Nottingham Pre-Departure Event

Yesterday afternoon, I attended the Pre-Departure event organized for all future Nottingham students together with my parents. It was the first of, hopefully, many opportunities to make Singaporean friends before going to Nottingham. I am very sure I went to this "high tea" feeling rather excited about it, looking forward to meeting new friends. Yet, if you ask me now how I felt about the whole thing after everything has happened, I can't say that I found it thoroughly fulfilling.

Yes, I did make new friends (maybe it'll be more appropriate to call them "acquaintances"). I found out that of about 15 future Nottingham students who attended the event, 7 of us were going to be studying Law. Amongst the rest, there were 2 exchange students from NUS who will be going to Nottingham to study Chemistry for 6 months. There also was a postgraduate, a teacher, who was going for a Masters in English Lit. I clicked the best with this girl who was going to study Music at Nottingham. The likelihood of meeting her again will be low because we're not in the same course, but I hope we do meet again. I talked to her the most whereas with the rest it was just something like, "Hello! I'm Lynn and you are?" with the shaking of hands and asking "which course will you be studying" and "which school did you come from"...

I also found out that I really love English humour. The organiser of this event, of course, works for Nottingham and she's British. She was so engaging in her presentation, with her dry wit ever so evident in whatever she said. I really loved her wit. I can't wait to meet other British people. Hopefully they'll be as witty as her.

On top of it all, I found out that I'm actually not that interested in making Singaporean friends when I go to University, as weird as it sounds. I want to go to Nottingham to make international friends. Singaporean friends, I'll always have when I come back to Singapore because Singapore is my home. I want to go to Nottingham to immerse myself completely in their culture and society there with the hope that I'll be able to get very comfortable very quickly and have a completely different experience/kind of life over there. Something that I won't get to try out and experience back in Singapore.

Yep! I know I keep saying this but it's true - I can't wait to leave for Nottingham! I want to leave!

Comments

Anonymous said…
i love it that you want to make 'international' friends, i never get why people only want to hang out with singaporeans when they're overseas. it's so pointless and comfort zone-y... if that makes any sense. i cant believe youre really going away, i dont get to see you often but already it feels weird knowing youre gonna be a million miles away and no longer just eight digits away. but anyway im really happy for you cos i know you really want this!

in any case i must still stress that we have about 1.5 months left togther so MEEEEEEEET SOOOOOOON AND MOREEEEE OFTENNNNNN.
July 30, 2007 9:52 pm
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