Over the past weeks, it has been pretty busy with assignments. Every day is just a repetition, and I just want the weekend to come. Recently, I have been locking myself in the room and avoiding any social interactions because sometimes it gets too tiring to talk with people. I think that this is my bright spot throughout the weeks because I was just burning myself out through repetition each day.
Chatting with friends across the country is a bright spot in my day because I am easily able to connect with them since we already have similar humor and things that I can relate to. Lately I've been playing with Richard, and every time school is over, I go home to play with him some games and just call with each other. Maybe it was the perfect time that we started playing together again because I am able to do fun things rather than scrolling through my phone all day. We share tips and advice with others, such as proper meal planning and gym tips. He is also studying abroad in London, and we have similar experiences when it comes to living alone as international students. Being able to bond with my friends across the country helped me not feel the repetition and burned‑out feeling, because at the end of the day, I'm expecting a nice conversation with friends.
Finding the right people here in college is difficult since there are a variety of people with certain interests that do not align with mine. I was invited to attend a bonfire, which was like a socializing event, which was kind of fun to be in, but I just did not fit in with the group of people. It was like a socializing kind of event where you talk to random people, and I feel like that is not for me since I prefer to be quiet. After that, experiencing a bonfire with more people, I decided that I would not attend another one because I didn't like it.
Right now, with school, it is almost the final stages, and I am learning how to render a house. Right now, I've been trying to perfect my render and make sure everything looks good. Though it is kind of tiring because I have to look at the screen for long hours, and there are days when I overwork myself, forget to drink water, and end up having headaches.
While having these problems, I still try to maintain a healthy body by going to the gym and trying to eat some vegetables, hahaha. Picking vegetables is difficult because there are so many kinds of vegetables that I get overwhelmed and end up not buying any. Taking care of my body has been the most important aspect of surviving college life. If I do not take care of my body, I feel like my performance will be lower and not as good.
Overall, there are days when I don't want to get out of bed and just sleep because it's tiring, but at the end of the day, I came here to learn and excel, and so I have to pull myself through that. My days get better whenever I can call you, mom, and dad, or any of my friends back in the Philippines. It is such a joy whenever I call you guys and still feel the warmth and love as if I were still living there. I miss seeing the daily interactions with you, mom, dad, tofu, and dearest ama. Finding time to fit in with my friends is difficult because of the time zone difference and the fact that they also have college, which makes it difficult. Though I try to make sure to interact with them so that the bond is still there. Sometimes I just want to go home and eat the food that you provide to me, like humba,ginaling monggos, hahaha, but this international student life has taught me valuable lessons to be able to fend for myself and go out of the comfort zone that I was in when living in the Philippines. I appreciate that you still make time to accept my calls and have a daily chat and updates on your lives.
Take care always and don't forget to bring tofu out of the house because he looks sad and needs more interaction rather than sleeping, haha
<3 Zach
