Howdy folks!
For the past year or so, I've been contemplating what to do with my future. Since about 2004 I've been toying with the idea of going to graduate school and obtaining a Master of Arts (MA) degree. I wanted to get my MA even more after I did my exchange to Hong Kong - I was hell bent on studying International Affairs/Relations. Meeting all the exchanges students from around the world really inspired me to get involved internationally.
I therefore applied to a couple of graduate schools here in Canada. Throughout the application process I kept flipping back and forth on whether I really wanted to pursue a Master's degree or not, but in the end I applied to the University of Ottawa and Carleton University, both located in Canada's capital city.
I didn't realize until after I applied that Carleton's program was the #2 school in North America... Meaning competition for admittance was very tough! I realized this when I was wait listed by Carleton. I did however receive an offer of admission to the University of Ottawa back in April. I sent in my acceptance letter to them practically right away. I figured that there was no hope in hell of me being admitted to Carleton, so I should just give up. (I also suspect that one of my letters of reference weren't exactly the greatest because I didn't know my profs all that well.)
I was quite happy with going to U of Ottawa until about a month ago when I realized I didn't really know what the program ("Globalization and International Development") was about. On the other hand, when I had been applying to Carleton University, I had been totally in love with what they were offering as it seemed to be right up my alley! I discussed it with my parents and told them that if I didn't get accepted to Carleton University this year, I'd prefer to wait for one more year and then reapply. My parents endorsed my decision and that made me happy.
Well, much to my surprise, several days ago, Carleton University sent me an email saying that yes, I had been accepted to the program. HOWEVER! One of the requirements for being accepted was that I need an introductory microeconomics class... Which I don't have. I had been enrolled in Econ 101 at the beginning of this term, but when I gave up on the idea of being accepted to Carleton, I had dropped the course. Now it's too late to enroll in it (especially considering there's only like 2 weeks till exams).
I talked to one of the admissions officers at Carleton and they said that I could probably take a distance education course through Athabasca University (an online university) and complete it before the end of August... But that would be pretty stressful - I'm taking a full course load right now, my exams don't end until August 9th, and the online course has like 10 assignments in the meantime.
Also, even though life tends to be easier as a student, I have to admit that I'm tired at this point of my life. I've been in school for 5 years now, and I've done 3 academic terms in a row. The idea of going on to do two more years of hardcore school right away does NOT appeal to me in the slightest. I've had fun in these past few years, but I need to have a break from textbooks (well, I still need to take Econ 101 through distance education, but ignore that).
So now I have a year before I reapply to Carleton University. I toyed around with the idea of going back over to Asia and teaching English for a year, but it would take forever to get a visa and paperwork, etc. Plus I don't know if I could hack dealing with kids everyday. They're cute to see, but not to interact with. (My niece being the exception.)
Yesterday I suddenly remembered the Student Work Abroad Program (www.swap.ca)... Essentially it's a program where you obtain a work visa for a European country, fly over, and do temporary/casual work until your visa expires. Since I want to work for the Canadian government when I graduate, I figure that practicing my French would be a good choice... Therefore I'm seriously contemplating going to France for a year to work and travel. My parents are totally in love with the idea (since it means they could visit me - plane tickets to France are a hell of a lot cheaper than to Asia!).
So that's my plan for now. Work in France for a year, take my Econ 101 class through distance education), and travel. Comments and suggestions are welcome!
Thursday, July 12, 2007
Monday, July 09, 2007
Rebel without a cause
Le gasp! I skipped a Chinese class today! (Okay, so I was a good girl and made sure to check and make sure that I wasn't going to be missing out an any new/confusing grammar points... But I skipped none the less!)
Monday, July 02, 2007
Long live the technological age
I'm currently in the school library attempting to read a book on British colonialism that was printing in the 1970s. All I keep thinking is, "Thank god I live in the computer age."
This book was written on a typewriter and it kills me to try to read the text. I also keep having flashbacks to my Canadian history class last semester when my professor was telling us about when he wrote his thesis. He mentioned how you'd have to use whiteout, or retype a whole essay just because you messed up on one little section...
We take computers for granted now, but once in awhile, (this being one of those times), you have to sit back and truly appreciate the convenience in our lives.
This book was written on a typewriter and it kills me to try to read the text. I also keep having flashbacks to my Canadian history class last semester when my professor was telling us about when he wrote his thesis. He mentioned how you'd have to use whiteout, or retype a whole essay just because you messed up on one little section...
We take computers for granted now, but once in awhile, (this being one of those times), you have to sit back and truly appreciate the convenience in our lives.
Sunday, July 01, 2007
Loss of a treasure
So sad! I was fidgeting with my jade bracelet that I bought in Beijing when I dropped it! It broke!!! :( I had already cracked it when I was in Thailand, so now it snapped along the crack and in another area, so it's now in two pieces...
Edit: So now it's the next day. I can't believe how much the loss of my bracelet is bugging me. I used to take it off once in awhile because it would be annoying clinking against my desk while I typed or did other stuff, but now that I can't wear it, I miss it like crazy! I keep catching myself shifting my arm or wrist, expecting the jade to slide up and down, or I'll go to dry my hands and automatically avoid the area where my bracelet used to lay... To alleviate my insanity, I've donned another smaller bracelet I haven't worn in years.
Edit: So now it's the next day. I can't believe how much the loss of my bracelet is bugging me. I used to take it off once in awhile because it would be annoying clinking against my desk while I typed or did other stuff, but now that I can't wear it, I miss it like crazy! I keep catching myself shifting my arm or wrist, expecting the jade to slide up and down, or I'll go to dry my hands and automatically avoid the area where my bracelet used to lay... To alleviate my insanity, I've donned another smaller bracelet I haven't worn in years.
Friday, June 29, 2007
Fearing to obtain gainful employment
Our Human Resources professor had a slight problem communicating with us in class last night.
We were talking about Health and Safety in the workplace, and then she mentioned problems with workplace violence. She told us, "Workplace violence is the #2 cause of death in North America."
We were shocked. One girl even asked for clarification and the prof repeated her statement. The prof started lecturing again, but someone else finally interrupted her and asked again... Then she realized she had forgotten to mention that "Workplace violence is the #2 cause of death in the workplace in North America." Ha ha! Whoops. The entire class started laughing with relief because she had totally freaked us out.
We were talking about Health and Safety in the workplace, and then she mentioned problems with workplace violence. She told us, "Workplace violence is the #2 cause of death in North America."
We were shocked. One girl even asked for clarification and the prof repeated her statement. The prof started lecturing again, but someone else finally interrupted her and asked again... Then she realized she had forgotten to mention that "Workplace violence is the #2 cause of death in the workplace in North America." Ha ha! Whoops. The entire class started laughing with relief because she had totally freaked us out.
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
I'm still around!
I seem to have lost my blogging mojo. I can't seem to find motivation to write down any of my wacky adventures (and believe me, they are occurring, but are fewer and further in number). I shall make an attempt to write more often, even if it's just little funny stories like the one below.
So for those of you who don't know, I've given up my monk-like way of living and have discovered the joys of the bottle. Er, bottle of alcohol that is.
When I first turned 19 years old in my first year of university I went and bought a crap load of alcohol (I had like 7 bottles). Unfortunately my friends and I weren't big drinkers and the bottles just got carted around from apartment to apartment, eventually ending up at my home in Owen Sound collecting dust.
At the beginning of this term, my friends Victoria, Shruthi, and I decided to go to Caesar Martini's on a Thursday night for some reason. We had so much fun we decided to go again the next week, and the next, and so on. It has become a weekly ritual to go out, even when both of the other girls have to be up and at work the next day.
Caesar's isn't the cheapest place to go either, so we make a point of pre-drinking at my apartment (since the bar is practically beside my house)... And we make sure that we get our alcohol's worth of entertainment out of the evening. We managed to finish off all my old alcohol, and have *gasp* actually had to buy some new bottles!
Case in point: About 3 weeks ago Victoria brought over a 26er of Mango Vodka. Between the three of us, we finished it off. (I wasn't aware of this fact until AFTER we got home from the bar.) We had drank about half the bottle before going to The Flying Dog (that has become another custom, first we drink, then we go to the Flying Dog for some fun dancing and wait for the line at Caesar's to shorten a bit). When we arrived back at Caesar Martini's, Victoria decided she wanted more to drink, so she went back to my place, filled up a water bottle with the last of her mango vodka and brought it back for us to drink in line.
Do you know how revolting it is to drink warm mango vodka straight??? Neither do I. I was too inebriated to realize how vile it must have been. LOL We didn't finish off the water bottle - we ended up leaving it outside the bar because we finally reached the front of the line. I'm still not sure how it happened, but later that night while I was on the dance floor with my gal pals, I managed to fall backwards on top of Shruthi.
Need I say more? That's a far cry from how I used to be in my last four years here... Don't get me wrong, I know I don't need to drink to have fun. As a matter of fact, I'm attempting to cut back a bit... (Last week I only had half a glass of some orange vodka beverage - yay me!)
I guess I'll leave off here. I just felt like typing something lighthearted and a bit fun... And I felt like procrastinating. :) I'm going to go read a book on Taiwanese history now. Cheerio!
So for those of you who don't know, I've given up my monk-like way of living and have discovered the joys of the bottle. Er, bottle of alcohol that is.
When I first turned 19 years old in my first year of university I went and bought a crap load of alcohol (I had like 7 bottles). Unfortunately my friends and I weren't big drinkers and the bottles just got carted around from apartment to apartment, eventually ending up at my home in Owen Sound collecting dust.
At the beginning of this term, my friends Victoria, Shruthi, and I decided to go to Caesar Martini's on a Thursday night for some reason. We had so much fun we decided to go again the next week, and the next, and so on. It has become a weekly ritual to go out, even when both of the other girls have to be up and at work the next day.
Caesar's isn't the cheapest place to go either, so we make a point of pre-drinking at my apartment (since the bar is practically beside my house)... And we make sure that we get our alcohol's worth of entertainment out of the evening. We managed to finish off all my old alcohol, and have *gasp* actually had to buy some new bottles!
Case in point: About 3 weeks ago Victoria brought over a 26er of Mango Vodka. Between the three of us, we finished it off. (I wasn't aware of this fact until AFTER we got home from the bar.) We had drank about half the bottle before going to The Flying Dog (that has become another custom, first we drink, then we go to the Flying Dog for some fun dancing and wait for the line at Caesar's to shorten a bit). When we arrived back at Caesar Martini's, Victoria decided she wanted more to drink, so she went back to my place, filled up a water bottle with the last of her mango vodka and brought it back for us to drink in line.
Do you know how revolting it is to drink warm mango vodka straight??? Neither do I. I was too inebriated to realize how vile it must have been. LOL We didn't finish off the water bottle - we ended up leaving it outside the bar because we finally reached the front of the line. I'm still not sure how it happened, but later that night while I was on the dance floor with my gal pals, I managed to fall backwards on top of Shruthi.
Need I say more? That's a far cry from how I used to be in my last four years here... Don't get me wrong, I know I don't need to drink to have fun. As a matter of fact, I'm attempting to cut back a bit... (Last week I only had half a glass of some orange vodka beverage - yay me!)
I guess I'll leave off here. I just felt like typing something lighthearted and a bit fun... And I felt like procrastinating. :) I'm going to go read a book on Taiwanese history now. Cheerio!
Wednesday, June 06, 2007
Failure to communicate
While living with Feng can be irritating, it does provide for some good laughs. (Actually, after nearly getting fed up with his antics last week, he's back in my good graces.)
He's been super helpful when I've had Chinese homework questions for the past couple of weeks, and I've reciprocated by helping him with English words or explaining things to him...
Case in point:
He just came in and asked me what "sole" meant. The only meaning I could think of was the type of fish. He looked at me like I had two heads. I finally asked him to use the word in the sentence he was having trouble with... Uh, "Sole author" is not fish related. I started laughing - I had completely forgotten about that meaning of the word.
He's been super helpful when I've had Chinese homework questions for the past couple of weeks, and I've reciprocated by helping him with English words or explaining things to him...
Case in point:
He just came in and asked me what "sole" meant. The only meaning I could think of was the type of fish. He looked at me like I had two heads. I finally asked him to use the word in the sentence he was having trouble with... Uh, "Sole author" is not fish related. I started laughing - I had completely forgotten about that meaning of the word.
Saturday, May 26, 2007
Status update
Just finished a 2 hour nap. Still so tired. Excuse me while I go to find a bottle of artificial tears so I can unglue my eyelids.
Friday, May 25, 2007
Mission Accomplished! (Unfortunately)
ARGH! Everytime I try to get into the on campus pub, Bomber, there's always a huuuuuge waiting line and my friends and I end up waiting in line for two hours just to give up and go somewhere else in the end. I finally broke the cycle!
Victoria, Shruthi, and I managed to get our asses over to Bomber by 9:15ish, and lo and behold, for once there was no line! We were so happy to get in without a hitch! Surprisingly though, the pub was kind of empty... Well, by comparison to a normal Bomber night. (Usually the place was packed... This time all the tables were full, but it wasn't packed.) We grabbed a table and hung around, hoping that things would pick up in a bit...
A bit passed by. More specifically, an hour later the place was still empty as hell. (Okay, maybe a third of the normal crowd was there.) We decided to cut our losses and go to another nearby bar instead, Phil's. To save on taxi fare, we decided to just walk to Phil's since it's only a 15 minute walk from my house.
Well, no sooner had we walked in, but we see that Phil's (a truly stank place) is even emptier than Bomber!!! What the hell?! We hightailed it out of there. Some guys laughed because they realized we essentially walked in and then back out. By now it was about midnight, so we decided to go back to Bomber in hopes that it would be busier.
No such luck! Bomber was slightly more busy, but barely so! We made a half assed attempt to dance with the other 20 people on the dance floor, but we realized it was futile and decided to call it a night. Thus was our night at Bomber. And Phil's. And Bomber again.
Oh, and now Shruthi's on MSN telling me to go to Revolution. I'm such a pushover! Adios!
Victoria, Shruthi, and I managed to get our asses over to Bomber by 9:15ish, and lo and behold, for once there was no line! We were so happy to get in without a hitch! Surprisingly though, the pub was kind of empty... Well, by comparison to a normal Bomber night. (Usually the place was packed... This time all the tables were full, but it wasn't packed.) We grabbed a table and hung around, hoping that things would pick up in a bit...
A bit passed by. More specifically, an hour later the place was still empty as hell. (Okay, maybe a third of the normal crowd was there.) We decided to cut our losses and go to another nearby bar instead, Phil's. To save on taxi fare, we decided to just walk to Phil's since it's only a 15 minute walk from my house.
Well, no sooner had we walked in, but we see that Phil's (a truly stank place) is even emptier than Bomber!!! What the hell?! We hightailed it out of there. Some guys laughed because they realized we essentially walked in and then back out. By now it was about midnight, so we decided to go back to Bomber in hopes that it would be busier.
No such luck! Bomber was slightly more busy, but barely so! We made a half assed attempt to dance with the other 20 people on the dance floor, but we realized it was futile and decided to call it a night. Thus was our night at Bomber. And Phil's. And Bomber again.
Oh, and now Shruthi's on MSN telling me to go to Revolution. I'm such a pushover! Adios!
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
Soggy Bottom Mau
I'm soaked from the knees down right now. That makes for a very unpleasant class. That's right, I'm in class as I type this. It's easier to have my laptop here because my East Asian Culture prof provides online slides, and I can just type up my own notes as I go. Anyawys, back to being wet. Outside it's flipping between downpours and clear air. I walked from my apartment to the SLC and it was clear as a bell. 5 minutes later as I departed the SLC, it was downpouring. I got soaked!
The term is going terrifically so far. Again I'm taking four courses:
European History is pretty intense - we're doing a lot of theoretical discussions which I've never done before, so on one hand it's a bit intimidating since I don't have the background in the theories we're talking about, but on the other it's kind of exhilarating to make the connections.
(Oh god, it's raining so heavily we can't see out the windows! And the lights are flickering from lightening! Wowsers!)
East Asian Culture is pretty much a survey course so far. I've studied all the things we've talked about before, but it's just being applied to an Asian context now. (e.g. Right now he's talking about national self-determination. Been there, done that.) Long live my laptop, so at least I can keep myself occupied for the next 3 hours.
The only reason I'm taking Human Resources Management is because my mother has been pestering (and yes, "pester" is definitely the word I'm looking for) to take it for the past 5 years. I've only had 2 classes so far, and I'm shocked to admit that it's not quite the burden that I thought it would be. Actually, in our last class, there was nearly a lynching. We were discussing the wage gender gap and one guy tried to claim that the gap existed because women were more maternal and family-oriented and men were more business-oriented. You could hear the women growling in their chairs. Myself included.
My fave class of the term must be my Advance Beginner Chinese class! I know that "Advanced Beginner" is an oxymoron, but it's true. This class is for anyone who has some experience with any form of Chinese. This means that the majority of my class either speaks Mandarin and can't write Chinese characters, or they speak Cantonese and CAN write Chinese characters. Then there's Mau who just has a smattering of everything.
Unsurprisingly I'm the only non-Asian in my class. It's okay though. I actually feel like I have a bit of an advantage because I've studied Mandarin before using the same methods we're using now, and so far our vocabulary consists of the same stuff I learned in Hong Kong, with a few differences. I was eavesdropping on some of the other students and it seems as though I'm also doing better on the oral/writing homework than some of them too. Tee hee!
I should also mention that I've finally completed my Chinese name. When I was in Hong Kong, my professor named me "Mo-Lin"... Now I have a last name, so now I'm "Bai Mo-Lin." (白莫琳) (Roughly translated it means "White Jade Forest." Ha ha!
Okay, I'm not paying attention to my class anymore. I should go back to my notes.
The term is going terrifically so far. Again I'm taking four courses:
- European Colonial History
- East Asian Culture
- Human Resources Management
- Advanced Beginner Chinese
European History is pretty intense - we're doing a lot of theoretical discussions which I've never done before, so on one hand it's a bit intimidating since I don't have the background in the theories we're talking about, but on the other it's kind of exhilarating to make the connections.
(Oh god, it's raining so heavily we can't see out the windows! And the lights are flickering from lightening! Wowsers!)
East Asian Culture is pretty much a survey course so far. I've studied all the things we've talked about before, but it's just being applied to an Asian context now. (e.g. Right now he's talking about national self-determination. Been there, done that.) Long live my laptop, so at least I can keep myself occupied for the next 3 hours.
The only reason I'm taking Human Resources Management is because my mother has been pestering (and yes, "pester" is definitely the word I'm looking for) to take it for the past 5 years. I've only had 2 classes so far, and I'm shocked to admit that it's not quite the burden that I thought it would be. Actually, in our last class, there was nearly a lynching. We were discussing the wage gender gap and one guy tried to claim that the gap existed because women were more maternal and family-oriented and men were more business-oriented. You could hear the women growling in their chairs. Myself included.
My fave class of the term must be my Advance Beginner Chinese class! I know that "Advanced Beginner" is an oxymoron, but it's true. This class is for anyone who has some experience with any form of Chinese. This means that the majority of my class either speaks Mandarin and can't write Chinese characters, or they speak Cantonese and CAN write Chinese characters. Then there's Mau who just has a smattering of everything.
Unsurprisingly I'm the only non-Asian in my class. It's okay though. I actually feel like I have a bit of an advantage because I've studied Mandarin before using the same methods we're using now, and so far our vocabulary consists of the same stuff I learned in Hong Kong, with a few differences. I was eavesdropping on some of the other students and it seems as though I'm also doing better on the oral/writing homework than some of them too. Tee hee!
I should also mention that I've finally completed my Chinese name. When I was in Hong Kong, my professor named me "Mo-Lin"... Now I have a last name, so now I'm "Bai Mo-Lin." (白莫琳) (Roughly translated it means "White Jade Forest." Ha ha!
Okay, I'm not paying attention to my class anymore. I should go back to my notes.
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Grad school!
Happy news everyone! On Saturday night at 10:30pm (while I was slightly drunk) I received an acceptance email to the University of Ottawa. That's right baby, I'm going to grad school in September! I've been accepted to the MA: Globalization and International Development program. I honestly don't know that much about the program - the U of Ottawa website sucks, but I'm excited nonetheless. It's such a relief to know what I'll be doing after the summer. I hated being stuck in limbo.
To be honest, I'm rather numb to the idea of actually being in grad school - I think I'm more excited by the idea of living in Ottawa again instead. I love that city. I'm also happy because this is one step closer to my goal of getting an international job that makes a difference in the world.
While I would have preferred to go to Carleton U for grad school, I'm quite happy taking Ottawa's offer. It's rather strange for me right now about this whole Ottawa vs. Carleton thing. I can't think of a time when I wanted to get accepted to something and not gotten it. Usually when I apply to something it's just a matter of me working up courage to go for it... This time, I actually wanted into Carleton U, and despite my best efforts, I've been waitlisted until June. Even when I was applying to my undergrad schools I never had a problem with acceptance. I think Western U was the only place to waitlist me. I'm not really upset by not being accepted. I just don't know how to react. Should I be resigned? Sad? It's not like I can blame them. I'm not used to actually having to work hard to get something. This makes me wonder how I'll fare when working with other grad students... Time will tell.
To be honest, I'm rather numb to the idea of actually being in grad school - I think I'm more excited by the idea of living in Ottawa again instead. I love that city. I'm also happy because this is one step closer to my goal of getting an international job that makes a difference in the world.
While I would have preferred to go to Carleton U for grad school, I'm quite happy taking Ottawa's offer. It's rather strange for me right now about this whole Ottawa vs. Carleton thing. I can't think of a time when I wanted to get accepted to something and not gotten it. Usually when I apply to something it's just a matter of me working up courage to go for it... This time, I actually wanted into Carleton U, and despite my best efforts, I've been waitlisted until June. Even when I was applying to my undergrad schools I never had a problem with acceptance. I think Western U was the only place to waitlist me. I'm not really upset by not being accepted. I just don't know how to react. Should I be resigned? Sad? It's not like I can blame them. I'm not used to actually having to work hard to get something. This makes me wonder how I'll fare when working with other grad students... Time will tell.
Exam drunkenness
Egads. The 21st was a day of total fun. Even though I had finished my exams the day before, I trekked back to school the next day so I could work on my Hong Kong essay. I started off the day in the library, but then Victoria came to collect me and dragged me to work outside.
It was such a gorgeous day!!! We nabbed a picnic table outside the SLC and set up shop. It was hard to concentrate for me, both because of the good weather and because the sunshine made it hard to see my laptop's screen, but it was totally worth it. We were outside for so long that I got majorly sunburned - I didn't even realize it was so hot/sunny outside! Luckily the burn has faded now... But I was seriously scorched.
The plan for the evening was for Victoria to write her last exam then come over to my place so we could go out to Fubar for the evening. I ended up going home, finishing packing, and making dinner. Victoria also decided to crash at my apartment so that we could taxi it over to the bar instead of making her stay sober and driving. Needless to say, we got in a lot of pre-drinking before going out.
We met up with Sher outside of Fubar and managed to skip the line thanks to one of Victoria's connections. We had such a blast! I was already tipsy before even arriving at the bar, and within the hour I had had two more shots and another drink! There was much dancing and all around goodness.
Sher and I went to the bar again later in the evening. I had been intending to get some water but she ended up buying me more alcohol. While standing around, I saw a guy that looked kinda familiar, but I wasn't sure if it was who I thought it was. The next thing I know, I'm being tackled by Melanie and her school friend Grant! Of all the places to run into my sister! This is the first time I've ever seen her at a club or anything, so I was a bit weirded out, but it was all good. She was even drunker than I was. (Check out her porn dance shot!)
After last call Sher, Victoria, and I ended up going to Mel's Diner for some post-drinking food. After some much needed food, we went out separate ways. I think it was about 4am by the time Victoria and I went to sleep - normally I wouldn't have cared, but my parents were coming the next day to pick me up and help me move... Yikes.
All in all, it was a fantastic night! (Pics can be found here.)
It was such a gorgeous day!!! We nabbed a picnic table outside the SLC and set up shop. It was hard to concentrate for me, both because of the good weather and because the sunshine made it hard to see my laptop's screen, but it was totally worth it. We were outside for so long that I got majorly sunburned - I didn't even realize it was so hot/sunny outside! Luckily the burn has faded now... But I was seriously scorched.
The plan for the evening was for Victoria to write her last exam then come over to my place so we could go out to Fubar for the evening. I ended up going home, finishing packing, and making dinner. Victoria also decided to crash at my apartment so that we could taxi it over to the bar instead of making her stay sober and driving. Needless to say, we got in a lot of pre-drinking before going out.We met up with Sher outside of Fubar and managed to skip the line thanks to one of Victoria's connections. We had such a blast! I was already tipsy before even arriving at the bar, and within the hour I had had two more shots and another drink! There was much dancing and all around goodness.
Sher and I went to the bar again later in the evening. I had been intending to get some water but she ended up buying me more alcohol. While standing around, I saw a guy that looked kinda familiar, but I wasn't sure if it was who I thought it was. The next thing I know, I'm being tackled by Melanie and her school friend Grant! Of all the places to run into my sister! This is the first time I've ever seen her at a club or anything, so I was a bit weirded out, but it was all good. She was even drunker than I was. (Check out her porn dance shot!)
After last call Sher, Victoria, and I ended up going to Mel's Diner for some post-drinking food. After some much needed food, we went out separate ways. I think it was about 4am by the time Victoria and I went to sleep - normally I wouldn't have cared, but my parents were coming the next day to pick me up and help me move... Yikes.
All in all, it was a fantastic night! (Pics can be found here.)
Saturday, April 21, 2007
Giving up pretense
I had every intention of coming to campus to work on my history paper today, but here I am, sitting outside the SLC basking in the sun with my laptop. I did some work (namely grammar) but my creativity is being sapped by the sunny rays and the fact that natural sunlight makes it hard to look at my laptop screen. Anyways...
I'm done my exams! Yay! I kept telling everyone that my last exam (Humanities) was going to be my easiest, but it turned out that it was the exact opposite. My history exam went really well - I think I did well... But I know the prof is a really hard marker in that class, so I don't know how my final mark will turn out. (e.g. I thought I rocked the midterm but only got 75% on the thing!) As for my political science exam... I walked into the room, made the exam into my bitch, and spat on it on my way out of the room. I've never written an exam essay and known my stuff so well. It helped that the prof had given us the exam questions ahead of time, so we knew what to study.
My final exam was ridiculous. Our prof told us that three quarters of the questions on the exam would come directly from our online quizzes, so we knew to memorize the questions and answers to the quizzes. The rest of the questions would come from the chapters that we hadn't covered in class. Oh my god. I sat down at my table, and within 15 minutes I had answered 111 of the 160 multiple choice questions on the exam. I could not believe how fast I went through them! LOL. Then when I went to do question 112, it was like I ran into a brick wall - that was the start of the new information, so I actually had to stop and think about my answers. I finished answer the entire exam in 30 minutes... But the pain in the ass thing was that the university won't allow students to leave the exam room until at least an hour has passed. So I had to spend the next 30 sitting at my desk being bored. (Yes I did check over my answers, but it didn't take long at all.) Oi!
I've also been busy saying goodbye to my various friends who are graduating. It's strange - I don't feel like it's really a goodbye - I've known them for so long that it feels surreal that I might never see them again. This reminds me of when I was leaving Hong Kong - I had a hard time grasping that I would never see some of those people again either. Anyways, Tao and I went out for dinner on Wednesday as a goodbye, and Stacy and I did the same last night.
Speaking of last night, Agnes and I decided to go see "Hot Fuzz" at the movie theatre. That movie is so frickin' hilarious. It's a British film and is totally over the top. The funny thing about the whole movie-going experience happened while Agnes and I were in line to buy tickets. I was trying to tell her about an actor in a movie and when she recognized the name, I thought her answer was sarcastic. I told her, "Oh, I thought you were being facetious!" Suddenly this guy in line in front of us chuckled, turned to me, and said, "Excellent use of vocabulary!" It was so unexpected and random that I didn't know what to make of it. LOL.
I think I'm getting a little sunburnt now. I should get going - my laptop is melting in the sun, and I still have to finish packing so I can move home tomorrow.
Fare well!
I'm done my exams! Yay! I kept telling everyone that my last exam (Humanities) was going to be my easiest, but it turned out that it was the exact opposite. My history exam went really well - I think I did well... But I know the prof is a really hard marker in that class, so I don't know how my final mark will turn out. (e.g. I thought I rocked the midterm but only got 75% on the thing!) As for my political science exam... I walked into the room, made the exam into my bitch, and spat on it on my way out of the room. I've never written an exam essay and known my stuff so well. It helped that the prof had given us the exam questions ahead of time, so we knew what to study.
My final exam was ridiculous. Our prof told us that three quarters of the questions on the exam would come directly from our online quizzes, so we knew to memorize the questions and answers to the quizzes. The rest of the questions would come from the chapters that we hadn't covered in class. Oh my god. I sat down at my table, and within 15 minutes I had answered 111 of the 160 multiple choice questions on the exam. I could not believe how fast I went through them! LOL. Then when I went to do question 112, it was like I ran into a brick wall - that was the start of the new information, so I actually had to stop and think about my answers. I finished answer the entire exam in 30 minutes... But the pain in the ass thing was that the university won't allow students to leave the exam room until at least an hour has passed. So I had to spend the next 30 sitting at my desk being bored. (Yes I did check over my answers, but it didn't take long at all.) Oi!
I've also been busy saying goodbye to my various friends who are graduating. It's strange - I don't feel like it's really a goodbye - I've known them for so long that it feels surreal that I might never see them again. This reminds me of when I was leaving Hong Kong - I had a hard time grasping that I would never see some of those people again either. Anyways, Tao and I went out for dinner on Wednesday as a goodbye, and Stacy and I did the same last night.
Speaking of last night, Agnes and I decided to go see "Hot Fuzz" at the movie theatre. That movie is so frickin' hilarious. It's a British film and is totally over the top. The funny thing about the whole movie-going experience happened while Agnes and I were in line to buy tickets. I was trying to tell her about an actor in a movie and when she recognized the name, I thought her answer was sarcastic. I told her, "Oh, I thought you were being facetious!" Suddenly this guy in line in front of us chuckled, turned to me, and said, "Excellent use of vocabulary!" It was so unexpected and random that I didn't know what to make of it. LOL.
I think I'm getting a little sunburnt now. I should get going - my laptop is melting in the sun, and I still have to finish packing so I can move home tomorrow.
Fare well!
Friday, April 06, 2007
Let them eat cake!
I don't know WHAT possessed me to do this. I've only been home for Easter Weekend for about 4 hours. We had just finished eating dinner and then we broke out some maple sponge cake for dessert. My sister, mom, and I were sitting around eating and chatting... I went still.
Suddenly I took the cake that was in my hand, launched myself at my mom and smashed my cake into the side of her face. LOL LOL LOL. I of course immediately ran like hell afterwards, but as I was making my getaway, I realized my mom was grabbing the rest of the cake (3/4 of it was still left). I panicked, thinking she was going to retaliate, and grabbed at it too. I managed to snatch the cake away, but as I was running out of the dining room, it slipped off the plate and fell all over the carpet. LOL
I was laughing so hard that I was crying and couldn't talk. I'm in pain still from laughing so much.
Suddenly I took the cake that was in my hand, launched myself at my mom and smashed my cake into the side of her face. LOL LOL LOL. I of course immediately ran like hell afterwards, but as I was making my getaway, I realized my mom was grabbing the rest of the cake (3/4 of it was still left). I panicked, thinking she was going to retaliate, and grabbed at it too. I managed to snatch the cake away, but as I was running out of the dining room, it slipped off the plate and fell all over the carpet. LOLI was laughing so hard that I was crying and couldn't talk. I'm in pain still from laughing so much.
The Bomber That Wasn't
So Wednesday was Bomber's last pub night. To make the evening more fun, the pub decided it would be a no-clothes event... Patrons were encouraged to make innovative costumes. I had managed to talk Victoria into wearing togas, but due to the sudden change in weather which brought snow and ice I wimped out.
Victoria picked me up but before we could go to her house to get ready, we had to stop off at a church so she could go to confession. I had already gotten dressed to go to the bar - so there I am standing in a church in my low-cut top and bitch heels. LOL, luckily I had my long jacket on so I could feel a bit more presentable in the house of the lord. :)
Anyways, we got ready for the bar, picked up Sher, and ran to the SLC. We got there just a bit after 9pm, but the lineup was insanely long! We waited in line and had a blast for an hour and a half just goofing around. (Check out the pictures!) Only about 10% of the people were dressed up - this group was one of the more innovative ones. We kept trying to trick people into leaving the line by loudly exclaiming, "What?! It's a 2 hour wait?!" (Actually, some girls near us nearly did believe us, except they had heard us planning this ploy outloud and laughed at us instead.)
Around 11pm we finally got tired of waiting and decided to leave and grab a bite and some drinks elsewhere. We tried going to the Flying Dog, but it was closed. So we ended up going to Symposium. Sher and I paid for Victoria since she was being our chauffeur. We had such a great time just goofing around and striking stupid poses.
Victoria picked me up but before we could go to her house to get ready, we had to stop off at a church so she could go to confession. I had already gotten dressed to go to the bar - so there I am standing in a church in my low-cut top and bitch heels. LOL, luckily I had my long jacket on so I could feel a bit more presentable in the house of the lord. :)
Anyways, we got ready for the bar, picked up Sher, and ran to the SLC. We got there just a bit after 9pm, but the lineup was insanely long! We waited in line and had a blast for an hour and a half just goofing around. (Check out the pictures!) Only about 10% of the people were dressed up - this group was one of the more innovative ones. We kept trying to trick people into leaving the line by loudly exclaiming, "What?! It's a 2 hour wait?!" (Actually, some girls near us nearly did believe us, except they had heard us planning this ploy outloud and laughed at us instead.)
Around 11pm we finally got tired of waiting and decided to leave and grab a bite and some drinks elsewhere. We tried going to the Flying Dog, but it was closed. So we ended up going to Symposium. Sher and I paid for Victoria since she was being our chauffeur. We had such a great time just goofing around and striking stupid poses.
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
One more term to go!
So yesterday was the official end of classes at UW. All my friends are so excited because they're either graduating or have the summer off to party. They keep asking me what my plans are and I gently have to remind them that alas, I'm stuck in Waterloo for yet another term. Doh!
I wasn't very enamored with my classes this term.
So now I have exams on the 16th, 17th, and 20th, and my Canadian history paper is due on April 28th. I shall worry about that stuff tomorrow though because tonight I'm going to the Bomber for the last Bomber night of the term! (Crazy! Some of the people I'll be seeing tonight will never go to Bomber again after this...)
I wasn't very enamored with my classes this term.
- My Humanities class was absolutely useless, and I told them so on the course evaluation. It's a 3rd year class, but it's stupid easy and the only reason ANYONE takes it is because it's mandatory!
- Introduction to International Development has been mediocre. I think I learned a lot more stuff in my Intro to International Studies class last semester that was more useful than in this one. The prof only scratches the bare surface of our topics. I guess I just don't like the feeling that I still don't know a think about international development.
- I did enjoy my American history class. It wasn't so much the topic that pleased so much as the prof. (No there is no innuendo there so stop snickering.) My prof was fabulous - you knew exactly what you were supposed to get out of each class and his viewpoints and presentation methods were totally effective. I would totally take more of his classes just because he was terrific.
- Last but not least was my Canadian history seminar. I've enjoyed that class a great deal because our prof tells us a lot of random stuff about academic life that we've never heard of before. He's also taught us how to write a damned good paper. The only infuriating thing about the class has been trying to schedule meetings with him. He never has time for his students! The one time I did get an appointment with him, he ended up missing it. I finally did get to see him, but it was only because one of the people he was supposed to meet had to cancel.
So now I have exams on the 16th, 17th, and 20th, and my Canadian history paper is due on April 28th. I shall worry about that stuff tomorrow though because tonight I'm going to the Bomber for the last Bomber night of the term! (Crazy! Some of the people I'll be seeing tonight will never go to Bomber again after this...)
Party hardy for a sibling
So last week was my middle sister's birthday. We had made plans to get together for dinner on Thursday, but after a mis-communication (or should I say lack of communication - something went funky between our cell phones and we couldn't get through to each other) we ended up postponing the dinner to Friday. I'm happy to report though that dinner was great - lots of fun.
Since several of Mel's friends also had parties around the same time, they decided to have a party at her place and then go out for a pub crawl. Apparently there's a clause in our sisterly contract that demands that the little sister be present for such events. I had only met two of the people before, so it was a bit awkward.
I ended up going to Mel's on Saturday evening and was there for the party. It's a bit odd seeing my sister get all liquored up with her friends. I don't really drink with her that often, and when I do it's usually with the rest of our family. So when I watch my sister get drunk and start directing porn pictures with her friends, you can understand how I could be weirded out.
Around 11 we ended up going out to the Heuther pub in Waterloo. It was a lot of fun - we all ordered food and alcohol. The best part of the evening though was that they messed up our bill and totally undercharged us. Rock on! For a group of 18 people, our bill only came to $115. I totally dug that.
Since several of Mel's friends also had parties around the same time, they decided to have a party at her place and then go out for a pub crawl. Apparently there's a clause in our sisterly contract that demands that the little sister be present for such events. I had only met two of the people before, so it was a bit awkward.
I ended up going to Mel's on Saturday evening and was there for the party. It's a bit odd seeing my sister get all liquored up with her friends. I don't really drink with her that often, and when I do it's usually with the rest of our family. So when I watch my sister get drunk and start directing porn pictures with her friends, you can understand how I could be weirded out.Around 11 we ended up going out to the Heuther pub in Waterloo. It was a lot of fun - we all ordered food and alcohol. The best part of the evening though was that they messed up our bill and totally undercharged us. Rock on! For a group of 18 people, our bill only came to $115. I totally dug that.
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Mmm, opiates
I'm surprised to report that I'm not as sore as anticipated today. My right arm hurts, and so do my legs, but my back is quite fine! Woot!
SQUASHed like a bug!
Jill taught me how to play Squash today! I cannot believe how difficult that game is - it's a lot harder than it looks. Of course, this may have something to do with my total lack of hand-eye coordination - I missed some of the most ridiculously easy shots ever! Ha ha
My best score was getting 5 points (Jill still won)... Of course, the majority of those points weren't technically valid because I'd accidentally hit the ball out of bounds but we'd keep playing anyways. So technically my highest score was like 2. :)
I suspect tomorrow (err, I guess it's today now) is going to a brand new world of pain for me. Even though I stretched before playing (thank God Jill recommended it) my back was sore half an hour into the game. Since pain usually takes a day for it to settle in, I think tomorrow will be a challenge for me to get around. :)
Oh, and I also got hit by the ball twice - both times my fault. I got hit in the shoulder because I just stood there stupidly watching the ball come towards me (remember that lack of hand-eye coordination thing I mentioned? This was more of a lack of brain function - I don't even think I tried to hit the damned ball.) I also got smacked in the back by Jill because I was too stupid to get out of her shot LOL. Yup, I definitely need to practice this game some more.
Despite its difficulty and the pain that went with it, I had a lot of fun. I can't wait to try it out again.
My best score was getting 5 points (Jill still won)... Of course, the majority of those points weren't technically valid because I'd accidentally hit the ball out of bounds but we'd keep playing anyways. So technically my highest score was like 2. :)
I suspect tomorrow (err, I guess it's today now) is going to a brand new world of pain for me. Even though I stretched before playing (thank God Jill recommended it) my back was sore half an hour into the game. Since pain usually takes a day for it to settle in, I think tomorrow will be a challenge for me to get around. :)
Oh, and I also got hit by the ball twice - both times my fault. I got hit in the shoulder because I just stood there stupidly watching the ball come towards me (remember that lack of hand-eye coordination thing I mentioned? This was more of a lack of brain function - I don't even think I tried to hit the damned ball.) I also got smacked in the back by Jill because I was too stupid to get out of her shot LOL. Yup, I definitely need to practice this game some more.
Despite its difficulty and the pain that went with it, I had a lot of fun. I can't wait to try it out again.
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Impossible to understand
I can't understand my landlords. It's not the language barrier that confounds me. It's their habits. I'm beginning to wonder if they're afraid of the dark. I also can't understand how as engineers they don't understand thermodynamics. I shall elaborate. Also, I should clarify that my landlords aren't that old - they're maybe in their late 20s early 30s, so senility isn't an issue.
First of all, they're incapable of turning the lights off when they leave a room. There's a light at the top of our staircase that is FOREVER on. It's on whether they're home or not. Even if it's bright daylight out, they have to turn it on in order to ascend or descend the stairs. I'll wake up at 7am and the light is burning brightly just to irritate me. One time they also left a mini lamp on downstairs overnight. The thing was so bloody hot when I turned it off the next morning I nearly burnt myself. (They had also left their laptop running overnight... I haven't got a clue as to what prompted that.)
I also have a beef with their refusal to be responsible with the house heating. I believe I've gripped about how they crank the heat up to 27 degrees at all times and while I keep turning it down whenever I see it up there. Now that the warm weather has arrived, I've discovered a new issue. They leave the windows open while the heat is turned on... And I'm not just talking about opening up a window here and there to quickly air out the house, I'm talking "leave them open all day while the heat is set to 25 degrees."
I'll admit that I was the first person to start opening windows when the weather turned nice. But I at least turned off the heat before doing so. And when I was done downstairs, or when the day began to cool down, I closed the windows on my way back up. The next day when I came home from school, the windows were wide open, and as I mentioned above, the heat was turned up to 25 degrees. I was flabbergasted. These people are freaking PHD engineers! They should be smart enough to know that having the heat on while the windows are open is not going to do anything except contribute to global warming! GAH!
And then this evening. Oh my gosh this evening. I'm in the kitchen drying my dishes. The heat's turned on again, but whatever. Shunde (the guy) is upstairs in their room. Shuang comes home and yells his name. She leaves the door wide open while waiting for him to come down. It takes about 3 minutes for him to come downstairs. Meanwhile the door continues to stand open, sucking out all the warm air of the house. You know what she called him for? To bring in the groceries. She had brought them all the way to the top step, but was incapable of bringing them those final five steps into the house. I was beyond flabbergasted at this point. I was speechless and trying not to laugh hysterically. And the sad thing is, it only took Shunde 2 trips (hell, can that even be called a trip when the groceries are literally just outside the door?!) to bring in the groceries. She could have done it faster than him for Christ's sake!
Nothing I learned from my time in Asia can explain this behaviour. Can someone, anyone, please please please help me understand what's going on here?!
First of all, they're incapable of turning the lights off when they leave a room. There's a light at the top of our staircase that is FOREVER on. It's on whether they're home or not. Even if it's bright daylight out, they have to turn it on in order to ascend or descend the stairs. I'll wake up at 7am and the light is burning brightly just to irritate me. One time they also left a mini lamp on downstairs overnight. The thing was so bloody hot when I turned it off the next morning I nearly burnt myself. (They had also left their laptop running overnight... I haven't got a clue as to what prompted that.)
I also have a beef with their refusal to be responsible with the house heating. I believe I've gripped about how they crank the heat up to 27 degrees at all times and while I keep turning it down whenever I see it up there. Now that the warm weather has arrived, I've discovered a new issue. They leave the windows open while the heat is turned on... And I'm not just talking about opening up a window here and there to quickly air out the house, I'm talking "leave them open all day while the heat is set to 25 degrees."
I'll admit that I was the first person to start opening windows when the weather turned nice. But I at least turned off the heat before doing so. And when I was done downstairs, or when the day began to cool down, I closed the windows on my way back up. The next day when I came home from school, the windows were wide open, and as I mentioned above, the heat was turned up to 25 degrees. I was flabbergasted. These people are freaking PHD engineers! They should be smart enough to know that having the heat on while the windows are open is not going to do anything except contribute to global warming! GAH!
And then this evening. Oh my gosh this evening. I'm in the kitchen drying my dishes. The heat's turned on again, but whatever. Shunde (the guy) is upstairs in their room. Shuang comes home and yells his name. She leaves the door wide open while waiting for him to come down. It takes about 3 minutes for him to come downstairs. Meanwhile the door continues to stand open, sucking out all the warm air of the house. You know what she called him for? To bring in the groceries. She had brought them all the way to the top step, but was incapable of bringing them those final five steps into the house. I was beyond flabbergasted at this point. I was speechless and trying not to laugh hysterically. And the sad thing is, it only took Shunde 2 trips (hell, can that even be called a trip when the groceries are literally just outside the door?!) to bring in the groceries. She could have done it faster than him for Christ's sake!
Nothing I learned from my time in Asia can explain this behaviour. Can someone, anyone, please please please help me understand what's going on here?!
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