The Move.

It's been three weeks since the new semester started, and things haven't been too bad. My friends who'd been on holiday during the last semester came back, I did some volunteer work at a kindergarten sports day, and my results turned out slightly better than I had expected. All in all, it's been a bright-ish start to the last semester of my second year.

The biggest thing that's happened to me recently, though, would probably be my moving into a new house with new housemates. What I mean by this being the biggest thing is that this is the event that looks to have the biggest impact on my life from now on.

I'd previously been renting a two-storey terrace house with some friends since early last year. We've been pretty much the same core group since then, give or take a few exits and new arrivals, and I appreciated that this arrangement gave me an element of stability that I otherwise lacked in almost every other aspect of my Manipal life. No matter what subjects I'd be studying, who I'd be having classes with, which people I'd be talking to on any given day, I always knew that in the end I'd still be going home to the same house, and with the same people. It was like having a second family.

Eventually, however, the non-Muslims in my house told us Muslims that they wanted to move out as they wanted to cook and eat pork. This was because they respected that we didn't eat pork, and would feel guilty about preparing it and eating it in our presence. Given this explanation, I figured that since they respected that we didn't eat pork, it would only be fair if we respected the fact that they did eat pork and accepted that they wanted to move out so they could cook it.

I initially felt a bit sad about the whole thing. I mean, we'd been living peacefully and somewhat blissfully for over a year, paying decent rent for a fairly comfortable house - and they wanted to do away with that just because they wanted to eat pork?

I guessed that they could afford to move out; after all, they were all still going to be together. The only difference would be that they could now eat pork, drink alcohol, adopt a dog, and even get faster internet - it was a definite win for them, even though they would likely have to pay more for rent.

That's just life, I guess. These things happen, and that's okay. We're all still friends, and I bear no grudge against them. Instead, I chose to see it as an opportunity for change.

I've moved into an apartment with a couple of friends (who happen to be Pakistani brothers from Saudi Arabia), and I have to say the change in scenery is refreshing. I've only been here since Monday, and I'm still getting used to my new routines and surroundings. The guys are nice, and since there's a surau literally a stone's throw away, we often go there for congregational prayer. Life here's been good so far, and somewhat reminiscent of my time in Madinah earlier this year. 

(This isn't the first time I've lived in this area, though. I spent less than a week in a different unit under the Manipal hostel when I first came to Nilai before moving into the aforementioned two-storey house.)

This move has been the latest change of surroundings in my young life, and after having previously spent time in four primary schools, two secondary schools and one other tertiary education institute, I am confident that living here will be good for me.

Stability is fine and all, but the only way to learn new things is by doing new things. Don't shun change; embrace it.