what's my name?

I don't normally write a blogpost past my bedtime but this is an exception. 

But when you think about it again, the previous post on this blog was written waaaay past my bedtime.

I told myself that I would write about my 3rd and final module for the Nottingham Advantage Award only after I have completed it and passed with flying colours. But I just have to write about it now cause I want to remember this day.

So after Maghrib, I went to my class at Trent Building (this is a classical style building that is a maze on its own) and waited for the tutor to come. Then, along came Thomas (my classmate) sat next to me and greeted me by my name, "Hey Wafi, you're alright?" And I was so touched that he remembered my name. We've only met for 2 times and never talked before this, huhu.

Oh yeah, one thing to note. Adlan Wafi doesn't really feel proud most of the times. He does have this feeling but he's trying to get rid of the feeling as best as his can. Usually, he will feel touched. In Malay, saya memang mudah terharu daripada rasa bangga. It's probably because I have this strong memory on sentimental events. Thus, my feelings are more channelled towards being touched rather than feeling boastful. And I always try to remind my brothers about the danger of vanity. It's not good being vain and all. It's just not cool.

And my friends would usually think that I'm proud that people remember my name but no, I'm touched. Sometimes, the feeling almost made me want to cry. And I tweeted this when Thomas greeted me this evening. But alhamdulillah, I remember his name. So yeah, I'm grateful that he's being friendly to me.

Ok, this is the revelation. I present to you my 3rd and final module for NAA:

Modern Standard Arabic

Level 1 Part 1

Okay, there are various reasons of why I didn't want to write about it on my blog. Some of the reasons include it's quite late for me to learn Arabic isn't it? I feel so inferior compared to others. And now, I'm just plain embarrassed that everyone who reads my blog knows that I'm just beginning to learn Arabic. Secondly, my friends who read my blog would now begin speaking Arabic to me where in actual fact, I have only learned a few words. So don't mock me, please. The reason why I go for this module is because I think it's about time that I start mastering this language. 

And today, our tutor, Ahmed decided to ask us to write our names in Arabic. When it was my turn, he exclaimed, "Wafi, a couple of Arabic names. Which one did you go for?"

I was impressed at his capability to identify that my name was indeed Arabic. I mean, I have met several Muslim brothers and some of them even asked, "Is that an Islamic name?"

Lol!

So yeah, I was glad that he knew that my name was Arabic. I said, "I chose Wafi".

"Go ahead then"

"Wau alif fa ya"

"Do you know what it means?"

"I think I do. Is it loyal?"

"Yes, it is. It does have some shades of meaning"

Bila dengar perkataan "shades" ni, teringat "shades of grey", hehe.

And I decided to guess what the other meaning is cause I've been hearing this quite a lot from my friends.

"Does it also mean healer?"

"I have not heard about that one before"

Thanks lah Sudin and Izdihar Zuhdi!

Haha, sebab diorang selalu teka Wafi maksudnya "penyembuh".

"The other shade of meaning is sincere. So, it's loyal/sincere"

And I'm like okay, that could be my new blog name after denial/redemption :P

Sincere? How wonderful does that sound. I never knew that. I have always associate myself to the meaning that I have always known - loyal. MasyaAllah, it's an evening to remember ;)

So yeah, there's a lady by the name of Dina in my lab whom one day asked me about Eid Ul-Adha. I wasn't sure how she knew that I'm a Muslim but I guess she might know it from my name.

And so, that's when I learned about another meaning of my name in a class that starts in the evening on this rainy day.

On another note, I received a parcel today with my name written as "Adlan Wafi Shin". And I'm like O_o when did I become a Shin? Heh.

Back to my final module, the progress is quite slow. Well of course, the class is designed for beginners and I on the other hand am only capable in reading but lack the knowledge in semantics which is imperative in order to become proficient in a desired language.

Nevertheless, I'm going to persevere. It's late I know. But at least, it's a step. Plus, I learned about my name along the way...

how do you sleep?

Time: 1:37 am, Nottingham

Tau tak? Tadi aku baring kat atas katil for 1 jam setengah but failed to fall asleep! I hate myself for this. Ok, I am really sensitive when it's time to close my eyes.

Case studies:

A. In my house in Shah Alam, my room is the only one that has these translucent windows attached on the walls thus, allowing light from the hall upstairs to pass inside my room. Ni tingkap yang kat belah dalam tau bukan untuk tengok luar. So, faham la apa yang jadikan? Bila nak tidur, aku akan keluar & tutup lampu regardless of who's using it. I would get irritated if someone left the light on for such a long time. Blood pressure meningkat bila tengok lampu menyala terang benderang. Grrrr...

B. In my house in Nottingham when I was in the first year, I learned about myself more when I discovered my human alarm clock. Yes, jam loceng manusia. His laughter can wake up the whole house. Or maybe, just me. His laughter approximates to a sound pressure level of 100 dB (remember, I'm being sarcastic here). It really ticked me off when I couldn't sleep at my bedtime. Cause it's going to affect the time that I'll be waking up tomorrow. I actually got up from my bed and went downstairs to give him an angry look which made him shut up for a while. Little did I know that this alarm clock goes off until this day.

C. 11.00pm - 12.30am, Saturday - Sunday, 15-16 October 2011. It was during this period of about 1.5 hours that I lay on my bed turning on the sounds of rain and thunder on my iPad (I even put on the auto-lock thinking that I'd fall asleep after the sound is over but Nooooo) trying to sort of neutralize the laughter that seemed endless coming from downstairs. Argh! Geram...Well, you're reading this post right? So yeah, obviously aku tak dapat tidur.

My senses can be very sensitive when it's time for me to fall asleep. And apparently, people don't get that. They think I can fall asleep easily. Haish..I know that you need to have a speck of light when you're sleeping and I know that you wake up easily if the duvet is pulled away from you and I know that you cannot even wake up even if 3 types of alarm are turned on: the chicken sound, the Indian beat & the Sony Ericsson alarm.

Dear readers, the message from this blog post is - Be considerate.

Yes, I don't think people should be making noise if it's close to midnight. (This includes you, jiran sebelah rumah yang buat party last week!) We need to think about others. That person might want to go jogging early in the morning tomorrow (Ye, saya nak joging esok tapi tak jadi kot sebab sekarang dah pukul 2.19 am). Apart from that, I should not be selfish thinking sleep is so important for myself. For all I know, they could be discussing on ways to save the world. Well, sacrificing a good night's sleep for the betterment of the world sounds reasonable enough for me. (Although I'd be cranky about it :P)

Which brings me to another point - Think good of others.

I'm not perfect, but I'm trying my best to do this ;)

So, I've sort of thought of ways to overcome my sensitivity in trying to fall asleep. I could buy earplugs as suggested by Andi Rizal. I could also get up from my bed after the first 40 minutes of terbaring dalam keadaan tak tenang and do something fruitful instead of lying for another 50 minutes pastu bangun jugak. Lol. And last but not least, aku rasa aku nak buat sleepover kat rumah orang kat Dunkirk the next time aku dengar orang gelak kat rumah ni. Boleh tak? Boleh tak? Please, please.

Okay, that's all for now. Maybe lepas ni boleh tidur kot. But before that, aku nak vacuum satu rumah so that diorang pulak yang terbangun. Okay, kidding. I'm not that evil. I hope you enjoy this funny post. Cause I was laughing the whole way. And I myself, need to be more cosiderate and think good of others...