it was a long day with such a new-strange feeling :)
it's Friday today and I expected it would be such a long day for school as I'd have classes from 9am to 4pm. I also planned to stay back in school for a while to finish some of my homework. God! I have so many assignments for this term, I feel a bit tired, but i know most of students are same because they are fighting with their exams too.
Anyway, I did my homework until 9pm, I didn’t want to leave, I needed to continue working but the drop-in centre (a computer room) closes at 9pm. So then, I headed to the bus stop and hoped I would not miss my bus. But unfortunately yes, I did. It pulled away just as I got to the bus stop. “Oh no, come-on” I frustrated. (Sigh)
I knew it would be another hour before another bus would come. I decided to walk around the Rundle mall. It is a Friday night so there were still lots of people around. I saw a group of people (gays and lesbians) holding signs; I tried to figure out what it was about. And eventually I realized they were giving away free hugs. I would never thought I would give one to lesbians or gays, sorry that I thought this way. However, one of the lesbians, she looked like Justin Bieber (oh God, I love JB haha), she came to me and asked me if I wanted to have a hug. She was really nice, but I was a bit you know, nervous and shy for some reasons… Well, she talked to me really friendly, so that I confirmed her “you really wanna have a hug” - “Why not?” she said. Then I stood up and gave her one. It was such a warm hug that i didnt expect…
Maybe you guys would think it was not a big deal, but to me it was a WOW because I have a quite different culture which is really strict about this thing, and this is the first time that I hugged someone that I didn’t know especially she is a lesbian. I didn’t like them before to be honest, but now I think, well what a big deal about this, they are real nice and friendly. I’d love to be their friend :)
The event that has it all, well, almost
It was term break of the first semester when I joined the Victor Harbor Excursion with a number of international students representing the five of the seven continents in the world. The then newly installed TAFE SA student ambassadors managed the said event (I was not yet part of them as Anwar was still very much around).
It was quite an enjoyable and fun-filled encounter with people speaking different English accents but with all hearts beating the same human spirit of camaraderie and understanding towards one another.
I never thought that I could help manage an almost the same activity now that I am already a student ambassador replacing Anwar who has now went to our home country for good. Bringing the same spirit, we were able to put into flesh the real essence of fun and adventure in the breathtaking views of mountain, sea and Australian homegrown plants and animals of the 4452 hectares Deep Creek Conservation Park in Fleurieu Peninsula which is a two hour drive from Adelaide.
A group of almost two dozen youthful and enthusiastic trekkers joined the event originally proposed by Nae (he needed to be in Thailand to visit his father who is sick) savouring the almost perfect weather with only a slight threat of intermittent showers and moderately strong winds.
We all met up at TAFESA City Campus, had a small chat and did some preparations and immediately jumped over the bus and headed to the targeted destination.
The 'starting-to-know-you' activities (provided by Donna) were done by Pratik, me and Alice while on the bus. Upon reaching the place, each one had enthusiastically prepared their walking feet and started the 7 km trek. After two and a half hours, everybody went back tired but triumphant for accomplishing the challenge and immediately jumped off to the barbie lunch prepared by Alice and Gwen.
The group did not waste time and heeded towards another awe-inspiring sight of Deep Creek near the paragliding site offering a vast horizon of the sea meeting a silky bluish sky and the kangaroo-filled range of trees. It was perfect for the next activities that challenged their communication, scanning and skimming magazine and supporting and helping as a group skills.
After doing those things, it was time for us to pack up and proceeded to a refreshing beer tasting at Myponga Brewery that offered us variety of beer to taste.
As we were already in the bus, I could hear the sound of their snore as they were sleeping while we proceeded to TAFE again to culminate our day tour. I could see the weariness in their faces but what struck me most was their smile of satisfaction even if their eyes were closed.
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