Shock of the new

You know, I loved and appreciated my undergrad friends while I was an undergrad - but it is only upon entering grad school that I realized how intensely I could miss them. And I do; very much so. We had this "pre-sessional" thing at Chula, basically a three day workshop covering such topics as research writing and academic paper formats. Mandatory or I wouldn't have been caught dead at it. So, there I am with all my fellow English as an International Language masters candidates and also the Ph.D. people as well. Everyone was nice enough, but still, the first day, I felt like just sitting down and crying. I couldn't exactly put my finger on what it was the first day, but now that it's over, I think I've got it.
Everyone comes from an almost purely Thai educational background. I'm pretty much the only westernized one there. Consequently, this means that I look at things differently - not just academically speaking, but socially, I also act slightly different. This doesn't mean I have habits that wouldn't shock/confuse say, an American, but I'm different enough for me to feel it. Case in point, we had one professor come in and everyone else loved her. I respected her as an instructor, but her teaching style ("Shut up, I'm right") really rubbed me the wrong way. Socially speaking, everyone is totally nice, but see, Thais interact differently than the people I've hung out with. For instance, they think that it's friendly to tease you - even if you've only known each other a few days. Like, this one guy made a joke about how I only smile when I don't know what's going on - and that I smile a lot. I would have been okay with this if it had come from one of my friends (most likely Kwan, June, Smithi or Miko; man, I have mean friends :P), but coming from an almost-stranger, I felt rather offended. So I smiled, which provoked gales of laughter all around.
And finally, I really do miss my friends. I miss the comfort and familiarity and ease of belonging to a group. I miss Kwan's laughter, Smithi's enigmatic smile, Miko's look of incredulity, June's biting sarcasm, Marc's patience and Bim's counsel. I just miss them so badly and yes, I know, I know, I'm grown up, I should get over it...but I can complain a little, can't I? :lol: I suppose it's partly nerves too. I'll try my best, but I still miss my undergrad days. Just wanted anyone reading this to remember to:

Final thought: Appreciate what you have before you don't have it anymore.