So, it's been quite a tiring journey from Indonesia to the United Kingdom on September 1st. I am now officially a part of the international community in Torquay.
I got jet lag. It's now 2:26 AM here in Torquay while it's already about 8:26 AM in Indonesia, so I'm pretty much wide awake right now and couldn't sleep at all.
So glad that I am finally got acquainted with my host family. They are the Coopers, Joan and John Coopers. Both are now considered as my very own grandparents and that I'm very much grateful for them to have me here. Even though I've only been here for a day I could see that their house is filled with this peculiar warm euphoria.
I'm currently alone in my room, in my host family's house. This week they said, I'm the first one on their list to arrive in Torquay so I haven't had the chance to officially get acquainted with my international roommates. Yet.
My parents are staying in a hotel, it's still in the same road with the Coppers' house, which is the St. Marrychurch road I suppose.
Talk about parents, since my Dad couldn't barely speak English at all, I think he was a bit nervous about this journey he's taking because it's going to be his first time in an English-speaking country. But overall, I think he's also satisfied for the fact that he is also able to get acquainted with my host family.
I said to John "He's not very much speaking English" then he said, "Not speaking English? That's just even better!" And so the two men just laughed about it. From that, my Dad began to think, "Oh look, you got a great host parents I think they could really take care of you well so I need not to worry about anything now. You're in great hands Nibras."
The irony was that yesterday, when we had lunch together in McDonalds (seriously, that's the only restaurant we could think of that time) somehow, he... cried.
It's not like he was sobbing but I could see the tears that formed in his eyes. Then when he got caught by my Mum and I, he quickly wiped it away.
Oh my, now I'm crying writing this. He said that he remembered those times where he used to go overseas alone when he was about my age.
My Dad, is not originally from Jakarta. He is originally from this rather rural area in the province of South Sulawesi called Pinrang. Or I think in Indonesia, you could say that he's from a kampong.
As a child, he went to school by making money on his own for the school's tuition. Often, he would go outside of his home to travel alone when he was my age. We would call this as '
merantau' in Indonesian.
Since my Dad is a Buginese, t's a typical thing for someone so young like that to do
merantau alone. Bugis people in Indonesia are very much famous for journeying around the world with their
Phinisi boat. Yes, they are also a bunch of great sailors, that's what I heard. Usually, this
merantau thing is done by people in order to search for better life opportunities in another place. Far from his home.
Dad's
merantau process wasn't as easy as
my merantau process. He went to Jakarta to enroll in the University of Indonesia with loads of limitations I suppose... Then, he met my Mum.
Sorry guys, I just... got carried away like that.
Oh and another thing, I stupidly just decided to bring this fencing bag of mine. I was just going to bring a sing;e-weapon bag one but, Dad insisted.
The sad thing is, I still haven't find any fencing club around... but I believe there is just a way to fencing here. I just know. I mean, this is England after all. Different from Indonesia, the must have loads of clubs scattered around.
I guess that's it for now. Bye, I need to be in school for my induction week in the morning.
Dadah,