Letter to 16 year old mi

I loved the idea as soon as I read it on TimothyTiah's blog, which was inspired from Jolene. Kudos to them!

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Dear 16 year old me,

How are you feeling? Not too good I suppose. New student at SMK Stampin. Not much friends but don't worry, you manage to get through Form 4 and Form 5 still. The school is dirty and rowdy and sucks in general but its okay. You have Leone by your side, and you guys remain close friends till Form 5. Sad to say, you guys don't really keep in touch after that.

She goes on to Form 6, while you go to IBMS. For a while, you actually contemplated joining her in Form 6 because you're afraid you don't have friends in college. Fear not! You manage to make quite a few close friends in IBMS.

Particularly a guy and a girl called: Cs and Shirley. You have to remember them. On the first day of class in room 301, a guy walked in late while the teacher was calling out names. You looked up to see a guy almost exactly like the one you saw sitting two rows behind you. In shock, you realize they are twins! You later realize that they are not related at all. And get laughed at for thinking they are twins. =.=

Cs and you are extremely alike. In fact, the two of you become quick friends, best friends. In class, you guys pass notes to each other, sit next to each other and make the same stupid jokes that nobody else get or laugh at.

You first talk to Shirley in the cafeteria. She recognized you from class and said: why are you so quiet Amy? You are as shy as ever and said nothing. Just smiled. She is loud and popular, and you wonder when will you ever be like her. You guys were never really close in college.

You were more close to cs. He would come to your house, play with ah pui and ah boi, get to know your family and eventually become your best friend.

After college, dad wants you to further your studies overseas. You initially wanted to go to Australia, because that is where everyone is going. But then you decided on New Zealand cos its cheaper. But dad said that New Zealand is cold (????) and suggested that you try U.K. instead.

You were very blur about universities and which country to go to then. But since dad said UK, that's what you will end up doing. You were supposed to go to University of Sunderland, where Aik Lung (a friend from college) was, but he said the city of Sunderland was very small and boring.

The agency said that if you went to London, you get cheaper tuition fees, but more pricey accommodation etc, and you foolishly agreed to go in the end, with Shirley. Because of your love live, you are quite reluctant to go. You initially wanted to go for only 6 months.

Oh yea, forgot to tell you. Your first boyfriend is someone from high school. You get together in Form 5. He's very nice and very sweet but you broke up with him when you were in London because of long distance. He is now happily dating someone else while you are engaged to be married! Not going to tell you who though. That you have to figure out yourself.

In London, you and Shirley grew close. Very close. Like family. Armed with only 20kg of luggage each, it is time to grow up. You learn a lot in your 3 years in London. When you first arrive, you knew nothing. You slept with Shirley at someone's living room on a sofa bed. You learn to walk past shops, post office to look at places for rent together with Shirley, visit the landlords, negotiate the prices, and then move in.

You also work part time jobs while doing your degree and masters. You will eventually work in McDonalds, Starbucks, Camden town (at the markets selling stuff and freezing your ass off), hand out leaflets, and walk so long and so far you feel faint and where dogs chase after you and try to bite your hands. But its ok. You get paid for it.

You make a lot of new friends in Uni. It was tough in the beginning but then when you get used to life there, London is very fun. An exciting place to live in, and to stay there as a student was the best. You get to work to earn money for yourself to shop and travel, and to study. After classes, there are endless places to go to have fun. And weekends too.

But don't neglect your studies too much. You actually failed some classes because you had too much fun working, and playing hard. But when you realized how expensive the re-sit fee was (£50 for Bachelors, and £75 for Masters - per subject), Goddammit, you force yourself to study and stop fooling around.

After your Bachelors, you got a bit carried away. Living away from home, with different countrymen, especially Japanese and Spanish countrymen. Their lifestyle is so different. You learn to start drinking quite heavily. You also fall in love with one of your housemates. A Japanese guy. It turned out to be disastrous. Not only is he dating two other girls at the same time, but he pretends you don't exist when you broke up wtf! But its okay. We all learn from our mistakes. Hope I didn't scare you too much haha.

In the end you did graduate anyway. Oh well. You attended Bachelor's graduation in Sunderland. You went with Nifer (one of your best friends who is from Penang - you will meet her in London no worries) to Newcastle, and there you will meet a guy who will go on to be your next boyfriend.

During your Masters degree, you make a group of new friends. They are the ones you will spend almost all your time with. You graduated in the summer of 2008.

Dad will ask you to come home. You are dreadfully homesick by then but what was the point of studying overseas if not to get a job there? That is what all your friends are doing. Nobody is going back to their home country!

In the end, you chose to go home anyway. In the beginning, you have trouble settling, and wondered if you made the wrong choice. Well, I can tell you now that you made the right choice! You will have no regrets at all. That's all I'm telling you now. There is no place like home..

Life will lead you on. You make mistakes but you learn from them. There are times when you feel so hurt, so upset, so angry at the world, but don't worry so much. Things will work out in the end. And time really does heal all pain.

About your love life. There is always one person there beside you, supporting you, trying to make you smile. You always knew that he liked you. But he never really made a move. Maybe that's because you both were never available at the same time.

The only hint I'm giving you about him is that you guys got together soon after a car accident. Yeah, you in a car accident. Its not serious don't worry. You're still alive and kicking.

So that's it. That's all I'm saying for now. :)

Love,

26 year old mi.