Sunday, December 12, 2004

Life back home

Well, I wanted to surprise all my friends back home, and it's mostly worked. I came back to Malaysia on Saturday night and showed up at church on Sunday morning, and got desired effect from most of my CBC friends. A few that I really would've liked to catch up with but weren't there were Jennifer, Leon and Sonia. And I wanted to pop up at my old Taekwondo training centre today as well, hoping they all were having their usual Sunday training. But the place was closed, and I had no idea where they went, so I was pretty disappointed. Looks like I'll have to give my Taekwondo instructor a ring instead. Not as much fun though. :P Also got a few other old secondary school friends that I need to give a heart attack and catch up with like Alvin and Kooi Im.
Well, I've gotten back to the routine of things surprisingly quick. I find myself doing exactly the same things I used to do before I left, with a few changes to accomodate my grandma who's now under my parents' care, when she wasn't before I left to Australia. I still haven't gotten completely used again to the blistering heat and high humidity... dunno how many times I've complained about it being so hot since I stepped foot in this country again. I guess I'll get used to it soon. Still remember how to drive, and having fun getting around in my new pre-loved (read: second-hand) maroon auto Kelisa, which my parents got for me while I was away. And I still drive like a typical mad KL driver with a bad attitude. I used to be insanely busy with church and Taekwondo stuff, and it seems I'm already getting myself as busy as I was before with church activities... as soon as I was in church today, my good buddy Mei Ling was already bugging me to join the carolling, and I went for my first carolling practice today. Even got the solo part for "O Holy Night". Still remember how to speak in good ol' Malaysian 'Manglish', complete with "lahs" and "wans" and "alamaks". In fact, so many things feel the same that I feel like I just went to Australia for a week and came back. And I don't know why, but it feels like my whole stay in Australia was like a big dream, especially when it came to my relationship with Stuart. It's like, I'm here, back home, doing everything I used to do again so quickly. It's like I never left. It's like everything I experienced in Australia was part of someone else's life and not my own. It's just unreal.
And if that's not bad enough, I'm actually not completely overjoyed about coming back. I'm really glad to be able to hang out with all my old friends again for sure, and I'm looking forward to enjoying good ol' greasy Malaysian food again... but that's about it. Everything else about being back has just made me go, "ugh". The toilets are still as dirty and toilet-paperless as ever. Ugh. The drivers and motorcyclists are all as maniacal on the road as ever. Ugh. Dirty and ugly guys still hang around on the streets giving wolf whistles and that annoying sucking noise to anything female that passes by. Ugh ugh ugh. People in general here are not as friendly or cheerful as they are in Australia. Over there, a stranger on the street would give me a smile and ask "How you going?". Over here, the only chance I'd get a smile from any stranger passing my by on the street would be from some Malay or Indian guy with yellow teeth checking me out and calling me "Ah Moi!". And the environment isn't quite as nice either. The air here is not fresh like in the country side of Gippsland. And there's not a star in the sky. Dirty stray dogs and cats still run around on the street looking pathetic. I miss having a great country view right outside my house. I miss being able to see koalas hanging on the trees near my house and walk just 10 minutes to where I sneak up on wild kangaroos. I miss looking up at the night sky and just standing there and gawking at the twinklings stars. And yeah, I miss Stuart. After being to Australia and loving it to bits, I just can't help but gripe about Malaysia. Which kinda makes me feel bad coz' it's the place I grew up in and all that blah, and I should be appreciating it and all. But I really don't. I just wish I could get the next year or two of study over with right now so I can go back to Australia again. The only things I would probably really miss here would be all my friends and all the food. If I could ship over all my friends and family over to Australia and learn to cook everything Malaysian, I'd be perfectly happy staying in Aussieland... But ah well, can't always get what I want. Guess I'll be one of those people who'll ditch their country for 'greener pastures' somewhere else. Was never really patriotic anyway. :P

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