The Joys Of Post-Secondary

Tomorrow is my first test in university. It is in Calculus, and worth 20% of the course. I am like every parent's worst nightmare: ever since I have gotten to university I've done nothing but slack off. Well tonight I decided that that was going to change. So I started tackling the one that I've done the least work in, Archaeology, and then turns out my printer doesn't work! After multiple tries and battling the very tempting prospect of literally smashing it to pieces (there is a handy dandy hammer right beside me right now...) I've given up and lost all hope in humanity. Just joking. Only in printers.


"Are you from Taiwan? Because you are nicely made baby"
- Laura D. (I have taught her well)

Flying By

It's already the end of the 19th, and then on to the last home stretch of September. Hard to believe how fast time goes. In exactly two weeks from today I will have my first midterm. In exactly two days I will have my first pop quiz. in 22 minutes it will be five minutes until tomorrow. See what I mean about how quickly time goes by?

Today I attempted for the first time today to make Hamburger Helper. I added my own little twist by cooking the hamburger with lots of onion (because hamburger just isn't the same without locking in onion juice) and put in real cheese, so it can actually have a little bit of non-process nutrients. The important thing is, the taste-testers, aka whoever else was hungry at the time, really enjoyed it. It's nice to know you've made a good meal. I think I would be perfectly content being a stay-at-home mom, cooking and cleaning. Some women think it's degrading to be just that but for some reason I enjoy that kind of stuff. But that's just me I guess haha.

One thing I have not been doing is washing dishes. I used to love it, but that was when I did it for other people. Now that I have to do it for myself, and I am pretty much the only one who does it, I am not liking it so much anymore. When all you want to do is cook and eat and you walk into the kitchen and there are a mountain of dishes you have to tackle, I can see where it gets tiring. But right now speaking of food is making me really hungry so I'm going to head to the kitchen for some good ol' instant noodle. It's like the staple midnight snack: quick, easy, pretty filling. And hot, for those cold wintery nights. Which haven't happened yet in Hamilton. It's September and everyone's still relying heavily on the fan. Whew.

Oh Take Me Back To The Start...

Have you ever gotten to a point where you feel like everything you do you're burying yourself deeper and deeper into a hole with no way out? For the past little while, it has been the story of my life. Like many things, it started with the small stuff. Which piled up and escalated into the big stuff. I'm at the point now where I no longer know what to do anymore. It's like I'm being pulled in so many different directions, and I don't know which is right. Like no matter how I go about doing whatever I do, it seems like I will hurt somebody. And that's the last thing I want. I guess a lot of it is because ever since I've gotten here, for some reason I've just gotten wrapped up and no longer spending much time (if any) in the Word. And as for actual prayer time, that's been non-existant too. Interesting how as soon as it stops, that's when things really start going downhill. Anyways enough brooding for tonight. I've got a recipe for clam chowder I want to make again. Being sick sucks; I skipped my first class today. It was math (big surprise). I spent the time taking a nap instead, and ended up being late for another class. It was kind of fun though, someone else in the house was late too and our buildings were close to each other so we ran together and I learned a new shortcut on the way. In gerantology we watched this video interviewing people in their 90's and their lives and stuff; it was really neat to see their perspective on things and also to see things you've never realized before. Such as how stereotyped they are and how they're always being put down because they're viewed as "too old". There was this one guy and he was like "I told my kids when I can no longer take care of myself, to either put me in a nursing home or a place for used cars. That's what happens when you get run down: you get discarded." It was really sad in some parts. But in others it was really funny. The same guy was talking about how he loves and appreciates his life so much more now. He's nearing 100 and goes to business meetings, reads the paper every day, drives, and lives on his own. His favourite thing to do is play cards, specifically solitaire. I saw him putting the cards down and immediately knew what it was; pretty cool.

The New Mix

Today was an... interesting day to say the least. Woke up and got ready an hour too early for class. Then went to class not knowing it was a tutorial and realized that we don't have one in archeology for three weeks. Went home, went to bed, then went to easy calc, which turned out to be a lot like grade 12 in that the prof went over the same stuff over and over again and in the same monotone voice. Then in psych met the T.A. who told us that we only have to show up for two classes in the week and that wasn't one of them. So got home early, made a balanced supper of potatoes, mix of frozen vegetables, and fried perogies (which is Polish by the way) and bummed around until going to the grocery store. We spent a surprisingly short two hours going through the aisles and picking out random stuff to eat, it was actually pretty fun. Came home, ate again, and we invented a mix of chocolate pudding and marshmallows, which wasn't that good but maybe it's just because it was no-name stuff. Anyways we turned up the stove to roast some marshmallows minus the chocolate, had a few fire incidents, and realized that I cannot do the math problems and so now I'm looking to switch math courses into something harder. Go figure.

So yeah, there's my day squished into one paragraph. Terribly exciting I know but such is life for the next six years I guess haha. Oh dear...

If He Can Do It...

"University 'Very Easy' For Hong Kong Nine-Year-Old"

- Yahoo! Canada News

HONG KONG (AFP) - Hong Kong's youngest ever university student said he was already bored with his "very easy" classes as he started his mathematics course on Tuesday.

The nine-year-old maths genius gained two grade As and a B in his A-levels in England -- normally taken by 18-year-olds.

March Boedihardjo told reporters gathered at Hong Kong Baptist University he was excited about starting school, but the classes were not stimulating.

"I've learned it a year or two years ago," Boedihardjo said as reporters peppered him with questions and cameras flashed around him.

The boy appeared impatient with the endless questions from reporters and kept asking his father when they could leave.

Boedihardjo did not have a good impression of his classmates either.

"They made no response (in classes). They just listened in the class and didn't interact with each other," he said.

The boy said that his old school friends "wanted to play", unlike the university students.

The university accepted Boedihardjo last month and has designed a special five-year course for him that will lead to a masters degree.

"Burn Out Bright" - Switchfoot

Does it have to start with a broken heart
Broken dreams and bleeding parts
We were young and world was clear
But young ambition disappears
I swore it would never come to this
The average, the obvious

I’m still discontented down here
I’m still discontented

If we’ve only got one try
If we’ve only got one life
If time was never on our side
Then before I die
I want to burn out bright

A spark ignites
In time and space
Limping through this human race
You bite and claw your way back home
But you’re running the wrong way

The future is a question mark
Of kerosene and electric sparks
There’s still fire in you yet
Yeah there’s still fire in you!

I keep cleaning up the mess I’ve made
I won’t run away
I can’t sleep in the bed I’ve made

These past few days have been nothing but crazy. On Wednesday I went to Oshawa to visit a good friend whom I haven't seen in a very long time. It was great; I got to ride on a double decker train, meet her family and boyfriend, and most of all see her again and have a good laugh about how little we have changed over the years.

On Friday I took a trip over to Toronto to visit my dad and brother. We went to Ikea and I finally got my bookcase, which I have yet to set up. It was good to see them again and eat some real home-cooked food but now I'm starting to get used to calling where I'm currently living as "home" so it's kind of nice to have a place to go back to that's your own. The room at least haha.

Last night I had heard that there was a meteor shower at 6am and so I convinced someone to stay up with me until then to watch it with me. After watching a movie and me accidentally falling asleep (oops) we went outside at 6 in the morning, only to find out that the sun had already risen. So we went back to bed, woke up 5 hours later, had breakfast, and then I went over to the university to pick up the Macpass. The stuff was alright. You got two t-shirts, an umbrella, a water bottle, two clipboards, a canvas bag to put it all in, and of course the bracelet (the actual macpass) to get you into all the frosh/welcome week stuff. Pretty cool, except that when you think that it costs $140, it was totally not worth it. Oh well, it's part of the "experience" right?

I'm starting to really like Hamilton. The Wendy's here have vanilla frosties (think DQ ice cream, except slightly more sugary and lighter) and there is this pho (pronounced fuh) vietnamese noodle place which is extremely cheap. The guys took me for a tour around campus, so I slightly know it better and it's cool. There's actually a lake somewhere nearby so later on tonight we're going back to check it out. I caught a toad crossing the road, which was pretty cool and unexpected. I mean out of nowhere hops this toad, right in front of us, heading towards a garden of flowers. It liked me though and stayed on my hand even though I kept trying to set him down, in the patch of flowers that he so desperately wanted to go to. Hehehe.

Then I took a bus to this really nice bubble tea place. Not nice as in fancy high quality nice but there were couches and we were pretty much the only ones there so like a very laid back casual atmosphere, and not too bad a price either. I've got to say it could quickly become one of my favourite places if I ever knew how to get back lol.

Anyways that's my day so far. School starts so soon! I'm like terrified, but from I hear it's not that bad. If you mess up there's always summer school, which is apparently how a lot of people raise their average and stuff, so that could be something I may have to take advantage of.

Well I'm going to go do something productive. Catch ya later!