Don’t let the title fool you. I can’t believe I actually spent aeons without 1) updating YM.net, 2) updating Surrealle, 3) touching Photoshop, and 4) learning to code more complex pages. And all for the love of work.

Life’s been pretty nice to me though (albeit the absence from cyberspace.) True, people can still hold bi-weekly bitchfests in the dorms and irk me with those (when all I want to do is snuggle up in bed with some quiet and a copy of…er, either the latest Cosmo or some other good book.) And there’s a lot of work on my back – not surprising considering that 1) I’ve got ongoing coursework, and 2) exams coming up at the end of this term (sometime late June-ish.) But other than that, people are okay. Activities are great. And I’ve got so much to reflect on, like say:

- This time last year, I was working my butt out for an audition to study in England. This time THIS year, I’m already there – but I’m still working my butt out.
- This time last year, I was having trouble with the “teacher-bias” going on around me in the prefect board (i.e. “Ariane should be silenced once and for all – she’s contributing; but it would undermine our capabilities”) – and people were happy that I was being scrutinised. This time this year? The teacher-bias “seems to be in my favour” as they think it’s “marvellous that a foreigner can excel so much” (they think English is my second language, HA!), but people don’t get irked – even though they know well that 1) English IS my first language, and 2) I did learn some of the stuff before I came over, but it’s no big.
- This time last year, my brother Jerry was still “kiddyish”. This time this year, he now has 2 voices and the ability to swap between the two (I’m talking puberty, ehe!)
- This time last year, I was merely a one-track, academic-based being. This time this year, I’ve been able to 1) take charge of my music and enjoy it, 2) get involved in sport (football is great!) and 3) immerse myself in drama (both acting, and tech work) and cookery!

Of course, there are a host of other things. My social life has really come a long way since then. Because of the different social norms between England and Malaysia (the latter being a little more conservative), I’ve learnt to accept the norms of others while they come to terms with my “strict” (as if!) values, even though the media portrays places like UK and USA as “uninhibited” (oh, PLEASE…) Heck, I’ve even found some people who share my principles and that’s pretty rare. My mate Katie and I both have the same outlook on quite a few things, like boy(friends), people, attitudes etc – but we’re not clones, and -that- I like. It means I don’t have to become part of the Borg collective just to be “accepted”.

And there are the juniors! I’ve been able to hang out more with those in the years below. I’ve always had this thing where I “click” better with people who are younger – it’s possibly the “big sister” complex I’ve had from living with my brother Jerry, ha. But it’s also because back at USJ 12, where they split the 5 year groups into 2 sessions, our year group was the youngest in the morning session, so I didn’t get to speak much to the juniors. And while I’m not saying that I totally can’t mix with those who are older/of my age, I just prefer the younger ones. Funnily enough, some of these younger ones are actually more mentally-mature than those in my year (big joke, but it’s true.)

So with so much on and so much to look forward to, I guess it’s not surprising that cyberspace hasn’t seen me around that much. Of course, summer break will be different as I’ll be home – and away from Britannia. I’ll probably have other stuff to do, but there.

I guess I’ve finally settled at the stage where webdesign and cyberspace-loitering (for me) is now and truly a hobby, not an obsession. And it makes me feel at ease. But oh, my inbox is always open! *hint hint*

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