Defend Our Climate!

So yesterday, on the 10th of May, was Canada's national 'Defend Our Climate, Defend Our Communities' day. This day opposes the government's relationship with oil companies-- especially against the tar sands and pipeline productions.

In Edmonton, a mock ceremony was held to depict the 'too-close' relationship between the government and oil companies. Here is the news coverage of that day: http://edmonton.ctvnews.ca/video?clipId=361502&binId=1.1203428&playlistPageNum=1
And if you want to watch the whole ceremony, it's on here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t6h5IiWq3X018 minutes long, but it's pretty funny.

I actually did not know we were going to have quite a big turnout. It was pretty epic even though there were some mishaps and problems along the way (especially with the weather). This was an event organized by Greenpeace, and I was one of the volunteers. I was supposed to be at a table giving out information leaflets and flyers to people who wanted them, but it was too windy and at some point it started to snow, so we didn't set the table up.

Not the best day to be out and about at a wedding, but it was definitely worth it. My only regret is that I didn't take a picture at the end with the backdrop. Well I'm just glad that there are so many people out there who cares about our environment. Even young children participated. And it was across Canada, in places like Toronto, Vancouver and Victoria which had much bigger turnouts, though I personally feel that ours was more epic.

You don't have to be in Canada to defend our climate. Defend yours with small steps at a time! Leave your environmental footprint behind and let people know that you care.

I was here, were you?

Happy Earth Day!

It's Earth Day!

On top of that, I had my last finals today, so I'm doubly happy. =]

Yesterday I volunteered at an Earth Day event with Greenpeace Edmonton. It was just a few organizations gathering to promote what they do and raise awareness in the community though, nothing big.

There were also activities planned for children, as it was located in a community centre, and one of the activities was learning basic sign language. I joined that one, and yay I can sign most of the alphabet now. I forgot a few letters, but know enough to spell my name!

Here's a little poster to get you thinking.

 

Think of everyday as Earth day. If the Earth dies, you do too.

Do what you can to save this world, one footprint at a time. 

Why study overseas?

I've just finished my first term here in Canada, so have been here for about 4 months. During this time, I've told people that I'm an international student about a billion times. I got many responses to that and quite a lot were to do with why I came here. I don't know what it is exactly (and I mean no offence when I say this) but people here are pretty self-involved. They don't know much about the world outside of their own and that just seems kind of ignorant to me. Don't get me wrong, they're nice people, and of course I don't expect them to know every culture in other countries, but it's like they only focus on their own. Maybe that was offensive.. OK honestly, it's probably a culture shock since I come from a country that is very multicultural.

Anyway, one of the responses I got when I said I was from Malaysia, was, "But Malaysia has a lot of good schools as well, no?" Yea, no. For those of us who can, getting an education abroad paves the way for a better future. It is a great experience as well becoming independent in a new country, but there are times when I have thought, if only Malaysia had a better education system, then I wouldn't have to move halfway across the world. Not only would it save a ton of money, I would also be able to stay with my family and friends. But then I wouldn't get to explore other cultures; I guess there are pros and cons to every decision. I just really miss driving around and honestly, the food as well. Before coming over, I was adamant that I would not miss the food, because I eat whatever and don't really crave anything. But...how I miss dim sum.

Just part of growing up I guess. Adapting to new changes and working hard for the future. I've been pretty busy these few weeks, been volunteering and stuff. I'm looking to volunteer in more places.

Here's a list of my volunteer activities:
Recently, I volunteered at an event in my university which was called PositiviDAY. It was hosted during the last day of term and was aimed at uplifting people's spirits for the coming finals. A very fun day and it brought a lot of smiles around. Stay positive people!

I've also attended a Greenpeace volunteer meeting, and will be attending these regularly as well as participating in any other events planned.

And March 29th was Earth Hour! I participated in a Lights Out Flash Mob, which was just us going around in pairs switching lights off around campus. That was a fun night as well. Many don't see the point of Earth Hour, but it's baby steps. If the world can collectively switch their lights off for an hour then it raises public awareness and we can progress from there. (I hope you switch off any electrical iterms when you're not using them).

So that about sums up the past few weeks. Paying it forward one footprint at a time. I was here, were you?

Highs and lows of the past few months

Sorry, this post is going to be about university life again. It's a huge experience, so will have quite a few posts dedicated to it.

I think that because I am now living alone and don't have support (meaning my family and my pets) when I reach my new home; that I've become more sensitive to emotional triggers. I think I mentioned before that I cry easily in situations. Well those situations are mostly limited to confrontations but now, I get easily upset when I don't do well. To be fair, I do have high expectations for myself and when I don't achieve them, I  feel pretty down.

For example, I am taking this one class which is an Introduction to Women's/Gender Studies and though it is very interesting, it is also quite hard to score highly. I did quite poorly on my mid-term and subsequent assignments. I have been feeling low after every one of this class, then I take a day or so to feel better and then the class comes again and another cycle starts. I have been trying hard to improve and one of the things is that I'm extremely shy and don't talk at all in class. Problem is, 10% is for participation, so I've already lost 10%. And I've never felt like withdrawing from a course before, but I seriously considered dropping this. But then I got over that and told myself that I don't give up. I'll just have to try and improve my grade the best that I can.

A good thing about this course is that it has a Community Service Learning component to it, so I signed up for that and paired with an organization called Men Edmonton. They hope to help raise awareness in boys and men of sexism. For this project I created a web-based campaign and posted photos I edited as well as any other videos I could find. Here's the link if you want to take a look! www.fightforgenderequality.tumblr.com

Anyhwo, back to the subject of highs and lows. I think a big part of what kept me from feeling so low, was playing basketball and exercising. I mainly walk to the supermarket on days that have good weather, and since Spring is here, that means most of the time. Its good to be able to just take a stroll and not be kept inside for the whole day. I also joined this co-rec basketball team and though we lost both games so far, it was still fun and I made some friends.

So yeap, I hope I've moved past the lows. It's also because of this new environment that would've influenced how I felt. So if you're ever feeling lonely, I know how you feel. But know that things will get better and to exercise!
(I put this under 'issues', because of the gender studies component. Sexism is a huge issue!)

Adapting to New Environments

We are pretty adaptive beings.

Personally, I have a lot of experience in moving house and usually, upon receiving news of relocating yet again, I would feel quite sad- especially when I moved from a bigger house to a smaller one. However, I got used to the new surroundings pretty fast and it was like I'd been there forever. Here's a list of the times I've moved (plus the countries I've moved to). The years are an approximate.

1. (2000) Moved to Shanghai, China:
2. Moved house once

3. (2003) Moved back to Malaysia:
4. (2005) Moved from BU ->KD
5. (2007) Moved from KD -> SPK
6. (2012) Moved from SPK -> AD
7. (2013) Moved from AD -> AD (Different compound, same area)

[(2013) Moved to Beijing, China (2 1/2 weeks)]

8.  (2013) Moved to Alberta, Canada alone

And here we are. In 13 years I have moved 8 times, well 9 if you count the 2 and a half weeks in Beijing. Technically only my parents moved there and I was just staying with them for a month (until my visitor visa expired) but then things didn't work out and we all moved back 2 weeks later. Funny stuff (they brought so much luggage over).

So, let's just keep it at 8. Honestly, even if I lived in a house for 3 years (4 is my max), it wouldn't feel any more of a home than if I had only lived there for a year. Granted, I would have more memories, but really, I adapt to new living spaces quite quickly. And I think this isn't just me; its all human beings.

The fact is, even if we moved every year, its not the house that makes it home, its the people living in it. So even though I moved 8 times over the past 13 years, I have always had my family with me along the transition thus, home was a portable intangible concept.

But now, I have moved and am living alone. My mom did help me transition to this new environment though, so that was a big help. But sometimes, I get horrendously homesick (especially since Chinese New Year just passed) but I know I'm going to be fine. I've almost completely adapted here and making new friends has always been a hard thing for me but it's coming along great.

Anyway, the point of this post was to say that no matter what life-changing moments may come to you (like moving house/migrating), they aren't as scary as they first seem. We are highly adaptive and with time, you'll be living as if you own the place.

Good luck to everyone facing the un-see able future! (which is literally everyone)
=D Peace

The baby bird has left the nest

So two weeks ago, my mom and I arrived in Canada. A week ago, she went back to Malaysia. I have now lived on my own for the first time, on opposite ends of the world from my family, for a week. To be honest it was scary at first; you might not know this about me, but I'm a cry baby. During primary I would cry at the start of every new year, with a new class. This stopped about when I reached secondary, or maybe earlier. I remember crying for only that first day of Year 4, for a short while. And by crying I mean tearing up a bit, I wasn't bawling.

Anyways, when my mom left, we were both crying. But then I was OK. Over the next few days I teared multiple times though. They come at the most random times and when I least want them. For example, I'll start tearing up whenever I'm talking to people. I went to talk to this lecturer after the class (I had just registered for it so had missed it) and halfway through I can feel my eyes starting to water, and it's so embarrassing and awkward because I have to turn my head so she won't see that I'm crying. *Input frustrated groan*

I know I've said that I'm an introvert and that I'm proud of it, but being a newcomer to a whole new country and having no friends whatsoever is quite intimidating. On the first day of class, when everyone had come back from holidays, the campus was filled with crowds of people. I don't do crowds, thus was really feeling very intimidated.

Another thing is that now I'm living alone (well with a flat mate), I have no idea what to eat every time (yes, my mom cooked back home). Breakfast is easy, and lunch is not so bad (I'll eat at uni or eat a salad or something), but dinner is very troublesome. My cooking skills aren't so bad, but I've never really had to cook like every day before. In Malaysia, it's very easy to go out and pack food back. I can't do that here since everything closes so early, plus its cold out and I'll have to change to go out.

So now I have to cook. I've spent a lot of money already just buying all my kitchenware and regretting buying them so early because I hadn't been to Wal-Mart yet and seriously, they have the cheapest stuff. But now I have cooked twice this week! So proud. I'll probably cook about 4/5 times a week, unless I go out and manage to pack something back. Looking forward to becoming a masterchef!

If you are in a situation like me or would like to start cooking your own food, I would recommend you to get a rice cooker. I bought 2 pans and a pot, but I all I need really is the rice cooker. Just wash your rice, put water in and then on top of that put whatever else you want, like meat and/or vegetables. Close it and press the cook/start button and 30 minutes later, your meal is done! Makes things so much easier and healthier.

Now that I have my dinner plans sorted, all I need to do is to keep busy with school work, make more friends, join clubs and enjoy my life at university. Bring it!

Crazy friendly

So I've just moved to Canada for my studies and though I was prepared for a very different culture and lifestyle, I was still shocked at how friendly the people here are. I've been here for about a week  and during that time I've ridden a lot of buses, that's where I experienced how polite and friendly Canadians are.

Being a total newcomer to the local transportation and the routes they take, my mom and I had to constantly ask the bus drivers for directions. Apart from the first bus we were on, all the drivers would readily tell us when to get off and some even chatted with us along the way.

Another bizarre thing for me was that passengers (not all, but enough) getting off would say 'thank you'. I know that its manners and I shouldn't be surprised but really, how many places do you know where people actually say thank you to bus drivers? Even this one dude who was talking on the phone and you know swearing the way some teens do, shouted 'Stop please', after the bus driver missed the stop, and said 'thank you!' after.

Another thing that I am not used to is how handicap friendly everything is and how people are so accustomed to handicapped people. I sat near the front of the bus multiple times and noticed that a lot of people in the front got up at one stop. I had thought they had gotten off, but they had just moved to the back because either a senior citizen, a handicapped person or a person with strollers was getting on. The front is reserved for priority seating and can be flipped up to make more space for those who need it (picture).
Furthermore, the first time I saw the chairs pushed up was the same time I noticed everyone moving back. This woman came on board, pushed the row of empty seats up and went to sit on the other side of the bus. Then when I was wondering what in the world these people were doing, a person in a wheelchair comes in and takes the spot that was vacated and it all makes sense. Shockingly. Really, this renews my faith in humanity.

But that's not the most shocking thing. The most shocking thing was that the bus drivers themselves said good day or thanks to the passengers getting off. The first time this happened I was wondering who the driver was talking to and what he was saying. After a few stops I figured out that he was saying "good day" to the passengers getting off, even when the passengers didn't say thank you.

Seriously it kind of reminds me of the film The Invention of Lying, where everyone is so honest at the beginning of the film (not sure if it's the same throughout, did not watch the rest of the movie).

Oh and their LRT stations. There are absolutely no security measures, in the sense that you could literally just walk in and get on the train. There are no turnstiles, no barriers, nothing. And they supposedly do random checks and if you hadn't followed the proper procedures (E.G. a validated ticket) you'd be fined $250. Maybe that's enough of a deterrent for people to refrain from cheating the system, but that's a hell of a lot of trust the government has in its citizens.


Though it sounds like I'm complaining, I'm pretty sure I'm going to love living and studying here. It really is a beautiful country (even through its coldness) and the people are just as beautiful.