MIA

This visa thing is frustrating. I know this is like the hundredth post I have up here regarding that, but seriously. I've already missed a week of my course. Tomorrow will start the next week I'm going to be absent for. I'm just so worried about how I'm going to catch up, even though I know the professors will help and all.


This girl I've met via facebook that's on the architecture course, Emily, added me to a group dedicated to the first year architects. I had a look at some of the discussions - they're already talking about presentations! As in, they've done them. And lord, I have monster stage fright. I've been onstage before - school plays, master of ceremonies for a couple of occasions, and so on. My knees literally shake; I always make sure to wear a dress or skirt of something, to cover it up. Looking at my face, I'm told, you can't tell I'm about to pass out. But I really am.


As it goes on, and I know that the audience is not about to burst out laughing (unless I've just thrown in a joke or something), it gets better. The knees don't, but the suffocated feeling in my chest does alleviate a little. I suppose as I do more presentations in class, I'll get over it. And I'll be friends with them, so I guess it won't be as daunting as a stage audience. But still.


The point is I have to catch up, and do presentations on the caught up work. And I don't have any casual skirts. I've only ever worn formal dresses to the times I needed to be MC, or my school uniform (long skirt on the days of speeches and presentations and such). HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO HIDE MY KNEES?


Right, first thing in the morning, I'm going out and buying skirts. Whatever. I can do this.


Emily has been great. She's offered to help me catch up once I get there, which is a huge load off. Teachers are good, but I've always found studying with classmates much more effective. I'm not sure if this is a universal thing or just me, but there you go. I studied for my A-Levels by forcing my brother study in my room at the same time - he'd quiz me when I asked, which was actually a massive help for physics. He has a knack for asking questions that miraculously appear on the paper. And saying the answers out loud to him helped make it stick. 


On a different note, I really, truly cannot wait to meet my new flatmates. They've done just the sweetest thing. I received an invite on fb to an event, so I checked it out. Guess what it's called?


"Party for Shimali."


Since I missed out on freshers', they've decided to throw a little thing in my honour, and I am completely, utterly touched. Tears of joy, I swear to God, were there. (Side note: I'm an annoyingly emotional person. I cried, full on sobs, for Spiderman 3, when [SPOILER ALERT] Harry died. Even though the entire theatre was laughing at Tobey Maguire's scrunched-up crybaby face.) It's so very sweet of them. I know I'm going to absolutely love my new family.


It's happening this Friday. I really hope I'm in Dundee by then. Like, seriously. Every time I check the application status of the visa, I get a little pang of sadness when I see it still isn't through. 


If I haven't gotten it by tomorrow, I'll have to find the number for the residences and explain why I haven't collected the keys yet, and when I probably will. I hope they accept that I don't know. And then explain to the flatmates that I may not be there in time for the party. Which would be AWFUL, seeing as they've gone to all the trouble. 


*Sigh* Anyway. I'm going to sleep. Maybe things will look better in the morning.


Ja.

Still Not Quite There

Argh, this is just plain frustrating.

I was supposed to leave for Dundee yesterday. The original plan was the 20th of this month, but things got done earlier than we'd planned. We'd talked to the people at the UK Border Agency, and they'd agreed to send my visa to me in two days, so we planned to leave Friday, which was the 16th. 

But no. No visa.

So I'm still stuck here.

One good thing is that I get to see a couple of people I'd thought I wouldn't be able to. I'm meeting them for lunch later. 

But that's about the only upside.

Believing that I was leaving Friday, I'd packed everything and was ready to leave, see? So now, I have very little clothes lying about, and I can't be bothered opening up the suitcase and pulling out everything that I spent hours packing. I keep throwing everything in the wash and hoping to find some hidden miracle in my closet, but I have the feeling that it won't work out that way.

And I'm so excited for uni, late though I am. New friends, new city, new life. I love it here too, but you know, it's university! The time of our lives! Although I'm late. Argh, I can't get that little fact out of my head.

Damn it.

I bought most of my textbooks the other day. Just the one missing, now. I figured I'd try and get some reading done, so hopefully I won't be that behind everyone else. The books look a bit daunting, but I'll do it. I know that they said it would be easy to catch up and all, but still. Might as well give myself an advantage.

Oh, off topic, I watched Coach Carter yesterday! I hadn't watched it before, even though most of my family's given it glowing reviews. I thought, from the name, that it was a guy movie about baseball or something. But I did watch it yesterday, and it's awesome! Totally not just a guy movie. And it's basketball, not baseball. Which is kind of a relief, because I don't understand how baseball works. I think it's like rounders, but I'm not sure. In this household, it's just cricket and football. And I only ever watch the world cups of either, because that's the only thing interesting enough for me to watch.

Speaking of which, I hope it won't be too late to sign up for any of the sports clubs once I get there. I really wanted to join Archery, and maybe Skiing and Snowboarding? Because archery is just plain cool, and I've never skied or snowboarded, and I want to learn. But I'll wait until I get my schedule before I go around joining anything. I heard that the freshman year is supposed to be super hectic, right after transitioning from high school.

And, well, I'd better get ready for that lunch now.

Ja. 

Post-Grad Mess

The Final Goodbye

Well, it was fun while it lasted.


Meeting friends, keeping friends, the final party, the final goodbye. It's not officially over yet (we've still got our exams to charge through), but in a way, it is.


There were so many signs yesterday, ones that increased my nervousness as the Graduation Ceremony neared. For instance, we wanted to be there early so that we could get good seats. We were planning on leaving the house at 5:00 p.m, actually, so we'd be there by 5:15. The ceremony started at 6:00. 


But things started going wrong, and the trepidation just kept building and building. In my case, anyway. Aehshaan (Note: Brother) said that his hunger was building more than anything. 


Mum and Dad went out for something around 1 o'clock, and promised to be back no later than 2:15, with lunch. I had an appointment at the salon for my hair, at 3:00. Before we knew it, it was 4:00 in the evening and my parents were nowhere in sight. I was in a full-blown panic (although no longer hungry, because Aehshaan ordered burgers), convinced that we would never make it in time. I was going to miss my own graduation!


But Mum called and said to be ready, jump into the car as soon as it reached the house. I stood outside and when the Tahoe pulled up, we hightailed it to the salon. Once there, Mum dropped me off, promised to be back within forty minutes, and took off to the local mall to eat lunch because she'd apparently gone without.


The salon did their work within the forty minutes, thank god. Janie, my usual hair stylist, couldn't attend to me personally because some other woman had a stupid wedding (not as important as my graduation, the nerve!) and she had to handle her instead of me. But she did keep popping up and messing with my hair when she thought something wasn't right. Thank God. I trust Janie more than any of those other women, mostly because I've been going to her for the past three or so years.


With my hair done, Mum came and picked me up and we rushed back home to get dressed. It was 5:00 when we reached the house, so you can imagine my state. We were all ready to leave by 5:40, at least.


When we left the house though, there was a tennis ball that was placed exactly underneath our garage door. So when we pushed the button that ought to have shut it and drove off, Aehshaan turned back in time to see the stupid thing hit the ball and then lift back up. We had to drive back home, Aehshaan had to jump out and kick the ball out of the way, and then we tried again.


Five minutes later on the road, we managed to hit a bird.


I hope the thing made it. I doubt it, and I feel sorry for it if it did, but I really hope it made it.


Stupid bird. Just another thing that served as a weird premonition that things wouldn't go so well.


But I was wrong. I reached the place in time, the graduation ceremony was perfect, and I couldn't have asked for more. Robbie (Note: Awesome photographer/cameraman/director/video-editor/friend) made this professional-looking video that I will one day link here, once it's up. It was amazing. 


Earlier, I was worried that I wouldn't cry at the ceremony, because I was certain that everyone around me would cry because we were all leaving and all that. But I totally cried. And there was this one bit in the video where there's this photo of me and a bunch of friends, and it kind of falls off a locker and lands on the ground and just lies there. I burst out into sobs at that point.


Saddest part? I was the only one in my row to cry. Niki was crying directly in front of me, and I wish she had been next to me instead so that we could have cried together (I love you, Niki), but ah well.


Samiya gave me a tissue. (I love you too, Sam.)


We got into the limo after that, and went around for an hour in it (Note: It was a Porsche Cayenne limo) before it dropped us off at Raffles. Oh, and we popped a non-alcoholic grape-juice-style champagne bottle in the limo! *grin*


The grad party was so much fun. We danced and we danced and we danced. And we went outside for a bit at one point, and we wanted to wander off into this garden-esque area, but when we did, this girl came out and said, "You don't want to go in there, there's someone having sex in there." And she said it that way too, with the emphasis on the sex part.


What did Niki and I do? We grinned at each other, grabbed each other's hands, and charged in to see if we could find these people.


We couldn't, sadly. But oh well. 


Anyway, the grad party was great. The food, the music, the people, it was all amazing. We left at around 1-ish, although the thing was supposed to go till 3:00. Dad wasn't too keen on letting me stay that late though, but that's alright. 1:00 a.m was pretty reasonable, really. 


Anyway, my hair's been a mess since yesterday.

Post-Grad Mess

I feel so uncultured compared to the elegance and stuff of yesterday. But it's alright. I'm sorry it's over, but my life has only just begun.


Ciao.