Me@lbourne!

Well, I'm finally settled into my apartment. So I now have some time on my hands for a little update on the beginning of my life here in Melbourne.

First and foremost, and the most unfortunate thing ever. Clarence, my roommate, was diagnosed with Hepatitis A roughly a couple of days before our departure. As a result, he could not make the flight and had to defer to next semester. However, there are currently some issues with the deferment as well because the Bachelor of Arts (Media & Communications) degree that we're taking is having its last intake in 2010. So, Clarence is awaiting a new offer letter which might not be the same degree ultimately and in the worst case scenario, he may head over to ANU in Canberra instead. Of course, I would prefer him to come to UniMelb next semester be it for the same degree or a different one so that we can share the apartment as planned. But then again, I too understand that no matter what happens, it's all up to him now. So I can only hope for the best, for him and for the both of us. In any case, I'm going to have a Mexican roommate who's due to move in on Saturday. And I was making a light-hearted stereotypical joke about how he definitely has a curly moustache, and how he will be wearing a sombrero and colourful clothes and playing his guitar all the time. Let's hope we can get along well.

That aside, it's been a rather busy week so far, settling my accommodation, bank account, internet and mobile lines, getting orientated, etc. And when everything was more or less done, there was the Academic Advice Day which took place yesterday and it was just completely confusing and stressful to say the least. As typical Singaporeans, we want to get things done as soon as possible, so we expect all the administrative matters to be settled in a day, which was not the case at all. It took us quite a fair bit of running around, asking for help, that sort of thing. Even so, we could not complete everything as there were still doubts and technical glitches which prevented us from doing so. Hence, we went back to clarify and to 'settle' all our issues again today, yes the whole group of us Singaporean students; the new friends that I made, I can safely say that we were in full attendance at the University on a day where there were no official activities planned for us.

And Orientation starts tomorrow!

But for now, some pictures to show.

The University of Melbourne. Dream Large.

The Old Arts Building! Pseudo Hogwarts, haha!

My Cosy Little Crib.

Clothes, Shoes and all.

The Kitchen!

And the Bathroom!

With a bathtub!

And I have a balcony too!

It's rebuilt from the Old Melbourne Hotel so the room does look just like a hotel room isn't it?

I guess it's pretty amazing that someone like me who has such bad directional sense (those who know me well enough would know) is now fending for himself in a big foreign city. Sometimes I do take a step back and wonder where in the world did I get the courage from. Perhaps the tremendous emotional and financial support which I received from my family and the never-ending encouragement from my friends had played a big part. Or maybe it's just something as simple as me having a point to prove to myself.

Nonetheless, it's going to be great starting a new life here. I can feel it already.

Till next time.

p.s. It's freezing now at 7 degrees.