Saturday, April 21, 2007
Woke up at 4.30am in the morning on that fateful day: 16th February 2007. In the darkness of my room, I grouped about to shut that blaring alarm clock and slowly got out of my cosy single bed...Switched on the lights and looked around the room...Trying to capture every single detail of this humble room of mine.
Showered (shall not share any details about this) and dressed up in a formal attire; with coat, slacks and leather shoes. It was JPA orders to be dressed up like an ambassador or something but it was super hot inside..I was already sweating partly from being stuffed in a navy blue "cocoon" and also of the nervousness of leaving home for a very very long time.
Went down, all my family members were there. Mum, dad, sis, maid, uncle, aunty, 2 cousins. Picked up my massive luggages and there we go, heading straight to KLIA in the wee hours of the morning when the whole world was still in deep slumber and there I was, taking a big leap in my life.
Journey to KLIA was quiet as everyone was tired and still quite sleepy (we drove out in 3 cars, by the way). As for me, I could barely close my eyes and I still remembered driving along an endless stretch of KESAS highway where bright orange lamp posts were whizzing past.
Reached the airport at around 7.30am i think. Registered my luggages at the counter, pinned up my JPA badges and we headed for McD for breakfast. I ate an egg burger, that's all. Then, we went to the meeting place where we were given a short briefing by JPA. After the briefing ended, the officials said, "Say your last goodbyes to your family and we will check-in soon."
I was the last to pick my boarding pass from them.
I crossed the gate of no return.
The journey to the airplane was bland and quite torturing as I have two heavy hand luggages with me. My shoulders had been bearing that immense weight throughout that 15-20 minutes walk to the departure gate. Well, my family members followed me till they could not trace my footsteps anymore. Goodbye!
Embarked on the Malaysian Airlines plane. Our flight was delayed for a moment and so, I was quite bored at the initial part as I was just stuck at my seat without anything to do.
Finally, we took off. I saw KL beneath my feet and it shrinked to a minute speck of dust in a matter of seconds. I was flying. The flight of 8 hours wasn't that eventful. Watched a few movies (Open Season, one of them) and dozed off for a moment. I can still remember many elderly Australians who were on board, walking about as they could not stand that long strenuous flight. I could still vividly recall their odour as they walked past (shall not elaborate on that).
Touched down at 6.30pm at Brisbane International Airport. Went through Customs and Immigrations to have my stuff checked...Super strict la Australians, Everything must declare
Well, the Uni Airport Pick-Up service welcomed us and I was placed in a van linked to a small carriage in which luggages were positioned. That lady was nice and she was quite well-built, after years of assisting students to carry heavy luggages, I suppose.
Well then, we dropped off a few students at specific points before reaching Cromwell College at 10.30pm.
When I arrived at Cromwell, everything was quiet. No one was in college. I went straight to the office and rang up the ATP (something like a night warden). Dash was his name and he brought me to my room. I slowly placed my luggages in the room and changed into more comfortable clothes (How happy I was after crawling out of that navy blue "cocoon").
I then headed to the kitchen to collect my dinner..Heated it up in a microwave. It was two fried chicken balls, vegetables and a packet drink. That was my first dinner in Australia. I was filled but it was not a delicious mail (Late meals are always not tasty). And so, I had my dinner/supper alone....
I headed back to my room at approximately 11pm. Everything was dark and quiet..RAther spooky though. Only at this time, reality sets in. And dear me, when reality sets in, it hits you really hard!!!
I was alone in a foreign land. In the darkness of night and the quietness of the surroundings, I found nothing but loneliness. All the while I've been sheltered in my home and my parents' love, and now, I'm now all alone. The feeling of loneliness and helplessness gripped me like unrelenting claws on my heart on that quiet night.
And that was the very first time I cried myself to sleep....................
Parents, teachers, friends. All of you have led me to this stage
God alone deserves all glory!!