Do not stand at my grave and weep. I am not there, I do not sleep. I am a thousand winds that blow, I am the diamond glints on snow. I am the sun on ripened grain, I am the gentle autumn rain.

When you awaken in the morning's hush, I am the swift uplifting rush of quiet birds in circled flight. I am the soft stars that shine at night.

Do not stand at my grave and cry. I am not there, I did not die.

-Mary Elizabeth Frye-


15 February 2009

Weekly Top 10 (9-15 Feb 2009)

I posted this note on FB. Thought I'd stick it on here as well for good measure. This is an expanded version of the FB note. It's as good a way to start as any...

********************************

As a result of having too many things to say to fit into my profile status, and inspired by the 25 Random Things lists that is going around, I have decided to start a Weekly Top 10. 'Top' here has no other meaning other than these are the first 10 random things that occur to me as I write.

Also, I'm taking the easy way out. I've not really been as good at emailing as I would like to be, and letting people know what I've been up to and how I'm doing, so this way is easier, I think. Sorry about that folks. But hope you all will still keep me posted on how you all are doing!

1. Spending time with Brian and Pauline in England was great. Well, this is really a carry forward from the week before. And really should include spending time with Elaine and Jane. But as I didn't actually spend time with Elaine and Jane on 9th Feb, it would, technically, be incorrect to include them in this list. It was great being back in England. Nice and relaxed. AND, I UNDERSTOOD everything that was going on around me!! And of course, it was just nice to be around people who knew me. But I didn't get to see B which is a shame.

This trip came to be partly because it was Jane's birthday party but also because I was feeling a bit suffocated in Germany with all the German. I needed a break or an escape, if you must. And after all these years, I still feel at home in England. Of course, that might have something to do with the fact that I spent the entire time in the little bit of England that I knew, and mostly amongst people that I knew well, people whom I knew accept me. Having said that, I don't really believe that's true. I think I just feel at home in England. I don't think I would have a problem anywhere you throw me there.

It turned out however, by the time I actually left for England, I didn't really need the escape as much as I did when I planned the trip. (There were a few weeks in the interval) By the time I left, I was far more comfortable with German - having managed to buy a train ticket to the airport and explain about connections and what not, and then having had to go back to the train station to explain that I had made a mistake and that I actually needed an earlier connection.

2. I have spent about 30 Euros on stamps this week. Think this is getting a bit out of hand, really... But, my 1 kilo bag of stamps is keeping me occupied and well pleased! :-)

I was introduced to stamp collecting relatively late in life. For most, it seems to be something they had done as children, but gave up as soon as they were old enough to have other interests. In my case, I got into it in my late teens (or thenabouts, I can't really remember exactly). I inherited a collection from a friend of my dad who was leaving the country and had decided not to take his stamp collection with him. (Unthinkable!! I am having my collection shipped over...) So that got me started and I soon became a regular visitor to the Philatelic Counter of the Main Post Office. I also remember getting some stamps (mostly Hong Kong and China stamps) from a little shop in SJ while I was at college.

I reached a new level in stamp collecting when I was in England. I was a member of a Stamp club and had stamps sent to be periodically. And, this really was my favourite part, I discovered that it was possible to purchase a bag of stamps. A bag, usually sold by weight, containing unsorted stamps. I had hours of fun sorting through the stamps. There were some unfranked ones which could be reused. There were some of the normal boring Queen's head ones, and of course, some of the gorgeous commemarative ones.

I continued with the stamps for a bit while I was in Australia. And because I was there during the Olympics (although not in Sydney) I managed to get all the Australian Gold Medalist stamps. Every day, there would be a new issue of stamps featuring all the Australians who won a gold medal the day before. It is amazing to think how they managed to organise this all accross the country in such a sort time. It was great fun, going to tbe post office every day to get the new issues.

I left off stamps when I got home. This hobby was given new life when I was packing to move to Germany. Having had to go through all my stuff, I rediscovered my stamp collection. It was very satisfying for me to look through my collection. And in doing so, it has given new fire to this hobby that, of late, has become a bit of an obsession.

3. I am glad it has started snowing again. I wish it would snow more, and that it would get a bit colder so the snow would stay longer. Everything is all pretty right now, and I wish it would stay this way. But not too much colder, cos then... it'll be cold... But then, winter is my favourite season and I have always preferred the cold to the heat.

4. I am still talking about my previous life (in SD) in terms of 'us' and 'we'. But it's not really 'us' or 'we' anymore, is it? I really have to try to remember that I am now Alumni. I guess it is because I didn't really have many problems in SD. Of course, there things that I was not happy about here and there, and the occasional stroming into the offices of certain persons to rant about or object to something or other. But really, I had no serious problems. And I left not because there was a reason expelling me, but rather another reason drawing me away.

5. I went swimming outdoors while it was snowing. It was very surreal, but absolutely lovely. It was a heated pool. Actually the main bit was indoors, heated and relatively warm. The indoor pool is connected to an outdoor bit, where you have to swim through a plastic curtain to the outdoor bit. So you don't actually have to get out of the water, and the only bit of me that felt a little cold was my face (since that was the only bit not in the water). It was quite surreal though. Raising my toes out of the water felt as though I was dipping my toes into cold water.

6. I am starting to get soft. CHL, you'll know what I mean. Not quite to the no resisitance level yet, but if I don't start doing something about it soon, it will become like that.... eww!!

7. I miss Malaysian food!!!! Top of this list is banana leaf rice!! Then there's hokkien mee, char keow teoy, roti canai, Aha's maggi sup (telur saja). Also included in this list is George & Dragon's shepard's pie... Not that I mind the food here. I quite like what I have here. There's some new stuff. Some pastries and stuff that I have recently discovered and really like. Also, I am having a lot of the like pasta and pizza. But still!! I miss Malaysian food!!

8. It is hard not having anyone around here to turn to when I need a break from things. I always knew it would be hard. So far, thankfully, it's not too hard to cope with, but still is hard.

9. I thought I lost my ring, but turns out I didn't.

10. My boxes still have not reached Hamburg. Are they lost at sea??? What's taking so long?? But then, it has only been 5 weeks, so maybe it's a bit too early to overreact.

That's it for this week. Let's see if or how long I can keep this up.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Please share anything. I would love to know what you think.