saigoheiki.com

I’m in dire need of opinions about a dilemma, but before I proceed lemme relate what happened during yesterday’s lecture for Business Finance.

Our lecturer was relating to us how we needed to get a financial calculator that will cost about RM130-140 outside, but should we purchase in bulk, we can probably get it for about RM100 each. When asked for volunteers, being Malaysians who refuse to shoulder any responsibility when one could help it, no hands were raised. And this went on for some time (it was our first lecture so we were busy signing up for our tutorials), even despite the fact that our lecturer told us that we could charge an extra ringgit or two for the work involved.

After a while, Khai Shin – literally the only one I ever hung out with in RMIT ‘cause other people already formed their own respective cliques – asked if I’d be interested to volunteer ‘cause she sure as hell wouldn’t want to pay the full price of the calculator. I hesitated, then she nudged on saying that she’d help me with it, and that we should definitely charge a little extra for the effort we’re putting into.

So when Ms. Bee Bee asked the students again for volunteers, I told her that I’d volunteer (I was near the sign-up forms for tutorials placed near her), she announced my name, pointed to me, and everyone started clapping WTF.

When class ended, a few students (including one quite hot Indonesian? girl) began to approach me wanting to pay RM100 but I told them to pay me another day as I’ve yet to find out how much the calculators are exactly. While I was pondering where the hell to get the financial calculators from, FAC (Fucking Annoying Classmate) came to the rescue – as usual – and conveniently, at the top of his voice, told me that the Curtin office purchased the calculators for only RM95 each. He then passed me a booklet detailing said calculators along with the contact numbers (so ever resourceful).

When I went inside my dad’s car, I wasted no time ringing the dude up and placed an order for 33 calculators. Khai Shin and I decided to charge RM5 each – making the calculator cost RM100 exactly – which should be able to cover our SMS and telephoning charges to the students concerned. And we would gain about RM70+ each from shouldering this task – not bad can cover more than half of the cost of the calculator itself. :D

I was actually initially very very lazy to shoulder any responsibility having done that quite a lot in high school, but ah when financial gain is concerned, I’ll be there wtf. Hooray to business acumen.

At 9.45pm yesterday, I left from house and picked up Andy and Sarah, and then went to Melur USJ 17 where we were supposed to meet up with Kai Shen, Ding, and Kai Tzin – it’s supposed to be The Last Supper before Kai Shen departs today for Sydney to further his studies there for 2 years. After a while, Esther and Adrian dropped by.

The guys who went yesterday.

Adrian, Kai Shen, Sarah, Esther.

Andy, Sarah, Esther, Kai Tzin, Ding.

We waited for Angela to arrive at about 11.45pm, then moved out to USJ 8’s satay stall as Esther wanted to belanja Kai Shen eat satay for one last time. Ryui Bynn and his bro dropped by and we all hung out till about 1am.

Another friend of mine leaving to study abroad – farewell Kai Shen, my sports buddy in high school where we always run and play badminton and cycle together. (Sigh, I used to be really healthy.)

---

Right, the dilemma.

I have about maybe a year more to go before I finally make a decision whether to make this big leap to study abroad. My parents have been encouraging me to try it out “for the experience” – but the one big factor that’s holding me back is actually the thought of leaving my friends and family behind.

A year or 6 months probably don’t make that much of a difference, but a lot of things could change within that period. I should know, I think a part of me have changed quite a bit in the previous six months. In that six months/1 year, we might drift apart – or I might change too much to comfortably settle in into this u8 clique. And funnily enough, when I started college, when asked if I’d ever study abroad, my answer would be a vehement no because it’s just too expensive even if I were to go there for only a year (and this reasoning is still valid).

Heng made an encouraging comment on Jess’ latest entry:

from Labuan to Clem : haha i think u can get used to it la clem. providing u mix around. now my life here is hang out with my friends, whether in cafeteria chatting or in the comp lab surfing or in the room smoking and playing chor tai ti. and ill be back in my dorm just to sleep and bathe. i even shit in my friend’s dorm cos my toilet no seat. hahahaha. it’s definitely possible so if u do have the chance to go just go. tho u might regret it at first but our subang kaki will be friends even after we study. BTW!!! VODKA HERE 33 BUCKS A FUCKING BOTTLE!!! got absolut PEAR oso!!

Right now I’m leaning towards going – and here’s the dilemma, if I do choose to study in Melbourne, should I go for 1 year or do a 6-month studying stint instead? Factors to be considered:

Money: I’m not too sure of the costs involved in studying there, but IIRC from what I was told some time ago, it costs nearly RM100k to study there for a year. -____- That’s about RM20-30k more expensive than if I choose to complete my degree here for 3 years, and I don’t know if it’s worth it spending so much of my money for a very expensive studying experience.

Culture shock: An example I would cite is my Business Finance subject which I’m doing now. My lecturer told me that in Melbourne, there are no tutorial classes for this subject and she told us that we should be thankful that we even have tuts here. And another ‘culture shock’ would be, in Melbourne, we have to use original textbooks while in Malaysia, nobody gives a hoot if you photostat them or not.

And another culture shock would be, shops close after 5pm WTF. Though clubbing is reportedly cheap.. (not that I enjoy clubbing at all though).

Dorm-/room-mates: I don’t want to go to Australia just to see more Malaysians, gimme locals and international students anytime. (Although of course it could be quite reassuring to see the occasional Malaysian sometimes.)

Working: I’m not too sure if I’d choose to stay there to work after I graduate, but as of now, preliminary plans indicate no.

Homesick-ness: T________T