Keith – in his virtually recorded lectures mentioned ‘Hope you are well in these strange times’. He is my eloquent-spoken, oxford/cambridge (i’m not sure) grad with a masters from the States lecturer – which makes him an expert hence a Zethy can”t ramble her way through his class. Oh well – hello there and assalamualaikum. It’s halfway through 2020 and the world is having a short break from its own hustle bustle. The coronavirus really put a halt to the glorious expectation of 2020, killing a significant amount of people, infected millions, and economically & emotionally affected billions.
Personally for me, what has happened is a blessing in disguise. I started off 2020 with a fairly good start. I came back from Kak Amy’s as Sarah and I hopped on a trip to Snowdonia in North Wales with Kak Amy and her family! It was tranquil, beautiful, and cold. We had lots of fun, urgh miss the kids already!
January – after coming back from Kak Amy’s, it was full-blast mode on. I had four essays to submit by the end of the month – making it a total of 10,000 words to write in a month. Can you imagine the misery? There were countless loud sighs, an uncountable amount of crying and worrying, and not to mention back pains and butt pains!!!! I realised that my body was getting old and therefore the ability to sit long hours was not inherent in my age anymore. Whenever I felt like my body couldn’t take it anymore, I surrender myself to the Yoga Power. Lol! It was just taking 15 minutes of Sarah Beth Youtube Videos which was really helpful. Not to forget soaking myself in the bathtub with bath bombs from Lush, this comes with several warnings to Sarah so that she would ‘kencing siap siap’ before interrupting my sweet bath time!
The results I get from those assignments were okay ~ but it made a huge impact on my resilience. I was stronger and more confident to face my classmates for the new Spring term. (Note that there are three terms in an academic year – autumn term, spring term, and summer term). I also learnt which classes I was most passionate about – which was obviously Mental and Social Wellbeing! I had amazing classmates, and the teaching team was just superb experts, aaaaaaaa. There was also this one time I had a group presentation work for Public and Global Health Law. Worked with Connor, Greg, and Hannah for Right to Health under the International Law – it was fun given that Law students rarely do group works together duh *rolleyes* but it was also an opportunity for me to engage more with them. I started to feel comfortable and happy about Bristol.
Sarah and I also had the chance to connect with kakak kakak in Bristol. Took care of Iyad, went makan makan at Kak Ria’s house, bid farewell to Kak Tie and family, said hello to the newly born Akid Aryan – it started to feel like home. Like how cosy it was back in Colchester. Dinie came and spent a week with me and Sarah – which was full of laughter, drama, and ‘HADINIE, KENAPA TAK BUAT KERJA LAGI NI?’ screams. We went to watch Cardiff’s MNight – which was okay… and got abandoned by the National Express Bus back to Bristol, which resulted with a 2am taxi drive back home lol!! Lain kali jangan buat kerja gila zethy!
But a certain virus that was looming in Chinese and International News that was about to change my life – and also other citizens of the WORLD! When we were at Kak Zati’s, she said something about the virus which was ‘Keadaan kat China (note that it was mid-January) macam zombie apocalypse. Harap tak merebak lah kat satu dunia’. I mean by now every one knows how the situation has become but the experience that I went through was unforgettable (at least for me, you’re free to not remember it, i won’t gigit you hehe)
I think it was something to do with my studies – on how governments are tackling the coronavirus issue, what kind of law they are implementing, how fast are their reactions, and certainly what kind of sources and experts that they are referring for decision-making. Apparently, Boris Johnson (yes, the so-called Trump Twin who has the same obnoxious ideology with him) was super lembap in his decision-making for the UK government. Cases were rising, but nothing was implemented. People kept saying things like ‘oh people die of common winter flu thousands each year!’ and ‘everything is under control’. Until the WHO declared it was a pandemic then the UK was running around like a chicken lost it’s head. Not to mention ignorant and xenophobic citizens of the land – which I find very very very disturbing. I saw it with my own two eyes, a Chinese student who was wearing a mask was stared at by a group of White boys. They were staring at her like she was some sort of virus, and, started whispering loudly among themselves. I saw that and was like ‘apa masalah kau!’. Obviously, they couldn’t understand Bahasa Malaysia so my warning was in short, unsuccessful.
I, too, experience shitty and painful disorder during that period of time. I feared going out from the house, drugstores ran out of masks, and, my lecturers were striking for an industrial action. So basically my February and early March were, in short, horrendous. I did manage to go on a day trip to Cardiff to watch Cardiff Uni Malaysian Night with Dinie, Syafiqah, and Sarah. But from there, everything went downhill. Sarah and I decided to go back, the minute they announced that classes are cancelled. I felt like fleeing from a warzone.
Spent Ramadhan and Eid with my fam – tiring but super satisfied. All in all, I was happier back home despite the chaotic nieces and nephews around me.
Until then!