I know it's a long post but bear with me if you can! :)
I am living in Oxford which probably arouses question's in people's mind about the title of this post mentioning me losing my vocabulary! Let me explain...there are one too many Keralites in this place, most being not the sort of people I usually acquaint with. Moving here, I found it a challenge to get along with them; not just adults but even girls my age. Whoever thought me moving from Kerala had to 'dress down' to get along with them?! Yes! It was utterly shocking for me! It's true, studying in Choice School (Kochi) had accustomed me to a world of dressing up that I had no idea about back when I was in Muscat (yeah, you will slowly come to know of the 7 different school's I've studied at! The most I have been in one school is from 4th to 8th; in The Choice School. I was in boarding.) but I found it utterly humiliating when a top with an open neck was picked on or a skirt with Indian print was said to resemble a bed sheet! They wouldn't realise the fact that they had been away from India for too long and know nothing about Indian fashion! I found their choice of Indian clothes extremely disgusting and gaudy. People in the US and UK have an affinity towards eastern clothes with too much sparkle and glitter. Their choice of western clothes might be fabulous (not when it comes to girls in this locality though, I have to say!) but they wear eastern clothes that will make even people in the east cringe! But I didn't say a word to them since that was my 'personal' opinion which doesn't count. If they are comfortable wearing it, it's none of my business to get them to conform to my likes and dislikes. After all, what they wear is what they are; it's one of the ways in which people express themselves and nobody has the right to take that away from them.
Living in England has brought on a lot of new frustrations that I am learning to cope with. I am living with my mum and we share house with another family. Sharing house with another family is in itself a task that requires a lot of patience. It is very frustrating when you keep asking them to keep their voices low while you try to study and it goes unheard, when you inform them about impending exams and they keep parties on the day before 2 of your exams ( they're daughter had three birthday parties on her 1st birthday! ) How am I adapting to this? I study at night and sleep at around 5 in the morning to be woken up at 9 by the father and mother either complaining about their child's eating problems or them playing with her. P.S. it's usually NOT the child that wakes me up! I know it's not healthy staying up throughout the night but I need to prioritise issues that my future depends on; especially when people turn out to be very inconsiderate to others e.g. asking them why they can't learn to study even when there is noise instead of staying up at night! I don't think she was listening to what she was saying but it made realise how the people of today are so selfish. Here I was changing my timetable according to the times their child slept! Not that it was any quiet then! My room lies adjacent to the kitchen and living room and this family seems to be quite good at making their presence known! Uncle wouldn't sleep till way past midnight. Aunty slept at around 11 and woke up at around 6 on some days which means I get 4 to 5 hours to study at a time when it would take most children double the time to study the exact same topic if it was studied at some sane time! Talking about sleep, I feel like a zombie. Guess that sums it up!
I am shifting house in a few days time, which obviously comes as a relief considering I have been living this way for the past 2 years. But...here comes the bad news..I have to share room with my mum in the new house and we will still be sharing with a family with a child (Since it's just me and my mum renting a whole apartment in a city like Oxford is not worthwhile.) But somehow I am not that worried about them causing a problem because they seem way more mature than the family here. Also, the JR hospital library is a few minutes walk away and it's open 24/7! :D
Sharing room with my mum; now that is what I am extremely worried about. My room here has always been my sanctuary. If I was ever angry at her for something she said I would come in here, put on my headphones and listen to music. This prevented me from saying things I knew I would regret later. Now, it's going to be harder as she would probably be in the room most of the time and I can't ask her to leave. I am usually the type of person who gets along with most people; my friends would confirm that in the blink of an eye; but dealing with my mother is a whole different story! It's probably because I am a teenager (although I haven't felt most of the issues people say teens face) or because she hasn't been part of most of my growing up years; which is of course when I am moulded as an individual, and so we don't realise the extent to which we have changed. Even she was growing older in those years and many life experiences have definitely influenced her and changed her from the mum I knew. Only time and getting used to each other can solve those issues and I will just have to deal with it.
Hmm...I'm supposed to be packing now but here I am reflecting on my thoughts. If there is something I hate more than listening to people boast , it is packing! Even when I was living in Choice hostel, my end-of-year packing consisted of placing my suitcase wide open right in front of the cupboard, forcing my hand into the extreme ends of each shelf, cupping my hand around everything in that shelf and toppling it straight into the gaping suitcase. Zipping the case shut was a whole other task! And of course, there were the innumerable plastic carry-bags filled to the brim with odds and ends. Watching me carrying them to the car boot caused my aunt the biggest embarrassment ever, as the other kids in my boarding were from well-off families and their relatives would obviously be present on the last day of school. I knew I posed myself at risk of listening to untold amounts of telling-off's once I got home by carrying my luggage in carry-bags but like I had afore-mentioned, there is nothing I detest more than packing!
If I need to be alive to write more posts in the future, I better get back to packing or that would be my fate if my suitcase ain't packed tomorrow!
By the way, sorry about the complaining! I've just had a rough day! :) My life ain't all that bad! Especially compared to millions of kids out there who haven't even got a roof over their heads or clothes on their backs! Come to think of it, it would do both, my mum and me some good to shift houses often. It will restrain me from buying new clothes any time in the near future. The less clothes I have, the easier it is for me to finish off packing! Right now, I feel like I have got too many clothes because I am nowhere close to finishing off packing and crawling into bed and it's 4am! When I get a house I will have to keep a room aside just for my belongings. Not because I buy a lot, but because I don't throw anything away! I form emotional bonds to everything I possess! When I went to India this summer, I realised that I have even got my LKG apron in my cupboard! Come to think of it, I am certain I have got my first doll with me, Dinah (I named her that when I was around 3 years old! *beaming like a mother* :P )
Okay, I really have to go now! Goodnight! :)
umm..Good Morning would be more appropriate I guess?! For the early birds! :)
I am living in Oxford which probably arouses question's in people's mind about the title of this post mentioning me losing my vocabulary! Let me explain...there are one too many Keralites in this place, most being not the sort of people I usually acquaint with. Moving here, I found it a challenge to get along with them; not just adults but even girls my age. Whoever thought me moving from Kerala had to 'dress down' to get along with them?! Yes! It was utterly shocking for me! It's true, studying in Choice School (Kochi) had accustomed me to a world of dressing up that I had no idea about back when I was in Muscat (yeah, you will slowly come to know of the 7 different school's I've studied at! The most I have been in one school is from 4th to 8th; in The Choice School. I was in boarding.) but I found it utterly humiliating when a top with an open neck was picked on or a skirt with Indian print was said to resemble a bed sheet! They wouldn't realise the fact that they had been away from India for too long and know nothing about Indian fashion! I found their choice of Indian clothes extremely disgusting and gaudy. People in the US and UK have an affinity towards eastern clothes with too much sparkle and glitter. Their choice of western clothes might be fabulous (not when it comes to girls in this locality though, I have to say!) but they wear eastern clothes that will make even people in the east cringe! But I didn't say a word to them since that was my 'personal' opinion which doesn't count. If they are comfortable wearing it, it's none of my business to get them to conform to my likes and dislikes. After all, what they wear is what they are; it's one of the ways in which people express themselves and nobody has the right to take that away from them.
Living in England has brought on a lot of new frustrations that I am learning to cope with. I am living with my mum and we share house with another family. Sharing house with another family is in itself a task that requires a lot of patience. It is very frustrating when you keep asking them to keep their voices low while you try to study and it goes unheard, when you inform them about impending exams and they keep parties on the day before 2 of your exams ( they're daughter had three birthday parties on her 1st birthday! ) How am I adapting to this? I study at night and sleep at around 5 in the morning to be woken up at 9 by the father and mother either complaining about their child's eating problems or them playing with her. P.S. it's usually NOT the child that wakes me up! I know it's not healthy staying up throughout the night but I need to prioritise issues that my future depends on; especially when people turn out to be very inconsiderate to others e.g. asking them why they can't learn to study even when there is noise instead of staying up at night! I don't think she was listening to what she was saying but it made realise how the people of today are so selfish. Here I was changing my timetable according to the times their child slept! Not that it was any quiet then! My room lies adjacent to the kitchen and living room and this family seems to be quite good at making their presence known! Uncle wouldn't sleep till way past midnight. Aunty slept at around 11 and woke up at around 6 on some days which means I get 4 to 5 hours to study at a time when it would take most children double the time to study the exact same topic if it was studied at some sane time! Talking about sleep, I feel like a zombie. Guess that sums it up!
I am shifting house in a few days time, which obviously comes as a relief considering I have been living this way for the past 2 years. But...here comes the bad news..I have to share room with my mum in the new house and we will still be sharing with a family with a child (Since it's just me and my mum renting a whole apartment in a city like Oxford is not worthwhile.) But somehow I am not that worried about them causing a problem because they seem way more mature than the family here. Also, the JR hospital library is a few minutes walk away and it's open 24/7! :D
Sharing room with my mum; now that is what I am extremely worried about. My room here has always been my sanctuary. If I was ever angry at her for something she said I would come in here, put on my headphones and listen to music. This prevented me from saying things I knew I would regret later. Now, it's going to be harder as she would probably be in the room most of the time and I can't ask her to leave. I am usually the type of person who gets along with most people; my friends would confirm that in the blink of an eye; but dealing with my mother is a whole different story! It's probably because I am a teenager (although I haven't felt most of the issues people say teens face) or because she hasn't been part of most of my growing up years; which is of course when I am moulded as an individual, and so we don't realise the extent to which we have changed. Even she was growing older in those years and many life experiences have definitely influenced her and changed her from the mum I knew. Only time and getting used to each other can solve those issues and I will just have to deal with it.
Hmm...I'm supposed to be packing now but here I am reflecting on my thoughts. If there is something I hate more than listening to people boast , it is packing! Even when I was living in Choice hostel, my end-of-year packing consisted of placing my suitcase wide open right in front of the cupboard, forcing my hand into the extreme ends of each shelf, cupping my hand around everything in that shelf and toppling it straight into the gaping suitcase. Zipping the case shut was a whole other task! And of course, there were the innumerable plastic carry-bags filled to the brim with odds and ends. Watching me carrying them to the car boot caused my aunt the biggest embarrassment ever, as the other kids in my boarding were from well-off families and their relatives would obviously be present on the last day of school. I knew I posed myself at risk of listening to untold amounts of telling-off's once I got home by carrying my luggage in carry-bags but like I had afore-mentioned, there is nothing I detest more than packing!
If I need to be alive to write more posts in the future, I better get back to packing or that would be my fate if my suitcase ain't packed tomorrow!
By the way, sorry about the complaining! I've just had a rough day! :) My life ain't all that bad! Especially compared to millions of kids out there who haven't even got a roof over their heads or clothes on their backs! Come to think of it, it would do both, my mum and me some good to shift houses often. It will restrain me from buying new clothes any time in the near future. The less clothes I have, the easier it is for me to finish off packing! Right now, I feel like I have got too many clothes because I am nowhere close to finishing off packing and crawling into bed and it's 4am! When I get a house I will have to keep a room aside just for my belongings. Not because I buy a lot, but because I don't throw anything away! I form emotional bonds to everything I possess! When I went to India this summer, I realised that I have even got my LKG apron in my cupboard! Come to think of it, I am certain I have got my first doll with me, Dinah (I named her that when I was around 3 years old! *beaming like a mother* :P )
Okay, I really have to go now! Goodnight! :)
umm..Good Morning would be more appropriate I guess?! For the early birds! :)
No comments:
Post a Comment