I was told that this year there are a heck-lot more 1st year Malaysians staying at Pollocks and that area south compared to places near my flat (north of George Square). Last two years there were a plentiful amount staying in the latter areas. Sigh, poor people like us are isolated, and end up hanging out with the 2nd-3rd year Malaysians who are staying nearby and the Brits.
It's not that it's bad, but then again hanging out with the Brits has it's own merits, like learning to be a heck lot more open and socialable, learning the cultural differences, being able to speak with an accent a lot more quicker (I've got a moderate English and very slight North-eastern accent when I speak now) which is quite cool, but it's influencing my other styles of talking nowadays.
Even my Manglish has a lot less lahs in it already, my Cantonese which has picked up a lot during the summer holidays, has begun to lose some of it's pronounciation too. I guess I'm getting more comfortable talking with an accent instead of last time when it took some effort to speak it out fluently.
I used to think whether would it be better if I stayed in the halls of residences. Would I make more friends? I'd wouldn't have to worry about cooking, wouldn't have to worry about not being excluded from big fun gatherings.. and all the sort.
But then I realise, living in a flat, somehow demonstrates living in a real world, at a time when everything is still raw in the eyes of the unexperienced fresher. I get to dictate my own time at my own pace, get to learn the skills essential of surviving for a day (the dreaded idea of what to eat and how to get it), and get to know the little things that didn't used to be important.
It's the biggest leap I've taken in life so far, and I'm beginning to understand more.. about life and myself. Best thing of all, I love it, I love the idea of being independent, of being an individual, of finding my own way. I simply adore it, the uncanny thought of music-and-religion-infused pathfinding. However random it may sound.
