New Years
I started 2017 pretty lonely actually. My housemate went back to China, literally none of my uni friends stayed in Maastricht as they all went back to their hometowns, the time difference between Malaysia and the Netherlands meant it was like 7am back in Malaysia and everyone was asleep. It was my first time celebrating New Years abroad and I was adamant to not waste it. On New Year's Eve, I went to the grocery store, splurged on some good food and two big bottles of booze, went back home, cooked myself a good meal, and finished both the bottles of booze. Then around 11:30pm, I got my ass out of the house and onto the streets to join in the "fun". Everyone was partying like crazy, the streets were a mess; I made my way to the Maastricht bridge and watched the fireworks show. When the clock struck 12, everyone was just shouting "Happy New Year", hugging their loved ones and celebrating, while I was just there.. alone. I wanted to travel to another country, but I couldn't as I had my QM1 resits a few days after that. So not only was I alone, I had to study as well. Lol, damn sad right I know.
Italy
I spent my Chinese New Year in Italy with my housemate, distracting myself from the fact that I wasn't back home, eating all those delicious dishes, reuniting with my family and friends, and getting angpaus. 💔 Basically it was 8 days 7 nights and I visited Pisa, Florence, Verona and Milan. I will write a separate blog post about my Italy trip and explain to guys what I did there, where I went, and all that stuff.
Denmark
Carnival is a really big deal here, it's basically people dressing up in costumes and going out to party with everybody else. We get like a week of holidays so I spent it by going to Copenhagen. I went there with one Malaysian and one Indonesian friend. The one thing I most vividly remember about that trip was THE COLD. Boyyy, I ain't joking about the cold! I thought I had to amputate parts of my body, especially my fingers due to frostbite. Ok, I might be exaggerating, but still, it was bloody cold. I'm just gonna write about my trips in separate posts (with photos included), or this post is never gonna end haha.
Japan
Reminiscing the days when I could just fly to another country every month. #jetsetlife 😂 I've honestly been so busy lately I barely have time to eat. 😪 Anyway, I celebrate an early 21st Birthday with my family in Tokyo!!! I love Japan honestly. 💗 Those of you who follow me on Instagram probably know that I've visited Tokyo a couple of times, even spending around 2 months plus there once. My dad worked in Tokyo and my sister studied there, so my family used to visit Japan often. I was really happy I got to spend some quality time with my family, and eat a lot of Asian food. I lost about 10kgs since leaving Malaysia, so my parents were just feeding me a lot haha. I was also at the point of being dead inside as uni was (and still is) too stressful for me, so it was a much needed trip to refuel myself and push on the last few months before my summer holidays.
Turning Twenty-One
I remember wishing I could get older faster when I was young, I just wanna take all that back. Yes, I'm an adult now. I still can't believe I'm already 21, and turning 22 in a few months. Where did all the time go? I feel old. Usually by this age, most people already have their life figured out, they know what they wanna do in life, some are already earning money, some are close to marriage and having kids, whereas I can barely get my shit together. 😂 Ahh, adulthood. All I wanna do is go back to being a kid again. I miss kindergarten when all I do is learn, play, eat and sleep, then getting a sticker for a job well done.
SCOPE Maastricht
Some of you might already know that I'm in some sort of an association now but don't really know what, so let me just explain what it really is. So basically SCOPE Maastricht is the official study association of the School of Business and Economics (SBE), Maastricht University. It has more than 4000 members and is the biggest association in Maastricht, it is also one of the biggest in Europe actually. Inside the association there's like three pillars: Marketing and Management, Economics and Finance and General and Alumni. There's a few levels of involvement, passive being just a normal member, active members actually are selected to be in committees than plan events for the passive members, and then there's Board, which is the highest level of involvement, the boardies are selected after going through a selection process, they basically represent SCOPE and are in charge of the committees. When I first started uni, I was already interested in joining as an active member but I was worried that I might not be able to cope with the workload of uni so I held back. To be honest I was also quite scared lah, first time being in angmoh country mah, wanna test the field first right?
They had two recruitment periods, so when I was ready, I joined the University and Internal Relations Committee in February. I was also offered a position as the Operations Manager for the Marketing Day Committee, but my reasoning was I wanted to join a fun committee first, then apply for a serious committee in my second year. So my job in the University and Internal Relations Committee consisted of "consulting the Board of SCOPE in their restructuring process" and "executed shared events between the SBE and SCOPE" (just copying my recommendation letter lol). Basically my committee was responsible for reconstructing Google Drive, implementing and optimising Facebook Workplace (which I was personally in charge of), and also representing the university in events such as the Bachelor Open Days and Experience Days. It was really fun I'd say, I had a good team, a good boss and I learned quite some things, which made me want to take it up a notch.
So I applied to be a Board member. After the selection process, I was offered the position of Social Activities Coordinator for the Marketing and Management pillar. Yeah yeah laugh all you want. 🙄 When I first told people who knew me I got the social job, people laughed. Heck, I even laughed. Let's just say when you imagine someone social, my name wouldn't be the first to come to your mind lol. Maybe the previous board saw something in me that I couldn't see for myself, or at least that's what I choose to believe. I was really nervous at first coz I kept thinking I will mess things up by being the anti-social that I am, so I was really careful. But after some time, I realised that letting loose is actually better for me. Fast forward to half a year later, I'm proud to say that I've grown so much as a person socially. I'm more open now, still not like super sociable, but hey I'm trying, and I will get there one day. For now, I'm living one day at a time.
Active Member Weekend
One of my biggest tasks (maybe even the biggest) as a Social Activities Coordinator is to plan a weekend away for the active members in my pillar, something sorta like a camp back in Malaysia. It was damn stressful sia since I've never attended one before, let alone plan it for people. The camp was just held last month. I'm gonna go into detail about this in a separate post as well. 😊
Belgium
A week before my Summer break, a couple of friends and I decided to visit Brussels for a one day trip. Brussels is pretty near to Maastricht so we just took the bus there. My final verdict is I really don't like that city (sorry Belgians!), it is my least favourite city so far. I went there another time in October, still don't like it lol. I'll explain why later.
SUMMER BREAK!
Omg, let me tell you guys, I waited an entire year for this to come, I wanted to go home so badly! I got desperate towards the end as the days seemed to creep by really slowly. We only had two months of holidays, which was really sad as I see other people getting three or four months off. 😞 Regardless of that, I think it was probably the best and happiest two months of my 2017! ✨ I got to see my baby doggos, my family and my friends, it was just amazing.
I met up with people, working my way up North starting from Singapore to Kuala Lumpur. I'm so blessed to have you guys in my life. 🤗 But my babies (doggos) thooooo, I missed them like crazy!!! I was that clingy gf the entire two months coz I wouldn't let them out of my sight haha. They're my life tbh. Spending time with my family was great, all my sisters were back as well so my mom was really happy everyone's back together. I also took trips up to KL and Ipoh, non-stop eating sia in Malaysia, I think I gained like a few kgs. I lost all the weight here so that I could clear my tummy for Malaysian food! 👅 Ain't no place like home. It broke my heart when I had to leave again...
Taiwan
Tip: Don't go during Summer, it's seriously too hot.
I went to Taichung and Taipei for one week with my baby. Did you guys watch my vlog yet? If not, click on the link and go watch! 😃 It basically already shows everything we did there, but I could upload our itinerary if you guys want it? Everything is in traditional Chinese there, so my banana boyfriend basically didn't understand anything during the entire trip. 🤣 I had to take the lead, even I was worried, but we made it! Whew! My sister didn't think I could. 😒
Since coming back to the Netherlands, I've just been throwing myself into uni work and SCOPE work. I'm currently in my second year of my degree and I honestly can't wait to graduate and work already. A lot of people tell me to enjoy my study years and that working is hard, but personally, I prefer working. I like that fixed schedule of knowing what to do, and when to do it. Then when I'm done for the day, I actually get to have my alone time, whereas you never really get to have time for yourself when you're studying without that voice inside your head nagging and making you feel guilty that you're not constantly studying.
My mom, dad and youngest sister came to visit me a few weeks ago. My dad left earlier, but my mom and sister just left last week. They travelled to a few countries in Europe, it really sucked that I couldn't join as I had classes and exams. Pretty shitty how exams are always on the few days before Christmas, all I had in my head during exams were Christmas songs and how I can jingle all the way, instead of what I should be having which were Marketing and Global Business.
Just to sum everything up, it has been one hell of a journey this year. Being abroad alone is not easy, but I know it's what I gotta do for my future. There are so many times when I want to just give up and go home, but then everything that has already been sacrificed will amount to nothing, so I soldier on, plus your home girl ain't a quitter. 💁 2017 was filled with good times but also bad times, but all in all, the experiences and challenges I've been through have refined me to who I am today. I know 2018 won't be easy, but it's also going to be filled with new memories, so bring it on!
HAPPY NEW YEAR'S EVE! 🎊 I hope y'all will enjoy yourselves, but remember to party and drink responsibly! If you're still reading, thank you. 💖 It feels really good to be writing again.
To all the people that have stuck with me through thick and thin, I love y'all and I'm extremely blessed to have you guys in my life. You're the fuel that keeps me burning, and the motivation that keeps me going. Words can't even begin to express my appreciation. I just wanna say that I may have been busy lately, but you guys never left my mind. ♥
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