Australia

Well here I am, 3 days out from the start of my Malaysian adventure....... and study.

Sure I am leaving the country, but I don't presume that my breakfast menu is suddenly an interesting topic... unless it comes back up at party. However, I have put myself in a very unpredictable situation, so some ridiculous things are going to happen to me this year. This is the little platform that allows me to inform you the minute Malaysian officials decide to cane me or I get stuck at the airport without a visa or maybe, just maybe, I won't get in any trouble at all...

And yes, I know, I am not really a doctor, but I got excited when the name wasn't already taken. Besides I plan to buy a motorbike over there and ride it like Valentino Rossi, so I thought the name was appropriate. I could ride it like Casey Stoner, but calling myself "The Stoner" didn't quite have the same ring to it.

Let's just go back a few months, maybe August.

This is what the uni told us:
"We would like you to put in your location preferences for your third year of medicine. You will be stationed there for the whole year, you have 7 options......blah blah"

They went on to rattle off a bunch of regional Gippsland areas including good old Frankston, but I had already decided I was going to the beach. I year of surfing and study in Wonthaggi in that order, woohoooo. Then some nerd up the back puts their hand up "that is only 6 options, where is the 7th?" Maybe they would have forgotten about Malaysia if the question wasn't asked.

Everyone was so excited but there was only two places and these things are always for the good students, not me. Besides, there was a catch, you had to be able to speak Malaysian and pay your own way. That's me out, I can't even cough in Malaysian. So I'm going to the beach, Wonthaggi woohoooo. There was one slight problem, South Gippsland was a popular option and I had to make sure I would get the place. So I used what I like to call a strategic preference. If I put down a first preference that I have no chance of getting (Malaysia), then I will surely get my second preference (Wonthaggi). Easy, and really clever on my behalf.

EPIC BACKFIRE! BOOM! They are joking right? This email is a fake. Then I got a phonecall from a friend... It was a bit like the 16 year old that gets pregnant. You don't know whether to congratulate her on the achievement or whether to send your condolences for getting knocked up by such a loser.

Anyway, I leave Monday. The lovely people down at Monash Abroad decided to help me out with some cash, so there is one problem solved. As for the language problem, it's getting better. My facebook page has been in Malaysian for a few months now, so I have learnt some useful phrases like "How long would you survive a zombie apocalypse?" and "Are you on a boat?" Apparently I am on a boat.

Feel free to subscribe to my blog, just a name and email address. My entries won't all be this long and I am too lazy to send them too often. And please forward this link to any family that are not on facebook. Johore Bahru woohoooo!

Cheers, Sam.