Wednesday, October 04, 2006

Yes, Doc?

As I walked pass the foot of Nottingham Castle towards Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem Inn, the oldest inn in England dated back to 1189AD, I thought of these lines:

[Robin of Loxley and Marion saying goodbye on the tor]

Marion: "Are we going to die?"

Robin: "Everyone dies."

Marion: "That's not what I said."

Robin: "I know. It's not over yet."

[...]

Robin: "I thought you had more courage."

Marion: "Courage?!"

Robin: "To stay alive. Dying's easy."

[...]

Robin: "There are so many things I want to say to you but time's caught up and now I'll never say them. Except that I loved you from the first moment I saw you and every moment since."

[...]

Robin: "Do you want them to win?"

Marion: "I don't care about them."

Robin: "But you must. For the sake of everything we've meant to each other, you must care - because that way you'll keep alive all we believed in. And I can't die then, can I?"

I arrived here in the 18th of September and since then my days as a university student in a foreign country has begun. The falling leaves of autumn welcomed me as I stepped into this beautiful campus in the heart of England, in an area known as the East Midlands. The city is lively and vibrant, coloured by the sight of the Old Market Square, Nottingham Royal Centre, Nottingham Playhouse, Lace Market, Victoria Centre, the museum of Robin Hood, loads of entertaining spots to chill like the Hog Head and Weatherspoon, not to forget the easiness to find halal food with the abundant shops like the Kebab House.

The University of Nottingham (www.nottingham.ac.uk) basically is divided into University Park Campus and Jubilee Campus. The former is the main campus of the university and there are four main entrance which are the north, east, south, and west entrance. It has the beautiful landscape of a lake surrounded by the artistic monument of Trent and Portland building. Highfields Park by the lake is the home to a number of singing ducks over the years. The on campus halls like Rutland, Derby, Lincoln, Lenton & Wortley are on the natural green meadows called The Downs. During the welcome programme last week, I walked across The Downs during the sun set and with the pleasant wind and fog all around me, the place reminds me of the story of The Hound of Baskervilles when Sherlock Holmes is in the middle of large green area investigating the crime scene.

My classes are held in the Jubilee Campus, which takes about 5 minutes by a hopper bus from the University Park Campus. Similarly, the former shared the same ambience and beautiful scenery for the students to cherish as part of their university life. I am staying in St. Peter's Court, about 15-minute walk to Jubilee Campus and I take it as an initiative for me to have a healthy life as days go by.

In a nutshell, I am enjoying the part of my life at the moment. Meeting lots of people from Cyprus, Mauritius, Serbia, Sweden, Afghanistan, United States of America, the local people, and other Asians teach me how big the world is and how important it is for me to keep improving and learning from time to time. The ultimate ambition - to be a well rounded person.

Thank you to Tengku Zharif, Nik Azim, Rafiuddin, Saiful Adli, Norman, and Shahrul for the warm hospitality during my weekend stay in London. The unexpected meeting with Shaun Wright-Phillips at Tinseltown Bar was a memorable one and having Haagen-Dasz in Leicester Square chilled in my body ;p

I played football with the Malaysians at Lakeside this evening and the presence of the community feels like I am at home for once. However, this is a quest for a golden key for my future, and I keep on saying ' Do not measure the distance, measure the thoughts '

As temperature goes down to the average of 11 degree celcius today, I am looking forward to the Nottingham Goose Fair and Nottingham Robin Hood Pageant this weekend; to warm up my life, in the heart of Nottinghamshire.

Sharazad,
92/D St. Peter's Court,
New Road,
Nottingham,
Nottinghamshire,
NG7 3ET

0 (044) 785 264 2553

My joke - In a grocery shop in Beeston, south of University of Nottingham.

Sharazad: How much is the Snickers?

The skinny woman at the cashier counter: It's 40 pence, doc.

[Sharazad asked himself; did she just call me a DOG? !! Damn !!]

Sharazad: I don't have change. I only have 1 pound.

The skinny woman at the cashier counter: It's ok, doc.

[Uh?? It cannot be. Maybe I heard it wrongly]

The skinny woman: Thank you, doc. Cheers, doc.

Sharazad: Thank you [in a sombre mood]

Outside the grocery store.

Sharazad: Dude, that skinny lady just called me DOG!

Fahmi: Hahhahahahahha. You must be kidding me man. Maybe she called you DOLL? Hahahhaha

Sharazad: Hmm... maybe. Maybe she wanted to be friendly to me. Nah, nevermind.

We walked back, trying to find the logic behind the word DOC to illustrate the friendliness of one's to the other, only to discover during the short drama performed by the Student Union that in here when someone older says DOC to you, he is just trying to be very friendly with you ;p

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