in the late 90`s, my family have still yet to fully recover from the impact. Hence, pursuing my studies in the UK means extra financial burden on my family. Therefore i took up some loan from the government hoping to ease my parents burden. I began preparing my luggage, Visa`s, finance, passports, documents, etc and sometimes did loose my patients with my ever non-stop nagging parents. Even so, thank god my parents are very supportive and gave me encouragement and advices before going to the UK.
Another challenge that I would have to face was myself. Going abroad means leaving my family, my friends, my relatives and my girlfriend (who finds it hard to accept me going overseas to study) behind and knowing the fact I wont be seeing them in the near future. To pursue my degree in the UK will just take less than a year, but i decided to stay on in the UK to gain some work experience before going back to Malaysia. But behind this little challenge of time without my girlfriend lies another bigger challenge- my family made a decision to migrate! But that is another story. Therefore i was facing a really challenging time and praying to god that everything will work out fine for me.
So, there you have it. The 2 major problem that I would have to consider before coming to the UK. Of course there are much more problems that i faced but if i do go into detail, i might as well publish a 500 pages long case study entitled - Making Hard Decisions. Without me knowing, my days in Malaysia was coming to an end. I tried all i could to spend as much time as possible with my girlfriend and friends which held a party for me bidding me Bon Voyage and wishing well wishes. This were the memories that i will treasure for the rest of my life. With this separation, than only did i know, how much they play a role in my life. How much i often take them for granted and wished i could spend more time with them, especially my beloved girlfriend. Making me even harder to say goodbye.
I find myself standing at the airport, before the checkin point. Hugging my friends and family trying my very best to hold back my tears as i bid farewell.
Deep down i know, the beginning of a amazing journey is just about the begin........................
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