What is the better way to uncover the other seventy-one percent of the Earth’s surface might look like? “Self-contained underwater breathing apparatus,” also knowned as SCUBA, makes it possible to explore God’s mysterious and majestic creation. It is an astonishing and fascinating underwater sport where you are able to witness many plants, corals and beautiful aquatic creatures. Visit shipwrecks or just to experience the zero gravity underwater.

Regardless, when asked whether I would like to take Discovery Scuba Diving, my answer was a BIG NO. Lack of swimming skill was good enough reason to avoid from joining the scuba diving. I had never been so wrong until Ralf the scuba diving instructor at Madeira Divepoint betrayed my guarded thought by plainly pointing out that swimming was a secondary skill to initiate diving. It was hard to fathom and digests the idea but I was up to the challenge so I agreed to do it.

Forty minutes time occupied for watching video tape on scuba diving followed by face-to-face explanation by the instructor was a breathing room for me but not nearly adequate to suppress my anxiousness. A gas tank with several tubes hanging resembled octopus’ tentacles attached to a jacket called BCD or ‘buoyancy control device’ was enough to intimadate me. I also had to endure the stubborn wet suit proved to be easier said than to put it on.

During swimming pool session, my heart was beating at an express train speed. It was not an easy task but fortunately for me, Wilfred, the second intructor was there throughout the training. Swimming pool session ended after twenty minutes and without further delay we headed to the pier for open water session.

By the time we reached at the pier, my heart was pounding fast behind my chest and as loud as the lion dance drumming. I took time climbing down to the last ladder in backward position while Wilfred was holding my hands. Prescription mask checked, regulator in the mouth, fins were fit tightly, BCD was full inflated - all geared up. The BCD on my back as heavy as a building I thought could fall in the water immediately so I clutched at Wilfred’s hands so hard as if my life depended on him.

“Don’t worry, you can let go of my hands now.” It was easy for Wilfred. What if I sink, what if I drown, what if I turn upside down. I was extremely frighten my body went rigid even my mind ceased to give me instruction to jump. I shaked my head to signal that I was not ready but too late, Wilfred let go of my hands followed by my muffled scream so loud I bet people at next building could hear me. I plunged hard into the water at the same time struggling to remind myself not to panic and suddenly to my relieve I found myself floating. Duhh…

My mind was full loaded with fears all underwater instructions presented slightly more than one hour ago had gone to rest. I had to ponder the correct instructions and signals but the only thing resonated in my mind was never stop breathing. I could not have been more contented when Ralf jumped into the water, took my hand, deflated my BDC and kept reminding me to equalize. It happened so fast all of a sudden I was gliding smoothly underwater. It was terrifying at first but the warm welcome by some curious little fish swimming right in front of my mask put me at ease.

I started to get excited though my fears were not entirely quelled. It was not utterly effortless to become acclimated to being underwater so Ralf had to drag me all the time so I could witness the wonderful marine life. My concentration was centred at breathing and buoyancy that I was still oblivious of some colourful fish and sea urchins. The water was freezing cold at eighteen degree celcius, hence, we ascended after thirty-five minutes dive at eight meters depth.  

After the dive, I felt a tad lightheaded due to improper breathing underwater. There was no escaping from some risks but with proper instructions and trainings, scuba diving could make a fantastic underwater sport afterall.

It was a pleasant surprise to receive an email from Irene in early January 2013, telling me that she and her husband were coming for another two months holiday. This was the second time Irene and Herbert escaped from minus ten degree, cold and gloomy Germany to a welcoming 16-degree and blue-sky Madeira Island. It was definitely a good trade.

It had been exactly a week since their arrival when Irene finally available to meet up with me. The wet market became our meeting point. It was easy to find and made a good reference too.

From the distance I could see Irene walked towards me smiling and obviously I smiled back. After the customary greetings and huggings Irene shot me with her first question.

“How is your Portuguese language?”

I dreaded all along that she would ask me about that. Here I was hoping she might forget about it as I did not have much improvement. Truth be told, there was no improvement at all.

It was funny how things went. Irene and I met for the first time at the Academia de Linguas in January 2012. After a week through her holiday in Funchal, just by snapping fingers, Irene’s light bulb turned on and she decided to learn Portuguese language. Consequently, she visited the Academia where I was taking my Portuguese lessons. Though the lessons had started three weeks ago when she checked in, Irene was allowed to join the class on the 4th lesson.

There I was in the class with four other students who all of them were Russians and none spoke either English or Portuguese. The only form of communication we had established was smiling at each other, probably a little bit of sign language. It actually turned out that one of them could speak a little Portuguese. Conveniently, she became interpreter between the teacher and the rest of the Russians. While she was busy translating the lessons, both Irene and I felt like we were in Grade 1, teacher was busy with them and was not looking, we started to talk. Irene could speak English and soon enough we were animated and engaged. We ended up sitting at the same table and took every chance asking about each other.

Back to present. I was not in the mood to talk about my Portuguese language, so I just grinned and shrugged. Instead, I countered with my own question.

“So what do you want to do today?”

How easy to distract Irene, she got excited and explained our programme for the day. La Rosa, a yarn shop was on the top of Irene’s things-to-do list, hence, became our first destination. Irene’s favourite leisure time was knitting. She had done a lot of socks for her friends, her family members and for herself which she wore them especially during winter times.

Irene preferred pure wools and she wanted to buy four different colours of yarns to make socks for one of her workers back in Germany. “This is a good time to practice our Portuguese,” Irene said once we arrived at the shop. Just at a mere thought was enough to make Irene beamed with a smile from ear to ear. I always admired her courage to try speaking in Portuguese every time she got a chance. Irene was very friendly and the best thing I liked about her was that the word demure was not in her life dictionary. As it turned out, the lady at the shop could not understand what Irene was trying to explain. Thus, Irene ended up explaining in English.

By the time we were done at La Rosa, Irene gave a hungry signal by rubbing her stomach. We then headed to Biofarma, Irene’s favourite food store. It was a pharmacy shop which also made available with a small restaurant at the underground floor, serving only vegetarian food.

A piece of paper on the noticeboard showed that they served different menu every day. We made our way to the food counter and simultaneously gazing at the food wondering and guessing the type of dishes they served for that day. A woman came to assist us and we took our time asking her each and every dish on the tray. Engrossed in the question and answer session, we were oblivious to the other customers behind us who were waiting impatiently. Slightly more than five minutes later we finally ordered and sat down enjoying our lunch and chat.

That was not the first time I had been introduced to vegetarian food. Though the food was good but vegetarian food and I would never have a future together.

We then proceeded to take a walk in the garden. It was so convenient that on the opposite side of the garden there was a group of street musicians playing wonderful musics. No buzzing sound but rather the flipping of small wings that caught my attention. I pointed out to Irene of some wild bees, small and big hopping from flowers to flowers searching and collecting nectars.

Then it hit me, we finally established an interesting topic for the day: BEES.

I steered Irene to a bench nearby so we could comfortably enjoying the garden while Irene shared some interesting facts about bees. Not a surprise since Irene was once a bee keeper and back in Germany, Irene worked at the market selling bee products. I was not so ignorant about bee community but probably had all information mixed up and always had an impression that royal jelly was the product made of honey. The turth, royal jelly was a secretion from the worker bees themselves and it was the sole food for their queen and female bees. Have you ever thought that the queen bees were not born but produced? That was the fact. In the event of the existing queen bees were dying, the worker bees themselves would start to produce next queen bees by feeding the larvae with only royal jelly during their entire existence.

Irene and I made an effort to see each other once a week. Visiting La Rosa and lunch at Biofarma had become our weekly routine. We shared and exchanged quiet a number of information and I would say our English had improved tremendously by then.

On the last week of her holiday, Irene decided to visit the famous Botanical Garden Cable Car with me. The garden was situated on the hill and about three kilometres from Funchal city centre. Up to the hill we went by a seven-minute cable car ride while enjoying the stunning and panoramic view of Funchal town and surroundings.

We had spent an about thirty minutes at the garden then decided to make our way down. Not by the cable car but by foot. Irene wanted to prolong our last moment together. It was three kilometres down to the city centre. Though the road was not as steep but I anticipated my legs were going to be sore the next day. We stopped a few times to watch wild bees enjoying the nectars from the blooming flowers by the road side. Irene took the opportunity to explain the different types of bees we encountered and the different ways and habits of those bees searching for nectars.

We continued the journey downhill along the narrow and winding road. Then, from around the corner behind us we heard loud noice, scraping sound between wood and the apshalt accompanied by the histerical screaming and laughing. We sprinted to the side of the road and waited. Then it came and bypassed us, the famous tobbaggan sledges zipped down the hill at 48km per hour.

Half way down the hill Irene complained her calves were aching. But we did not stop until we reached the town and headed directly to another favourite restaurant of ours for refreshments and to stretch our legs muscles.

Two weeks had past since Irene was back in Germany that she had time to reply my email telling me the weather in Germany was five degrees during the day and minus two at night.

First of all, let me remind you that I am not a teacher of English, so this is just a suggestion. The idea came to me while I was watching this movie called Before Sunset. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XvFosXeqmDg

I believe some of you out there are so eager to speak English fluently (like me), you wish you can speak with someone 24/7. My former English teacher used to say “if you want to master English, marry a native speaker of English.” You wish if at all that will happen!

Thus, just like in the movie, what I am suggesting is that find a friend, make a day or half a day out, then talk anything whatsoever but of course must be in English.  You can either find one of your offline friends or you can ask any of your online friends who so happen live in your vicinity or others from the same country.

Just one day out might not be sufficient, so you could go out with one friend this week and another next week is up to you. You might even find more things to talk about in the second and third meetings. I am sure you will make a quick progression in speaking.

Just like the movie Before Sunset which actually the sequel of Before Sunrise.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9v6X-Dytlko

I don’t know about you but I even noticed Celine’s English has also improved in the sequel. J Celine is the leading female in these movies and she is French.

It’s funny how it happened. After writing about this, then it dawns upon me that I just had a friend from Germany who was having a long holiday here. We spent quite some times together at least once a week during her 2-month holiday. We went to the parks, talked over lunches, walked around a lot and talked a lot too. Now I realised that our English has improved a lot.

So give it a go.

It has been a while since I posted anything on my blog though I have two essays I have drafted and need editting. I promised myself to finish reading at least one book before I start writing again since I have ignored this activity almost two years now.

Continue writing! Continue writing! Conveniently, this thought persistently lingering in my mind. It did not go to rest until I stopped reading for a minute and started writing something.

“You have not read those books,” my husband frequently reminds me of some books on the shelf that I have yet to read. Either the books are intimidating due to their thickness or I am lacked of reading interest.

Last week on this day, I finally picked up the first Game of Thrones novels. As I mentioned about the thickness, this book contains of 780 pages and to date I managed to read exactly 300 pages. This is the first time I find myself reading a high and medieval fantasy novel. The idea of reading other than romance novels has not yet appealed me tremendously. The only thing that kept me continuing reading this book is the fact that I enjoyed watching the Game of Thrones TV series featured on HBO in 2011.

New genre novels prove to give me more unfamiliar vocabularies. And of course, the fastest way to find the meaning is by googling over the internet. Everytime I start to continue reading the Game of Thrones, I turn on my laptop and have Google Translate screen ready in front of me. Compared to flipping through the dictionary, Google Translate not just heighten my interest but also speeding up my reading.

In the past two years my interest has diverted to embroideries. With the hope it was a temporary thing, I left reading and indulged myself into crochet and various embroideries such as ribbons, threads and beads. Without a doubt I am passionate in things that caught my interest. While it was hard for me to put down the novel when I started to read, I felt the same way towards embroidery needles.

Regrettably, the stock of my ribbons and beads I brought from my own country has become scarced. I spent quite some times down town of this small island to look for some supplies but to no avail.

“What to do now?”

Suddenly to my disgust, I found myself screen attached to Bejeweled Twist. My fingers and arm became restless from clicking on the mouse trying to spin those diamonds as fast as I could. Leaving the game was not an option even after ‘game over’ a few times. It went on and one, I ended up playing for hours.

“You are so addicted to that game”, my husband said everytime he checked on me and found myself playing with that fanatical game. Conveniently, soon enough that statement gave me a negative notion. I stopped playing game and started to think of the next thing I could do.

While trying to find something beneficial to do, I stumbled upon English Club online. It was high time I started practicing my writing and now I found the courage to do it. Finally, I managed to add Writing into the list of my hobbies. What make this activity is more meaningful and motivated is that my husband approves it and gives me full support.

Just finished watching a movie called Margaret, or rather my husband watched it till the end. I could not have the patiance watching this movie. It can be a great film, but Anna Paquin has a way to curb my enthusiasm by yelling persistently in the entire movie.

Something that I will never approve or get used to when watching western movies is when the children are yelling at their mothers. Being an Asian and grew up in a conservative family, we were taught to respect the elders and not to raise our voice especially to parents.

Last night, I watched a comedy movie called Schizopolis. At the beginning of the movie, the main actor who was also the director of this movie came out on a mock stage and gave a little speech about this movie. As I recall he said something like “If you don’t understand this movie, it’s not our fault but yours. And you have to watch it again and again…” I did not give much attention to it since it was a comedy movie.

But, after watching it for a while, I started to get confused. How could you not when you hear a weird conversation like this:-

Mrs. Namelss Numberhead Man: Arsenal. Nose army.
Elmo Oxygen: Nose army. Beef diaper?
Mrs. Namelss Numberhead Man: Nomenclature.
Elmo Oxygen: Throbbing dust generation!
Mrs. Namelss Numberhead Man: Drum tissue outburst.
Elmo Oxygen: Jigsaw. Uh, fragment chief butter. King surgery mind?
Mrs. Namelss Numberhead Man: Bunny bucket.
Elmo Oxygen: Precision galley sponge.
Mrs. Namelss Numberhead Man: Smell sign.
 

At least, I could decipher this one:-

Fletcher Munson: [sunnily, on homecoming] Generic greeting!
Mrs. Munson: [warmly] Generic greeting returned!
Fletcher Munson: Imminent sustenance.
Mrs Munson: Overly dramatic statement regarding upcoming meal.
Fletcher Munson: Oooh! False reaction indicating hunger and excitement!

And this is a very funny quotation made by a minister at a funeral:-

[deadpan] Lester Richards is dead. And aren't you glad it wasn't you? Don't you wish you felt something? How many men here are attracted to Shelley, his lovely wife? She's a babe. And how many women here wish that their husbands would drop dead and leave them a big fat insurance policy? Yes, I thought so. Hell, it'll be years before you figure out what Lester's death really means. So let's forget the blah blah blah, and go have a drink. Amen.

It is one of the most popular high level walk on the Madeira Islands. Pico Ruivo is 1,861 meters high and that makes it the highest peak on the Island. It provides some of the most incredible views of the island and a variety of flora and fauna. However, the weather condition is unpredictable. It is best to check the weather condition before climbing. 

15 January 2012

So it was planned, we were going to climb the highest peak on the Madeira Islands today. The weather was good and I was thrilled. At 8.00 o’clock in the morning, my husband and I first headed to Santana by car. We were about to reach Santana border, the weather suddenly changed. It was no longer a bright sunny day when we had started. Grey cloud had made its appearance and blanketed the blue sky. My conscience told me we might not be able to make the climb today. Crossing our hearts, we proceeded to the meeting point where we met four other friends. All of us then decided to try our luck. It was another thirty minutes drive to Pico do Arieiro, where the route should start. Half way there, we were welcomed with fog that was soon getting thicker and thicker. We made it to Pico do Ariero, but the visibility was terrible and impossible to start walking. Hence, we headed home with a promise we would come back next time.

20 May 2012

It had been four months since our first attempt to climb the highest peak of Madeira Island, we decided to try again. It was in the middle of springs and the weather was incredible. I woke up in the morning with a bright sunny day and thought we might get a chance this time. We then drove all the way to Pico do Ariero but we could not believe our eyes once we got there. It was so foggy we could not even see where the route starts. Once again we had to leave without even having a glimpse of the peak.

24 Jun 2012

It was almost end of springs, the weather seemed hotter and brighter. We would not be satisfied until we did it, hence, just the two of us my husband and I decided to make another attempt. It took approximately one hour to get to Pico do Ariero from our house. And we liked to make an early climb, so we left home as early as 8 o’clock in the morning. After about thirty minutes drive, we saw two policemen were standing in the middle of the road waving at us to stop the car. The road in front of us was blocked and we could not drive through. My heart sank in despair, “what now… we are not going to make it again today?”

One of the policemen told us there was a bicycle race ahead, the road will be closed for another thirty minutes. Either we would wait until the road would be opened again or we would have to turn back. There was no way we would turn back, so we waited at one and only coffee shop nearby. There were a few other cars waiting to go on to the same road.

After almost an hour, the road was finally opened, all of us started to make a move and proceed with our journey.

I was getting more and more excited, we finally arrived at Pico do Ariero slightly after 11 o’clock. It was sunny and hot noon but we were happy that we were finally here and able to make the climb.

This is Pico do Areiro where we parked our car and your can see where the route starts the end of this car park.

The route was in good condition and easy to find directions.

With great relieved, we finally made it to the top.

We spent thirty minutes at the top taking pictures and had lunch that we had packed from home. Then we made our way back to Pico do Ariero by the same route. After a half day’s walking, the car park seemed interminable, but we anjoyed and cherished our memorable and fantastic levada walk. 

What to say about my writing skill?

The more I learn, the little I know. The more I uncover, the more remains hidden.

Despite of my learning English, reading habits, plus other extra efforts, I still can’t find myself to write creatively. Whenever I attempt to write, I always hit the wall and that put me to a stop. I am useless with compartmentalising. So confused as to how I should start and what to write first. Everything seems to come rushing into my head at the same time. Then all of a sudden all the idea vanished.  

I know! I know! I need practice. I never fail to remind myself. But I also never fail not to even start writing. Probably even my dear former boss was surprised that my writing skill was far behind my oral competence.

Inspired by romance novels and after seven years of reading experience, I finally made an attempt to write. This is just a glimpse of one and only short story I wrote three year ago. I did get my friend to read through and made some corrections.

“I was oblivious to anyone else in the classroom. Goosebumps covered my flawless chocolate skin. My fingers were numb, my hands were shaking, my teeth chattered, and it had nothing to do with the temperature in the room. The presence of my new teacher made warmth spread through my body. He is mine and I must have him, I thought. At least I think he is mine.

When he came to my table, his features became more visible. Warmth snuck up my face and I felt myself blush hard, I bet he would have noticed if he had not moved on to the next table.

Over the following weeks I found it very difficult to join in on the discussions. Twice a week for four months I was in his class. Each day I stole glances of his 5’9” tall, lean body. 

I am not one to sit and hope I get what I want; I started making plans and plotting my moves. I started coming to class a little late so he had to notice me as I made my way to my seat. He was not aware that I watched him like a tigress about to attack her victim, my tongue lolling out of my mouth – figuratively speaking. I managed to make up some questions every chance I got, simply to steal the opportunity to talk with him. I loved the way he treated us nicely, and he always smiled at us.”

I don't aim to become a write but I do wish I could write some more short stories.

Read newspapers. Read online news. Read short stories. Read articles. Read all kinds of sign boards. Read magazines, books and novels. Have you developed your reading habit yet?

Reading skill is essential. Reading is beneficial and feasible activities.

When I first started my secondary school, I used to borrow English story books from the library. On the way home, in the school bus, I took out and read it. As I recall, I was not really reading it, not to mention that I did not even understand it. However, it excited me to know my friends looking at me reading English book. It was also thrilling to own English books, even for a while.

Reading English novels was never enthusiast me. If truth be told, I was reluctant to even try it. I was more comfortable reading novels in my native language. I was discouraged by too many unfamiliar words in English novels. After five years in the comfort zone of reading Malay novels, I finally made an effort to change to English novel.

To encourage me reading English novel I had to find novel that highly interest me. It took me one hour after browsing through twelve shelves. I finally found one book that intrigued me. After reading the synopsis at the back page of the novel, I decided to buy it. Ended my searching, grabbed the book and paid at the counter. One novel was enough for a start.

Back home, I opened a Prologue page. How could I read it, too many unfamiliar words. But I was prepared. My one and only dictionary had become my loyal companion since then. Like a hospital I.V had been inserted into my skin. I carried it everywhere I go with my novel. Everytime I encoutered unfamiliar word, I would open the dictionary. It also seemed to me I had been reading two novels at the same time. Can you guess how many time I opened that dictionary by just reading one book. It amazed me that the dictionary was and is still intact. This had been going on for quite sometimes.

I collected as much as vocabulary I could and jotted down in my small note book. I often encountered same words. If I forget any of it, I would just open my note book. My efforts had been fruitful. At some point I had no longer in a dire need of the dictionary. Reading has become more and more interesting without having refered to dictionary often. 

English has always been my passion ever since I was a child. How was that possible? A mystery I could not fathom. None of my family member speaks English. Neither my friends. Not even my neighbours. Once, when I was about nine or ten years old, I tried to practice my English with a distance cousin. I uttered a few sentences that I picked up at school to her. Hopefully she would answer me back in English. Instead, she laughed at me.

Finally, I had the opportunity to practice my speaking at Secondary School. I only had chances to speak with English teachers. At that time, I was not yet reach my high level as far as speaking is concern. Probably I just had jinx in me. My peer students avoided me whenever I spoke in English to them. However, none of this had weakened my spirit to keep practicing my speaking.

When I was 19 years old, I finally spoke in English with one male friend. I vaguely wondered why the environment was dimmed, almost dark. Oh, it was at night and we were talking by the road side, under a dim street fluorescent lamp.  He asked me something, I answered him back. Both of us spoke fluently in English. Then suddenly I woke up, back to reality. It was only a dream. I tried very hard to remember any word we uttered in the conversation. None was verbalised.

The dream thrilled me. I was hoping it would happen again. Soon enough, God answered my wish. It happened again after that. It was during a visit to my sister’s staff quarters. She shared a very small room with three other roommates. I remembered sleeping on her double-decker bunk. It was around 5am, my sister tried to wake me up for breakfast. Without opening my eyes, I said something to her in English. I kept talking for a while until my sister could not hold her patience any longer. She started to shake my body. I finally opened my eyes with a sight of her puzzled face. She told me that I was talking English in my sleep. It was again gibberish, hence, she could not understand any of it.

I was so eager to speak English but had a very limited vocabulary. Neither friends who could speak English. However, my situations changed tremendously after I started my first job.

To my husband’s credit, I watch a lot of movies and documentaries mostly in English for the past 2 years. It has become our habit to watch 3 to 4 movies everyday. These 2 days we have been watching Granada Television’s 7 Up Series broadcasted by BBC. It has eight episodes spanning 49 years. It’s a very interesting documentary about the lives of 14 British children since 1964, when they were 7 years old. I am sure some of you are aware of this documentary.

The challenge of watching this documentary is the fact that it without subtitle. English is my second language is one thing, I have to listen to a deep British accent is another. Everytime we watch movies without subtitle we have to close all windows and curtains. Not a single noice is permissable otherise we lost what they are saying. Being a talkative person I am, I have to sit there quietly with my mouth zipped. If I have something to say or ask my husband will click the pause button and let me speak. When we finish with questioning and answering he will proceed with the play button again. He will even rewind it if necessary. I am still learning to listen and always will.

This topic seems easy but I am always speechless whenever people ask me to tell about myself. Too much information came rushing into my mind at once. I am not sure what exactly they want to know or which information should I tell them first. Thanks to Tara Benwell for outlining some ideas on this topic. To start practicing my writing, I wish to write at least 300 hundreds word a day. So, let’s give it a go.

When I was born my eldest sister named me Asnida Darwis after a famous female singer during her era. However, being a conservative person my mother did not like it because according to her the name was too long. They finally agreed only to one name, hence my name is Asnida. But all my friends and ex-colleagues know me as Asnida Darwis. I had worked for 20 years until Nov 2011. I had to quit my job because I have to come to Portugal with my husband. Here I am, a full time housewife.

I am the fourth from five female siblings. I do not have any brothers. When I was little I was a happy go lucky person. When I grew up, I became introvert. At least I think I am introvert. Some of my friends do not think so.

I always love English since I was little. But, none of my family members speak English. I did not learn speaking English until I was at secondary school. My English teachers were the only people I could practice English with. However, that did not diminish my spirit to learn more and more. Since then I never stop learning English.

I love and enjoy reading English novels. I have read approximately 200 novels for the past 10 years. I own most of the books. I like to re-read some of them but after I came to Portugal, I keep them at my parents’ house. It saddens me that I cannot take them with me but there is always a chance to buy new books.

Two years ago, I developed a new hobby that is a scuba diving. It was not really my heart’s desire to go for scuba diving. But my husband loves it and he needed a buddy. It was a nervewrecking experience at the beginning considered I could not swim properly. However, gradually I started to enjoying it.

My membership has just been approved this morning after impatiently waited since yesterday. Now, I am like a child with a new toy :-)

I am hyperventilating at the moment. Not from running but from overwhelmed that I am here and I can't wait to start practicing my writing. While browsing what I can do here, some members started to sent me messages and I am struggling to chat with a few people at the same time. The need to reply to all of them and the feeling to know more about this site make me think that I am in the situation about to game over.