Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Greetings from Scotland!! (its kindda long, but just read it, cos u havent had much to read for a long time anyways rite)

it's been 3 days since i came here.

It was raining when i touched down and while i was on my way to my accommodation, but that didnt stop me from gapping out the window with my mouth wide open!

this place is like WOW!

just like in the movies! since it's autumn now, the trees are all yellow, red n orange... they look so pretty. the houses here are so so english looking. n the ppl are an interesting bunch. everyone looks so different and they have very different sense of dressing. and the children are absolutely gorgeous! there's a school on my way to university from my accommodation, so i see them every morning while on my way to uni. they're so smart, n their conversations never fail to amuse me. n small babies are even more gorgeous! they look like dolls in shops!! so adorable!


every morning i walk for some 45 minutes to get to the hospital (where my classes take place) and another 45 minutes to get back. d 1st day i was literally in tears because i had to run behind my frien who walked so fast. this guy was tall n he's been here for more than half a year already now, so he's used to it la... i've been a couch potato for the past 4 months. how on earth am i supposed to keep up with him?

n then i kind of got used to it. but i still do pant a little bit though... i should be alrite by next week.

it's not all that cold here. but u cant walk out of the house without a coat or a jacket. again... it's just like in d movies! they always wear a jacket when they;re leaving the house and then when they come back home or reach their destination building, they remove their coats n hang it on a stand near d door. we do just the same, minus the stand near d door. we dump out coats n jackets on d seat next to us, or in our extra small lockers.

the temperature is usually about 12 or 13 degrees, but because of the wind, it's colder than u can expect. n d only thing i hate about this weather is that it rains out of the blues without any warning, n it happens so often and abrupt, that u can never predict when it might rain n when it might not.

at nite its like 2 degrees n u cannot leave d windows open. i went to a friend's flats last nite, n was shivering till i couldnt speak at all cos they left their kitchen window open while cooking. i had to excuse myself n run to my room cos i was shaking from head to toe!

anyways, everything here is nice,,, except for d pounds.... how on earth can so many students from India n China n Nigeria n South Africa survive here with the exchange rates??

i've met so many ppl from Pakistan n Iran n India. n their currency exchange rate is so much higher than that compared to Malaysia. everytime i walk in to a shop, i look at the things, n then d price tag n then calculate it to malaysia currency, leave d things back on its shelf n walk out of d shop empty handed!

like yesterday, i joined some classmates for lunch in the hospital canteen ( my classes happen in the hospital, so i'm always there ). i looked at d menu, n then d price n decided on carrots n cauliflower which tasted like plastic n rubber(unfortunately i only knew it after d 1st bite) n that cost me 1.40 pounds! i could have just starved myself than to pay RM9/RS110 for that kind of rubbish!

so, on the way back i stopped by in marks n spencers n another shop called somerfield to check out wat they have n to hunt for something that i can take as lunch to uni. boy was i in for a shock. i tend to convert eveything to malaysian currency n then leave it n run to d next thing. i cant help it cos my money is coming from there at d moment. if i get a part time job here i wouldnt be so calculative like i am now.

i did buy somethings like bread n fresh milk n fruit n nut cereal. the bread cost me 1.40pounds ( in malaysia it would have been RM1.40), fresh milk cost me 45p (in malaysia it would have been 45 cents), n cereal cost me almost 2 pounds(again in malaysia would have been about RM4). n then i tried looking around for other basic cooking stuff like sausages n fries n baked beans n things of that sort.. d exchange rate is making me insane! i either need to make money in pounds on my own, or i need to stop eating! there's so other options!!

for ppl here its cheap, cos they earn in pounds. thats wat makes all the difference. d other day i was talking with oneof my flatmate from india. she said her parents had sent her RS50,000 for this month n it was only 550 pounds, cos the exchange rate was RS87. madness! n yet this girl spends money as if its growing in her room. sigh..... some ppl just dont know d value of money

i'll have to talk about my flat n flatmates in another post... that's a totally different story...

so, tomorrow (hopefully) i'll update u guys about my accomodation n flatmates with some pics k

since i havent had anything proper to eat, n havent had d heart to spend money n buy decent food, i kept complaining to mum about it again n again. n i've already written a list of things for my mum to buy n send to me.

d initial plan was for mum to send me my clothes ( cos i could only bring very very minimum things due to d 30kg limit). but since yesterday, i changed my mind. there was no point in asking mum to send me clothes which i'd only receive one month later n which i'd wear under my coat n jacket n no one will know wat i'm wearing. i could even wear only my coat n jeans n shoes for all i care n no one will realize!

so i wrote a long list of food stuff for mum to buy n seed to me, including rice cooker n rice n cooking spices n things of that sort. n this time i really have to learn to cook basic stuff if i dont wanna starve or go broke very soon

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