Housemates

20^th June 2009

Saturday – Today marks the 14^th day since we gathered in this house. There’s nothing specifically significant about the whole event but it marks 2 weeks of us being able to tolerate each other.

The feeling is good, unlike the time I was in my high school’s hostel last year. Everyone is just getting to know each other and there are no particular two close people yet at the moment so everyone can mix just as well.

As for me, I’m having fun not being too reserved as I had been last year. I know okaa-san had said to be careful and remain the ‘me’ that is observant and speaks less but the image I had presented on the first day somewhat does not allow me to do that. When my kazoku had left the condominium, leaving me to tend to my things, I had actually approached the people in the house.

Yes, I approached them.

As incredulous as it is, as I know the ‘me’ of last year would have gaped for an hour at the mere thought, it is true. I do hope I presented a warm first impression to them before they figured out I’m a clumsy character from lala-land. It doesn’t help to boost confidence but it does fill me with warmth if I can manage to make them laugh though I think I’m starting to worry them a lot with all my banging into random stuff. My cutesy act is, sadly, starting to become old but it’s an old habit so they’ll have to live with it.

The other seven people who are living with me are tolerable so far. I did have a massive breakdown before (as I’m quite sure everyone still remembers) but I think I’ve somehow figured them a bit. I’ve only just got to know them for less than a month so there are still a lot of things I need to learn about them.

In age chronological order, the oldest is Kak Amy who is the only one taking degree. She’s 23 and I had mistakenly thought was already married because she kept calling her beloved ‘husband’. She’s already gone through the marriage course and really waiting to get married. She might’ve heard of the “keep saying it and it’ll happen” method/theory. I wouldn’t know. She’s the most decent of us all and really resembles an ahjumma most of the time. I’ve already grown certain affection for her who fills me with the warmth of an older sister.

The second would be Kak Anis, 21. Originally, she didn’t really approve of me calling her ‘kak’ since she’s very toddler-like and has the stubbornness of a hormone-driven teenager. I can’t help feeling rude if I don’t call her by that suffix so I just went on with it. I got reprimanded by her in the beginning but with persistence that I grew up with, I kept on calling her kak until she grew to accept it. When I call out, “Kak Anis! Kak Anis!” she’ll turn to me. Somehow, I’m filled with a proud feeling. She really is a fun character and she’s taking physiotherapy. I’m planning to learn something from her. Oh, she's also starting to call me "dik"

The third is Farah, also 21. She’s one of the three culinary arts students in this house. My kazoku only got to properly meet her when they sent me so I think they only know her from all my other housemates. Somehow, I can keep on living not calling her ‘kak’. I don’t know how that happened but she said on the first day not to call her kak. Maybe it’s her young face and babyish voice that made me able to not feel too guilty. Oh well. Farah, after hearing a lot of her thoughts and opinions, I figured is best to be left to her own devices. Her opinions of unique strangers are strictly speaking quite cruel if written. Out of all of us, I think she’s the most homophobic. I can’t actually say she discriminates people as on the front, she tolerates them well. In summary, I will try to present a good image in front of her as much as I can.

Fourth is another Anis who is currently 19. I nickname her ‘Anis Karat’ as her hair is astoundingly rusty straw coloured. It’s rather rude; I do realize that but it doesn’t help since she doesn’t actually serve in clearing her image. She is rarely at home and when she is, she spends it in her room doing god-knows-what. When she doesn’t have classes, she’ll leave home to spend the night at a friend’s house. At one point in time, we thought she might just have trouble socializing but even when effort had been placed in pulling her to join us, she declines. Amidst her rather un-striking hair, I think she has a friendly enough face as she smiles to us rather unreservedly. It kind of reminds me of myself last year, like a duck among chickens. Or a black sheep among white ones. But, like I stated, she doesn’t help fit herself with us so we’re all more or less just tolerating at the moment. As long as she pays her share in the rent.

The fifth would be me since I’m the oldest out of all the other 18-year-old housemates so let’s leave it to that.

The third youngest is probably Sal, I’m not sure as I’ve forgotten her birth date. Well, it’s either her or Yana so let’s just get to know Sal in my P.O.V. She’s a B-bloodtype. I’m absolutely certain. Reckless and too brave and the only one without a special someone. She scares the crap of me sometimes but she’s entirely open and friendly. She’s not afraid to express her thoughts and she’s a rough version of Nee-chan, who although takes taekwando still has a cutesy side in her. This makes me apprehensive of her at times.

Yana, who owns the softest voice out of all of us, is also 18. We, who brashly laugh like males from Texas, lose to her gentler one. It shames me a bit but she seems more well-mannered than me. She claims to be brought up in the more city part of Kelantan and has a lesser knowledge of her own dialect. Kind of reminds me of myself but she’s still more knowledgeable in her own dialect than I am in my own dialect. To me she seems to have been brought up in a good family but slightly corrupted by the times and the hormones. As long as she sticks to her own principles and teachings, I’m sure she’ll be such a sweet mother someday.

The last on the list and youngest out of us all is Alisya. She refers to herself as Lisya but somehow people start calling her Alisya and everyone is caught up. She, who casually walks out with sleeveless and a miniskirt kind of irks me at the hypocriticism of claiming herself a muslim but her B-bloodtype personality, which is far more friendly than Sal’s rough one, calls people to befriend her. I’m not the type to discriminate much so I’m on good terms and planning to stay that way. She’s a good person and is a valuable experiment to observe human behaviour. A kind of corrupted one but still good. She’s near lovable if only she’d orally control her tone of speech.

All in all, they’re all a bunch of good people in my mind and I’m pretty grateful that I have them as housemates rather than more nasty type of people.