JYSim for jobless-yokel Sim

Being surrounded by classmates who go home every now and then can be quite a nuiscance to you at times. For example, during some long weekends, almost everybody would flee from school and there will only be be you, the school guard dog and the hostel caretaker in school. There would be melancholic times when from the moment you wake up to the moment you sleep the only words you spoke was ‘a cheese and ham sandwitch, please’, ‘thank you’, and ‘i would like a chocolate croissant and papaya juice with no sugar’. The library’s closed, classrooms are locked and even the vending machines are empty.
For university students like us, returning home has become a thing like visiting Meccah once in your lifetime. It’s a purification of soul and mind everytime you return home, and needless to say Mum and Dad will pack trunks of local specialties for you to bring back to U (and congest the common fridge with boxes of fruits and home-made pickles). Going home is something to look forward to, as I learnt. It’s the best excuse to skip classes, and it’s a motivator whenever you’re reading analytical chem but nothing goes in - ‘i must finish this, i’m going home in 3 days’ time!’
So I exhibit (and feel) the same excitement when my Malaysian senior handed me my air ticket yesterday. Before receiving the MAS ticket my mood was, as usual during a gloomy winter morning, dull and draggish. I’m having the much-dreaded Analytical Chem exams a few hours later and before that my classmate thought it was fun to ’safekeep’ my bicycle because I didn’t lock it when I’m in the canteen. Anyway, the ticket cheered me up, a lot. Seeing the exact dates (which are 2 months away still) when you can finally go home and dive into an ocean of char koay teow, hokkien char and o chien sparked up countless flames in my heart. I placed my ticket in front of the library table I’m using and used it as a motivator for swallowing more chem. facts. But the temptation is too overpowering. Every now and then I picked the ticket up, stare at the carbon-copied letters and imagine beautiful MAS aircrafts parked along Terminal One of Taipei Chiang Kai-Shek Airport, imagined the always-friendly batik-wearing crew speaking Malay to me (now it seem such a friendly language), and I longed to speak Malaysian English back to them (I miss home sooo much you know? Can’t wait to be home for CNY. This year Malaysia hot ar? etc etc).
1 hour before the exam I paraded my ticket in class, which aroused yet another wave of fierce envy (wonder why Taiwanese students are so envious, they get to go home like every week). My brother (the one in my Tzu Chi family) attempted to tear my ticket into a thousand pieces, while some girls asked naively if the name can be transferred to theirs. Of course I managed to brainwash some of my classmates and they completely forgotten A. Chem is 30 minutes away.
The excitement still lingers into the night when I think of so much that can be done in the environment which you were born and bred. Settling stuff would be so convenient (because you knew what to do), and you don’t have to consult your straight-faced classmate about how to book a train ticket and beg him to go collect it from the railway station. You know where exactly to have fun and your lifelong friends are just a phone call away (hope it’s still so in Jan / Feb 07). You know what movie’s coming up on TV3 and ntv7 tonight (sorry, no astro in the Sim family), and you anticipate it excitedly. Definitely, happiness comes from 70% of the things you expect and 30% else from surprises.
Anyway, I repeatedly tell myself I’ll have to struggle through (maybe not that bad lah) another 2 months (with another exam in Jan) before being able to board the immaculate MAS aircraft. Therefore I’ll make the most out of my time here and learn to become an appropriate medical student. I can’t wait to go home, like everybody else.

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