The 6th Day

11th Feb 2007 (Sun)

Time flies. Today was already my sixth day in Canberra. I'm getting on fine =)

Orientation continued today. Had a gathering with all the first year students in which the senior residents introduced themselves and their portpolios

Next, we had the Battle of The Blocks in the field. It was fun even though the games that we played were primary school kinda games.

Waiting to get started

For the first time, the rope snapped. It was way too thin. In Malaysia, I've never seen a rope snapped during a Tug of War. Bravo, Malaysia. Ehem, for your information, I took part as well (smiling), I pulled from behind =) And my block won the 'war'.

Well, this was no longer the Battle of the Blocks. It was just a normal game of mahjong. Unbelievable, right? I couldn't believe that I'll be playing mahjong here. Some who their parents are Chinese, are actually good at this. They are even better than I am. Well, not that I'm good anyway. =p But surely, it brought me a sense of belonging. =) It does feel a bit funny listening to them using some English terms while playing. Oh, they still maintain the term "phong" though.

After procastinating for a few days, I finally did my laundry tonight. This is the special room where people hang their clothes. It's extra hot in here!!! It has a heating system.

The laundry room. It's free of charge. You just have to bring your own detergent.

Basins in case you wanna hand wash.

Also, I used the computer lab for the first time.

Actually, I was suppose to go to the bar with the rest of the residents. It was part of the tentives in the Orientation Week. But since drinking is not my stuffs and I have my laundry to do, I decided not to. They seemed to go to the bar every night. Imagine how much they would have spent on beers, especially for those who take in at least 6 glasses. It is no wonder that some Australians and even international students quit drinking just to save money. For those who don't drink, they were not left out. The was a trip to the pool and arcade game centre called Fun Land(sounds childish isn't it?). I decided not to join that either as I don't play pool and didn't want to waste money on arcade games.

The thing about not joining them to the bar was that it made some of them thought that I am a social recluse. Well, watch out. I'll prove that I'm not. I just don't drink and have other priorities sometimes.

Alright, that's about it. Oh, for those who are about to fly, just wanna inform you all that Australians always greet people with, "How's it going?". They'll do that even if they don't know you. Initially, it was a bit strange to me cause it was as if they knew what I was doing at that time and wanted to know the progress. But of course, it is already a part of their culture (it's their version of "How are you?") and it shows their friendliness. Helps to cheer you up when you're down too. In Malaysia, you don't get strangers asking you, "Bagaimana perkembangannya?" Haha...just joking..So, be prepared to answer, "Good, man" or something like that when Australians greet you.

Thanks for reading!!!