Introductions!

Hi there! I'd typically introduce myself with my Internet alias but introducing the irl me is rather awkward. I'll just be known as Lyrche. In short, I'm an 18-year-old TESL freshman in IPGKTAR. I generally like obtaining new knowledge by discovery and experience. I also have a huge obsession on Anime as I grew up being exposed to Anime at the age of 4. My interests range from arts and music to world history and philosophy. I harbor a burning hatred for Mathematics and period cramps.

My experience is a thick novel, in which my life was not ordinary, yet it was normal. Rather contradictory, isn't it? I've pretty much been through the whole East Malaysia throughout my life with about 1/4 of my life spent in a different state, experience the life of being the only Chinese in a school with illegal immigrants' children, attended five secondary schools and I've never lived in a hostel before until I got into college, or tertiary education in this case.

I've been in my IPG for about half a year now. We're having exams around this period of time and I wish to share my experience here.

1. I learned that I have a bad sense of direction as I got lost twice and came late to class in my first week here. 
2. I was not prepared to face the HUMONGOUS amount of work and effort needed to be put into coursework assignments, nor was I prepared to write 3000-word-essays for each of the eight subject's coursework.  
3. My initial perception on tertiary education/college is that I will live in dorms and have a roommate, attend classes, have the freedom to shop and most importantly, JOIN MULTIPLE CLUBS but oh no I was so wrong about that last point. So far, I haven't been able to join any co-curricular activities that are consistent. I was expecting to join clubs and have club meetings every once in a week or something like that. 
4. I do not understand why a rice cooker is not allowed when our canteen sells vegan food at RM4 cheapest.
5. I didn't think our washing machines would only accept the old version of coins so most of the laundry needs to be handwashed unless you're able to afford paying RM3.50 for a half-assed machine wash or go to the laundry shops with a 15-minute-walk.
6. I did not know that a personal laptop AND printer was and is NECESSARY. By all means, this was the most frustrating issue I had to solve from the piles of assignments I had to do. I printed out all my assignments by making 20-minute trips back and forth from my hostel to the commercial area, spending RM1 for each paper I printed out.
7. I do appreciate that our campus provides free wifi even though it is not as strong or as convenient as I had hoped for it to be. 
8. The fact that females are not allowed to wear pant suits to class or any other formal events is INFURIATING. I do not see why it is wrong to wear pant suits as a formal dress code. They're comfortable, suitable for climbing stairs, easier to walk in and they make you look more presentable and professional. I find this rule unnecessary but then again, I'm just a subordinate.
9. I have never doubted my English so much until I took TESL, even though I've always been confident in my ability to perform well and produce good results in English just for having decent grammar and pronunciation. 
10. Despite all this, I find that this campus has really shown me a different kind of life. Living in a place that is not your own, conflicts occur, things happen and things may not be how you want it but it's a lot to appreciate for. Through my experience here, I find that I am very blessed to even land myself in this situation and I do appreciate my campus for trying to provide as much as they can.

 This is pretty abrupt but it's a pretty good time to end it here.





Over and out,
Lyrche