It's definitely an understatement for me to say that i'm feeling rather uneasy right now.
A good kind of unease though - unease at seemingly having little, if any schoolwork to get done at this point in time.
Usually monday evenings at this time are marked by my frantic scrambling (ok i paint a way to hardworking picture of myself there but you get my drift) to get work done in the library, where i usually stay till at least past midnight.
But today, i'm happily seated here in my room typing this at my own leisure, and am probably gonna have an early night as well...
Well, the past few days have been a good time of self-reflection for me, in large part i guess thanks to the lesser-than-average amount of work that i had to do over the weekend - was able to spend time meeting with and talking to people, talking to God, being still, that sorta thing - so the past weekend was definitely one of the most refreshing for me so far - and at least in terms of spiritual refreshment far better than the two previous and otherwise refreshing weekends that i spent out of town. Next week promises to be good too methinks, since many others will either be out of town camping near Boone or going for IV Chapter retreat, while i'll not be able to go for either cos i've a choir concert on Friday night at Fayetteville and so i won't be around the hill on Friday afternoon, which is when both trips leave... While i'd really love to go for either trip (definitely more so than having to perform), at least things will be quieter around here over the rest of the weekend while so many people are gone - which i'm sure could go a long way...
Also managed to get a good long run on Sunday morning - the first in many weeks - and the weather was nice and cool too - that was nice - when i get back to S'pore the first run i go for will definitely be a very painful and dehydrating affair when compared to this - here i feel like i could carry on running for hours on end...
One thing that's been on my mind quite a bit is Halloween. It's a really big thingy here (Franklin Street, where my hall is on, closes every Halloween night for festivities - apparently between 50000 to 70000 people from all over the state will descend upon the hill, and Franklin Street in particular, and party the night away) but i'm far from big about it - apart from the more typically matt reason that i'm too lazy to bother to dress up as anything apart from a study abroad student at UNC from S'pore (i.e. as myself), there's also my own reservations that i have regarding the dubious origins and the poor basis (in my opinion) for celebrating such a holiday in the first place - especially with the roots in paganism and all that (this probably an inheritance from my father). Yeah as much as the holiday can be rationalized in such a way that there really is no issue with Christians celebrating it (and don't get me wrong - personally i see no problem in this rationalization), but on a personal level it just doesn't sit well with me... Yeah really appreciate the advice that some of y'all have given me regarding this - one the one hand i feel like i'm making a mountain out of a molehill but on the other, don't think that i can just brush aside the whole issue like that...
Well, whatever it is, one thing is clear to me - whatever candy comes my way this Halloween will definitely be welcome with open mouth...
Tuesday, October 31, 2006
Sunday, October 29, 2006
Groundhog Hour
I was sorta bummed about the fact that i've yet to finish my work yet (though i'm getting close!) and then i got an IM from Brooke, my ride to church tomorrow reminding me that daylight saving time expires about two hours from now, which basically means that i've an extra hour of sleep tonight and less worries about waking up early enough tomorrow to avoid a rush of activity...
Now to wait for the cheap thrill of setting my watch back an hour and auto-repeat one hour of my life...
One tiny thing though is that i'm no longer exactly twelve hours behind S'pore which means that calculating timing is now gonna be a little tricky, with my bad math and all...
So for the tentatively scheduled skype teleconference that i have with you guys who know who you are, do remind me again when exactly we're supposed to be online (and preferably subtract thirteen hours from your time and let me know when's that) cos chances are left to my own devices i may screw something up...
It's not for a few days yet, but i saw some pretty interesting Halloween costumes on Franklin Street today - one really smart one that i saw was two ladies dressed entirely in white with a big yellow circle on each of their tops, and carrying red pitchforks, and also adorned with pointed ears and a long pointy tail - both red as well. They were Deviled Eggs - that really cracked me up - pun fully intended =p...
Surprise surprise, we lost football again... Sigh...
Now to wait for the cheap thrill of setting my watch back an hour and auto-repeat one hour of my life...
One tiny thing though is that i'm no longer exactly twelve hours behind S'pore which means that calculating timing is now gonna be a little tricky, with my bad math and all...
So for the tentatively scheduled skype teleconference that i have with you guys who know who you are, do remind me again when exactly we're supposed to be online (and preferably subtract thirteen hours from your time and let me know when's that) cos chances are left to my own devices i may screw something up...
It's not for a few days yet, but i saw some pretty interesting Halloween costumes on Franklin Street today - one really smart one that i saw was two ladies dressed entirely in white with a big yellow circle on each of their tops, and carrying red pitchforks, and also adorned with pointed ears and a long pointy tail - both red as well. They were Deviled Eggs - that really cracked me up - pun fully intended =p...
Surprise surprise, we lost football again... Sigh...
Saturday, October 28, 2006
rumble rumble rumble...
Yeah well this week has gone by just like that *insert sound of snapping fingers here* - it's hard to believe that just a week ago i was on fall break hundreds of miles away and now the first Saturday i've spent on the Hill in like three weeks has nearly arrived...
I've definitely to give thanks for midterms - as in the process of doing them and the results, not the midterms per se - had two over the past week, they were not like done super well, and in fact i don't think that i'll do too well for either of them, but i guess considering my haphazard way of preparing for them i think that they turned out ok... Also have gotten back the results of the two other midterms that i was stressing over in the few days of school left before leaving for Chicago - definitely a very humbling result for one of them - though i didn't read as much of the required readings as i was supposed to, and to an extent methinks was really just winging it, managed to get a good grade; and for the other one, well it was divided into three parts and i got a C- for one of them (my first grade that low in my living memory - well - if you don't count Chinese haha), but got a B and an A for the other two parts so thankfully it was averaged out to a B, which is enough for me... The whole pass/fail thingy also has made me decide to not do the optional paper for the course which would give me extra credit - cos that seriously would take up way too much more time than i'm willing to give...
For choir things are getting somewhat better too - some might know that i've not had the ball of a time that i thought i'd have in choir here so far, but well, to cut a long story short, i'm definitely enjoying it much more now, with the songs continually running through my head, so that's good i suppose. Two grouses that i have though: one of the concerts that we have is on the night of the midterm congressional elections here, and especially as i'm doing a course on intro to American government here - i've gotten quite excited about it and wanted to be in front of the telly to get the latest results live - much like what i did for the eventual anti-climax that was the S'pore general elections this May. The other is that i had to fork out nearly US$100 on a full tux for concert gear, though i suppose should i ever get to attend some swanky function in the future that might come in quite handy...
And this weekend's really good - think that this is the first possible week so far when i may be able to complete all my work before Sunday - so am definitely looking forward to that - with the amount of junk i've been eating here recently, i think i'll try to run and/or swim then - still want to experience the novelty/cheap thrill (depending on how you look at it) of swimming in an indoor heated pool...
Aw shucks am feeling hungry again...
I've definitely to give thanks for midterms - as in the process of doing them and the results, not the midterms per se - had two over the past week, they were not like done super well, and in fact i don't think that i'll do too well for either of them, but i guess considering my haphazard way of preparing for them i think that they turned out ok... Also have gotten back the results of the two other midterms that i was stressing over in the few days of school left before leaving for Chicago - definitely a very humbling result for one of them - though i didn't read as much of the required readings as i was supposed to, and to an extent methinks was really just winging it, managed to get a good grade; and for the other one, well it was divided into three parts and i got a C- for one of them (my first grade that low in my living memory - well - if you don't count Chinese haha), but got a B and an A for the other two parts so thankfully it was averaged out to a B, which is enough for me... The whole pass/fail thingy also has made me decide to not do the optional paper for the course which would give me extra credit - cos that seriously would take up way too much more time than i'm willing to give...
For choir things are getting somewhat better too - some might know that i've not had the ball of a time that i thought i'd have in choir here so far, but well, to cut a long story short, i'm definitely enjoying it much more now, with the songs continually running through my head, so that's good i suppose. Two grouses that i have though: one of the concerts that we have is on the night of the midterm congressional elections here, and especially as i'm doing a course on intro to American government here - i've gotten quite excited about it and wanted to be in front of the telly to get the latest results live - much like what i did for the eventual anti-climax that was the S'pore general elections this May. The other is that i had to fork out nearly US$100 on a full tux for concert gear, though i suppose should i ever get to attend some swanky function in the future that might come in quite handy...
And this weekend's really good - think that this is the first possible week so far when i may be able to complete all my work before Sunday - so am definitely looking forward to that - with the amount of junk i've been eating here recently, i think i'll try to run and/or swim then - still want to experience the novelty/cheap thrill (depending on how you look at it) of swimming in an indoor heated pool...
Aw shucks am feeling hungry again...
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
Brain freeze on the floor
My incredibly toot self was in its full element today - i thought that missing getting on the train to Wisconsin even though it practically pulled up at my feet was bad enough, but then this morning when i got to the library i realized that i had left my stationery in my room. I was highly annoyed with myself, so i decided to venture back out into the 40-degree weather (for conversion to celcius just subtract 32 and divide by 9 and multiply by 5) back to the room (albeit only less than five minutes away) to get the stuff. I got back to the room and even saw my pencil case on the desk. But somehow, i left the room again without taking my pencil case, again only realizing it upon reaching school again. Decided to just buy a pen from the student store instead - good thing they carry Pilot G-2s since that's the only type i use...
Yuppers, well after the fall break, it's officially back to school again - of course i still contend that the break was too short, but well, i shouldn't complain... At least i'm less occupied than i was last week at this time - only have TWO midterms for this week, as opposed to three heh...
I'm really digging the cold weather - which apparently is unseasonably cold for this time of year - though my contention that snow seems to be averse to falling wherever i am has only grown stronger since coming back from Chicago. Already, the only time i've experienced snowfall (as i think many of you can attest to me lamenting over) was in 1999 in Niagara Falls, NY; though it was only flurries, and for so brief a duration that it merely looked that a slurpee machine had gone bezerk and covered the sidewalk with a thin white coating of slush. This time, there was some snowfall in Chicago in the week before i got there, and it was forecasted again for Sunday, which is when i flew off. But of course, it was forecasted for Sunday afternoon/evening, while i flew off around noon time... Then again, if there was a snowstorm i'd probably be complaining about the freezing temperature - guess i'm not one to be easily satisfied. In any case, i'm sure some snow is bound to fall somewhere where i am before i fly back...
Will get down to posting rest of pics from D.C. and those from Chicago very shortly, so just watch that space =======>
FYI, have also finally gotten down to replacing the wonky tagboard with a new one...
Yuppers, well after the fall break, it's officially back to school again - of course i still contend that the break was too short, but well, i shouldn't complain... At least i'm less occupied than i was last week at this time - only have TWO midterms for this week, as opposed to three heh...
I'm really digging the cold weather - which apparently is unseasonably cold for this time of year - though my contention that snow seems to be averse to falling wherever i am has only grown stronger since coming back from Chicago. Already, the only time i've experienced snowfall (as i think many of you can attest to me lamenting over) was in 1999 in Niagara Falls, NY; though it was only flurries, and for so brief a duration that it merely looked that a slurpee machine had gone bezerk and covered the sidewalk with a thin white coating of slush. This time, there was some snowfall in Chicago in the week before i got there, and it was forecasted again for Sunday, which is when i flew off. But of course, it was forecasted for Sunday afternoon/evening, while i flew off around noon time... Then again, if there was a snowstorm i'd probably be complaining about the freezing temperature - guess i'm not one to be easily satisfied. In any case, i'm sure some snow is bound to fall somewhere where i am before i fly back...
Will get down to posting rest of pics from D.C. and those from Chicago very shortly, so just watch that space =======>
FYI, have also finally gotten down to replacing the wonky tagboard with a new one...
Sunday, October 22, 2006
"Hello Wisconsin!"? Nah...
Ok i know that this is like totally random but this had totally slipped my mind earlier and methinks that it bears mentioning: last Monday during my American govt lecture was the first time ever in my living memory that i fell asleep during class - i had little sleep and little rest over the long weekend that i had in D.C., and had tons of work to do overnight between the Sunday when i got back on the hill and the Monday when i had a midterm to do and other stuffies as well - so by the time that i had to go for my 10am lecture, i was contemplating whether to grab a cuppa - but i eventually decided against it - bad choice since i was nodding off towards the end - i must have been really overworked i guess (though i wouldn't count out that the prof was explaining something by means of using one of those math function thingies that i vaguely remember learning about in maths C in J1 before i came to my senses and finally dropped the @#$% subject for good...)
The next day managed to get some relaxation by going for an NBA pre-season game, held coveniently at the Dean Dome right on campus - think it was billed as a homecoming of sorts since some players on both sides (Bobcats v. Wizards) were on the UNC team at one point in time or other... Anyhoos, it was really fun to watch, more fun methinks than football, probably cos at least i can better understand what goes on during a basketball game... For the record the Bobcats lost 84 to 100.
In the end i didn't go to Wisconsin cos the train scheduling was extremely unfavorable - and there was (and is) still much to do in Chicago itself... Did go south to Gary, Indiana though - again just for the fun of it - another very eye-opener of a place i must say... Anyways after the end of my three full days here i'm already compiling a list of what i want to see, which i missed out the last time; on my next visit here, whenever that may be, if ever...
By the way, it's a little worrying that my laptop is beginning to mimic the sound of a small propeller plane taking off from the runway from time to time...
The next day managed to get some relaxation by going for an NBA pre-season game, held coveniently at the Dean Dome right on campus - think it was billed as a homecoming of sorts since some players on both sides (Bobcats v. Wizards) were on the UNC team at one point in time or other... Anyhoos, it was really fun to watch, more fun methinks than football, probably cos at least i can better understand what goes on during a basketball game... For the record the Bobcats lost 84 to 100.
In the end i didn't go to Wisconsin cos the train scheduling was extremely unfavorable - and there was (and is) still much to do in Chicago itself... Did go south to Gary, Indiana though - again just for the fun of it - another very eye-opener of a place i must say... Anyways after the end of my three full days here i'm already compiling a list of what i want to see, which i missed out the last time; on my next visit here, whenever that may be, if ever...
By the way, it's a little worrying that my laptop is beginning to mimic the sound of a small propeller plane taking off from the runway from time to time...
Saturday, October 21, 2006
Blow wind blow...
Realized that i haven't really reflected much upon the Washington D.C. trip and now there's another trip to talk about, but anyhoos...
Well, Chicago so far has not disappointed - there's really so much to see here, the three full days i have here hardly begin to do the city justice - today i had to navigate my way around the city by myself using the train and i didn't get lost and managed to find my way around pretty good.
Of course there were the little blurness-caused hiccups here and there. Dan, originally i was gonna take another train up north to visit your home state (have been catching lots of That 70's Show reruns here so there's been a lot of Wisconsin talk), but when i got on the platform and the corrrect train came, i dunno why but suddenly i the thought occured to me that it was the wrong train, and that the right one would arrive in three minutes, so i didn't get on it, and it was gone in twenty seconds. Of course, the next train to Wisconsin left in three hours, so i changed my plans and decided to go downtown instead.
Was practically walking all the way once i arrived downtown - i must have walked at least ten miles methinks (and now my feet are complaining badly) but at least i saw most of what was on my agenda, and i didn't stumble into some bad neighborhood and get mugged. Chicago is a really nice city (at least the parts i went to are - there are several neighborhoods that i'd never want to step foot in) to visit - and it looks as though tomorrow i'll be wearing my feet out again...
So far of the many pieces of work that i've to do i've only managed to read five pages of one book - go figure...
Pictures to be uploaded there =======> really soon...
Well, Chicago so far has not disappointed - there's really so much to see here, the three full days i have here hardly begin to do the city justice - today i had to navigate my way around the city by myself using the train and i didn't get lost and managed to find my way around pretty good.
Of course there were the little blurness-caused hiccups here and there. Dan, originally i was gonna take another train up north to visit your home state (have been catching lots of That 70's Show reruns here so there's been a lot of Wisconsin talk), but when i got on the platform and the corrrect train came, i dunno why but suddenly i the thought occured to me that it was the wrong train, and that the right one would arrive in three minutes, so i didn't get on it, and it was gone in twenty seconds. Of course, the next train to Wisconsin left in three hours, so i changed my plans and decided to go downtown instead.
Was practically walking all the way once i arrived downtown - i must have walked at least ten miles methinks (and now my feet are complaining badly) but at least i saw most of what was on my agenda, and i didn't stumble into some bad neighborhood and get mugged. Chicago is a really nice city (at least the parts i went to are - there are several neighborhoods that i'd never want to step foot in) to visit - and it looks as though tomorrow i'll be wearing my feet out again...
So far of the many pieces of work that i've to do i've only managed to read five pages of one book - go figure...
Pictures to be uploaded there =======> really soon...
Thursday, October 19, 2006
Come on babe, we're gonna paint the town...
After two and a half days of intense school stuff once i came back from D.C. i'm off again, this time to the Windy City for fall break...
And once again, accompanying me on my journey is more school stuff, which i can never seem to shale off, for next week...
That being said, i'm really glad for the break whatever the case - even though i'm not quite free from the shackles of school...
One freaky thing is that on the flight back from D.C. on Sunday, i realized that i get a cheap thrill from studying on a plane (hey that's S.O.A.P. - just like Snakes on a Plane!), so i'll probably be doing a bit of that on this trip too...
Yuppers, so that's all from me for now - promise to post the rest of my D.C. pics at the next opportune moment, and to update regarding fall break too, provided i can get online while i'm there...
(And by the way, i've not gotten all looney on ya - the above is the first line of "All That Jazz" from the eponymous musical...)
And once again, accompanying me on my journey is more school stuff, which i can never seem to shale off, for next week...
That being said, i'm really glad for the break whatever the case - even though i'm not quite free from the shackles of school...
One freaky thing is that on the flight back from D.C. on Sunday, i realized that i get a cheap thrill from studying on a plane (hey that's S.O.A.P. - just like Snakes on a Plane!), so i'll probably be doing a bit of that on this trip too...
Yuppers, so that's all from me for now - promise to post the rest of my D.C. pics at the next opportune moment, and to update regarding fall break too, provided i can get online while i'm there...
(And by the way, i've not gotten all looney on ya - the above is the first line of "All That Jazz" from the eponymous musical...)
Sunday, October 15, 2006
One, Two, Three
Firstly, i dunno whassup with the tagboard - and i dunno if you're wondering whassup with the tagboard too or you're wondering whassup with me whassup-ing about the tagboard since your view of the tagboard sees no reason to be whassup-ing about it or you just heck care whassup with the tagboard in the first place; but anyways it's a super-peripheral issue at best so i shall leave my whassup-ing at that...
Secondly, the past few days have been very relaxing and enjoyable for me - to spend time with relatives and to see places and just to chill out - i've not actually entered D.C. proper yet up till this time (save for a short and uneventful stint on the metro on the way home from the airport, but that was all underground so i didn't really see anything), but anyways sightseeing wasn't my primary motive in coming here, especially since i've been here before. I have been to the mall (a shopping mall, not the National Mall) however, as well as to Baltimore today to go to the Baltimore National Aquarium (kinky url btw), which was an added bonus; and tomorrow before i fly back to the terrors of school i'll be checking out a Smithsonian or two as well as briefly meeting another cousin of mine who's visiting as well but is only due in tomorrow (Sunday) noontime, mere hours before i leave; so i'm very satisfied as it is...
Thirdly i'm totally bummed about the work and midterms that await me upon my return - i've barely done anything for my twin midterms for the same course on Monday and Wednesday, and my take-home midterm due on Tuesday is still in the stage of initial conceptualization. On top of that, i only remembered once i got here that a written response to two chapters + epilogue of that gripping page-turner of a book on American tax reform is due on Monday morning - and i'm helpless to do any of it cos i don't have the book with me now so i can only start reading the required chapters when i get back to Chapel Hill tomorrow night; and i also stupidly forgot to bring some of the other books/notes that i would need to refer to for the take-home midterm so there's no way i can complete it before i fly back (though realistically speaking, knowing my work ethic there would have been no way i'd complete it even if i had everything with me) Meanwhile though, the joyful refrain of pass/fail is continually ringing on my head, though that's juxtaposed against the melancholy dirge of a consciousness to put in effort no matter what...
Friday, October 13, 2006
No, not the salad place...
Finally am here in Waldorf, MD; in the metropolitan D.C. area. Am staying with one of my Filipino cousins and the family - including their two children, whom technically i am the uncle of, even though they're like 16 and 14 years old... Freaky...
Anyhoos, today was a very fulfilling day, in the sense that two things on my to-do list have finally been struck of, one being (on Sida's behest) to eat a Sutton's burger (which i did for lunch and had no regrets whatsoever about doing - in fact i'll definitely try to find more opportunities to eat there, in spite of the inconvenient hours...), and the other being to take a plane ride by myself (which i did between RDU and here, even though i suppose to get a fuller experience i should also make my own way to and from the airport; which i have no clue as to how to do so).
Additionally, a little bonus came my way in my having an A&W Rootbeer Float - my first this millennium i reckon - while waiting to board the plane at RDU - and since the only A&W that i know of here is in RDU, that provides the perfect value-adding device to any trip taken in and out of there - i shal bear that in mind for next week...
At RDU i stopped at one of the shops to buy some food as gifts, and it so happened that the lady at the cashier was a Filipino - somehow i can often tell who are my kababayan (fellow countrypeople) - and apparently so can she, since she asked me if i was Filipino when i was paying for the stuff. I tried to reply in Tagalog that my mother is Filipino but instead it came out as "nanay mo..." which means "your mother" instead - so i just gave up and conceded that i can't speak the language... Ah well...
It's nice to see my relatives after so long - the last time was 1997 in the Phil - my niece and nephew (gosh is that creepy or what?) look totally different from when i last saw them... Think this weekend will be a very enjoyable one...
The only dampener on the mood (and what experience would be complete without one of those?) is of course the four books and many other notes that i've to consult while i'm here in preperation for my three midterms on three successive days next week. One is a take-home paper with the question only just released - looks like i'll be attempting it while i'm here - while the other two require the reading and reviewing of four books plus lots of notes so naturally i'm choosing to put them out of my mind for as long as possible, though i don't envision this escapist solution as being very beneficial in the long run...
Anyhoos, today was a very fulfilling day, in the sense that two things on my to-do list have finally been struck of, one being (on Sida's behest) to eat a Sutton's burger (which i did for lunch and had no regrets whatsoever about doing - in fact i'll definitely try to find more opportunities to eat there, in spite of the inconvenient hours...), and the other being to take a plane ride by myself (which i did between RDU and here, even though i suppose to get a fuller experience i should also make my own way to and from the airport; which i have no clue as to how to do so).
Additionally, a little bonus came my way in my having an A&W Rootbeer Float - my first this millennium i reckon - while waiting to board the plane at RDU - and since the only A&W that i know of here is in RDU, that provides the perfect value-adding device to any trip taken in and out of there - i shal bear that in mind for next week...
At RDU i stopped at one of the shops to buy some food as gifts, and it so happened that the lady at the cashier was a Filipino - somehow i can often tell who are my kababayan (fellow countrypeople) - and apparently so can she, since she asked me if i was Filipino when i was paying for the stuff. I tried to reply in Tagalog that my mother is Filipino but instead it came out as "nanay mo..." which means "your mother" instead - so i just gave up and conceded that i can't speak the language... Ah well...
It's nice to see my relatives after so long - the last time was 1997 in the Phil - my niece and nephew (gosh is that creepy or what?) look totally different from when i last saw them... Think this weekend will be a very enjoyable one...
The only dampener on the mood (and what experience would be complete without one of those?) is of course the four books and many other notes that i've to consult while i'm here in preperation for my three midterms on three successive days next week. One is a take-home paper with the question only just released - looks like i'll be attempting it while i'm here - while the other two require the reading and reviewing of four books plus lots of notes so naturally i'm choosing to put them out of my mind for as long as possible, though i don't envision this escapist solution as being very beneficial in the long run...
Wednesday, October 11, 2006
Wish i could be here for another 525600 minutes...
...cos then i'd still be around to watch this:
it's showing here (yes, on campus - the venue, Memorial Hall, is all of three minutes' walk from my room) for two days, and only 25 days (which is in fact only 36000 minutes) after i fly off. Student tickets (which already have been sold out, by the way) cost all of 10 USD, which, if i remember correctly, is probably about less than 20% of what i paid for my ticket when i watched it at the Kallang Theatre (and the venue here on campus is far better, imho)
I'm not gonna pay,
I'm not gonna pay,
I'm not gonna pay,
for next year's Rent...
It suddenly hit me today that relaxation will have to wait when i'm in the D.C. area to visit relatives over this weekend since i've three midterms on three successive days once i get back - kinda like a final fling before fall break... So looks like the books will have to accompany me after all... *bleah*
it's showing here (yes, on campus - the venue, Memorial Hall, is all of three minutes' walk from my room) for two days, and only 25 days (which is in fact only 36000 minutes) after i fly off. Student tickets (which already have been sold out, by the way) cost all of 10 USD, which, if i remember correctly, is probably about less than 20% of what i paid for my ticket when i watched it at the Kallang Theatre (and the venue here on campus is far better, imho)
I'm not gonna pay,
I'm not gonna pay,
I'm not gonna pay,
for next year's Rent...
It suddenly hit me today that relaxation will have to wait when i'm in the D.C. area to visit relatives over this weekend since i've three midterms on three successive days once i get back - kinda like a final fling before fall break... So looks like the books will have to accompany me after all... *bleah*
Tuesday, October 10, 2006
Breaking the fourth...
Gosh these i-haven't-blogged-for-so-long-so-don't-mind-me-while-i-recall-all-that's-gone-on-since-goodness-knows-when entries seem to be becoming the norm with me...
Well the reason behind this is of course work. This past weekend has been just absolutely packed with readings and written responses to them. And furthermore, unlike how things tend to go back home (where i wholly deserve my plight of desperately seeking to complete my work on Sunday night because i would ignore it all the way up till that point), i actually was, by God's grace, granted the discipline to spread out my workload such that i was already started on today's work last Tuesday, which gave me almost a week's headstart. The sheer volume of the work meant however that i still ended up slaving away till the wee hours of Monday morning (i.e. this morning) finishing up my work. In fact, let me take that back, i even was slaving away on a piece of written work mere minutes before the class where i was supposed to hand it in started - such was the extent of the work that i had... I've never had the whites of my eyes continually bloodshot for so many days in succession before - kinda looked as if i was using... Yup so in case anyone was wondering why i've been relatively quiet as of late - it's cos of work... So if you've not received an email reply or anything like that, rest assured you'll hear from me shortly...
It's gotten a little frustrating cos i've really been trying to observe the Sabbath as much as possible while i'm here, but inevitably although i try hard to get everything done by Saturday the workload is always too great. This past Sunday because i'd woken up extra early (3am) to do work, i was really drained during service, and when i got back, i was confronted with even more work to do...
Anyways, this week's work is by and large behind me, as the whole chunk of it was due today. As a result, i'm already in a bit of a relaxed mood, cos this weekend i'm flying off on a pretty much last-minute trip to the D.C. area to visit my relatives and do whatever sightseeing that i can get done. At least i've been there before so i won't be like in a rush to see everything... And in the process i'll be - *gasp* - skipping classes for the first time ever since i've entered university. But anyways, we're all allowed a quota of 2-3 unused absences (isn't that just like the most wonderful thing? =p), and i've not made use of a single one of them as of yet so i'm not about to feel guilty about it...
And there really is so much stuff to do here, and not enough time to do it. For example this upcoming weekend since i'll be in D.C. i'll have to give the North Carolina State Fair a miss - and with it a chance to see Chris Tomlin live in concert for free, and be reminded of Ade Fam when he sings How Great is our God... And my places-to-visit-while-i'm-still-here list is getting bigger and bigger, rather than having me check off some places week by week...
Heard that the haze has gotten really bad over there... Well, over here, we had some hazardous chemicals plant explode around twenty miles or so due east from here in Apex, which released chlorine gas into the atmosphere and caused almost the entire town of 20000 or so people to be evacuated. It had no effect on us over here though...
A funny thing happened in class today - i was doing a class presentation for some readings when i struggled to find a word to describe a certain lack of organization. To my horror, the only word i could come up with was "luan(4)". So i think i gave the impression that English actually is my second language cos i was like, "hmm i don't know how to say the word in English... oh nevermind..." But then i said "luan(4)" just for good measure and apparently that was funny enough to warrant some laughter from the rest of the class - don't tell me that my Chinese pronunciation sounds funny even to them...
Ade, unfortunately this is the closest you'll get to having a pie sent back from here...
Well the reason behind this is of course work. This past weekend has been just absolutely packed with readings and written responses to them. And furthermore, unlike how things tend to go back home (where i wholly deserve my plight of desperately seeking to complete my work on Sunday night because i would ignore it all the way up till that point), i actually was, by God's grace, granted the discipline to spread out my workload such that i was already started on today's work last Tuesday, which gave me almost a week's headstart. The sheer volume of the work meant however that i still ended up slaving away till the wee hours of Monday morning (i.e. this morning) finishing up my work. In fact, let me take that back, i even was slaving away on a piece of written work mere minutes before the class where i was supposed to hand it in started - such was the extent of the work that i had... I've never had the whites of my eyes continually bloodshot for so many days in succession before - kinda looked as if i was using... Yup so in case anyone was wondering why i've been relatively quiet as of late - it's cos of work... So if you've not received an email reply or anything like that, rest assured you'll hear from me shortly...
It's gotten a little frustrating cos i've really been trying to observe the Sabbath as much as possible while i'm here, but inevitably although i try hard to get everything done by Saturday the workload is always too great. This past Sunday because i'd woken up extra early (3am) to do work, i was really drained during service, and when i got back, i was confronted with even more work to do...
Anyways, this week's work is by and large behind me, as the whole chunk of it was due today. As a result, i'm already in a bit of a relaxed mood, cos this weekend i'm flying off on a pretty much last-minute trip to the D.C. area to visit my relatives and do whatever sightseeing that i can get done. At least i've been there before so i won't be like in a rush to see everything... And in the process i'll be - *gasp* - skipping classes for the first time ever since i've entered university. But anyways, we're all allowed a quota of 2-3 unused absences (isn't that just like the most wonderful thing? =p), and i've not made use of a single one of them as of yet so i'm not about to feel guilty about it...
And there really is so much stuff to do here, and not enough time to do it. For example this upcoming weekend since i'll be in D.C. i'll have to give the North Carolina State Fair a miss - and with it a chance to see Chris Tomlin live in concert for free, and be reminded of Ade Fam when he sings How Great is our God... And my places-to-visit-while-i'm-still-here list is getting bigger and bigger, rather than having me check off some places week by week...
Heard that the haze has gotten really bad over there... Well, over here, we had some hazardous chemicals plant explode around twenty miles or so due east from here in Apex, which released chlorine gas into the atmosphere and caused almost the entire town of 20000 or so people to be evacuated. It had no effect on us over here though...
A funny thing happened in class today - i was doing a class presentation for some readings when i struggled to find a word to describe a certain lack of organization. To my horror, the only word i could come up with was "luan(4)". So i think i gave the impression that English actually is my second language cos i was like, "hmm i don't know how to say the word in English... oh nevermind..." But then i said "luan(4)" just for good measure and apparently that was funny enough to warrant some laughter from the rest of the class - don't tell me that my Chinese pronunciation sounds funny even to them...
Ade, unfortunately this is the closest you'll get to having a pie sent back from here... Tuesday, October 03, 2006
Give and take...
Ok once again i've a backlog of things that i want to talk about over here, thanks to the need to clear work first, so humor (American spelling cos am in America) me here while i go about the process of trying to recall all the stuff...
Well, this was like from two weeks ago, but anyways i saw my first wild deer since coming here - It was when i went running in the nearby woods (believe me it's much less dangerous than it sounds) two Sunday mornings ago and went off the main trail onto some rougher trail up a slope when i heard a lot of rustling, then i turned to my left and said "Oh, deer!" (ok so i didn't say that =p) as i saw the rapidly bobbing away backside of a white tail, either a female or a juvenile methinks (If it was a female then i wonder if when she saw me she went "Doh!" (geddit? =p)... Well, anyways i was thinking that the deer was a little kancheong, cos i would not even have noticed it had it not decided to flee in fear of its life. If i were a hunter, it would so be dead meat now (or more specifically, venison)
Speaking of running, i've sort of decided to do so every Sunday morning somewhere around UNC cos the church service that i regularly go to (i.e. i've been there twice so far) is at 11am, and my ride only leaves campus at earliest 10:30am; so there's more than ample time to exercise in the morning before service. The weather is also way more condusive for running, at least 10 degrees celcius cooler and way less humid too - which means that i don't end up with a shirt that carries a wading pool's worth of liquid in it. And talking about pools, maybe one Sunday i'll try out the indoor pool here instead, if not just for the been there, done that experience of swimming in an indoor pool...
And from the way i've been eating here recently, i think i'll need all the exercise that i can get. It's especially so whenever i end up eating at one of the two dining halls, which basically offer buffet-style stuff all the time. Thankfully i didn't get a meal plan, or i'd be eating from these places far more often... The problem is that, true to the url of this blog, not only my language (dis)abilities, but even my food preferences also are very angmoh-oriented (including potatoes), so i have no problem with wolfing down burger after burger, pizza slice after pizza slice, wrap after wrap and then some - you get the picture... Even when i hit the salad bar the veggies are inevitably smothered in ranch dressing - heck - i even smother my pizza in ranch dressing... Yes, i know for many of the readers of this blog it's basically the same old same old, but ah well i guess this will be a constant lament of mine...
I just had my first two midterms on Friday and this afternoon - they were not the best of papers, but they're definitely passable - though honestly i am still aiming for something higher than that - but will make do - i don't want to be obsessed over grades again - it would be really toot of me to do so when it's pass/fail after all... In other academic news it was quite a surreal experience just now when i went for my Monday 5-8pm class only to find a note pinned on the doorpost saying that lesson was cancelled for the week - this is the class that i'd been having loads of problems with before, and that i've to do a book report and a presentation of the report + of the other readings for the week of too - and did i mention Monday 5-8pm? Of course once it hit me, i was pretty happy - and i celebrated by eating a giant steak burrito (about a foot long) for dinner at Cosmic Cantina (oh gosh that makes me sound like a real glutton doesn't it... well in my defense, i had a voucher...)
Oh ya, frisbee - did you know that they (i.e. IV) play ultimate every friday here? And the attendance when i went was really big - like more than 40 people over four teams - and each game definitely had an abundance of people as a result. We should do that back home - though i have the feeling that the attendance would be pretty bad if not solely cos of work - which is quite tragic given that on average there definitely is more work to do over here than back home - yet over here the people still come down for an hour or two or de-stressing... It was great fun [even though i re-aggrevated my left pinky injury (kinda like Joce's from Mongolia only far less gross-looking) that i obtained two days earlier while i was playing ultimate with some of the guys on my floor; and had also just recovered from another finger injury obtained a few days earlier when i was, you guessed it, playing frisbee at the beach during the IV new student retreat - thankfully all the affected digits were on my left hand so i could write properly...].
Ok think i should do something about my food issues - right now all i can think of is the bag of day-old bagels that i'm planning to buy tomorrow from Alpine at only $1.70...
Well, this was like from two weeks ago, but anyways i saw my first wild deer since coming here - It was when i went running in the nearby woods (believe me it's much less dangerous than it sounds) two Sunday mornings ago and went off the main trail onto some rougher trail up a slope when i heard a lot of rustling, then i turned to my left and said "Oh, deer!" (ok so i didn't say that =p) as i saw the rapidly bobbing away backside of a white tail, either a female or a juvenile methinks (If it was a female then i wonder if when she saw me she went "Doh!" (geddit? =p)... Well, anyways i was thinking that the deer was a little kancheong, cos i would not even have noticed it had it not decided to flee in fear of its life. If i were a hunter, it would so be dead meat now (or more specifically, venison)
Speaking of running, i've sort of decided to do so every Sunday morning somewhere around UNC cos the church service that i regularly go to (i.e. i've been there twice so far) is at 11am, and my ride only leaves campus at earliest 10:30am; so there's more than ample time to exercise in the morning before service. The weather is also way more condusive for running, at least 10 degrees celcius cooler and way less humid too - which means that i don't end up with a shirt that carries a wading pool's worth of liquid in it. And talking about pools, maybe one Sunday i'll try out the indoor pool here instead, if not just for the been there, done that experience of swimming in an indoor pool...
And from the way i've been eating here recently, i think i'll need all the exercise that i can get. It's especially so whenever i end up eating at one of the two dining halls, which basically offer buffet-style stuff all the time. Thankfully i didn't get a meal plan, or i'd be eating from these places far more often... The problem is that, true to the url of this blog, not only my language (dis)abilities, but even my food preferences also are very angmoh-oriented (including potatoes), so i have no problem with wolfing down burger after burger, pizza slice after pizza slice, wrap after wrap and then some - you get the picture... Even when i hit the salad bar the veggies are inevitably smothered in ranch dressing - heck - i even smother my pizza in ranch dressing... Yes, i know for many of the readers of this blog it's basically the same old same old, but ah well i guess this will be a constant lament of mine...
I just had my first two midterms on Friday and this afternoon - they were not the best of papers, but they're definitely passable - though honestly i am still aiming for something higher than that - but will make do - i don't want to be obsessed over grades again - it would be really toot of me to do so when it's pass/fail after all... In other academic news it was quite a surreal experience just now when i went for my Monday 5-8pm class only to find a note pinned on the doorpost saying that lesson was cancelled for the week - this is the class that i'd been having loads of problems with before, and that i've to do a book report and a presentation of the report + of the other readings for the week of too - and did i mention Monday 5-8pm? Of course once it hit me, i was pretty happy - and i celebrated by eating a giant steak burrito (about a foot long) for dinner at Cosmic Cantina (oh gosh that makes me sound like a real glutton doesn't it... well in my defense, i had a voucher...)
Oh ya, frisbee - did you know that they (i.e. IV) play ultimate every friday here? And the attendance when i went was really big - like more than 40 people over four teams - and each game definitely had an abundance of people as a result. We should do that back home - though i have the feeling that the attendance would be pretty bad if not solely cos of work - which is quite tragic given that on average there definitely is more work to do over here than back home - yet over here the people still come down for an hour or two or de-stressing... It was great fun [even though i re-aggrevated my left pinky injury (kinda like Joce's from Mongolia only far less gross-looking) that i obtained two days earlier while i was playing ultimate with some of the guys on my floor; and had also just recovered from another finger injury obtained a few days earlier when i was, you guessed it, playing frisbee at the beach during the IV new student retreat - thankfully all the affected digits were on my left hand so i could write properly...].
Ok think i should do something about my food issues - right now all i can think of is the bag of day-old bagels that i'm planning to buy tomorrow from Alpine at only $1.70...
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