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-brief rundown of plans, inc series.

|Edit|: Feb 09
Whoo! Birthday I'm old.

Well, it's already been four months--the end of the very first university term. Funny, it feels as if it's passed by really quickly. Suddenly, summer and life before seems so far away.

...That isn't a line from a song.

I think I've settled down now. I'm not really sure what that means, but it doesn't feel as strange anymore--the notion of living here, I mean. Sometimes I get a little homesick, but I find that it's much easier to forget when you don't have things reminding you of the ties you have to home.

School has been tougher than I thought and it's worn down on my self esteem at times, but I think it's been worth the while. I've grown a lot more independent, that's for sure. But being here has forced me to confront where I want to head in the future and I realize that there are some things more important than academics and running that sort of race.

There's something restless in me. I don't know what it is, but I feel as if there's something I need to go and find--some places I need to explore. Despite how cheesy the thought sounds, it's not the first time this sort of restlessness has come about, but it's stronger now. Maybe this is where the travelling bit comes in. But, we'll see, I suppose. It's difficult to predict where life will take you.

On a lighter note, there are a few amusing things that have happened:

1. The other day, I was walking back to my dorm when I came across a very blatant statue built from blocks of ice on a field that one must pass to go back to residence: someone had erected a giant penis out of snow. With testicles.

2. A few days later, I was walking along that same path when the wind suddenly picked up at gale force and smacked me on the face with a flurry of snow. At that precise moment, some guy was walking towards me, intent on heading in the opposite direction. As the blast of wind whacked me unceremoniously and caused my head to whip sideways, he smirked and continued on his way. Bastard.

3. At the end of every term, we are required to submit course surveys as a form of feedback regarding the lecturers and course material. Since the class I was writing one for was relatively large, class was located in a large lecture hall containing rows upon rows of desks, every row built on a platform a step higher than the last.

My groupmate--which I had been working with for most of the semester--looked around and saw that other people were passing their surveys down row by row until it reached the bottom where the surveyors were collecting the questionnaires. She asked for mine and passed it down to the guy in front of her. He nodded and passed it down to the guy in front of him. But as the boy who was now holding the sheets tapped the girl in front of him in turn, she suddenly whipped around and screamed, "Excuse me?"

At this, she grabbed the sheets and slammed them onto the side table beside her, effectively wrinkling the survey sheets. Strangely, instead of continuing the passing down of the sheets, she stood up abruptly, stalked all the way down to the bottom of the lecture hall and handed it to a surveyor.

At this point, the guy in front of us turned around and went, "She didn't have to do that."

I had similar lines of thinking and replied, "She could've just said no. Or she could've continued handing it down."

My groupmate agreed, "Yeah. Is she mad because we asked her to continue passing it down?"

As we puzzled over what could possibly be a rational explanation for the girl's mysterious outburst, said girl came stalking back to her seat. I suppose the guy was feeling guilty and so he attempted to tap her on the shoulder to ask her if she was alright. However, the poor boy's luck took an even sourer turn when she whipped around again and said vehemently, "Fuck off!"

Which caused the rest of us to ease back into our seats in stunned silence.

...I'm open to any interpretations of the event.

Now, time for grocery shopping (which shall be done at one in the morning).

Final note: ~scuffed gets honorable mention for her stellar [insert smirk here] piece done for ~astereilla's birthday. The picture's not available here (I would think the birthday girl would die of embarassment), but oh, it made my day.

13.12.07 | Update: Two left.

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It has been three days since university life officially started and I guess I still have a few kinks to work out, but otherwise, everything here is new and interesting. It's kind of nice having a little more independence, but the downside is that you've got to manage everything meticulously. Coming from a place where everything is pretty much done for you, there are a few bumps in the transition. Washing laundry has never been a problem for me, but now I have to worry about whether or not the clothes will shrink in the dryer. Probably not a big deal for most people, but I've never actually used a washing machine before. Comes with the territory of realizing just how privileged a life you've lived.

I'm taking five courses this term and I didn't get to choose any of them, mainly because the degree I'm going for doesn't allow me much freedom to choose. Let's see:
AFM 101: beginner's accounting course
AFM 131: intro to business course
CALC 104: calculus review course; prerequisite for CALC 109
ECON 101: beginner's economics course
PSYCH 101: beginner's psychology course

Except for calculus, all are required. Well, technically, calculus is required too, since I didn't take a class during high school. I should have. The course here goes at warp speed. Thank goodness I did a crash course during summer, but even that is not thorough enough. The professor just expects you to know everything she's talking about. -.-

Meh, I need to find an art supply store somewhere. University makes it a little difficult to do art now (plus I've left my supplies in Hong Kong), but I still want to doodle once in a while. Thing is, it's going to be expensive buying tools, equipment and everything because of the currency difference and tax. I really want to make a few masks before the end of October, though. Mainly inspired by the novel I'm reading. It would be fun to try something different.

It's still alive. Update in progress, now that there is finally something to put here. There are a couple of sketches that are in progress and a few completed paintings tucked in the sketchbook. On the other hand, I dread working on the 3D model project for art class. Clay doesn't like me very much DX and I think I've made the proportions of the upper and lower body look improportionate, so now the woman looks like she's going to fall over with all the weight she's got on her upper torso (lol).

On another note, I passed the simulation driving test! The instructor tried to scare us by saying that in all the company's operating years, no one has failed. Or, if he was trying to console us, it wasn't working. But once you've run the road a few times, it doesn't seem so bad. Oh, and it isn't good to not look over your book; if your class size is small, you have a greater chance of being picked on to answer questions and they, the instructors, love humiliating you. Lesson learned.

Onwards to the written test and then the actual driving lessons (will actually study for the test, of course)!

A rough summary then, from what I can remember off the top of my head.

I went to Europe during midterm break.

Yes, I realize that was some time ago and I've been meaning to write something about it, but I kept putting it off.

But I went to Europe. Well, Switzerland and Paris. The trip was basically an excuse to go on vacation disguised as a university visit. I ended up only visiting one university, because really, when you're sightseeing and all, you really don't have time for any others I know I should've taken the opportunity but considering the fact that just eating a plate of salad drains about 100 HKD, the chance of me actually studying there is slim to none. EHL has a nice program though. It's pretty interactive. The university itself was smaller than I imagined (the brochures made it look much bigger--sprawling complex and lands and all). They had a wine-tasting classroom--I've certainly never seen one before--with posters and tasting labels and stuff. I can see all that "...pale complexion and full-bodied, with fruity hints" grinding out. Even if we were absolutely sure we could afford the program, the woman kind of scared me with her "all students here are highly motivated and have high academic achievements" talk. And by high, she meant really high. Or really rich, but she left that part out. I'm interested, but not that motivated. So shoot us if we can't decide what we want to be right now.

Enough about the university. Switzerland itself was pretty awesome. The scenery was pretty amazing. We visited a waterfall that was located inside a mountain, took a train up to an even taller mountain that revealed snow-capped peaks behind the ones we thought were the highest, and went to a cheese factory. The people there were friendly most of the time. Hmm...come to think of it, I prefer Interlaken over Morges or Geneva. You're surrounded by two unmurky, torquoise-colored lakes. But I suppose my aunt does have a point: it feels nice to stay there for vacation, but it's kind fo hard to live there, especially when you're used to the easy accessibility of a city. My sister noted that she did not see any cinemas at all. There was a casino though. Not that I, you know, gamble. Or can go in the first place anyway.

Getting around wasn't too bad because my aunt had a friend living there and she drove us around. She's a nice person and talks a whole lot, but isn't...too good a driver. She drives manually but tends to let the car slide towards the lane with oncoming traffic. Even with both hands on the wheel. This is a highway we're talking about with people driving at 130+ kilometers an hour. We vividly recall seeing an old grandmother swearing at us as she passed us. At one point, the friend decided to tell my aunt a story about a car crash she had earlier where the airbags chafed her skin when they burst out. She went, "Do you want to see my burns?"...and lifted both hands off the wheel. My dad held onto the door handle until his knuckles turned white. He had a terrified expression on his face. My sister suffered a similar reaction. My aunt didn't seem to notice, however, as friend and aunt were engaged in a conversation full of gesturing and hand-lifting-off-wheel-and-waving-abouting. Nevertheless, she was friendly and didn't seem to mind our constant interruption with all the sightseeing stuff. We wouldn't have seen all those places without her.

There's not much to say about Paris, save the fact that it isn't as romantic as everyone says it is. It probably depends on who you go with and what you see. And my judgment is biased, because generally speaking, I prefer non-city destinations, since I already live in a city, so I don't see much of a point in going to another to buy stuff that I can get back home. Unless it's really good electronics. Or supplies.

Heh. We got yelled at for asking for a few small plates to hold bread and bread crumbs in when we were eating breakfast. The words were: "THIS IS FRANCE, NOT ENGLAND! PEOPLE IN FRANCE DON'T EAT WITH PLATES!"

...

But the catacombes were pretty cool. The tunnels were lined with skeletons, one on top of another, with plaques inscribed with philosophy or quotes. It's pretty daunting at first, but then you get over that and you come out quiet and humbler. It's worth the visit.

And the louvre is gigantic.

Another thing that was pretty awesome (or morally incorrect, depending on your perspective) is the metro fare-skipping. Basically, you get two people in with the price of one ticket. What happens is one person stands in the turnstile and the other edges in, while slipping the ticket into the feeder. You both push at the same time and there you go. Saves a lot of money. Apparently, a lot of people do that and no one really cares.

That was a nice break.