A New Chapter: Transitioning from Malaysia to Southampton

September 12th. This date had been on our calendar for months.
From the moment we were told the date we were expected to arrive in the UK, we had already started imagining what life on the “other side” would look like.

Some of us had never ever left the country, so travelling to another a whole new continent for the very first time was an exciting idea.

Yes, of course we were sad to leave our homes and our loved ones but at the same time, the idea of experiencing a new culture and a new environment was something we were looking forward to.

Some of our friends even came to send us off.

We arrived at Heathrow the morning of the 13th of September. To our pleasant surprise, the weather wasn’t as cold as we expected it to be.

The weather in Southampton was even more surprising, it was sunny the whole week for our first week! We thought to ourselves “Southampton is pretty warm, probably won’t get too cold in the winter then”. Little did we know we were being teased by the British weather.

What amazed us most about Southampton was its scenery and greenery. We were fascinated to see such well-maintained parks such as Riverside and The Common.

With Southampton being a top club in the Premier League, St Mary’s stadium was on top of all the boys to do list. Then we thought why not watch a game?

So that’s exactly what we did!

It was a great experience to watch Southampton playing against Swansea. Some of us had seen football games on the past, but none of us had been to an English Premier League game. The atmosphere was amazing having sat right next to the away fans.

When term started, we were all busy trying to look for our classes. Unlike back in Malaysia, we had to move to a different room for every lecture. Lectures here also last for 45 mins whereas In Malaysia, because we don’t have to move around, lecture last for a whole hour.

We were also looking forward to the bunfight, a day where clubs and societies try to attract the fresher’s to join their club and showcase what they have to offer.

We were surprised by the sheer variety and number of available clubs. By the end of the bunfight, we couldn’t remember which club we had signed up for. Some of us even tried things that we never tried before, such as frisbee, korfball and pottery.