Category: Journal

It’s been a while since I wrote. Times go so fast and it’s already the last day of 2023.

I honestly don’t think I had many memories of this year. However, I do feel that I am getting better and learning more from things. So far I guess the biggest memory for this year would be coming to the UK for my exchange. The days here not only made me understand more about the country and meet more people, but also made me change myself in better ways.

As we are about to start the new year, I would like to share my wish for 2024.

1. Get a job

Being an international student means that I need to pay extra for my tuition. My parents had already spent too much money on me, and oftentimes, I felt guilty that I didn’t work when I had so much free time. I don’t think it is an excuse for me not to work as a student and I should be more responsible for myself. I want to make my parents proud as well although Asian parents are quite hard to satisfy.

It would be more satisfying to buy something with your own money. I look forward to working when I get back to Sydney.

2. Make myself look good

One of the first things I do when I return to Sydney is to get a haircut. I think I am done with having long hair, and I want to try having short hair again. I feel like I have never been taking care of my looks (which is potentially why I am still single) so I want to make myself look better next year. I want to make myself look good not only with my looks but also with the way I present myself and my behaviour.

I had thought of hitting the gym but I don’t think it is possible for me for now and I am training three times a week already. However, I believe this is not the only way to progress. There are alternatives. Maybe I can start something similar to the pushup challenge again.

3. Read more books and know more people

I wish for this because I feel like I play too many video games at home and barely go out. I think it would be better if I could start reading to learn more things. I have read some books this year but not much so I hope that I can find ways to love reading and develop a good habit. But ultimately, I am looking for learning opportunities so I

I also found myself pretty quiet whenever I met someone new. I don’t think I am shy. I just couldn’t find topics to talk about with strangers, and I am not sure if the things I am talking about would be interesting. I guess I should not worry too much and just talk more with people. This also shows me that I lack confidence and I believe the only way to get more confidence is to talk more to people.

It is crucial to know more people as well as someone who is planning to work in the music industry in the future. I wish I can get more chance to talk with more people and boost my confidence.

4. Focusing on the present moment instead of worrying too much about the future and surroundings

Finding peace is what I lack this year and I hope to get more next year. Self-doubting has been driving me crazy, making me procrastinate and burn out for a long time in many ways. Until lately I have finally truly understood that all these negative thoughts and emotions are generated within myself. And the reason for that is that I barely focus on the present moment. I just worried too much and it made me stop moving on.

Finding peace also made me know more about myself. A lot of times, I lied to myself that I was fine. This made me feel bad but I could not tell why I was depressed. So this year I hope to be more honest to myself through finding peace.

As a Christian, the way to peace is to rest in God and leave all the worries to him. After all, I cannot handle everything. I pray for god that he is always with me every day and shapes me in the way he wants. It might be different from what I think but God always has better plans.

As an exchange student, I found that I had not been exploring around the city lately, so I decided to go sightseeing on the River Thames. It starts at 10am from Westminster.

The guide was super funny, and personally I think he is the best tourist guide that I have ever met. The way he introduces the places around the river is informative but in a way that is not overwhelming. He also put a lot of sarcasm into the introduction and I am not sure if it is accurate to say that but I can feel the British Humour here and I love it. As we were passing through the Hungerford Bridge and Golden Jubilee Bridges, the guide said that there is a custom in London that whenever we go through the bridges underneath while someone is at the top, we wave our hands towards them. If they wave back, they are from somewhere else. And if they don’t, they are from London.

The trip lasts around 2 hours for a round trip from Westminster to Greenwich and go back. It was quite cold honestly but I think today’s weather is considered good in the context of London. At least it didn’t rain big during the tour, so that is good. Here are some photos I have taken during the tour.

It has been nearly two months in the UK and it seems that strikes are getting less recently or maybe there is still a lot but I just don’t really know. I just had a quick check on this and I found out there is a website that lists all the strikes happening. This is the link towards the website.

UK Strike Action Calendar (strikecalendar.co.uk)

Honestly, as an exchange student, clearly strikes are unbeneficial to me. I cannot do anything but wait for the class to start. However, I understand and I respect those who strike. Unfortunately, this is probably the only way to fight for a better situation. People could have just stopped striking if they can get what they want simply by writing a petition letter to the government or the CEOs. I mean who would prefer the hard way and disrupt people’s life in order to raise awareness (Except for those extreme climate activists)? But in reality, this will never happen and people keep suffering.

Regarding this, my homeland, Hong Kong had learnt a hard lesson. When the Hong Kong government planned to establish the extradition law back in February 2019, many people raised their concerns and made petitions against the establishment of the law. The government neglected the voices of the people, and so nearly 2 million people came out and protested on 9 June. Just imagine how stunning was that. Unfortunately, the government was not happy with it so they just started to arrest a lot of people. This brought a lot of tension between the people and the government. People started to damage the buildings and shops of the government and those who support them. I am not going to explain more here because this is not something I want to talk about here. What I would like to say is that, in reality, there is no way but to start disrupting the social structure when those with power refuse the will of people. They are afraid because they are scared of losing their power so they will be more harsh as the tension goes up.

As a foreigner, I am concerned about the future of the UK. I see more and more chaos happening around us. This is a sign of the dawn of civilization and once again, we are repeating the history. I also see people are getting more and more selfish, on both sides. They lack empathy and are emotionally driven, where they only see the speck of sawdust on the opponent side and pay no attention to the plank in their own eye. My thoughts on strikes would be, the citizens of the UK should be the only people to be responsible for their country. No matter good or bad, they will need to face the consequences. During these times, is there a way towards peace? I would doubt that for now, but what I could do for myself is stay alert, be rational and think critically.