Weekend in Bristol with the International 16

i know some of u may know what the hell is international 16. but to those of u who dont, international 16 is a group of 16 students of 16 different nationalities who meet up every week and do a lot of activities together, either cultural or just plain leisure. this group is organised by the International Society of Manchester University. to be in this group, one has to go to an informal interview. for this year, the 16s were picked out from about 200 interviewees. so i was lucky enough to be part of this group.
the reason why i was interested to join this group is coz i wanna get to know more people and get out from my safe zone. since Manchester has a huge population of Malaysians, we tend to stick to each other, and this results to Malaysians not mixing around with other people. so being in the international 16 is such a great opportunity for me to meet other people from other countries. well, i have my Brit flatmates and coursemates, so i need another group of people who are international people.
we had a trip before, to Yorkshire Dales. this trip to Bristol was our 2nd trip. it was fun. major bonding time with them. well, this trip was actually for us to get together our ideas and practise for a performance that we're gonna do for school kids this Wednesday. so we didnt get to go around Bristol that much coz most of our daytime we spent at the theatre skool to practise for the performance. i didnt really like the idea of this actually, but atleast we spent some quality time together on Saturday night at our group leader's dad's house. had dinner there, and the food was amazing. love it! then we just talked and talked and talked.
i remember having conversations with some of them and it went some sort like this.
John: hey Annis, u dont look like typical Malay
Annis: what do u mean by typical Malay?
John: most of them wear head scarf.
Annis: well, i've told u the reasons why i dont wear head scarf. i'm not ready yet.
William: ur a Muslim?
Annis: yeh...
Paul: do u pray everyday?
Annis: yup...
Paul: 5 times a day?
Annis: nope.. (honest)
Paul: do u drink at all?
Annis: nope
William: do u go to the mosque to pray?
Annis: no, i pray at home
William: u pray towards Makkah right?
Annis: yup
William: funny... i can't imagine u praying with the clothes covering u and all.
Dragos: Malaysia is a Muslim country right? do u have women's rights there?
Annis: of course. some of the ministers in Malaysia are women
Dragos: owh.. i thought that Malaysia is like the Arab countries.

goshh... some deep conversation there. i don't feel hurt or whatsoever with what they said. i have to keep an open mind and explain to them why this is like this and that is like that. i may not be a good picture of how a Muslim woman should be (physically). i understand why they asked me those questions coz in their minds, they have a typical picture of a Muslim woman - conservative in every way, covered with cloth from head to toe. i am not like those women. but it doesn't mean that i don't have a strong belief in my religion and Allah. belief comes from the heart.
anyway, overall i had a good time in Bristol. ooohh.. i juz got the international 16 hoodie! hooray! it's too simple, i would say but it represents us, so i cant say much.
there's a bit of conflict in my flat lately. and i hate that i got dragged into this little mess. bak kata Aina, org putih ni buat hal plak. anyway, i'll have to upload pics later! internet's a bitch!

*LOVES*