Panic arose as I stood in front of the ticket counter, helpless.

This cannot be happening, I thought.  I’ve just had one of the best weekends of my life and I was all revved up to begin my first day of internship in less than 12 hours.

“I’m sorry, but we’ve closed 15 minutes ago.  We can’t let you board the flight.”

I couldn’t believe it.  I dialed my brother, and then my mom – she was furious, and I thought I had just died and gone to hell.  Just as I was about to take my brother’s advice to go home the next day, I turned and saw that I wasn’t the only person who missed it.  There was a queue of people who were stranded as well!  That was quite a comforting sight to know I wasn’t the only one stuck in the predicament.  Or the only idiot.

“Alright, although we can’t let you take this flight, but we can move your flight to the later one at 9.30pm.  Would that be OK for you?”

I didn’t know whether to thank or choke the ticketing man.  If he had told me sooner, I could have just told my parents my flight has been delayed and saved myself from all the drama.  But then again, based on my carelessness, I probably deserved it.

I had one and a half hours to recover from that temporary cardiac arrest, what better way than to do revive myself with a dose of caffeine.  Made my way to Starbucks, plunked my luggage on the ground and took out my little sketch journal.

This certainly wasn’t the transition I hoped for.

~*~

All the drama that happened the day before still seemed surreal, as I stepped into the office for the first time.

“Which one are you?  From which engineering faculty?”

“I’m Wei….Vern….” I replied as I helped her look for my resume, “…there.  Mechanical Engineering.”

“Oh. You’ll be under Ow Yong.  Please sit here while you wait for him.”

I glanced at the seat, and my gaze fell onto the name tag that was hanging on the side of the cubicle.  I’m supposed to sit at my boss’ seat even when I haven’t met him?

“Sit lah!”  The feisty lady who was busy matching us to our supervisors confirmed my doubts.

Obediently, I sat, and begun the screening process.  Like a bar code scanner, I observed his desk without touching a single thing.  I saw a picture, it looked like a group shot taken after a badminton tournament.  OK, so my future boss is a badminton fan.  I wondered which one was him.  My glance continued to the toy cars on his table.  A Ferrari fan?  Overall his table was pretty neat, so I assumed he was kind of an organized person.

I was still nervous, nonetheless.

“So you’re the new intern?”  A voice startled me from behind.  I immediately stood up and greeted my new boss.  He wasted no time in telling me the roles of an intern, or he would call it “assistant engineer” (a term that was forgotten the very minute he mentioned it and my new name became “trainee”, which I’m grateful for).

“Ah.. yes. I’m Wei Vern,” and then the nervous handshake.

“What engineering discipline are you?”

I was beginning to think no one took my resume seriously.  I was kind of grateful for that too.

“Mechanical Engineering,” I repeated.

“Mechanical? Ah good!  I know who you can follow!  Come, I introduce you to Teoh.”

Oh, so this wasn’t the guy I’m supposed to follow.  He’s the bigger boss.  So he gets to assign people to other engineers.

So we met Teoh.  I think we’re about the same height.  His hair was dyed, and he’s quite fair.  I think if he had blue eyes he could pass for a Caucasian easily.  My first impression of this guy was that he’s quite soft spoken (a fact that was proven wrong later on).  I started to warn the questions in my head to shut up.

“So… you’re a Mechanical Engineer too?” I asked, to break the ice a little.

“Nope. I’m a Physics graduate.  Not an engineer. But I’m one here.  And to be honest, I’m quite new here.  I’ve only been here for 3 months.  There are things that I still don’t know.  Maybe you can teach me along the way.”

He walked ahead of me to get me my gear, such as ESD (Electrostatic Discharge) shoes, mask and smock.  As I glanced at the disappearing figure in front of me and processed all that has happened for the past half an hour, I sighed.

Hello, 8 long months.

(End of Part 2)

After a series of events such as the H1N1 epidemic, a crazy (and wet) surprise birthday visit at one of the most unpopular locations, a carefully-planned and executed church anniversary, a friend’s wedding, a stretch of assignments and tests and the grueling group project, I thought the 5th semester would never end.

As I was preparing myself for the final examinations, a good friend sent me an email.

Part of the note read:

“I should’ve been aware the hour of your internship is approaching.
It just hit me like a brick on my head when you mentioned it.”

When I read that, I think the same brick fell on my lap.  My heart was in a weird limbo.  It was a like partying in a sinking ship.  Excitement and sadness mixed like a bad cocktail.

A big part of me was really looking forward to spending the next eight months away from university.  No more lousy internet, quizzes, tests, exams, boring repetitive food, long drives just to get to civilization — heck, there was almost no problem to leave this very place!

Except…

…I’ve begun to like it a little bit more.

Unknowingly, I have learned to carve my own little comfort zone in a foreign place for the past 3 years and a half.  It’s far from a perfect place, but this is where I learned more about myself, what I wanted out of my own life, and fostered new friendships that I know would last for a long time.  The people that I have come to know and love have made this journey easier for me.  I actually have days where I’d wake up just looking forward to spending time with them.

Leaving the familiar faces –  my Saturday coffee & pillow talk buddy, movie nights with my girlfriends,  random outings with my course mates, jamming with my church friends and the stress of studying for the next eight months seemed impossible.  The creature of habit in me started to feel the slight discomfort of having to adapt to my next destination.

I laugh each time I think about the irony.

Because my next stop was none other than my very own home.

It’s like being on a road trip in a car you don’t particularly fancy.  You adjust the air conditioning, your seat and put on some good music to make yourself as comfortable as possible.  After all, you’re in for a long ride.  You initially planned to arrive at your destination, wherever it may be, alone, safe and sound, just as you have promised your loved ones.  Along the way you pick up a stranger or two, and become really good friends.  You discover one another, you discover more about yourself too.  You get accustomed to your passengers, become familiar with all the road signs and become braver for those you have yet to see.  Just as you are about to make a mini caravan out of your little ride, you’ve reached your destination.

Just like I thought the semester wouldn’t end, it did.

It was time to part ways for awhile, to park that car and take on a new, familiar town.

(End of Part 1)