Tuesday 25 June 2013

One week left - Let the countdown begin!

It doesn't feel like I'm about to fly off in 7 days. I keep thinking 'I'm flying off in July, that's next month!'

I should be getting scared right now. When some so big is so close, my heart starts to pound very quickly and I get nervous pretty quickly. I am a worrier, over-thinker and a scaredy-cat. It runs in the family (on both sides) and in fact, my mom described my grandpa as someone who would worry so much that when there isn't something to worry about, he'd worry about that. I think I might have inherited that unfortunate characteristic. So why am I not sweating about Nepal yet?

Meeting Joanna 

Joanna has been our point of contact in the UK. I found my placement via CU-ELST, which had different types of placements throughout Tibetan regions. I'm working in a school called 'Mansarovar Academy' which is located in Boudha. I was suppose to meet Joanna today to be briefed about where we're living, the school and to pick up books to deliver to the school. Her address said she lived in Grove Park, which is a place on the border of Kent and London close to where I live. "Ahh, she's on my side of London!" I thought, "Shouldn't take me too long to get there."

Unfortunately for me, there are at least two Grove Parks in London. One in South East, as I mentioned before, and the other in West side of London above the river... all the way on the other side of the city.

Thank god I checked and rechecked TFL before I was leaving. It would have made it easier if I had Joanna's postcode, I wouldn't have made the terrible assumption she lived closer to me than I thought. Using TFL to find her place wasn't easy either but I got there in the end. I had to leave immediately to get to Joanna's place on time. I left as soon as I could without a shower or breakfast (my mom did kindly stuff my bag with bounty and oreos) and ran to the station. As much as Cambridge town bores me, I will never miss the fact I can walk to where ever I want. Everything was, at most, half an hour away from me. No bus, train or tram to worry about. I got to the station and then murphy's law struck.

Train delayed. It said it was going to be only 5 minutes late, which was already too much for me, but the train station was playing a cruel game on its commuters. Every time 5 minutes had been counted down minute by minute, it would refresh itself and say another 5 minutes delay. This went on 6 times. Can you imagine the anxiety, the recharging anger? Why wouldn't they just give us a slap with a 30 minute delay instead of getting our hopes up every five minutes and then pushing us down? Cruel, cruel world. I am being over dramatic. My close friends would dismiss my lateness as "typical". Yes, I'm always late by 10 minutes in cambs and longer in London, but when it's someone I don't know, I put in extra effort to be on time if not early. The train and tube ride later on went smoothly (the universe owed me that) and I had a mini heart attack when I thought I might have taken the wrong bus when I was already an hour late, but I made it. Luckily Joanna, Harriet and Victoria was all patient and kind enough to forgive my lateness.

I was "briefly" briefed about the apartment and the area around it. We're living near the Mongolian embassy and walking distance from the school. She talked about the temples we should visit and the food we should try. My heart was pounding, not with nervousness but with excitement. Talking about trying new food and the beautiful nature is what gets me excited about travelling. I welcomed my excitement with open arms.

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