Michael Buble or Bubble Tea?

"It's a new day, it's a new life, it’s a new phase..."

or something like it went the song. A whirlwind of a month has passed by, the synchronisation of everything metallic in me with floral elements of my better half is imminent, and is in fact in full swing as we speak (or as I type, literally). First days have always been challenging for articulate souls like thee, and even more for the intelligently-challenged humanoids like me. The first day of school has always been daunting, to say the least. I am not rushing for time now, so screw the LEAST, first day of school have always been horrifically embarrassing, downright humiliating and painstakingly aggravating my blood levels to greater heights...steadily every year.

This year is no different, I would like to say, although there are positive elements that might suggest differently. Orientations will always be orientations, where speeches and talks evolve into friendly chats and long walks. Campus tours abound with plenty of food to go around. Song and structure turns to bong and laughter...okay, sorry for getting carried away with rhyming ( there'll always be a bit of Air-PooL in me *wink2* ). Having gone through the entire couple of weeks of intense orientation, although i technically went for only two days, did make me a number of new friends and acquaintances. Some of which I might have shied away from if I was still back home due to their social standards, either that or they would stray away from me due to my uneventful stature or reputation in the uni hierarchy. Being in a foreign land made me jump in the fire and leave myself in the position whereby I could easily crash and burn, or still crash (due to my nervous nature) but then eventually swimming my way to the shore. So luckily enough, I did manage to cross that hurdle in the huddle (Air-PooL again!) and find myself still wet but dried off in due course by the scorching island sun (I’m in the biggest island on the planet, mind you).

All those chitty-chatter aside, it is unsure how my little venture in the rapture would count towards my success rate in the actual first day of classes, circa this evening, tadi lah. From the looks of it, I am really gonna have to buck up and be prepared for the worst, as these Aussie folks are truly diverse, both in their cultural backgrounds and also of their acceptance of the melting pot of cultures which they apparently hold so dear, or so we are told. What I meant by that is these people have very unique surnames which represents their cultural heritage, there’s a Tutopolioni, a Gianakolidis and even a Gorchovsky present in my class today. That seems to be all fine and dandy till a Mr. Jaaffar introduces himself. Please note that I am not patronising nor belittling our big friends in their little world. What I do realises, however, the moment I stepped forward and told my story to the crowd I was definitely welcomed by a million looks, which appear to be of welcoming, condescending and confusing nature at times. Which brings me back to my rambling much earlier that I have always had trouble being around new faces and places, especially if they are far so opposite culturally than my own. Imagine the shaking of knees I had to go through then, could have won me a gold medal in a limbo contest, and being in limbo is the last thing I’d like to be in, more than ever considering the many obstacles that lie ahead as my adventure down under continues...

- Shaiful Nizam Jaaffar -