Name: Louise

13 April 1992

You can only call me Lulu if you don’t think the name’s funny.

I am a member of the Smiley Conspiracy and a proud ex-CHS-ian, graduating class of 2009. Now doing A-Levels at HELP University College. Is proudly Malaysian, but doesn’t look like it and is proud of that too.

This is the 7th time I am editing this about section of the blog this year; I have sort of accepted that my personality is ever-evolving, ever-changing, therefore rendering my moods as volatile as the weather. But just as there are some things that have stood untouched across the centuries by harsh weather, so there are some things with me that remain ever the same: a belief that to live is to learn, and the ability to bounce back from setbacks.

What I love also remains constant. I love good food, dancing, fresh experiences, open minds and friendly people, all of which can be found in the wonderful wonderful city that is Istanbul. I love musicals, plays, good books, stickers, owls, colourful wrapping paper, hugs and kisses, chocolates, almost any music from the 17th to the 21st century, intense debates and post-it notes.

Fictional characters I have been compared to (in terms of personality) are Piglet from Winnie The Pooh and Kelsi from High School Musical.

I dream of finishing this list [29/8/2010: list is undergoing revamp!], and my secret ambition is to become a hairdresser or bartender. Unfortunately I’m also incredibly kiasu, so I’m going to go to university just to show everyone that I can. But want to go to uni also because I love learning lah!

Words that describe me are impulsive, impetuous, quixotic, sanguine, quirky, bewildered, kiasu and hodgepodge. The last one also refers to my sense of fashion.

*GRINS* :D

soon.

In the meantime, I really really really miss this.

Labels: Friends, Picture Post, Quickies

Su-Zen’s dropping Lit!!! Honestly I was so upset when she put it out on Twitter – another one bites the dust. I typed a few paragraphs on it, and found it was so whiney and self-proclaiming that I deleted it. I wish you well Su-Zen! Though you’re making Lit class look more and more like a reality TV endurance show – Survivor: A-Levels English Literature. Let’s see how long you can stand the pressure of failure.

On another note I have finished 3/4 of my English Lit coursework! All that’s left is the illuminator text. And so for the first night since… Well, before the World Youth Congress, I feel like I can relax. Screw the rest of the holiday homework. Stromae - Alors On Danse is on replay on the music player, and it reminds me of something else – I haven’t told you about how I spent my holidays yet.

I swear, NOTHING in the whole wide world could have prepared me for the WYC. Coming back to KL is all at once awesome and intriguing; just as I predicted, nothing seems the same anymore. That’s how eye-opening my experience was; but who would have expected anything less than eye-opening?

Next post, I’ll tell you how one ticket to Istanbul took me all around the world and beyond.

“The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page.”

- St. Augustine

Sneaking a few minutes here on the netbook to type this. I’ve been in London for four days now and am already realizing that one week here is nowhere near enough to explore this place. I could live here my entire life and never feel bored because there would always be so many corners to search, to importune.

I haven’t forgotten where I’ve just come from yet, though. Today in Camden Market I passed by a stall named A La Turk and I spotted the orange rice and skewed kebabs and was hit by a pang of nostalgia – I miss Istanbul and Cankiri; all its food, people, and parties. The Congress was an out-of-this-world experience; what wouldn’t I give to be back with them for just one more day?

And yet at the same time, throughout my sojourn overseas, never once have I stopped missing home. FC and the WYC delegates I got to know can tell you that I developed this habit of saying “In Malaysia…” (inside joke for the Findik aile –Kristjan would be so proud!)

Being straddled across three countries, three continents, three worlds is such a strange feeling. I miss Turkiye, I miss Malaysia, and I am going to miss London when I leave it. Sometimes I wake up in my cousin’s room wondering what happened to the lurid pink curtains of the dorm in Istanbul, or where my Venetian blinds at home are. Sometimes when I have a quite moment to myself like this one, I think about Malaysia and Turkiye and how much I miss them both… And I also wonder which one I miss more. Don’t misunderstand! For obvious reasons I love Malaysia and I will always come back to serve my country no matter what happens in the future. But I found amazing friends and experiences elsewhere, halfway across the planet. I feel like I am experiencing life for the first time, and it’s happening in someplace other than what I thought of as my home. It feels wonderful, and I don’t want to leave that behind. On 22nd of August I will be leaving for Malaysia, but I’m going to be seeing its people and culture differently – can I still call it home?

Back to A-Level Literature then: what makes a home?

If home is a physical structure, the dorms of Yildiz, my cousin’s room and my house in Malaysia have become my homes. If home is with people you love, my home then fell apart when the Congress ended, to be strewn all over the globe with no definite sense of existence. Home might be where the heart is, but somewhere, sometime during these last few weeks, I have lost track of what home is and, therefore, the sense of where I really belong.

Just to let you all know (in case you haven’t been watching my facebook) I’M STILL ALIVE and kicking in Istanbul. Will be in London on the 13th of August, and then back here in Malaysia on the 23rd of August. Yes, three freaking weeks away from home, but at least I get to spend it in two of the world’s most wonderful cities! I’m safe, I’m happy, had a mild bout of food poisoning yesterday but otherwise I’m healthy. In the meantime don’t have too much fun :) and don’t get too much work done so I don’t feel so left behind.

Oh and thanks, Hanson and Kareem. Friends like you really can make a girl feel appreciated.

*read: sarcasm*