Holiday!

Finally. I finished my exams! I’m so happy. I’m glad that the pressure was over. It was a big relief!! My last exam was on Thursday morning from 8 am (again) to 10 am. I went to grocery shopping for the last time before I leave Brisbane and went to work. People said I’m insane… going to work right after the exam!! Haha. Well, first of all, the project has started. I’m responsible for the SQL codes (especially the stored procedures), the hardest part of the project. The whole group members depend on me in order to move the project forward. So I have so many responsibilities here and I need to finish the core codes before I leave the country, so that the other members can work on their parts while I’m away. My boss told me today that his company just got many new projects coming up and he asked me to join in. I’m so excited about having so many opportunities to explore and learn new things related to the subject I enjoy. I feel so blessed.

I’ll depart from Brisbane on Saturday at about 11.40 pm. I did the check-in through internet so I could choose the seat and meal in advance. I also don’t have to go to the airport very early and be in a long queue. There will be a separate queue for internet check-in at the airport and fortunately not many people know about this great feature . I’m also collecting more miles so that I can travel to other country for free . Hopefully I can redeem the miles by next year. Singapore Airlines is great!

Anyway, I’ll arrive in Jeddah insya Allah on Sunday at about 8 pm. Yes, a very long journey, but I already borrowed some books from Brisbane Library. I just hope that I can go back to Brisbane by 30 Nov, coz I have another volunteer work to join on 2 Dec for the exciting cultural event called People’s Day. But it seems impossible to go back early, knowing how slow the Saudi authorities handle the paperworks… especially when they’re dealing with us… you know.. the 3rd world immigrants. But of course I’m so excited to go back home, although I don’t feel ready yet. I don’t know how I’m going to spend my 10-days “vacation” in Jeddah. It’s too short. My mom told me that we’re going to go to Madinah, a yearly visit to Prophet Muhammad SAW’s city that we never missed. That would take about 2 to 3 days. Then I also have to take Umrah, which takes about a half day including the journey Jeddah-Mekkah-Jeddah. So basically I only have 6 days to have fun! I must be sooo busy .

I remember a “great” incident happened a few years ago when I arrived at Jeddah’s King Abdul Aziz Airport. Just like Indonesian authorities at the Cengkareng, Saudis too separate the blue-collar workers (aka TKW/TKI) from the “usual passengers” arriving at the airport. The difference is that, instead of transferring them to a different terminal, these workers are transferred to the domestic airport. Sometimes the airlines would tell them to stay on the plane longer, allowing the other passengers to go out of the plane first. In other time, the authorities would approach and “collect” these workers before they could enter the international airport. But on that unfortunate day, the authorities transferred ALL the passengers to the domestic airport without even checking that there was ONE passenger whose dad already waited at the freakin international airport!!! Yes, unfortunately I was the only non-blue-collar worker arriving on that plane. I didn’t know that I was transferred to the domestic airport until I entered the building (the two airports have the almost exact structure and there’s no sign or whatsoever from the outside that it’s a domestic airport). So I complained. I was sooooo pissed. I was transferred from one person to the other just to deal with this freakin simple problem! NO ONE seemed to care, you know? (who the hell am I? I’m just an immigrant, right? LOL) They didn’t even apologise!!! They looked down on me (they SCREAMED at those workers; how could they respect me??). So they finally “released” me, coz I think they couldn’t handle this cerewet lady anymore. They didn’t want to take any responsibilities — not even transferring me to the international airport which’s not on a walking distance. It was at night; there was NO transport to go to the international airport except taxi in which I would rather sleep there rather than being sexually harassed by the driver. I didn’t know how to contact my dad coz I didn’t have enough money to buy a phone card (I only had SR. 6!!). I was almost hopeless, didn’t know what to do. I hoped that I met somebody I knew… but then suddenly an Indian man approached me. He sold phone cards and said that I could pay SR.5 for one minute talk. That was really great, I could finally call my dad to pick me up at the domestic airport! So, be aware guys. If you’re going to Jeddah, make sure you go to the international airport!!!

We have a very weird weather this week across Australia. One day it was so hot. Then there was a storm. Then it’s COLD again. Cold, yes.. freezing.. as if it’s winter!! The storm was pretty FAST and bad. The wind was so strong that the Bureau of Meteorology said that it could turn into a tornado! Wow, I thought it would be cool if we have a tornado, coz I never experienced anything like that LOL. Some houses were badly damaged. There were also reports of hail stones at some suburbs. Perhaps the biggest hail stones were at Mt Perry, Bundaberg which were as big as the golf balls!! Heavy snow fell across Victoria, including Melbourne and the first time in recorded history snow fell in Queensland. It’s very strange, isn’t it??? We’re approaching summer season and suddenly there’s snow?? I don’t get it why the scientists keep debating on whether or not this is a result of climate change??? The climate is changing!!