University of Sydney: After 3 years studying overseas

 Assalammuaaikum

Hi to whoever that still reads my blog. Well I hope there are not so many of you since this blog usually is the place for me to pour my heart out. Currently writing this in Abercombie Business School (more known as ABS by Usyd students) and now is 7 pm. 

As what the title says, I would like to pour out about what I currently feel after 3 years studying overseas. I am now already in my 6th semester, oh how time flies! Back to the main topic, we know in this life we won't get everything so perfectly laid out for us. No way in the world that this life would only be just rainbows. So my take is studying overseas is fun but also very challenging. 

Sydney is lovely, I realized that I love this city and I would probably won't choose any other city in Australia besides this one (in comparison to Queensland, Victoria and Canberra).  Besides the gorgeous landmark of the Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge, this place is actually very lovely since the city is located near the sea. Can you imagine the calmness u get when u look at the sea or ocean? Yeah it's just amazing right. That's what I can experience when going to the parks around the city. There are just so so many lovely parks that serve you mesmerizing sea views. In addition to that, the weather here is just so fine. I love all of its weather but this does not applicable for Summer! (because I have not yet experience Summer here). When it's winter, it's not too cold whereas Spring and Fall are just perfect for me. Nice weather and nice view = instantly can elevate my mood, making me feel happy and content. Alhamdulillah for this. Not to forget that I feel really blessed and grateful to have the opportunity to travel around the country.

A photo of me in February 2018 without imagining what would come

What about the people here? Well most of the people I met in cafes or restaurants are rather very friendly. However in university, I found it hard to minggle with locals here. There are actually an obvious seggregation between locals and international students. Okay try to imagine in a class when our tutor ask us to form a group, the locals will quickly form a group with each other, leaving all the (especially) asian international students by themselves. Like come on, wouldn't it be fun if you guys are more open to cultural differences? Ops before u want to say that maybe I'm the one who did not try hard enough, note that all of my friends here agreed with that too. I remember telling my mom about this and she told me "oh didn't I tell you before about the daughter of my friend said the locals in Aussie can be quite a snob...." well that is quite true... Maybe some of you didn't know that I'm the only Malaysian studying in my course, and a number of times already I was treated like I'm an invisible person. Sigh.

But oh well here I am in my 3rd year, still going strong. I am actually very proud of myself for making it this far. I am so proud of my other friends who are studying overseas as well for doing their best in their studies while having to go through a lot of challenges. Challenges -which our friend in Malaysia won't understand because the only thing that will come out from their mouth is "kenapa korang duduk dalam kelompok korang je" You know what, u don't even deserve to say that until you're in our shoe. BUT okay things are not that bad, to even things out and to not demotivated those who want to come and experience studying in Australia hehe, I must say that there were times when my colleagues are absolutely wonderful and made me feel very important-I will remember their faces forever, especially to the handsome guy David cewahh haha. I do have really nice local-asian friends too but we don't really meet up outside. 

To Puteri if you're reading my blog, I miss you and our Melbourne trip!

When other people look at our Instagram stories and posts seeing us travelling here and there, know that there are always the other part of the picture - the challenges. Nevertheless, studying overseas has been rewarding and I am super grateful for this opportunity. Okay so that's it for today's post. It turns out quite longg haha. See you later!

Sincerely

Amira