Only a week ago (OK so now a bit more than a week - can't rush a masterpiece) I was surreptitiously feeding Gammy some peanut butter and jam in Pangkor Hall. Now I am lying face first on my bed in Oxford after a week of a very strongly negatively correlated pain-movement relationship.
Values are rated out of a possible 10.
For those of you who don't know, I developed an abscess on my coccyx that required some pretty messy surgery. As I was literally incapable of anything Sam had to come with me to help me walk and move and get from Kuala Lumpur to Dubai to London as planned. Which actually didn't happen as my abscess burst whilst in Dubai which meant that, among many things, I couldn't sit down, so we had to change our 7 hour flight to London! Luckily they had a later one for the duration of which I would be able to lie on my face over an entire row as it was a pretty empty flight. We made it back eventually and I am now having to squeeze pus out of my abscess hole several times a day (bet you really wanted to know that!) and have a fresh dressing on my abscess twice a day by my Mum, conveniently a trained nurse! Thanks Mum!
So.
Study Abroad.
Malaysia.
What did I think of it all?
Well I learnt a lot and I saw some cool places, but, Malaysia was not as magical as I thought it would be. There weren't stands of fresh fruit lining the roads (and my dream to drink out of a coconut remains but a dream), lots of the rainforest had been replaced with palm-oil plantations, there were stray dogs running around campus instead of monkeys, the air-conditioning was hypothermia-threatening rather than refreshing and living there wasn't actually that cheap. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience and I am SO glad that I went and lived there, seeing what life is like on the other side of the world was absolutely fascinating, but what really made it so great was not that it was Malaysia but who else was there too.
WARNING:
I was having an abnormally soppy moment when writing the below content (rarely but occasionally I do indeed participate in the emotion I commonly refer to as "OH PULEASE! Are they KIDDING?"). To those who do not wish to read such twaddle please skip to the end. To those who do, you have been warned.
There were so many people that made Malaysia the amazing experience that it was and I wish that I could thank them for that. They made me feel at home so quickly and so easily and I will never forget the times we had together.
I turned 21 on a day when we didn't have time to breathe let alone think about my birthday, so you gave me a two week-long birthday celebration instead.
I had to change my reading week plans last minute and join a group of you that I didn't know so well for a week-long holiday two days before we left - and it was SO MUCH FUN. It could have been awkward or weird or forced but it wasn't, at all, and I genuinely had a fantastic time with you. Even in that second sleeper train!
I sang the same songs over and over with you and not only did you not get bored or shield your ears from my soul-shattering voice but you joined in with even more gusto and laughter. And I don't actually think it was to drown me out, I think you were just enjoying it.
And when I left you all to come home for surgery last Wednesday night (again, masterpiece), I couldn't have smiled more without it leaking out of my eyes. Not to be leaving you of course (well...), but because I realised how much you liked us and how much I would miss you.
When you all came up to my flat just to see us off, when you were fighting through the goodie bag, when you brought in the cakes, when there were too many of you to fit in the corridor seeing you all crammed into the kitchen for us.
When you helped me throw everything into my suitcase 10 minutes before the taxi was due to arrive, when you cried, when we all emptied out my flat and you carried everything down the stairs for me, when I had already done countless rounds of goodbyes and still couldn't leave.
When we finally got in the taxi 20 minutes after we were meant to have left, when you all ran after the taxi waving and shouting, when you threw your shoe, when I finally read all the messages you wrote in our card.
I couldn't believe that all really happens and that it all really happened to me, of all people.
So many things you have given me to smile about (and I do! I still find myself randomly chuckling quietly at some sudden flashing memory, much to the concern of any observers). And I KEEP dreaming about you all!
I'm really happy that I got to know you all and I hope to my heart that we keep in touch.
You made the pork-cheese-sanity sacrifice worthwhile.
Look after Samuelle and the dogs for me.
IT IS SAFE AGAIN!
Well damn.
That was a bit like my biannual cheeseburger. But less tasty. And much less filling. And not really like a cheeseburger at all...
Kind of hungry now though...
Well damn.
That was a bit like my biannual cheeseburger. But less tasty. And much less filling. And not really like a cheeseburger at all...
Kind of hungry now though...
