class of 2008

Phew! at long last my journey here in Ukraine is coming to an end. I sure am glad that it is and there are too many memories to pinpoint as my most memorable. I cannot forget my very first day here. I arrived here back in August 27th 2002 together with some familiar faces back from school which certainly made things easier. The send-off 17 hours earlier in KLIA certainly wasn't easy but here I was, in Ukraine about to embark on a brand new chapter in my life. I didn't know what to expect but I was prepared for the worst. The first sentence uttered by one particular 2nd year senior seated in front of me as soon as we landed certainly didn't help with the nerves. It went like pilot : welcome to Simferopol ïnternational"airport (in some broken english) 2nd year senior: daym, welcome back to sh**-hole. myself : whhat did he just say?? no no...

Since it's out first time in this country, the immigration registration took ages. I think it lasted well over midnight. One thing i discovered quickly after a visit to the loo was that Ukrainian cockroaches was 1/10th its flying, filthy counterparts which was a point for Ukraine (Ukr 1 - 0 Mas). Many hours later, we finally boarded a specially arranged bus by my agent to bring us back to the hostel. I just remembered seeing endless darkness until the familiar "golden arches"appeared which was a good sign of civilization or so i thought.

Upon reaching the hostel, the temperature took a dip and it was around 17 degrees celcius ( genting highland temp.) so being the msian who just arrived, it was certainly uncomfy and shocking. I just remembered the arrival being very low_keyed and we were quickly brought into a room. 3 of us, Suresh, Puvanesh and myself. Water, HOT water was a luxury here. Russia and Ukraine switches off HOT water supply during the Summer months and August is still considered summer. Cold water that runs from it's pipe is 15 degrees so I struggled a bit, ok.. a LOT because i didn't enjoy cold baths even back in Msia. Food was what maggee and anything that we knew how to order and back in those days, it was Cola Abalon and Chicken Chilli. Mind you it was the most popular set meal.

These are all still very clear in my head. It will certainly replay once more as I walk up that stage to receive my scroll this coming Friday. :)