THURSDAY 27 October

2005

LIVINGABROAD

4

BY NIKI CHEONG

IN THE process of compiling these stories onstudying abroad, I thought of an interestingstory to tell. You see, my eldest sister had goneto study in New Zealand a few years before Iwent to complete my degree, and I rememberall the way to the airport, I was laughing at herhuge box of Maggi Mee that my mother had'forced' her to bring along. When we arrived atthe airport however, it wasn't so funny any-more.

My sister was leaving together with herbunch of classmates as a group. There wereeasily 10 to 15 of them leaving on the sameflight. Needless to say, there were at least 50friends and family altogether at the waitinglounge. And each family member was holdingthings they had brought things for their lovedone who was leaving. Younger siblings hadteddy bears, mother's had plastic bags – I evensaw a box labelled 'Toilet and Tissue Paper'.

So I asked a few people who are currentlystudying overseas, and some who havereturned to share some of their first departureairport experience.

Jonathan Ooi studied at Curtin University inWestern Australia. When he left, his motherhad made him pack a whole bunch of differentfoodstuff.

“My parents thought I would die of hunger,”he joked. “So they bought me a whole stack of

instant food items like MaggiNoodles (Tom Yam and AsamLaksa flavour) and 3-in-1 cof-fee (Ipoh White Kopi). Iguess they had goodintentions, just didn'twant me to feel home-sick as it was my first timegoing away from home for along period.

“But what I didn't tell them wasthat the coffee didn't make it passthe custom officers as it con-tained dairy and that's a hugeno, no to enter Australia.”

Being the filial son that hewas, he also didn't tellthem that Perth was fullof shops selling tradi-tional Asian ingredientsand food.

“I actually felt dumb lugging that few packsover only to find tons of them available atevery store in Chinatown!”

Unlike Jonathan, who had time to pack hisstuff, some others got 'ambushed' unknowing-ly at the airport.

“As I was lugging my already exploding at itsseams luggage, mum in all her best intentionshanded me a paper bag,” 24-year-old AlexChan said. “Inside were at least a dozen boxesof Brand's Essense of Chicken. At that point

though, I somehow sus-pected that instead ofme calmly sipping thechicken broth by the fire-place as depicted in theBrands' ad, I would beserving them as anappetiser to unsus-pecting guests and proclaiming that I single-handedly made it myself.”

The fact is, parents will always be like that,

no matterwhat youtell

them.And really,

many peoplecan't find the

heart to actual-ly decline their

parents goodintentions.

The samewas for

VivianChong,

whowasn’teven

leaving thecountry – she was

only heading to UniversitiMalaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS). “My luggage was 5kg over the allowed

weight because my mum packed whatlooked like half a shop worth of Chinese

herbs! Cordyceps, ginseng, bird's nest,” sheexplained. “I was touched... but it also meantfrequent phone calls home, asking her how Ishould cook those herbs!”

And as for me, after having another sisterleave the country before me, I was glad that allI had to lug with me was an ang pow.

Who would have thought that Iwould end up here – in Dublin,Ireland at The Royal College ofSurgeons (RCSI). I’ve actually justarrived barely a month ago, and tolearn about the medical college andits rich history (it was establised in1784!) just sends a chill up myback... especially when you find outthat the campus was built on aQuaker burial site. Cool, huh?

One of the first things I had toadjust to was the temparature – Idon’t know how the Irish peoplestand the cold. For us Malaysians,the weather was a 360 degreechange yet you would see the oddMalaysian or two walking aroundDublin without jackets or sweaters.Talk about being thick skinned. Bythe way, walking is an amazing cul-ture here and each morning, I look

out of my window and I just seeloads of people. It really is a nicesight.

Being Malaysian though, one of

my main concerns was the food. Allmy initial fears were put to restthough – I managed to find placeswhere I could by the rempah need-

ed to cook my wicked meals. Allthat worry for nothing. Besides,cooking myself means that I couldhelp keep my budget low. Who saidthat we can’t have the best of bothworlds (although I must admit thatI acted like a total jakun when I sawMaggi Chilli Sauce!).

So yeah, that’s my college experi-ence. I’ve still got a long way to gobut hey, it’s all working out for mealready. I hope this has given you aslight insight as to what it is like tostudy in Dublin. BByy SSyyllvviiaa SSuusshhiillaa SSaammuueell,, RRCCSSII,,DDuubblliinn..

Dublin CallingThe Royal College ofSurgeons Ireland

Yes, Ma.Okay, Ma.

-Hassan-