I was told that this place of rambling didn't have enough of a life-story shindig going on. I do admit it's sort of spiralled into this slew of to-do lists, bragging about new toys, gushing over good looking blokes and general nonsense, so, in light of this I shall now heed the comments of the delightful Ashie and summarise, in one swift (long) post, my first semester in RMIT.

I shall start by saying that the last few days (RE: Death of my life in KL) in KL were a multitude of meeting up with people, gathering things I need since I'll be moving to a new country and generally procrastinating from packing. In the end I had a suitcase filled and about 56 kilos shared between my parents and I with my luggage taking the brunt of it. Airasia, only worth the money if it costs A LOT less then MAS costs. Really.

So we, my parents and I, arrived with May Lee and her father about a week before classes officially started and stayed at a hotel while looking for an apartment for the both of us. We finally, and after much fretting, found a small -- And I mean SMALL-- place in the middle of the city. It's just about larger than my room in KL but beggars can't be choosers.

There's this big change in how people think in Melbourne and how university classes are engaged with. First year is very conceptual and I think that half the time the lecturers don't really know what to do with us. We become guinea pigs to them, a class of test subjects and 'let-us-see-if-this-way-works'. I cannot begin to explain how I feel without the aid of my facial expression and hands but I will try: It's like they cut of the upper part of your skull to expose your brain, put on rubber gloves in funny neon colours, dig their fingers in and start spreading apart grey matter. Then they leave you there, somewhat unravelled, with a new sense of perception and in a pool of your own slobber, twitching every two minutes as you drawl about light and shadow. The terms light and shadow now irritates me beyond repair and I am in love with psychological reactions and the human anatomy with regard to space and colour.

Now, I have to say that my group of first-years is made up of 18 year-olds, 21 year-olds and stick-up-their-bum 24plus year-olds. The first group I don't mind and the latter two groups, especially the last one, I cannot begin to put any amount of like towards. They are unbearably up themselves with the self-righteousness of a pseudo messiah and I can't even kill them to prove a point. In other words, I have been the centre of attention for so long it kills me when the limelight is directed towards these quasi-intellectual meat-bags. Yes, there's a lot of contempt towards my peers. The tutors, lecturers, professors or whatever you feel like calling them are an interesting bunch, one of which is ludicrously attractive and I shall stop there because it's just wrong. WRONG.

There are things I like about Melbourne and some things I don't. I like, and very muchly so, the Queen Victoria Market where about half hour to closing time the vendors become extra hyped and you get things for a steal, where you get fed with cheese by the rather dapper looking cheese-guy and almost run over people with my scooter, sort of almost accidentally. The produce is just so amazing you don't have to go out and eat. I like the fact that the apartment is my own place and I get to be left alone to my own devices and how convenient the location is. I like how good the coffee is in some places and how it's almost never burnt, how the pastries in certain places are divine and how there are some really good looking people to look at on a dull day. I like how my apartment overlooks an office unit which I've fondly called the fishtank. I like how my diet has changed for the better.

So we'll skip past a blur of a semester and suddenly it's time for a holiday and I am home for the winter. Touching down in KL, reaching my house and sitting on my bed, my few months in Melbourne felt like a dream, it felt like it didn't really happen. My favourite cousin mentioned it was as if I had never left. An odd feeling to have, I know but I have it nonetheless.

I have to return to the dreary cold weather in a few days, return also to a tiny fridge, no proper oven, broken washing machine, no bathtub and spa machine, no cat. NO CAT. Buying a new fridge, fix the washing machine.

Things that warrant its own post and I'll write it soon:
- My birthday dinner
- Meeting people
- Victoria Market
- Cooking for one
- The Melbourne Jazz Festival Opening Free Show
- Ash for a week+ at 803
- Zayan overnighter
- 18 year olds
- My first Couchsurfer