Mid-term exams are finally over. This means, we have all survived almost 2
months of being away from our loved ones.
For some this might mean as nothing special, but for others, like me,
it’s quite the opposite. For me, I look
at it as an accomplishment. I was able
meet and know wonderful friends that I will forever treasure.
Looking back, it was only on the 27th
of August, where all the TAs gathered around and first met along with the
professors that we would all be working with at the Global Lounge. It was rather awkward at first because for
some reason, we have yet to know everyone inside. The newbies, like me and a couple of friends
were given the chance to introduce ourselves to the group. During that night, we were assigned to tasks we
would be doing – some of us were assigned to do English Clinic and Clubs, one
was assigned to being a CUK reporter while the rest of us would be Class TAs,
and given the chance to interact with the group alongside the professor whom we
would be working with. Nobody knew then
on how things would go and how friendship would be built towards each and every
one of us.
In the middle of the first half of the
semester, things have gotten more interesting.
As we see the faces almost every day and somehow in its own little way
had the chance to bond with the other FTA’s.
Sometimes, I would be reminded by the saying “it’s not where you are;
it’s who you’re with”, and would agree to that quote. When I think of it, with them, I feel rather
warm and happy. They somehow, however
they manage to do it, makes me (or maybe even you) forget the homesickness that
a person might rather feel if they are on their own in a foreign country.
Bonding moments with them usually happens when
we least expect them. It usually happens
when we don’t plan them. Most of the
time one person would suggest that we go outside our dorms and hang in front of
the IH building and talk about whatever things we would want to blab out. Other times movie moments work. Sometimes a couple of friends and I would
agree on a day (or not even set a day at all) on when to watch a movie.
Somehow, in that way we bond in our own little way
and create a memory worth remembering.
There are also times where we would coordinate on what we’d be wearing –
one of my favorites would be this picture of us Filipinos together:
What we have
built for some time now is rather an amazing treasure to me. Like I said, I find it an accomplishment
because I know having a friends like them is definitely one of a kind. They are like precious gems – hard to find
yet worth looking for.
Going back to the fact that mid-terms are over,
this also means one thing. That is,
we’ve only got half the semester left before we have a long break again. For some it would mean going back to their
respective countries while for others, it means one semester has been
survived. Birthdays, holidays, and
school and work days may have come and gone but at the end of the day, it’s not
how you did it that counts. It’s the
what you did and the friends that you made that matters and most of all the
memories that you spent together and the magic where fate made us meet them,
maybe not in the country where we came from but in Korea.
