Sandy's diary in Manchester (Jan, 2002)

Just click on any of the following underlined dates and you can get to know what's going on with me that day.

Jan 4, 02 (Fri)

New Year = New Life?

The end of the holiday meant a new life for me. First the two-week dark ages in my room was over after the electrician had had an op on my cold-blooded heater. Second, a new flatmate has moved in. Third, there was a great chance here for me to practise roller skating on a slippery melting snow/ice on the street as the temperature keeps being below 5 degree Celsius. 

Jan 6, 02 (Sat)

What can we learn from the football world?

The football world again shows us something about life through the oldest knock-out competition of the world - FA Cup. For example, a lower division club like Cardiff beat a top premiership club Leeds United; Manchester United had a dramatic victory over Villa after coming back from 0-2 down by scoring 3 goals in 7 minutes in the last 15 minutes of the game. These tell us that nothing is impossible and so, never give up easily!!

On the other hand, a brilliant football match can turn into something ugly, disgraceful and violent. Just read the news report of what happened off the pitch in Cardiff City's stadium.

Jan 15, 02 (Tue)

Birthday girl

What's the link between a lonely girl and a slice of cheesecake? The answer can simply be they're unrelated but for a person like me who had been born on 15th Jan 'X' years ago, a slice of cheesecake meant a lot today. Kind of a replacement of a birthday cake as celebration, I'd say. In fact many things are ordinary and it's we who attach values/meanings/importance to them (just like the concept of 'opportunity cost' in Economics, according to which the cost varies with everyone). So, the people I met today might not find any difference in me, just a long-haired girl in her black coat and jeans but from the moment I woke up I felt different and spent some time thinking of what to wear in front of the wardrobe. I decided to wear a new black overcoat, which did a magic on my mood today. I felt fresh, cheerful... (well, a bit narcissistic!) I couldn't wait to go back home for my long-awaited slice of cheesecake (don't mention anything about calories, fat, keep fit, etc. to me!). Within minutes a slice of mouth-watering raspberry cheesecake was in my stomach. Any wish? Well, it's better not to disclose it if you want it to come true. Shhh......

Jan 22, 02 (Tue)

What a night at Old Trafford!!!

Please go to 

Jan 24, 02 (Thur)

Move (I) - Packing

Took a pic or two of my room before finishing packing on the eve of my move. Too much stuff. Wondered how I could manage to move all the things into my new place the next day. 

Jan 25, 02 (Fri)

Move (II) - Hold on!

No move could be made because the new room was not ready until Sunday. Strangely I was a bit excited because I could stay in my room for two more days?! But when coming back home that evening I found a note from the reception at the door, asking me to contact them immediately. It was, however, too late as it was 10:30 p.m. then. 

Jan 26, 02 (Sat)

Move (III) - (Broken) agreement

Couldn't figure out why the reception was trying to contact me. The security guard knew nothing and no key was ready for me to collect. I happened to know the girl who would be moving into my room, thanks to my Singaporean flatmate who always went to her friend's flat where that girl was living temporarily. An agreement to swap rooms was reached after our talk. A gleam of hope appeared.

A new flatmate moved in. I wondered if we could have a chance to get familiar with each other. 

Jan 27, 02 (Sun)

A controversial cup match

Putting my pending move aside, I paid my attention to the football world. Some of the FA Cup matches of the fourth round were held today and a crash between Arsenal and Liverpool after the sensational final of last year was the focus. But it ended up having the Carragher's event  hit the headlines the next day in which in front of the referee he threw back into the crowd a coin that had been thrown to him, before getting sent off. Criticisms of his disgraceful behaviour came from a lot of people while there was also a concern about the behaviour of football fans which had been casting doubt over the resurgence of hooliganism. In my opinion, the LFC defender's response was wrong - though it was understandable in such heat moment of the match - as some say, he is a professional footballer and should have known better what to do in such occasion. As a public figure whom many youth look to, his behaviour can have a big influence on them.

Jan 28, 02 (Mon)

Move (IV) - New environment

There it came. A hopeful agreement turned into a heartbreaking decision. My move from one flat into another was to be a reality shortly after I failed to persuade the prospective occupant of my room to change her mind again when she decided not to swap rooms with me. I was only lucky to move four floors down (or I would have had to call for help!) but still it took me five times to move all the stuff.

It has never been easy to adapt to the new environment. Fear, insecurity and curiosity filled me until I met my new flatmates that evening. Two nice, easy-going, talkative British women. It had always been my wish to make more British friends (Can you imagine having no British friends or classmates after one's study in Britain? Is it often the case for overseas students here? Maybe not...). Living with two British, I hope, helps improve my English.

I have also come to terms with my move by trying to love my new room. When you don't like a thing or resist a change, everything is disgusting in your eyes. On the first moment I got into my new room, I thought to myself, 'Oh, what a small room!' (Yeah, it is true, though) Nothing could be comparable with the previous room. The position of the furniture was also different. 'I don't like my bed to be here. Why do they put the wardrobe there?' 'I don't like the view. Only tall buildings ahead!' I stopped moaning when I started settling in. So, Sandy's conclusion: Change is not a bad thing.

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