who would have thought...

Just wanted to say I have finally got myself a blog site. Never thought I'd get one, but then again never say never... Then again, I never thought I would be living in Australia again, and here I am in Perth as a permanent resident.

I've learnt alot since being here - about myself, my dad, my relatives, my new house which we will be moving into in July, renovations, colour combination, Malaysian food, and about the city which I now call home. It's hard not to compare everything with what I have previously known. It's strange that I'm not working, and I sometimes feel guilty for being able to relax while the rest of the world is busy slaving away making money and doing productive things. Honestly, being here has been a truly humbling experience for me. Initially I had to totally depend on my relatives to get to from point A to point B. It then dawned on me that I couldn't do all the things I liked to do because I had to depend on people here, it was really frustrating. About 3 weeks ago I finally cracked it. I had a panic attack. I was really upset, depressed, I chucked a tantrum at my dad for no good reason. I was miserable. At the end of the day, I prayed that the horrible feeling would go away and that I would be able to target it. "Helplessness" was the word, the answer that I got the next morning. Once I was able to figure out what was bothering me, I was able to pray about it and immediately I began to feel a sense of peace in me that I did not have the day before. I'm learning to be more of a servant, laying down the pride and arrogance. I never thought I had issues with becoming a servant until I came to Perth. These days I have become the housekeeper, the secretary, the investigator, etc. Initially I felt as if I was doing slave work, but then after a chat with my sister I realised the reason I came to Perth before my mom and my sister (who will be arriving late July) was to help my dad and to support him. I had been too preoccupied with all the 'me' benefits, I had forgotten my purpose. With all these realisations, I pray that I will be able to change and settle better into my new environment. I have also been checking out Riverview Church. It's really huge, but it's also really fun and funky. Hopefully will be able to settle into a church soon.

I'll leave you with a list of "who would have thought I would ..." rambling:
- Live in the same city as my Malaysian & Singporean relatives
- Not be able to shop on Sundays cuz all the shops are closed then
- Live next to a river... the Swan River to top it all off
- Soon be living in the most Chinese sounding suburb ever - 'Leeming'
- Meet so many Malaysians in Perth... hence some people call Perth 'mini Malaysia'
- Be so domesticated (cooking, cleaning, washing laundry, etc)