Welcome Event by Commonwealth

Getting ready with formal wear

I was thrilled to receive an invitation by the Commonwealth Scholarship Commission to attend its largest event, a welcome event. Held at the University of Nottingham, about 400 scholars turned up for the grand event. Woke up as early as 445am in the morning, I quickly made myself to the train station where I had to walk for a good 20 minutes. Luckily, it was not freezing in the morning. Upon arrival, I did not know which platform that I should wait for the train. Quickly asked someone who worked there and he pointed me to platform 6. As soon as I reached, the train was there and I made it just in time. Sat in the train for 30 minutes, I had to alight at Ely and transit to another train, going to Nottingham. At the station, I met some other Cambridge students who are Commonwealth scholars and heading to the same place as I was. When the train arrived, I sat opposite to a Nigerian lady and she told me that she is a Commonwealth scholar too. Had some talks with her and didnt realize that time flew, we were at Nottingham in no time. Then, both of us took a tram but alighted at a wrong stop so, we had to walk back to an earlier station and met the rest of the Cambridge scholars. As soon as we reached, I met two Malaysians. They introduced themselves as Nini and Halimatun. Greeted with warmth, I could feel how friendly they are. We had good talk about our projects and how did we cope with a total new environment in the UK. Then, we were told to meet out programme officers at the banquet. Surprisingly, my officer recognized me as soon as I stepped into the hall. She is quite pretty but we didnt take any pictures together. Thought there would be time to do so later but how wrong was I.

When the event was about to start, we were ushered to the conference room. In the room, another Malaysian came to sit next to me and her name is Isabella. There were only 7 Malaysian holders who turned up that day (out of 12 holders for 2015/2016 term). Like any other event, it was inaugurated with welcome speeches by the director of CSC. Unlike events in Malaysia, we really enjoyed the way it was conducted. So much joy and laughter. This was followed by some discussion among group members. Shall not disclose the content of discussion as it is nothing interesting.  When it was lunch time, I was introduced to Jamuna. She is a Malaysian doctor who is doing her master in London. After lunch, we rushed our way to have a picture taken but we had to wait for the 6th Malaysian to turn up. After waiting for quite some time, the photography session went on with only 5 of us. After that, there was this ice breaking session which I found quite interesting. The rule of the game was to get as many names as possible, to be listed on a handout paper. So yeah, it was fun having to ask around so that people could write on my paper. Amidst the chaotic moment, I got to know some friends.

After the ice breaking session, there was an awkward gap of 2 hours and we were to help ourselves with drinks and snacks at the reception. Well, since wine was free, I drank 3 glasses of wine that day. When dinner was about to begin, the 6th Malaysian turned up and her name is Puteri. Managed to talk a bit with her before we made our way to the banquet hall. We were separated and positioned to sit with other scholars. So, sat next to me was an Indian girl who is doing her Master in Newcastle and our topic ranged from weather to movie. It was an awesome conversation. Unlike Chinese cuisine, we were served with a soup as starter, chicken and potato as main course & chocolate with ice-cream as topping for dessert. Nevertheless, I was still full from the snacks I ate earlier so it was okay for me. After dinner, I got to know another Malaysian and his name is Quek, doing his Master in Oxford. Coincidentally, both of us were given the same room in Brittania Nottingham Hotel but we did not chat much that night. We were both tired and he had to wake up early tomorrow morning to catch an early train to go back to Oxford. He had volunteered himself to help out at a museum.

Majestic train station

The next morning, Quek left and I went down to have a decent breakfast before checking out at 1030am. Then, I took a good walk at Old Market Square. Got to take some nice pictures and since my train was at 1:32pm, I still had plenty of time for sight seeing. Left around 11ish and went to wait at Nottingham Train Station. The station was so amazing with its architectural design and still standing firmly after a century. Decided to buy myself a coffee so sat down at Costa and waited for my train. Then, another coincidence happened when Puteri sat not far from me. I went over to her place and kept her a company. This time, we got the chance to talk more and got to know each other more. After that, I left and Puteri was waiting for her 2:17pm train. It was indeed a good experience to meet up with so many new friends. Will definitely join such event in the future.