Today marks the 5 years that I’ve been in Germany. Wow ..how fast time flies. The scene before departure at KLIA is still freshly etched in my mind. Eagerness to see the world shone in our eyes as we bade farewell to our loved ones in KLIA. I was struggling to hold back tears as I waved my family goodbye. A chapter is paused and another chapter is opened as we embarked on our next phase of life in a foreign world. And thus began our journey in Europe.

The first scene that greeted us as we stepped out of Frankfurt Airport was SNOW!! Without noticing the dreary, grey winter sky, a bunch of Asians ran unashamedly around the car park busy taking pictures to capture the very moment. We celebrated the first Chinese New Year away from home in a youth hostel. Nothing can sound more pathetic. Luckily there was a kitchen where we could still cook and at least there was some semblance of home cook meal for the very first Chinese New Year’s Eve dinner abroad .

Later on each of us went on our separate ways in different Unis. As years gone by I learned a lot and met many wonderful people that helped me along the way when I stumbled.

1. I learned that Germans are not as stuck-up as they may appear to be.
2. I learned that the grass here is not greener than those at home but the horizon is wider.
3. I learned that the process of learning can be both beautiful and fun but can be at the same time a pain in the ass.
4. I enjoyed a sense of freedom that I can never achieve back home and I still do.
5. I learned that no matter how far you are in the other end of the world, you still yearn for the sense of belonging to your own root.
6. I’ve been to places that I could only dream of as a child.

7. I know what the feeling is to be the only girl in lecture and do not understand a thing what the lecturer was mumbling about.
8. I know for the first time in my life how sweet it was to be in love and to be loved.
9. I also know how bitter the taste was when a relationship comes to an end.
10. I learned to appreciate friendship and to have found true friends is a real blessing.
11. I learned that no matter how great and good you are, there’s always someone who’s always better than you.
12. I learned how to live life richer when one is open to other culture, to the thinking of other people and accept them as they are.
13. I realized that I miss my uni alot now although I dreaded going to lectures last time. Until both of us wanna take pictures around the uni

14. I can buy clothes in child department here …hehehe..although I don’t do that often la.
15. I learned that old friends are the best because it’s the memories that keep us strong and stay together.
Years ago in Shah Alam:

5 years later in Germany:

Some of us have already graduated and the working world is beckoning. And one of them has this brilliant idea to put together our story in a dvd where our memories are stored forever in The Story of Batch Siebzehn (My batch is called Batch 17).

Although most of us have gone our separate ways, at least we have lots and lots of memories that remind us of our happy days together.

And I am still learning…