Starting with a Breakfast la!

So, it's Saturday morning, and I went with my Malay friend up to SSMU for a MASSA event- breakfast! Hahaha, first time I sat there and thought, "Wow. I'm in a room where everyone is asian." It was very fun, despite me being a little apprehensive about feeling socially awkward- it's not like I dropped in on a first-term welcome party.. Well, I knew four of the people there, and it was all good, I talked with different people, had lots of laughs, and had really interesting breakfast food! Toast with this yellow kaya spread with butter. Soft-boiled egg which you crack open, let it flow into your bowl, mix it up a bit and add soy sauce and pepper. I only had one spoonful of that though, because eating something you're purely allergic to is not good. I'm consciously keeping track of how much allergens I'm consuming, so I decide whether or not I've reached the quota of the week haha. Well, of course, the allergens I consume are ones that are mixed with stuff, such as a sandwich (can't help the bread), noodles in soup (part of it as well), while there are the ones that are totally avoidable and almost pointless, such as drinking a cup of milk, or just eating an egg, or having a slice of cheese (it's gross and just not tasty, eating it like that, my opinion..).
After, I had promised that Malay friend (who lives on the same floor in rez as me) that I'd go with them to the table tennis/ping pong "club"- my other friend told me to join haha because going to competitions require at least 4 people- and when I went to check it out/practice, we all came to five people, including the "coach"/leader. I did warn them that I suck though, but it's interesting how they said that's not matter, since all the girls table tennies teams aren't very good. Haha. Well, surprisingly, it wasn't that bad! So I guess 'cause I went to the practice, I am now part of the McGill girl's ping pong team. Last term, apparently there were only 4 ppl on the girls team, while there were 8 on the guys'.. Then of course, comes to the dilemma of the week. They're going to Mississauga for competition (or "testing the waters" really) this coming weekend. Originally, I agreed to come check it out 'cause my friend told me one of the girls may not be able to go, and thus they can't go because you NEED a team of at least 4. And so I wanted to be of help too. Plus, if not, since there's 5, it's also good because there'd be a backup. Problem: homework overload. Did not see the midterms/work coming until I flip the page to the next week of my planner. Dammit! So, even worse, I have a Anthro midterm on the Monday after that weekend, and I'm SCREWED for that class. Plus, math webwork is due on that sunday. Today is Sunday, and I worked my butt off at the library today. I went home when the last library closed at 8pm today. I haven't made a definite decision yet, however, I have to in at least two days. T.T

Last night Saturday was also fun, as I went to have a catch-up & bake thing with my friend on the first floor, and then went up to the 4th floor for the Mixed Drinks night my roomie and many of my mutual friends and acquaintances were having. The whole rez seemed to be partying last night lol. So after that was over, I went to bed, a little after midnight.

A shrill wailing sound woke me up. In the darkness, I groped for my alarm clock, thinking first of all, "It's too dark to be morning", "Ahhh my alarm clock is going psycho" to "My alarm clock is broken?!" to "WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON."
I open the door. I go down the hallway after grabbing my coat and boots. I stand in the freezing cold outside the rez, quivering like a young tree branch at 2am in the morning, listening to the sound of the firetrucks coming in along the front of the rez, the background shrill of the fire alarm, and the intermittent swearing of the people around me. Then finally we were released back into the warmth.
Just one sentence to express myself: TWO O'CLOCK IN THE FREAKING MORNING.

Flipping Pages.

Life feels really busy right now, but it's a kind of busy I've never really felt before. I suppose in the first year of this new adventure, almost anything familiar can be felt anew. I was thinking of comparing it to the spring of grade 11, when I had.. let me see- Starbucks work experience, 4-8 hours a week (I'd come home smelling of fresh coffee), piano lessons plus tap class at night on Thursdays, Psych AP and English AP taking turns piling work on me (and sometimes, they do not even take turns), Chinese school on Saturdays..... It felt so overwhelming, and it was like a test of endurance, living through those weeks until it gradually winded down in May, after the two AP exams. I said at that time, it was the busiest I've ever been in my life. Funny enough, grade 12 didn't even compare to those few weeks, even during the busiest times when we got ready for Hoops4Hope.

Now, looking back at that "schedule", the differences are astounding. First of all, most of it wasn't very fun. It certainly gave me a taste of how busy life can be, and I suppose time management was something I must've improved on. But, compared to today's schedule is almost like comparing the differences of work level between high school and university. I feel so independent, so adult. Not a huge difference in the maturity department, however. Hahaha. Certainly, there is progression- new experiences, new thoughts, revelations.. Feeling adult, and mature are quite different.

So, differences. The work load hasn't eased up, although I must say for the most part, I'm enjoying second term more than the first! So, of course if work load is either constant, or increasing, then you can guess how busy it can be if things are added to it. And man, there are many, many things.

I am content with the way my life is now, and I can say that at this moment, I'm truly happy I chose to come to McGill (however, it may change if you ask me later, eg. the Sunday night before Webwork is due). The people I met, the new experiences... It's been fun. One of the best aspects of university- the contuity of people you pass through. I keep meeting people, there is the potential to meet a new person, a new acquaintance, a newclassmate, a new friend every single day. This balance of juggling school, recreational, and practical needs is something I'm still fiddling with. Being pro-active about maintaining or deepening friendships- so essential now that people are spread out everywhere, each in their own Venn Diagram bubble, with their own neighbouring circles that shift or drift away.

My rough plans for the week? It's slowly forming a loose framework, but right now, I'm going to nap.

v@

Of Moving Stars and Whirled Peace.

Thursday++
On Thursday, I went to my first club meeting of the year! It was for the Redpath Museum Club, we'll see if I'll stick around! Seems very interesting so far- apparently what you see in the Redpath Museum is just the tip of the iceberg, and that there are amazing hidden things in he reserves.

Before that though, I went up to McTavish and stood at the top starting up at the sky, waiting for 5:38pm to come. Because that was the time the International Satellite was supposed to fly over Montreal, on Jan 21, 2010, at 5:38pm. Which was a tad inconvenient, since the club meeting was supposed to start at 5:20pm in the SSMU building I was standing by. And around 5:40pm, it came! It was like a bright, white star that moved silently down the clear black sky from Mont Royal, down towards me, towards the left of the moon. It continued its silent progress down McTavish, and it was wonderful. I remember I saw something like that a few years ago, and I was describing this to someone because I couldn't figure out was it was! And no one believed me... it freaked me out! What I saw a few nights ago was the same- you'd think it was just a star, unmistakenly moving through the sky, a bit slower than an airplane- but it didn't have any red flashing lights, nor the shape of one. It was an awesome experience, and my geography "homework", as my professor excitedly told us.

Saturday++
I had my first Ben&Jerry's ice-cream today! I chose "Imagine Whirled Peace" hahaha! It was sooo good! What really pushed us into going in was that the sign that actually said 10% off for McGill students! LOL! Since it WAS on Rue St. Catherines/Du College, from which the school was visible down the street...

OH and I also discovered the central train station! It was right connected to the mall, which was right down the main street from McGill! I can't believe it was so close, all along! It connects to the Bonaventure metro line too. So awesome. The mall's called Ville-Marie, and I still can't believe how many malls are stuffed downtown... everything's connected, I'd get a headache with the endless stores that appear all the same!

Activities Night #2

So, I went to Activities Night for this winter term... I want to join a club/organization something after I had a lame record of participation and such last term. I was glad I went there, even though I was hungry, and that it was after my gruesome 3.5 hour bio lab.. I stumbled across my Chocolate Factory Rez friend, Jie, there, and she introduced to me two people she met at a Leadership activity or something. Did I mention one of the best things I love about university is how you can meet new people every day? Well, I just met two new people today! One from India, and one from Iran. We had quite a long conversation too, before Jie said she'd accompany me upstairs to browse through the clubs/organizations/associatoins despite having just gone through it all with her two friends. So, I ended up leaving emails for..
-The Plate Club
-Redpath Museum Club
-Literature/Book Club
-MTSA (haha i finally see it, it was funny, they saw me first, and beckoned.. )
-Global China Connection (volunteer opportunities etc.)
-Anime Club (I was avoiding that corner -HAHA it was literally in a corner- and I felt repelled by it, but my other friend has been telling me to join it... so after much debate, I quickly scribbled my email down)
-Turkey Association (I can't believe it. The most unexpected, random club/association I'd expect to put my email down for)--> okay, it was because I walked past the table and hanging from it were pictures of beautiful scenery and I was looking at it because it was pretty, and I didn't know what Turkey looked like.. and one of the people talked to us, encouraging us to learn more about Turkey, free Turkish food and stuff....... hahaha)

Pick and choose, pick and choose! Wonder whether I'll even go to any of these!

5 Centimetres Per Second//Byousoku 5 cm

Yeah, I never used to youtube that much; perhaps when searching out songs and such, or to see a funny video. Well, during the Fall exam week, for some reason, the stress and environment drove me to youtube many things, which led to great re-discovers, joy, and happy moments. And also, the Narwhal song. Hahahaa.

Well, these few days, I stumbled across a movie I watched at least a year ago, "5 Centimetres Per Second". And in re-discovering it, realized that at this moment in time, it is the most visually beautiful animated work I've seen so far. And actually, it's not quite a movie, it's divided into three parts, or "episodes", but I have it on one file like a movie. It's a very slow-moving, drama, romance type movie, and I know if people can't stand slow-moving movies in which not much "action" happens, they will hate this movie. However, I could stand it, because of what I gathered from what it gave me: of feelings and life and time. And it's just beautiful to watch, because I remember my impressions of it when I saw it for the first time, and I was saying to myself throughout the movie, whenever a new scene popped up, wow. I wanted to touch the screen. I think I am a sucker for clouds, and the sky, and the pretty landscape.
However, DON"T try to watch this if you're not in the mood, if you're not in the quiet, if you're not alone, because I think it's something one should watch alone, at night, with senses that are not sleepy or tired. ALSO- please don't watch on youtube, or the effect of the animation is wasted. Watch it in the absolute best quality, with not second of blurriness. Or if you're not going to watch this, just google pictures... it's a feast for the eyes.

5 Centimetres Per Second trailer (the kind of quality you should watch it in):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKbfwX-AqRY&feature=related

===
For something by the same director, Makoto Shinkai, with some of the same aspect in a much shorter form, watch this 5-minute creation called "She and Her Cat"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBD5D040D44

Even more amazing, though, is this work, "Voices of a Distant Star"- Shinkai created wrote, produced this all by himself on a Mac computer. He and his wife even provided the voice acting! Considering this, this 30-minute piece is quite something.

Voices of a Distant Star trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dc--DFC2w00

Haiti.

This guy comes into our Anthropology of Development class today and gave a long speech regarding Haiti. He scared me though. Because he said, "One thing you CANNOT, MUST NOT do. Don't go to Haiti. You're going to die."
Seriously. And this was near the beginning, and I had no idea what the purpose of his speech was. Apparently, he wanted to tell us to not go there to hand out emergency supplies and such, and to just stay in school. Yeah, it took me a few minutes to get that, he was on off on tangents and it was quite vague. But scary.
Anyhow.
My wishes go to Haiti.

Winter 2010, Here I Go!

So, classes I'm taking this term:

Biology 112 (Molecular)
Geography 104 (the most basic Geography course designed for U0 students)
Math 141 (continuation of Math 140... how I weep)
Anthropology 212 (of Development)

Yeps, four courses again. Makes me apprehensive for next year, but I'm going to keep myself busy. And also, it's not like I'll be lazing aroung doing nothing, since Math is going to kick my ass unless I make the first move, and Anthropology is going to be something totally new, while Biology sounds like more work (since it accompanies a 3.5 hour lab every week and all). Oh, and Math accompanies a 2 hour tutorial every week. Upgraded from 1 hour...)

===
I'm going to join something and try to make it stick. So I'm off to Activities (clubs/organizations/associations all gather) Night to pick and choose, this Wednesday. My exercise portion is done with though- my friend asked me to do Shaolin Kung Fu, and so now I'm signed up for this Tues-Thursday class, 8-10pm every week, for 20 sessions: comes out to 80$. Ridiculously cheap, no? So now it's my long term goal to take a recreational class at the athletics centre every term for the rest of my time at university. Maybe I'll try kendo? Lol, it's because we were so tired out during the first session that during our break, we were staring hazily through the glass that separated us from the people next door doing what seemed like the easy waving of sticks. While wearing cool uniforms (shinai) too.... At least for this class, we weren't required to buy uniforms of any sort.

The Wrong Body Exhibit.

So, I was going to the Bodies Expo that came to Montreal, because I had missed going to the one that had come to Science World in Vancouver a few years back. A few days before going, I was checking it up on the internet, and discovered that it was not the same exhibition as the one featured at Science World. That one was the first exhibition made, called "Body Worlds" whereas this one is called "BODIES... The Exhibition"..... and reading about the controversy about the origins of the bodies in this exhibition (which is now not a problem in "Body Worlds") immediately made me decide not to go anymore, due to ethical reasons. So scary, if I had not checked it up a few days before, and had actually gone, and found out about this later... It would've left me with trails of regret and anger at my ignorance.

Thus, the Bodies Expo I did not go, and I am happier for it.

Back&&Recap!

Flight++
I got up at 6am and groaned into the darkness. I didn't want to get on the plane, nevermind get out of bed. But I had no choice, and so, an hour later, I'm at the YVR airport, then on the 8am flight to Calgary. I got delayed at Calgary for about an hour and a half, due to bad weather conditions and they sprayed this green and yellow neon stuff all over the wing of the plane- I was watching right above the wing, and some got on my window too.
(p.s. a donut at Tim Horton's in Calgary costs just 89cents instead of exactly 1$ (89cents plus tax) like it is in Montreal!)I was so surprised when I got change back for the 1$. It was my first time in Calgary too- and I saw snow for the first time after leaving Montreal!

Back in the Mtl airport, I was in a state of confusion trying to find the bus stop for bus 204/209 that will take me to the Gare Dorval, where I would embark on bus 211/221 which would take me directly to the Lionel-Groulx metro station. I made it, after waiting a damn long time in the cold (it felt like), and dragging my twice-as-heavy suitcases (yes, I left with only one piece of luggage) down the snow-covered walk down to my rez. Standing there so resolutely in the dark, and at its feet lay robes of white. I stepped into the darkness of my apartment, and was ambushed by a mob. Haha. It was quite a happy mob, though.

And in the weeks since I got back, I've gone to two potlucks, watched Sherlocke Holmes at the theatres (after Avatar sold out, illustrated by the masses of people packed like sheep in the line-up), and had some yummy things to eat.

I tried another two exotic fruits: omberella (brought back from Sri Lanka), and mangosteens (yum!!!)

On the tea front, I had some nice Ketepa Black Tea from Kenya- apparently the largest exporter of black tea in the world?