Ainun Ahmad
A letter,
Written from the heart of a daughter
For a mother
In a land far away…
As-Salamu Alaykum my dear mother,
I hope that you are in the best of health. How is everything back home? I heard that
Kuala Lumpur had been raining with ferocious thunder storms and some of the places were
quite unfortunate that they were hit by flood? I would like you to know that I have been
praying to God to take great care of our family while I’m here, thousands miles away from
all of you. You must be wondering why am I writing this letter aren’t you because all these
while I have been sending postcards from every places I visited. Well mom, don’t worry, this
isn’t bad news or any other letter. I know you have been wondering when is my graduation
date, well before I announce it to you, I shall write to you about my three wonderful years in
NEWCASTLE. So, just sit back, relax and enjoy reading about the journey.
Do you still remember the day you sent me to the airport? I remembered it ever so
clearly. It was 17th of September 2009, just 3 days before the Eid celebration. You were
trying very hard not to shed any tears but couldn’t fight it no more as I wave goodbye. I did
not cry in front of you, but honestly, I cried a little in the airplane. It must have been a
painful experience sending off your only daughter and dearest princess fending for herself
alone in a foreign country. But mom, that girl survived! She had gone through a lot and
metamorphosing to a confident young woman that will take the world by storm and face
any challenge head on. I shall thank God for blessing me the golden opportunities of
studying in this Newcastle University. First and foremost, I would like to stress to you again
that this is an excellent high-ranked university in the UK. Everything is top notch; from the
service, the food and also the facilities.
The thing that I love the most is the Tutor system. I have the most wonderful tutor in
my academic life. She is Dr. Debbie Bevitt. She was always very helpful to me and during my
first year, she helped me adapting my life with university. She never showed lack of interest
to my problem and always found a way to help me. What matters the most is she has never
give up hope in my studies even if I did not manage to achieve good marks. Her
encouragement and bright smile lifted me up every time I talked to her. I am ever so
grateful to her for everything. I think she is a beautiful woman, full of positive energy.
Someday I wish I would be like her.
Apart from that, by joining the societies I’ve discovered that I do have acting talent. I
enjoyed every bit of it. For two years in a row, I have been performing for Malaysian Night,
an annual event by the Newcastle Malaysian Society. I was the main actress for the play
“Rojak” during my second year and it was watched by a strong 300 audiences at the
Northumbria Student Union. From that moment onwards, I know, I have passion in acting
and I love being on the stage. No wonder I have always been a Drama Queen at home don’t
you think so? But during my third year, I have to take minor role to accommodate my time
constraint due to heavy workload of my Final Year Project. Throughout my involvement in
this kind of activities, I strengthened my friendship with lots of friends, be it old friends or
new friends. New memories were made and won’t be easily forgotten.
I hope you are not thinking I’m all about having fun and deliberately neglect my
studies. I’m as hard working as everyone else. I actually enjoyed coming to classes rather
than sleeping at home or not doing anything for the whole day. I have never skipped classes
without any valid reasons. I like to be in the class, scribbling notes and having friendly
discussions with my classmates. I’m happy to tell you that I have friends from other
countries such as Cyprus, Saudi Arabia, Africa, America, Spain and many more. They have
been inviting me to visit them someday and I would be glad to do so! We sometimes hang
out at Nandos and just gossip about everything that cross our mind. Really great times I shall
say. And again don’t worry mom, I don’t go to clubs or disco or bar or anything you can think
of. They know about my religious stand and they respect me very much. Plus, I don’t really
enjoy the deafening music and the smell of alcoholic drinks.
So what do I do for leisure? I love taking a walk at the Leazes Park and have a quiet
time at the art gallery. The Laing Art Gallery in town has great pieces of arts. I could be there
for few hours looking at the arts and exhibitions. Not only that, I love walking along the river
at Quayside and snap few photos of the Millennium Bridge. There is also an art exhibition
centre called The Baltic which has world class exhibitions everytime I visit. The scenery at
the riverside is enthralling especially during sunset. When you come to Newcastle, I will
definitely bring you there. I promise you that. This city has a lot more to offer such as the
Discovery museum, watching theaters at the Royal Theater and great food such as
Wagamama and so much more. Newcastle also is near to Edinburgh which is in Scotland. If
you want to go down south like London or Southampton, there is no problem at all because
the train or flight ticket is seriously affordable.
From the postcards you have been receiving from me, you must know I am person
who has a knack of travelling the world. I remembered you were worried sick when I told
you I was going to Turkey with a couple of friends back in my first year. Up till now, I’ve
been to Turkey, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Czech Republic and Austria. And after my exams,
I am backpacking to Holland, Belgium, Luxembourg, Italy, Germany, Switzerland and lastly
France. Mom, all the travelling had opened my eyes to the outside world. I’ve seen different
cultures, heard different languages, and tasted a great variety of foods. Not everyone could
have what I have. I am becoming more and more independent. You don’t have to worry
about holding my hands to cross the road anymore. I am crossing every road in life by my
own now even if it is full of obstacles in order to discover the true meaning of LIFE as much
as possible. Overall mom, I have no regret being one of Newcastle University student and I
will bring back every memory I’ve made in this three fulfilling years. Newcastle also has
been like my second home to me and it has been treating me so well. I will miss this place
dearly when I am going back Malaysia for good.
Speaking of independent, I am now proud to say I am in charge of my life now. I pay
the bills on time, do my house chores and I even cook. I can’t help but to laugh when I think
about the few weeks before I came to here. You made me go through crash course on
“Cooking 101” with you but that ended up you doing everything because my cooking was so
bad that everything taste horribly wrong. The only things I knew was frying an ommelette
and preparing instant noodles. But now, after lots of failed attempts and helped from
amazing friends, I could even prepare dishes for 10 guests without any difficulties! My flat
mates love my cooking so much and I told them, I got the talent from my mom. I’ve also
made an effort to save some money every month without you telling me to do so. Mom, I’m
glad to say that I’ve saved enough money to bring you to your dream place when you are
here for my graduation. We are going to Paris!
That is not the only surprise mom; I’ve also secured a job in Malaysia when I
graduated! I managed to scrape through the daunting interviews that were held in London
Career Fair a few weeks ago. Isn’t it exciting? By now, I think you must be overjoyed reading
this letter. So I now shall reveal my date of Congregation to you. It will be held on the 13 th of
July 2012. This shall be the proudest moment of my life and you will be there to watch me!!
I really can’t wait to see you mom and I am missing you so much now. In the meantime
please pass my warmest regards to the rest of the family. Peace be upon you and the rest of
the family.
Seeya, gan canney an see yee soon mutha. It is the Geordie’s way to say : Goodbye
and see you soon mom. See I told you learning their language for a bit is really fun!
Lots of love,
Ainun