.::. Snow .::.

4th November 2009

Today, I caught my first glimpse of snow in my life. Despite weather reports predicting snow, I was skeptical. It's cold, but it's still early November afterall. I wore my thickest long coat today, all wrapped up but still not warm enough for comfort. The 0 degrees wind was bitingly cold. I think I'll need another layer of leggings beneath my jeans very soon.

It began snowing around 3pm or so and it was already turning dark outside. It wasn't that heavy, it simply looked like very small dots of white floating cotton. I looked out at the sight through the classroom window, secretly devouring that few seconds of novelty in my life.

It's probably not a big deal to most people, but I've spent some time in my life, wondering how it would be like when I ever see snow. I didn't envisioned it this way, but it was still somewhat special, probably a moment that I'll remember in my short student life here.

I'm acutely aware of how time passes. The surroundings change almost every minute here. It's been some time since there were blue skies and sun strong enough to make me darker by 5 shades. I used to take walks around, enjoying the cool yet sunny weather and beautiful landscapes. Before long, leaves started changing colors. There was just a few weeks of beautiful autumn before all the leaves started falling to the ground. The trees are mostly bare now, leaves are being swept away. It's like winter is announcing it's arrival.

It's extremely difficult to describe the whole experience here. It's like an extended holiday, where you experience new things every single day. It's extremely enriching and I felt things which I never thought I would and thought about things which I never thought about. I feel so much at the same time, it's overwhelming. It made me know myself better and reflect about how I really want to live my life.

I reckon that I've fulfill one of my dreams in life - to study abroad. People tell me that they admire my courage to come to such a faraway land alone, without knowing anyone here. But to me, it was a no- brainer - it was my only chance of fulfilling my dream in this lifetime. Making the decision wasn't that difficult, going through with the decision is the difficult part. It's not true that the first step is the most difficult one because it takes more courage and strength to cope with everything here. The change is overwhelming. I didn't realize that getting out of my comfort zone in that little corner of the world was this challenging.

"Travel is freedom... one of the last great sources of legal adventure. Travel is intensified living, with maximum thrills per minute. It's recess, and we need it."

It's ironic that this time, I'm going home because too much 'traveling' has been too intensifying. I need to go home and recharge before running the next lap. This time, the recess I need is home.