How Macau Came To Be

My Portuguese lecturer received a letter from the University of Macau offering places for her students to study for a Portuguese language and culture course. (Macau was a former colony of Portugal.) The course itself was free, but we had to pay 2500 patacas for food and lodging at the university hostel. That was about RM1000. (RM1 = MOP$2.40) (USD$1 = RM3.30)

Initially, I was adamant about not going. I didn’t have the money for it – or so I thought. I needed to get a job after finishing my final exams. I could never leave home for so long; I’m not independent and I don’t know how to take care of myself. I’m not even that interested in Portuguese – it was a language I learnt for fun, I don’t need a certificate for that.

But after a while I thought about it. I’ve never had a proper holiday. This could be the cheapest holiday. Where can you get food and lodging for one month for just RM1000? Many friends are going – I’m not alone, they’ll take care of me. Once I start working, I could never have a chance for a holiday like this. And I do have money – I have a substantial amount of study loan left over which was sufficient to fund this trip.

And so with that, I filled in the form (in Portuguese, with the help of my teacher), bought the air ticket, procured the guide books and maps, packed the essentials needed for the trip, planned the many places I would visit with my friends (all in the space of 2 months), and went on a trip that changed me.