I thought that I would probably want to know my first experience away from home. Strictly speaking this was more of the first experience to have a long trip away from home. I was scheduled to be attached to our HQ site in Italy for 3 months for basic training. There were a group of us. Mostly fresh grads with a few seniors. So we were all pretty excited. We started to fly in small groups begininng of the year in 2005. I was also excited till the moment we had to leave for the airport. That was when panic start to overcome me after it suddenly dawned on me that I had to settle my own dinner, clothes, dishes, make my own plans and decisions. Even though it was already planned that two of us will be sharing one apartment, the thought of staying with a new friend also frightened me a little.
Mum was also getting quite panicky and kept reminding me how I should be careful when I am outside, and try to stay in groups, not to wander around. I seldom confide in Dad, but that very day, I told Dad that I was thinking to change my mind. Instead, the next thing I knew, Dad took the suitcase out of the room and told me to get ready. I remembered the words he then said "It's a good chance to go and see the world. See the world out there and learn from life experiences" I don't know if he ever regret saying those words to me, but it was those words that made me brave the first step towards my next phase of life.
We bade each other goodbye at the airport. I left thinking that I would be back in 3 months time. I didn't realize at that time that I would be staying there for the next 8 months of my life.
It was my first time taking the long flight. I felt really uncomfortable since I didn't really sleep in the plane. But what I remembered from the flight was the nice view when we flew over the alps. The first time in my life I saw what we had read in books, watched on tv, seen in magazines. But it was a really unforgettable experience to see the alps covered with snow just beneath us.
We took a cab from the Milano Malpensa airport to our town Vimercate where we then checked into our apartment. It was already 3 pm in the afternoon when we checked in. I remembered going to bed after showering and I didnt wake up until the next day. I don't think I had even explored our apartment. I vaguely remembered my housemate trying to wake me up for dinner. But I think I shooed her away. What a friendly "hello". (We had known each other already in the company and she had arrive a week earlier.)
So while everybody was still soundly asleep, I was awake at 4 am in the morning. I went to the toilet to brush my teeth. I found a glass and filled it up with water. I decided to switch on the lights. This was when I made a big fuss and started waking up my housemate -- What's wrong with the water?? I almost screamed into her face??? It's all milky!!!! I could remember she was still half asleep but she was still in the right mind to answer "just let it settle, it's normal" With that she went back to bed. I waited for a while and true enough the water become clear after a while. I realize afterwards that it was due to the minerals that were in the water that made it milky. Ever since, I became the pampered kid of Singapore.
We started off for work when everyone is awake. We finally had the chance to say hi and had breakfast. She had already stocked up some mineral water in the house. In the meantime, I started to explore apartment. It was a rather nice apartment with parquet flooring. We were on the twelfth level with our other colleagues occupying the neighbouring apartments and also apartments on the other levels. We had a big kitchen with a nice balcony.
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| Our living room |
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| Our kitchen |
What I liked the most was the view we had from the apartment and how convenient it was to have a shopping mall with a supermarket just next to our apartment building.
That very night when we got back, the first snow came! Yah all of us were excited. For most of us, it was the first time we see snow. We didn't really care about what others were thinking. We were just amazed at how soft snow feels and how fun it is actually to be playing in the snow -- but not for long ;p
It just took a few hours, and the whole place was covered in snow. It was cold but a beautiful sight.
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| Our balcony covered in snow |
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| The view outside from our balcony |
