Strathallan...

Haven’t blogged for a long time. The school Internet blocks blogger and MSN, but facebook is still available. So now, haha… I am using my own USB modem. Nice! No more censoring… I can do whatever I want, but I have to go to one particular corner of my house to secure stable connection. In my room, the connection went off and on. So annoying!!! That’s one of the problems of having a school in such a remote area.

My school is fine, kind of awesome I think. It’s really huge. A golf course, rugby field, gymnasium, swimming pool and each department has their own teaching blocks. Just hope it doesn’t rain during lesson time. Sports are compulsory to all students on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday afternoons, starting 2.30pm. Choices are badminton, swimming, basketball, fencing, rugby, curling… The people here have an uncanny affinity towards rugby. They love it! I would never play that, no way, unless I want to break a bone or break another of my teeth. I play badminton, although I prefer swimming, but the pool isn’t ready yet. So yea, guess I would just continue with badminton since I don’t really want to swim when the temperature drops to 0 deg Celsius.

At first, I thought the school is only for rich Scottish people, considering its relative unknown to the outside world and its expensive school fee. True enough, people who study here are rich, except the few of us who are here on a scholarship. But the Scots aren’t completely dominant. There are, unexpectedly, many people from Hong Kong and China. Some have already been here for 2-3 years. At least with such Asian presence I don’t feel like a complete stranger.

On every alternate Saturday nights, the school will organize a party in the form of disco for the 6th form students. What a surprise! They even serve beer. That’s right, BEER in school. People there, especially the girls, are crazy about partying. The speaker is lousy, and when the sound comes out in full blast, it feels as if my head is about to explode. Oh yes! Welcome to the western world. By the way, I didn’t drink that night. Just feel that it’s not the right thing to do… Yea, keep it up, myself… You’ve done the right thing.

We are given a chance to go to Perth every Sunday afternoon, which is about 10 minutes drive away. A small town it is. We are given 2 hours to roam around. I bought my modem there just now, and some goodies… haha… cookies, juices and some soft drinks for me to munch during prep time. Prep time is the only time in school, except during lessons, that I have lost my freedom. It’s like spending 2 hours every night in the room to study, or sleep, or do whatever you want, but NEVER leave the room.

Food in the school is not bad. But one thing for sure, there’s no Asian food. And the rice they cook sucks. It’s hard and they actually cook it with cheese and tomato. Can you actually eat something like that?? Well, not for me, not for an Asian. Breakfast is at 7.30am, lunch 1.15pm and dinner 6pm. No supper, unfortunately.

As for girls, there are a lot of pretty Scots girls in the school, but to me, they all look, one way or another, alike. I think the Chinese girls are far more interesting than they are. Who says I am going to have an angmo girlfriend???

PS: I tried to upload pictures of myself, but unfortunately the Internet doesn't want to co-operate. Guess I will have to make do with it, for now...