Ramadhan Mubarak!

This is a very late update, after a long hiatus (at least for me!). Here are some short updates. Enjoy!

Long absence explained

I went back to Malaysia for a month, we had to settle hubby's scholarship. Alhamdulillah, after patiently waiting for a year, and after applying to numerous school, he finally got a place to continue his doctorate this coming fall. I am so proud of him! We were not planning to go back (wanted to settle things from here), but the management insisted that he attended the BTN to get the scholarship released. I am so glad that everything is settled now, and we are safely settled in our little apartment in Kent.

Going back to Malaysia after not being home for a year brings to me mixed feelings. I hadn't realized how much I would miss home, especially my family and close friends. To be surrounded with things and people familiar, it gave me comfort and secure footing; even after a year, I still feel like a 'tourist' in US., and hence I was glad to be back home! Being in another country that I feel is not my home, I am unbalanced and ambivalent; at times I feel lost, sometimes I relished it, but always I feel out of place. Being back home also surprised me; things have changed so much! It's only been a  year, but the price of everything has gone up tremendously! (i.e. food, taxi fare). I also had the 'privilege' of using the public transportation (e.g. LRT) and I was amazed by the changes that I see in KL Sentral and also Masjid Jamek. Finally, I relished the food that I wanted to eat; it's amazing how much you take for granted!  You don't realize it, and miss it when it's gone! Indeed it was good to be home. I also felt bittersweet when leaving; I did not feel like going back to the US, my temporary home for the next three years. Tapi nak buat macam mana, perjuangan masih belum selesai...

To all my friends (i.e. HSI clan, i.e. Jabs, Wani, Kak Sue, Emee, Mariya, Ben, Pak Lan and Meden,  and also my office colleagues) thank you for taking the time to see me. I really appreciate your effort and time! I felt really recharged after the short gossip sessions at the mamak stall, my house and  the cozy bukak puasa I had with a few people I missed.

Facebooking no more 

To those of you who realized, I've quit FB. It just felt intrusive, and extremely distracting. That's all I can say. It was a huge relief to click that deactivate button!

Flying back adventures

This was the worst time flying back EVER. We booked the ticket late, so we didn't have a choice with the route. We stopped in Beijing, arriving at 6am and waiting there for 10 hours before boarding to Chicago. It was bad because I couldn't understand the language (and therefore  felt that the staff there was quite brusque!) and of course because of the long waiting time. We also had to pass through several security checks despite transiting only. I remembered in Narita last year we did not have to fill in any arrival forms or go through repeated security checks because we were only transiting. I spent a bulk of the time sleeping in Starbucks (they had comfy sofas!). But the airport was new, and pleasant enough for you to walk around in. The flight to Chicago was even more tiring. We had seats near the exit so I could hardly sleep; a lot of people were walking back and forth to go to the restroom near my seat. I was relieved upon touching down to Chicago after 13 hours and we  had to wait around for 5 more hours before boarding to Akron-Canton. Lessons learned: book your ticket early, avoid the Asian route if you can (i.e. Middle East is a much better option if you had to transit!), and don't buy mineral water anywhere you go (we had to dispose at least 4-5 bottles, due to the 'no liquid allowed' rule). Oh, another plus point this time was we didn't have much trouble passing by the US Customs, because there were so many people waiting in line (it took us about an hour) and also maybe because we were returning students. I also managed to get my bags in without any trouble. Selamat rempah2 aku. He he he he. Tapi memang penat. Rasa berhari2 nak hilang penat ni! 

Ramadhan wishes

To all my  Muslim friends and readers, have a splendid Ramadhan... It's one week till class starts, so I'm going to spend the time cleaning and resting. And oh! cooking too sbb mana ada bazaar ramadhan kat sini. Enjoy the weekend, people!

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