So far so good

Anyway, one semester of my uni life has ended (since 14 June actually) and for the first few weeks settling into Melbourne, a lot of my concerned friends have been asking me "How's Melbourne?".

It was really nice to know that some people bothered, but I really can't answer such a general question in detailed to every concerned friend out there. Soon after, people just move on and forget. Of course, I'm thankful for those who are consistently bugging me for updates.

This was not my first time living out of Singapore for a prolonged period of time. Thanks to the overseas internship opportunity in Shanghai, I managed to have a preview of what it is like to live in a foreign country without my family by my side.

• Standard of living

Generally, the standard of living is much higher. A plate of rice with veges and mushroom costing $9.80 is considered cheap if I were to eat out. I wasn't used to the pricing and grew super food deprived for the first 1 month or so. Not even exaggerating here. You know whenever I open instagram and see proper food photos, a part of me died. I was a little depressed that I wanted to quit instagram. Yes, I did not open the app until I got better. Because I wasn't used to the currency, I tried my best to eat in. I grew so sick of my own cooking (cooking rantings another time) and just spammed nuts and milk and cereal whenever I am looking for a quick meal.

I used to have 6L worth of milk in my fridge. You can imagine that. I NEVER had to look at the expiry dates.

Now that I got used to the currency, I eat out quite often. Actually, I just hope to explore the city and try out cafes and new food places. Especially during the last lap of semester when I had to rush essays and study for exams, I ate out everyday. Now that it is holidays, I eat out quite often too. Trust me, I'm never able to find the time to eat out during normal school term. Yea, my expenses are lower during the school term.

• Language

Most people converse in fluent English with the aussie accent. Sometimes, I just can't make out what the other people are saying. Fortunately, I hang around the city area most of the time and it's asians invasion. Nuff said, I can survive.

• Academic semester

4 subjects(modules) per semester seemed like a breeze in the park considering we took about 6 modules back in NP? Nope, it wasn't as easy as I thought it would be. But judging from the amount of sleep I get in Melbourne, ah, poly life in Singapore IS SO MUCH TOUGHER I'm not even kidding.

• Nature of Uni

Basically, you are your own teacher in your own classroom making your own rules. Not a morning person? Sure you can organise a time-table looking like you're doing a part-time degree.

SKIPPING LECTURES IS COMMON.

Best part is that you don't even feel a tinge of guilt because Lectopia is here to save you. You can just access to lecture recordings online easily.

FYI, I skipped less than 5 lectures last semester and that was because I was too worn out from rushing essays. When I do something like that, this means that I'm really tired.
Afterall, I don't want to pay more than 10k for an online course right?

• Assignments

I was fortunate that my assignments were pretty well spread throughout the semester and I only had to go on a few sleepless nights before getting quality rest. Those hard times were short-lived. Comparing to Singapore, there were so many times that I wanted to quit school. It was when the surge of helplessness and pressure caused me to breakdown into tears and hated myself for being useless.

Melbourne is so much better. I only felt helpless for my very first level 2 psychology subject. I have no idea what that was about because I was doing the level 1 subject at the same time since I skipped year 1. Well, I got over that and just did my best. Not really actually... it was some sort of learned helplessness. Hmmm, hopefully I don't have to repeat this subject. Another 4k sia. burn. It's the only result which is not released yet. SO BELL CURVE GOD PLS DO SOME MAGIC.

Otherwise, really, having at least 6 hours of sleep on an average is making me love Uni here more! 

• Uni activities

No money no talk. Most clubs run on club funds. School gym has a separate membership. Unlike the free gym in NP... So well-equipped, convenient, and most importantly, free of charge for NP students! Uni Melbourne school gym cost more than 700 for a year's membership. Not very sure, but yep, the pricing is around there. That's cheap if compared to external gyms such as fitness first or a few other 24/7 gym clubs around city.

I did not sign up for the gym membership in school because they close quite early and college square has a small gym too. Very basic, but it's convenient and enough for me.

Karate cost $150 for a year's membership. Paid another $50 for the gi. Did my research and took it up because my bro told me he paid more for his akido gi. Happy that I did because the community was welcoming, easy to blend in, and I made some awesome friends there.

Netball was the bomb! Also $150 just for social competition. I don't find it worthwhile... Even the training sessions were not to my liking. Most of them are locals and it was tough to be part of them. Glad that I took it though... Netball is such an aussie sports and play felt different from what I experienced in Singapore. Speaking of that, I haven't paid my fees for the first season HAHAHA in hope that they will forget.

Joined Choir Health Music Society too. FOC but that was because Choir section wasn't really an official section in the society so we managed to escape the fundings. Did not regret joining them because I've met a whole bunch of crazy talents who are so ever passionate about music. They made me feel disgraceful. And thankfully I did not enrol in music degree programme. Heng!!!!

***

That pretty much sums up my uni life (on campus) for my first semester! Off campus learning is on-the-go. Experiencing every different thing in Melbourne, and now in Sydney never failed to trigger thoughts from within. I'm glad for what I'm doing today but there are times when I just don't understand why...

When I could just live my life with a standard job in Singapore and be happy as days pass by (I'm pretty sure I will), why am I here burning stash of notes?

Sigh, but then again, if I were given the chance to choose again, I will definitely choose the same thing. Just sometimes!!