Chumi Lakshmi

Lesson #1 NEVER EVER leave ur house without an umbrella. it doesnt matter even if u r wearing a water proof jacket, or if ur shoulders are gonna fall off, or even if u think u'd drop dead on d middle of d road due to tiredness n excess baggage, NEVER LEAVE UR HOUSE WITHOUT AN UMBRELLA WHY? cos u can never trust the weather in Scotland now the weather forecast, just like how u can never trust a man who says trust me Lesson #2 if it;s already raining when u have to go back, dont bother waiting under the shade for the rain to slow down. WHY? cos u can wait until next year at d same stop, but the rain is a merciless, heartless thing. it'll never wait for u to reach ur destination before it starts poring! Lesson #3 Make sure you wear many layers of clothes even if it looks sunny when u leave the house in the morning. WHY? cos the weather is bound to change in a matter of seconds. so if u wanna reach home in one whole functioning piece, just wear many layers. u'll never sweat in ...

yea... i'm surprised myself... it's only on rare occasions where we get sunny days here... otherwise it's always grey n cloudy. since the weather has been pleasant d past 2 days... i have no hard feelings against it! hahaha... but it's still cold n chilly, cos the temperature is dropping to about less than 5 degrees during d day. i've been having some fun a past few days. went out to a football stadium not so near by n ended up coming back way late at nite all alone. went bowling with my classmates n then dinner at nandos. i got free 1/2 chicken in Nandos! LOL!!! we had loads of fun in d bowling alley. i made a total fool out of myself... but i wasnt d only one.. so that wasnt a big problem! hahhaha.... i'm stil waiting for d pics from my friends as well so that i can upload everything together at one go in my facebook album n picasa.. so, just give me a few more days n it'll all be up in my facebook acc k. n i've finally decided to sort out d other pics...

Things that i want n desperately need: 1) a wool coat that can last up to negative temperature (it's not negative yet, but looks like its going to be, judging by d current weather) 2) stylish coats that can keep me warm n stylish 3) winter cap 4) gloves ( not skiing gloves, just wool gloves that would fit my smaller than s size hands) ( i bought a pair of gloves... but it's not enough at all... so i still need a proper winter wear gloves) 5) boots (something that doesnt look like a plumber's/gardener's plastic boots. something without very high heels, something which i can wear almost everyday basically n something which'll keep me warm)(preferably Aldo, but i'd adjust to anything lesser... i dont mind) ( i bought boots!! but i still want another one with different material n colour) 6) Sport shoes (preferably Reebok, but i'd settled for anything at d moment, but pls make sure it's walking/jogging shoes) 7) wool sweat shirts (not ...

little did i know that i was in for more surprises! this morning i was in the kitchen at about 9am, trying to make a decent breakfast ( yea.. tryin...), and all of a sudden i heard some sort of scary sound from out d wide. it was 9 in the morning, n yet it was scary!! d wind was that scary! there's this huge tree just across my flat building. this tree was shaking so vigorously and for a moment i thought it was gonna get uprooted! at 1st i thought there were ppl trying to uproot the tree..(but it didnt look like it, and ppl in Scotland dont uproot trees at all, unlike Malaysians and indians).... n then i realized it was because of d wind!! that's how strong the wind was this morning! i was too stunned by the strong wind against the even stronger tree, that i completely forgot my breakfast that was getting burnt on d stove and it didnt even strike to me that i could have taken a video of it! i was just too dumbstruck... i was already thinking of how i was gonna get to d hospita...

Everyone's been asking me how i've been getting along here, how's d place, d ppl, d weather... n d conversation ends up all d time about d weather. it's pretty cold here. d 1st week when i was in Glasgow,the temperature was about 14-15 degrees. that was bearable. i just had to wear a sweat shirt or a coat everytime i go out n i'll be warm n fine. but last week, d temperature dropped to about 10 degrees. it's usually about 8-10 degrees during d day n 4-5 degrees during d nite n early morning. as if it isnt cold enough, it's usually very very windy! last wednesday i had to attend a talk about gene therapy n cystic fibrosis in one of d university buildings. initially i thought it was only for about half an hour, so i agreed to attend it. and then i realized it was gonna start at 6.30pm, n it'll surely take more than an hour. true enough, when d talk finally ended, it was past 7.30pm. it was dark, cold n freezing outside. my friends offered to walk me back c...

.... i finally had rice! d last time i had a proper meal was on Emirates on the 7th of October. it wasnt all that great though d chocolate brownie was out of this world!! ( i dunno y d pic wouldnt behave itself n stand straight!) n d dessert was yummy!

..... I finally heard a car honk! that's how nice the ppl here are! u know if u wanna cross the road, u can just run across a busy street without even looking right or left. that's because the drivers here are really considerate! they stop for u n let u go, n NOT honk at u. just imagine wat will happen if this were to happen in Malaysia or India. it'll either end up to be a hit-n-run case, or u would have turned deaf because of all the honking n cursing! the ppl here are so patient n helpful. they always have a smile plastered on their face. at first i thought they were being fake.. n then i realized that this is how ppl here r. i'm so used to d malaysians n indians now, n when i see someone who's smiling all d time, i tend to think they're just forcing themselves. the Scottish ppl dont have any tension, no worries, no bad thoughts, therefore no bad deeds come from them. even if there's something reallt bothering them, they dont show it on others. y cant ev...

Things that i want n desperately need: 1) a wool coat that can last up to negative temperature (it's not negative yet, but looks like its going to be, judging by d current weather) 2) stylish coats that can keep me warm n stylish 3) winter cap 4) gloves ( not skiing gloves, just wool gloves that would fit my smaller than s size hands) 5) boots (something that doesnt look like a plumber's/gardener's plastic boots. something without very high heels, something which i can wear almost everyday basically n something which'll keep me warm)(preferably Aldo, but i'd adjust to anything lesser... i dont mind) 6) Sport shoes (preferably Reebok, but i'd settled for anything at d moment, but pls make sure it's walking/jogging shoes) 7) wool sweat shirts (not too thick, that i might look like a short fat pumpkin in it) 8) warm scarfs 9) two or three pairs of jeans (Lewis-size 28, Voir-size 27, Lee Cooper-size28) 10) a backpack ( not d kindy or school bagpack sort. somethi...

Thank God for unexpected small mercies! When i didnt get any accommodation at all, i thought i might have to settle for a dorm again( i lived in a dorm for a year during my 1st year in college in india). then i thought i might not be so bad compared to nothing at all. so when i was given a place in an accommodation which wasnt in one of my 7 choices, i happily took it anyways. no, this is not where i live. this was my 1st choice but i ended up here:(below pic) When i reached here on Tuesday last week, i was sort of ok with this place, even though the bathroom n toilet was common. i had no other go anyways. my room was pretty confortable, even without shelves n hangers in the closet, or en-suite. there are 5 rooms in this flat where there's an Indian girl, one from China, one from USA, one from South Africa n one from Malaysia (which is me). the girl from China, Janet: she's quite nice. quiet girl, always smiling n helpful. the one from India, Kalka: she's ..... eerrr... dip...

I've got the most interesting kind of classmates this time. cos they're from all over the world.(Saudi Arabia, Afganistan, Pakistan, Greece, India, UK, USA, Syria, Nigeria... i dont remember where else from). there are about 25 students in my class rite now, out of which : -10 of them are doctors and a few out of the 10 are child specialists, -1/3 of the whole population are married -about 5 of them have children (there's one student who has 20 year old triplets and a very supporting husband and family) -d others who arent doctors and specialized in something very 'high-tech' -another 1/3 have working experience -1 silly girl is fresh out of undergrad school.... me my classmates are such smart alexes! i'm not fool myself, but i just chose to stay undercover by not showing how smart i am and end up making a fool out of myself in the end! sigh... when d lecturer talks about some disease, and asks about wat diagnosis they have to give, wat kind of test can be ...

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 m...