C,A,, IKEA, INPRO and the Russian Language.

It's been about half a month since I've last updated!

Sorry for being so late...
but I've been really, really busy recently.

It's ten minutes past one in the morning, and I'm aware that I'm supposed to be resting, considering how I've been getting 3-4 hours of sleep (at most) for the past week and that I'll need to wake up 5-5 1/2 hours from now.
But then, now that I have some time, I ought to do some updating, no?

Anyway, here's a summary of what has been going on for the past two weeks...

I went to Campus Alive last Thursday (wow, it was last Thursday? Felt like a long time ago...) It was quite awesome ^.^
but what was more awesome was my trip to IKEA and The Curve last Saturday night. IKEA food is quite expensive, I'd admit =.= but really delicious *thumbs up*

And as for this week, we've had (last minute) preparations for our performances in INPRO (Something like Sports Day here in INTEC)
Seriously, the Russian team, being such a small group, lacked the manpower and management to handle the job.

Therefore, the past week of staying up, practising and depriving ourselves of sleep are, were, well...
frankly, not worth it.

HOWEVER, that totally changed today (I mean, last night... since it's already past 12)

I think we did a pretty awesome job at improving our steps and synchronization. All we need to do now is to put it all together, continue practising and then it's INPRO time, all taking place tomorrow!

So, yeah... it's gonna be a wonderful day, tiring, but awesome!

Well, enough with that...
Let's talk about the Russian Language.

I've been receiving lots of questions about how it is to learn Russian, this and that...
and I'll tell you directly:
It ain't easy.

In fact, it's almost (read: ALMOST) frightening. There are so many twists and turns in the language, and having 16 hours of Russian classes per week, it's quite intensive and we're gonna have to catch up with whatever we've missed. (Since we've been tied up with the INPRO practice and stuff...)

Let's take English plural nouns for example. (and I'll type Russian with English letters)
Table would be table. (Stul - stuli)
Book would be books. (Kniga - knigi)
Pencil would be pencils. (Karandash - karandashi)

Simple, yes? NO!
Furniture remains as furniture. (Vinagrad, meaning grapes, also stays the same)

Stimulus - stimuli (Stol - stolya (chair))
Fungus - fungi (Brat - bratya (brother))
Cerebrum - cerebra (Sistra - seostre (sister))

And to add to that, Russians differentiate gender O_o
This is my brother. (Eta moi brat - male)
This is my sister. (Eta maya sistra - female)
These are my parents. (Eta mai raditeli - plural)
This is my state. (Eta mayo gosudarstvo - neutral gender)

The same applies to words like your (tvoi), our (nash), their (vash)... and figure out the female, plural and neutral versions by yourself xD

Alright... we've recently learned about adjectives as well as question words...
and the same rule applies:
The general word for "good" is khorosho, but this changes according to gender (of both humans and objects)
"Khorosho!" - Good
Eta khoroshi karandash - This is a good pencil. (masculine)
Eta khoroshaya sumka - This is a good bag. (feminine)
Eta khoroshoe okno - This is a good window. (neutral)
Eta khoroshie ruchki - These are good pens. (plural)


Alright, enough with the Russian mini-lesson. My teacher said that it's pretty much just the tip of the iceberg. Only about 5% O_o''

Anyway, here's a mini guide to the common words, just for fun xD :
Hello - privyet (informal), zdrasvuite (formal), zdrasvui (informal)
Goodbye - do svidanya (formal), paka (informal)
How are you? - Kak dilla? (informal), kak vashidilla? (respectful, formal)
Good/fine - Khorosho
Bad/poor - Ploha
Thank you - Spasiba
You're welcome - Pajalusta
I'm sorry/Excuse me - Izvinitye (respectful), izvini (informal)
It's alright/nevermind - Nichivo
Nice to meet you - Ochin priyatna
I love you - Ya lublu tebya. (Я люблю тебя)


Alright, that's all for now xD I've got to get to bed now...

Do svidanya! До свидания!

Later~!

A Wednesday in INTEC...

Zdrasvuite!

Today's the third day of school here (at least for my course)...

A long update here:
Life's great so far. Yes, it's starting to get busier... but that won't stop us from having fun ;)

I think I over-budgeted... I originally planned to use less than RM 10 per day, but I find it quite difficult to do so...
especially after buying that Russian dictionary... ==

...Well, I'm going to save up after this. I have a somewhat sufficient stock of food in my room, so I suppose I ought to be fine not spending money for things other than those required by the school.

My wallet's getting thicker... with coins and one ringgit notes to replace the fifties and hundreds.

Anyway, I'll blog a bit about Russian classes here.
Russian classes are awesomely interesting. ^.^ It makes me feel like a kindergartener learning ABCs all over again xD
Yes, it is quite challenging... but it all depends on mindset.
If you believe it to be tough and useless, then it will be tough and useless to you.
If you believe it to be fun and fascinating, then it will be fun and fascinating for you.

All in all, learning Russian is khorosho! (good/fine)

Next... any changes in me?
In terms of physical changes, I don't know... ==
My clothes FEEL slightly looser... but I don't see any change in the mirror xD
So it's either I don't notice, or my clothes are getting bigger xD

In terms of mental change...
... quite a lot.
Not a lot as in COMPLETELY, most of me is still... me.
But I've learnt quite a lot from INTEC, especially orientation week.
Also, my Russian programme classmates are really awesome. We're a very close-knit group.

My NOISY roommates are also quite a handful xD But we're all a pack of fun ^.^
I suppose we get along quite well, joke around a lot... but we never argued or fought.
If any of us wants to use the bathroom first, we'll tell each other and gain permission. Now that's what I call awesome!

My family has been really supportive as well.
I make it a point to call my mom every single day. (Those who have travelled out with me will know this very well xD)
I update her with whatever's happening around me, and we still feel as close as ever.

Oh, right... I have yet to mention...
My course has been prolonged from 9 months... to 14 months!

I have no idea how that happened, but it doesn't really matter to me...
In fact, it can be somewhat of a good thing. I'm still going out to Russia next year, I get to stay closer with my family a little longer, and I get some more time to learn Russian =)

Today, my classmates and I met our Physics teacher for the first time (first Physics lesson). And I simply blurt out a question to him.
"What do you think of Russia?"

The whole class was waiting eagerly for an answer.
He thought for a while, and he finally spoke.

"To me, Russia is kinda like a 'mystery country' lah..."
"Why?"
"You see, let's take America for example. We know their lifestyle, we're influenced by their culture, we know a lot about America. But Russia... we barely know anything."
""
"But Russia is one of those countries that don't need to import technology from anywhere. They create what they want for themselves."
"=)"
"Some people say Russia is bad, but I don't think that's true lah... though I've never been there myself"
"Khorosho! Khorosho!"


That's it for now =)
Do svidanya!
Later~!

First Day in INTEC

Hello!!!

Today was the registration day for INTEC-UiTM.
Over 700 JPA scholars registered here.
And guess what I found out?

There are only a tiny (countable) amount of Russia-bound students.
The majority of students are under the A-level and AUSMAT programmes.
Also, as I observed, most of the students are from Selangor.
The number of Sabahan students (girls) can be counted with the fingers of one hand!

Anyway, after registration I moved in with my parents to...
block 6, room 302 (SILENT HILL OMG)... Anyone who has played Silent Hill knows well what room 302 is xD

But the dorm rooms are much more spacious than I thought they'd be (considering that my mom brought my brother -and I've been there before too- to INTEC last time, and the dorms were really dirty, dark and small)
But as it turns out, they're great! I like it ^^

Also, I've got to know my roommates better, and thank goodness they're all really nice people ^^ That's really important, because we'll be relying on each other a LOT~!

After that, comes all the orientation and stuff...
Now I'm back in my room for a short break, but in less than half and hour I'm going to have to go back for another briefing session until 10:30 p.m. (haven't bathed yet T.T)

So far, I'm feeling pretty good =)
My parents left to the hotel for tonight, and they'll go back to Sandakan tomorrow.
I must say, the moment they left, I was like... *watery eyes*

...but now I've calmed down *blushes* xD

Oh well, I'll blog more (and even post some pictures) when I get the time.
For now, that's it! Gotta go~


Later~

Adventure

My 50th picture posted in my Facebook's "My Artwork" album =)
Full picture HERE

Here it is! Post number 180!
And it's July 1! (Well, it's gonna be July 2 by the time I finish typing this post xD)

I've (almost) finished my packing...
It's finally time... to further my studies =)

Oddly enough, I don't feel particularly "psyched" nor nervous or anything.
I think I can sleep well later xD

Anyway, I'm going off to Shah Alam tomorrow ^.^
Registration is on 4th July, and classes begin after =)

Well, I don't know what else to type here xD
I'm just making the sentences as I go along.

Once I get the chance to go online again...
... I'll update this =)

Everyday is an adventure... and this is no different =D

This.is.gonna.be.Fun.


Until then =)