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 How great the last 4 months have been!! I'm laughing at the thought of it!!! This is some sort of reflection for the last 4 months. It has been an incredible journey coming to study overseas. Will be listing my favourite memories and learning points along the way. (in no particular order, because reorganising photos takes too much effort)

 First up, the speechies. Grateful to have met a wonderful bunch. Thankful to have met Chloe through speech tutorial too. She is such a sweetheart and so happy to have met her.

 I like Australian avos on Australian toast. Perfect morning. Until I started to hear from Tersh that avos contain a lot of calories!!!! WHAT. I didn't believe her at first, but the health websites say it's best to only eat 1/3 of an avo a day, because it contains so much calories. T_T I can't indulge in this haha. My appetite has INCREASED since coming here, and honestly, I'm the heaviest I've ever been in my life, my face is chubbier too. :(

 OH hey!! love you girls. Even though you guys keep pushing me away T_T
 Picnics at the great court or any patch of grass, when the weather is cool and slightly sunny is perfect. Particularly enjoyed having lunch with the OTs from 11am-12pm after Psych tutorial and before the lecture. It's so nice to catch up with them and enjoy the weather.
 One day we were sitting on the grass and this came up randomly. I love UQ! I love the accessibility of the university, we have food, fitness centre and lots of things here. The student support is great too, we get free breakfast twice a week and free dinners on Wednesday night. And thus, we stopped cooking on Wednesday night HAHA.
 The Brisbane River, accessible at the lake near school too.
 The face Tersh likes to give people. And KAI KAI CHICKEN. The first time I came here I was in crutches and we had the buffet!!!! Crazy!!!! But it was justified because I was feeling so bummed out staying at home all the time.


 Hasini:) That day after oral presentation, which although I took a long time to find articles and prepare, was worth the effort:) We went to indooroophilly!!
 Onward to SWOTVAC! Which is basically the study break week before the start of exams. There were food trucks at half price, which we maxed out. Love it. My wallet is sad. HAHA.
 I spent my days at one of the classrooms with my church friends. They were really my pillars of support during the tiring and boring days I had to study for exams. Remember this quote guys!!!
 My fav meal from food truck because Jiayee bought it and gave it to me, cause she thought I would enjoy it more *hugs* Char kor bbq
Jiyen is so generous! She made time out to cook a meal for all us and write a note to each ♡ Also Fayth, who baked cupcakes, Alicia, who gave us barley and doughnuts, Hannah, gave hello panda and soup, Carmen, who gives me Krispies. ANDDD if I forgot someone I'm so sorry!!! I love the part when we all pray before we eat and when we feed each other from our lunch boxes. So cheesy I love it. #sisters 

 CLEAR YOUR FRIDGE POTLUCK. Anyhow whack also not too bad phew. My housemates are really good at cooking.
 Slept 4 hours and went to milton market in the morning.
 That side eye HAHAHA. This garlic bread is nice
 YUM IN MY MOUTH
 Me indulging with the physios who ran 6km to the market. My inspirations.
 CHEEEZE

 Who is this chiobu frowning at me? I am looking at her calamari rings.

 JK love my 24/7 buddy! Here's to more days spent together


 ANnnnnnd lifegroup after markets. Crazy tired that day! I LOVE THEM.
 Beautiful Charmaine! She wanted to eat with me one on one leh, so sweet this girl! Jia you jia you! Through all your trials, you are growing stronger. We are here for you... ♡
 The weather at Brissy.


Three main group of friends in Brisbane. I treasure them all very much.

NOW FOR THE ACTUAL  REFLECTION. I dont know where to start.
Thanksgivings aplenty. Somedays I still walk down the pathways in school and I suddenly feel overwhelmed by the tremendous blessing of being able to study here in UQ. "Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen." Ephesians 3:20-21. This verse keeps coming to my mind, because the opportunity to study overseas was always such an impossible dream for me. I love to travel, have that freedom and explore. This has been so much fun for me... God is so good. 

So thankful for the caring people I have around me. Even though Tersh sometimes teases me, I think that's how I know she feels close to me AHAHAHA. My housemates have such contrasting personalities, but two things we have in common, we love God and they are so caring. The moments they were there for me, had heart to heart with me, helped me with my troubles, patient with my worries. Uncountable memories with my gals family and a grateful and happy heart. Tershenne - the one who has her life together and is so pretty, organised and loves food. Jiayee - the energetic sporty girl that can do the craziest things and can cheer anybody up and makes everybody feel so happy and confident. Jamie - the logical and cool one, who likes sports, food, committed to God, so helpful and sweet underneath the coolness. I particularly enjoy getting to know each of them, knowing their quirks and getting used to them. Seeing how each of their rooms look like, their working styles and relationships with others. Love them so much and thankful for them. On a side note, being with Tershenne 24/7 for some weeks was quite an experience for me! I guess it is always important to be patient with others and never take them for granted. I personally think this is very good training for me when I become a wife and have new family members in future. Not that Tersh does anything that I get mad at, but I know I have character flaws and at times I do feel impatient. I think it's natural? Not sure if she feels similarly. She's been so patient with me and I'm thankful! Praying for myself to have a more loving and kind heart, especially to my family back in Sg! 

When I think about my church in Brisbane, it is the most exciting part. Initially, I had so many reservations for going to church, staying for dinner, friday lifegroup, tuesday prayer, wednesday evangelism. I was so convicted after  Campus Christian Movement in April that I started to go for all these and I think my spiritual growth has really accelerated. Okay, I'm still behind on my bible reading plan, but in terms of love for God and relationship with the family of God, I'm growing more. Though I think it is really important to take a step back at times to consider if I'm doing things right or am I going with the flow, I have been so blessed by the passion of my leaders. What they put in just to help us feel love. It's crazzzy. What is holding me back from giving my all to God? What is my purpose for the 4 years in Brisbane? What should I pursue? 

I'm asking myself these questions as I head on to the next semester in Brisbane. The holidays are gonna be really packed too... Asking God for productive rest as well. These 4 months, looking back, I've had the most amount of free days and holidays, learnt several basic cooking skills, meal prep and other housework that seemed so hard last time. Helped change a tyre, slept in a tent over winter, went almost 3 weeks in crutches, prayed for a stranger in school, met so many like-minded friends in church, caring friends at home and in school, went to the gym and fitness classes, skyped my family. Happy and thankful heart. What can I improve? Often, I felt I was idling too much, so I kinda toyed with the idea of joining a cca or volunteer activity... Still unsure, will pray about it and see how it goes.... That's my 4 months in a quick summary. Thank you God for His faithfulness in providing for me and protecting me. Thank you Daddy God!!! 

 A short weekend trip to the countrysides of Australia. Cherbourg, in particular. I signed up for this trip by myself. I think not many people were keen to go because we had papers and assignments due. I finished most of the stuff I had to complete, plus speech in semester one is much less content heavy than the other health degrees, so off I went! This was the 4-hour drive to the first destination. Being the city gal I am, I was so happy to see such beautiful sights driving through the countryside! Cherbourg is more inland, which most people don't travel to as much.

 We set up health stalls for some of the children and I learnt so much about the Aboriginal culture from the locals here. It was something so valuable to me as I felt I would not have been able to learn in my own environment.
 The purple thing is a banyan tree and next to it is a seed, which people used to eat. Above that is the Aboriginal flag.
They gave us packed food! They brought us all the way to a beautiful windy place to have lunch lol.


Night time. Because I didn't come with my friends, I just made friends with the lady who sat beside me. She was a med student from Poland, she's married and at my university, they can only do medicine at master's level. It was interesting to hear her globetrotting adventures, and how she finally settled in Australia with her husband. Also learnt that polish food consists of wrapped dumplings?! How crazy Asian is that! After lunch, we went to a museum about Aboriginal culture. It was there I learnt about the previous injustice the Aboriginal people suffered up till only recently. This is talked about in school, but being able to hear about the mistreatment from people who lived through it was so different. I could really feel the anger and resentment they once felt, which I think they still feel it, but they channel it into helping Aboriginals gain better recognition and lives. First time being offered tea in a museum. It was pretty cool. I love the experience.


 At our campsite for the night! I slept in the pink tent. Oh gosh, I did not realise I have to put my name in the google doc for sleeping.. And when I got there, all the tents were full except for two tents (one with a couple and another with one dude). Omg, I felt so panicked because I'm not even close to anyone. I told the couple I was gonna sleep in their tent, without realising they were a couple at first. Thank God for His grace and the super great event organiser, she opened another tent and I slept in the tent with her.
After that, we went to the local pumpkin festival, which the whole town seemed to be attending. What a chill trip right.
Spotted some vintage cars at the side.
First time seeing camels in real life! Here it is not exciting enough to ride horses, kids ride camels!
With the two friends who warmly became friends and companions with me. :) Paula, who is a mother and a nurse and Joanna. We walked around the markets, trying to find pumpkin related food, which was not that many. We tried pumpkin pie and wine! Felt so bad for trying so much wine and not buying lol.
I paid $13 for this experience to roll a pumpkin down a hill.