Sandy's diary in Manchester (Oct, 2000)

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

1st, 4th, 8th, 9th Oct,00

It's all about Vodafone!

Are you wondering why I write these dates here? Kind of an IQ question? You're wrong if you think so. Nothing tricky actually. These were the days when I went to the Vodafone shop for a mobile. the first three times gave me repeated, utter disappointment and it wasn't until the fourth time I went there with 'enough' proofs of my residential address and my friend's help (thanks a lot, Pat!) that I could successfully get my first mobile phone in my life (ha, strangely I had never got a mobile in HK!).

2nd - 6th Oct, 00

a plain, quiet schooldays for a boring student

A routine

- morning: get up early => breakfast => go to school => lunch

- afternoon: finish class => check email at the library => go home

- evening: dinner => do some reading (or maybe dreaming!) => have a shower => sleep (zzz....)

BORING, HUH?

7th Oct, 00

Ohhhhhhhhhhhh! England vs. Germany (a World Cup 2002 qualifier)

It was the first time that I went to the pub to watch a soccer game since I came to England. Who'd miss the game if you're the fans of either side? The Atmosphere? Fantastic! The people/audience (including me)? Exhilarated (before the game); disappointed and hearbroken (after the game). The results? I've got nothing to say... But anyway, I was still happy with the experience and I was extremely excited when I saw my favourite footballer... on TV. I think watching a soccer game in a pub with the guys of that country is totally different from watching it in HK. (the guys sitting in front of us were waving the national flag all the time during the course of the game) Just hope that the England team would improve and can go to Korea and Japan in 2002...

15th Oct, 00

I got sick!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I got sick finally. When I found I had sore throat and terrible headache, I knew that I was going to be ill. (I cculd be a doctor then. Ha!) I still went out for shopping instead of taking a rest at home. Everything must have a price and my price for an enjoyable visit to the city centre was illness. I don't like taking pills but this time I had to surrender. It really worked after I had taken some pills which I brought from HK (or you couldn't have seen this homepage then), even though I still have an headache right now. Hopefully I will recover soon and be a happy girl again!

15th -25th Oct, 00

Recovery

It took me more than one week to fully recover. I didn't see a doctor. For one thing, I was afraid to do so since when I was small; also I always believe that drinking a lot of water and having enough sleep are the best ways to combat against fever and cold (and that's what the doctors here will say to you without giving any prescriptions, according to what I heard from ome of my flatmates). So, here I am now - a loverly Sandy puts her smile on her face again :) Ha!

22nd Oct, 00

A new life came to this world!

Of course it's not me who has given birth to a new baby boy. It's a friend of mine whom I knew since my secondary Two. I got the message in the middle of the night (3 a.m.) while I was still lying awake on the bed. I could imagine how painful the whole process was for my friend, though I've got no experience in it. Congratulations, Ada!

In fact these days I have been concerned about children. An old classmate of mine who now lives in Sydney with her family talked with me about language learning of her two-year-old daughter. I was particularly interested as I'm now taking a course "Child Language". I've learnt a great deal about child language acquisition. Don't think that your children know nothing about what you say or do. They're paying attention to your every movement and every word! Their learning abilities are amazing. I'm wondering how we compare a child learning his/her native language (first language acquisition) with a person learning a second language like English.

24th Oct, 00

Disco Party

This was the first time I went to a disco here. The "freshers' disco" event was organized by Manchester Chinese Students' Society, Manchester University Hong Kong Students' Association, UMIST Chinese Society, Manchester Metropolitain Chinese Society and Salford Chinese Society at a disco called "Infinity" at the city centre. It was already 11 p.m. when I set off. I hadn't been out so late in the evening before and I had been told not to go out at night as it could be quite dangerous. But I could still a lot of people on the street. Maybe it's because where I live is at the city centre.

So, without any glamorous party dresses or any make-up, I entered the disco with a friend of mine.Lots of people (Chinese students mostly). Loud music. Spectacular lighting. Smoky air. Girls wearing halterneck tops and putting lots of powder and face base on their cheeks to make them become another person. We didn't dance. But what else could we do if we didn't dance? So, after drinking a glass of Archers and chatting for a while, we left for home and had a good sleep and dream instead of shattering our bones by dancing the whole night.

30th Oct, 00

Rainstorms and Snow!

Have you ever seen snow in your life? Some of you may have, but I haven't and I missed a chance to see it. It snowed around 8 a.m., while I was still enjoying my sleep in a small room with heating on. I wasn't aware of it and being half-awake sometime at night I just knew it was raining heavily with a very strong wind which caused a lot of noises outside. And, until I listened to the radio, I wasn't even aware that the rainstorm was so big that lots of cities around Britain, esp. in the southern part, were being flooded and lots of people had to be evacuated. It was said to be (could we call it a natural disaster? Or a disaster created by us?) the most severe rainstorm the UK had since 1980s. Luckily my home and Manchester haven't been flooded and we don't need to sail over the water to go to school.

This page was last updated on Thursday, 16 October 2003.

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