as my first ever semester draws to a close.....

currently i'm perched on my bed with two boxes, a suitcase and a rucksack on the floor, and am waiting upon the arrival of my dad to pick me up for the christmas break. 

yes, you heard me, its christmas already!

these 3 months have gone by like a whirlwind, and on the financial side, i've gobbled up £4,500 of my school fees already. hm.

i've been surprised in many ways, both by myself and God. this is a post dedicated to examine how far in life i've come...

firstly, food.

i wouldn't say i'm a bad cook before i came to uni, but i've definitely excelled in terms of my chinese chef-fery. in these 3 months i'm sure i've caught freshers flu at least 4 times, but it was just my luck to also have a temperature. normally mum would be babying me, but this time i had to look after myself and after craving for congee (chinese porridge) all morning, i learnt to cook my own through youtube.

and wow, cooking meat was a whole new level for me before uni. but i couldn't possibly convert to becoming a vegetarian just cos i was afraid of food poisoning myself! kyall and i spontaneously grabbed a rack of ribs from tesco the other night and decided to have our own student budget version of tgi fridays!

the many personalities and people i've met in the course of just these 3 months has been well beyond my expectations. 

cyryll, named cereal by me, is my flat mate who i remember vividly meeting when i first moved in and truly believed was completely different to me. he has weirdly become my kitchen buddy who i also enjoy playing many rounds of cards against (enjoy because i always win ;)), and is the closest i've gotten to making a chinese friend.

nikki i met one night when she was drunk and obstructed my way on the stairs. we've become law buds and the closest girl friends in the block. night outs are always special with her and we have also weirdly discovered many mutual friends beyond uni (creepy) - we were just meant to be.

kyall on the right guarantees i get home safely every night after going out. we do our laundry together, attend lectures that the rest of our group decides to bunk, and share tutorial work when we can't be bothered to complete it. oh, and he cooked me a meal one time at 5am pictured below.

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zaki is a character with a hard outer shell but the softest and mushiest heart you will find. he has become a bro i've never had, and the other night we went to discover his first ever chinese meal in his 18 years of life. an awesome milestone eh? zaki is also the most brainiest person i know, and perhaps the best fifa playing person i would come to know too.

this is divyam. when we went out the other night. drunk obviously. he is a close law buddy of mine too and happens to live in my flat. i really didn't expect we would become such close friends, as being an international student, he has a very strong indian culture. but seriously, he is the most wackiest and craziest person - from dancing bhangra at the club to falling asleep in the bushes.

big screen fifa. i went for the free popcorn.

uni life is beyond interesting with fifa tournaments to keep my bros (and me) company...

plays in which my friend starred in as the lead role in footloose...

and starbucks at which i could catch up with my close friends jan and lottie from sixth form.

and lastly, this long distance relationship shenanigan really was not something i had expected. no doubt it would be hard, but i recently discovered i had more sensitivity and feelings than i thought to my sarcasm and jokes.

this past month has been a bit of a roller coaster for the both of us and also the longest time we haven't seen each other for. thankful for FaceTime and whatsapp, but damn i can't wait to see loksze in real life.

wow, uni life really has exceeded beyond my expectations. reading back on the first post i wrote when i first moved in to start my new life in southampton and looking at where i am now, i see growth in character, skills and maturity (though i question the latter a little).

thanks God and thanks to my family for sticking by me as i settled in. coming home this time had never felt so good and christmas feels different this year with the extra sense of reunion with my family after leaving home for so long.

i won't doubt the fact that i'll miss uni and all its craziness though. never.