Oh wow! Look at the date of my last post, it's been like.. like.. 4 months ago! Even my first semester in my new college has already finished.. Since I haven't been here for quite a while, allow me to share some updates about my life since I was away~~ (I put them in bullets and numbers because I thought it'd look cool like that >.<)
Update #1
I've enrolled myself in INTEC, Shah Alam. Which means I'm no longer a high school student.. which means I had advanced into a whole new level of education.. which also means I already used pointers for all my subject grades!
Update #2
(I think Ive grown taller by a few inch since I last checked my height.)
Update #3
I dont know what else is new about me. (or Im just too lazy to write them down.) Update #1 and 2 basically conclude it all.
So, like many other friends my age I have, college and university life had shown us a whole new perspective of life and the real world; and man, I gotta say, it's a tough world we got out there. Like for me, the competition I face in INTEC is crazy! Everyone else is so good that sometimes I wonder whether I belong there with the rest of them. Nevertheless, the past 3 months was a fantastic journey; doing things Ive never done before (or things I never thought I would do).
So life has changed.. how? Ive been observing myself and some of my college friends, and this is what I can conclude. To prove how one can really change over time, let me give you a few examples.. As I grew older, I no longer found that Harry Potter is interesting (as a proof, Ive never even watched the second part of the final movie. Yeah I know, I'm so outdated!) I used to go crazy over the books, the movies, the whole thing! I used to do a scrap book about everything HP, typed, printed, and neatly decorated. I used to pretend I was a part of the casts, and I would scream 'Experliamus' or 'Impedimenta' at trees and cars. And I think you certainly wouldnt wanna know what happened to my mom's (Nimbus 2000) brooms.. -.-
Changes occurred to some college friends also; boys would tend to be more serious in their studies (not!).. And girls would develop that little sense of fashion they got deep down underneath themselves (handbags and wedges.. I'm just not there yet lol)
College life changes a person too you know..
Everyone I know from INTEC have grown thinner due to hunger and they're too lazy to go out and spend money on expensive food even in mamak restaurants.
And some even drive everyday to college (oh so cool!)
And I just knew recently that staying up at 4 in the morning to finish off assignments is a pretty normal thing college kids do. Especially if you do things in the nick of time. Lecturers dont go to class asking you to hand in your homeworks like school teachers would.. If you submit, you're a good student and they would keep that in mind; and if you dont, there goes 30% of your final CGPA. Scary, huh?
I gotta say, life is much more enjoyable when you're no longer in school. No offense, high school, but you give us tough time with your overloaded homeworks and strict rules. But I know they are all there to 'teach me lessons' and 'make me a better person'. And when you go to college, and some kids (apart from yourself) take advantage of that freedom; terrible things resulted, and you'd wish there are certain rules at the first place. So rules are not all bad at all.
So since Faith is currently busy with her final exam and stuff (Kolej Maha Busy indeed..), and since Im having a 2-month-semester-break (ahhhh bliss), I'll be updating stuff on this blog so people who read this wont think the authors are a couple of nerds with alzheimer's-ish brains that forgot all about the existence of this blog. So here goes..
Since we just finished celebrating Eid al-Adha a few days ago, I think it'd be just right to post something about that. So my eid went like it normally would; waking up early in the morning to help my mom prepare food (*cough* but this year she was done with everything without my help because *cough* I woke up a bit lat.., she woke up too early *cough*), having a nice clothes to put on, and walking to the nearest surau for the eid al-adha prayers. And like my usual eid would go by, I would rush back home and never stay to watch the cows being slaughtered as the sacrifice ritual. Instead, I would wait anxiously at home for anyone to bring back the parts of rib and meat so my mom can cook us delicious 'sup tulang' or 'kari daging' for the next few days..
Then I played with my nephews and went online. And you guys can guess what happens next and the rest of the day..
So basically that was how my day went. Poof! Just like that.
But then, after a few years having that kind of routined-celebration-day, I started to wonder just recently: is this how it is supposed to be celebrated at the first place? By going online day and night? Is this how I suppose to feel about the whole sacrifice made by prophet Abraham thousands of years ago? The meat and the ribs distributed for the whole community, is it just another households-sharing-deed kind of stuff, and nothing more?
Then, two days ago, I kinda had a light bulb moment all of the sudden. It made me think, define and redefined the meaning of eid al-Adha altogether, and for a moment there, I enjoyed the pleasure the thought.
Two days ago, my mom was visited by a refugee from a country-at-war. She always comes to our house to sell some home-made sambal, and my mom would always be a regular customer. Mom would buy it from her in a very large scale, then mom would distribute it into packs so she can sell them to her friends. This way, the refugee can earn money the right way.
So that day, my mom's workplace had a gotong-royong for the cow-slaughtering ritual. As requested, she received quite a lot of meat and rib parts. And when she got home, she asked me to help her distribute those meats, for the refugee would come and visit us afterwards. And when she did come, we handed her a very heavy bag of fresh cow parts, waiting to be cooked and served. Instantly, she had a very happy face on her. And she kept saying 'others would love to have this, others would love to have this', which is because she promised my mom that she would distribute the cow parts some more to others from a refuge center. That day, she left our house early because she was very enthusiastic with what she had and with what she was going to give out to others.
Seeing all that happening right with my own two eyes made me all tearful and touched. I did not just tell the story because I was trying to be boastful for what my mother did, though I do find that what she did was truly inspiring. But my point here is that perspectives can be very interesting at times. How one thing can be taken lightly by some people, but for others, it meant the world to them. How eid al-adha for some people was celebrated with so little meaning, but for others it's a day that they would always cherish. How a simple beef rib soup can make me full for the day, it can make others not go hungry for the whole week.
Sometimes we would brag over small things that we feel incomplete in our life. We want perfections and only perfections in everything that we receive. We whine and complain when we have to face drawbacks at some points of our life. But little do we know that there are others who would fight to live a life like ours. Others whose life are far worse and incomparably more painful; yet they are so determined to make the best of what they have.
These are the people who truly deserve to be happy on eid al-adha. And it gives me a clear reminder also; to always be grateful for the life that I have. And each and every one of you that are reading this should too..
"I cried because I have no shoes.. until I saw a man with no feet."
signing off,
cokelat chip
p/s: I cant believe Im saying this, but I think Im hating holidays. They are so plainly boring and unproductive. (see what I did there, I just complained again!)
