I should have mentioned that I would be on a 2 month hiatus before going on it? Haha, too late now.
I better warn you that it’d be a long blog because I have nothing better to do.
Exams and uni are done for the year, which means Christmas is coming soon. Our family's hosting it so should be fun although I'm not in the festive spirit yet! Apart from that, nothing out of the ordinary has happened. Grandma's going to Vietnam this Saturday and aunt suggested that I should go since I have nothing better to do in the break (haha, thanks!). I'd prefer going after I finish my degree but grandma can't wait that long but I've offered to take her to the airport. My uncles' would do the driving, of course! Speaking of which, I haven't driven in AGES -- at this rate, I doubt I'll get my P's but with the number of fatalities of P-platers by the time I do get them, there'd be all these rules and regulations in place! -_______________________-;;
We had dinner with the relatives because it was grandpa’s death anniversary. Prior, I spent the arvo speaking to grandma on the phone. I’ve never spoken to her for that long and I’m surprised that I could actually hold a conversation with her, especially with my broken Vietnamese. She mentioned grandpa a couple of times that I wondered whether it was painful to do so. It’s been 6 years since his passing and I must admit I’ve been guilty of not thinking about him daily. Looking back, I don’t have many memories of him (I don’t even remember the sound of his voice) -- all I remember is when they first came to Australia and were learning English. Toan and I would test them saying the word in Vietnamese and they’d have to say it in English. It was a bunch of laughs. But my point is: will we all become distant memories? You know those graves you see where they are old and dilapidated, would that be me one day?
On a more brighter note, Jenny and I watched The Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift to kill the time and I gave her the first few episodes for Fruits Basket, which was stupid because I’m gonna wait till she’s in year 10 to watch the rest. And remember Bebo? Well, apparently it’s a hit with the Juniors but I think it’s a kiddie friendly version of Myspace.com! She told me to make one but I have one just can’t remember my username and password!
It’s only Week 1 of the holidays and like others, I’ve made a list -- haven't started but I’ve got another 3 months or what not to finish it all:
The MUST DO TO-TO list:
- file notes
- learn to cook
- clean my room
- rent a bunch of DVDs and veg out
- finish reading books started at the beginning of year
- buy new clothes
- play some pool
- get some driving lessons
- start an exercise regime but it's so hot outside!
- get out of the house some time this year! rofL!
- earn more than I spend
Hope everyone else is having better luck than me!
It’s only occurred to me that Fridays are jam-packed full of all my chiro classes – a lecture and 1 hr and 2 hr tutes and that’s probably the reason why I had 3 exams today: a chiro quiz and spot test and my biology midterm.
With the exam at 8 o’clock, I spent the morning train ride cramming. Before the exam, the lecturer gave a short lecture on Ethics where she eventually talked about the repercussions of cheating in an exam: we’re cheating ourselves and those that we’re cheating off. The marks are scaled to align with a bell curve and if everyone got full marks then we’d all get credits and it’d be as if we didn’t do the exam. However, if one did choose to cheat and assuming from a smart person then you’ll drag that person’s marks down. Is it right that he who studied hard didn’t get the results rightly deserved? She informed us that she would leave the room returning later to collect the papers so the decision of whether or not to cheat was up to us. “There’s no point in cheating”, she continued, “Because the exam’s only worth 5%”. I’m pretty sure I failed regardless.
The next hour was spent drinking hot chocolate and cramming for biology before having the spot test. Worth 2.5% I managed a pass making up for the previous one. Skipping chemistry, I ventured off to the library to study for the last 4 lectures. There I met Trannie who was also studying but for her finals. Also met Su to which we began complaining about not knowing anything although she reasoned that I ‘knew’ my stuff because I only had to cram the last 3 lectures that day compared to her 8. Haha, yeah right!
The exam consisting of 20 MC questions were really specific so I hope I pulled a pass out of the bag. I walked out 25 minutes into the exam because I’ve learnt my lesson. You know when you sit there hoping that the answer will come to you? Well for me, it doesn’t; Logic decides to run and hide during these times. Afterwards, the group of us painstakingly went through the exam and even though there were only 20 questions we could only remember half? If only we had study groups before the exam, we would have blitzed it! It was fun arguing our points and hi-5ing when we were correct!
The two hours before my next tute, I managed to convince the group to play a game of pool. Success! The best $2 spent – it took us 45 minutes to finish! Brittany, a chick who lives on campus, took me to her place and I spent the whole hour literally ‘ohhhing and ‘ahhingg’. How cool would it be to live on campus? Sure you’d have to cook (cleaners provided) but you’d be living with a bunch of close mates? Eventually, the 2 hour chiro tute was awesome, we learnt how to find restrictions in a patient and as a result which areas they would be experiencing pain. I’m really looking forward to trying it on someone. Anyone want to volunteer?
You gotta love Fridays: uni from 8am – 5pm!
I had an awesome holiday even though it was meant to be a study break (haven’t had my midterms yet). I don’t think it could have turned out any better, maybe if I saw Tracey but I’m sure we’ll do something during the summer one. But yeah, I went out a lot (for me anyway) and it was so stress free that now I feel like I can take on anything. I don’t even mind that we have uni soon; it’d be a welcome change. So what did I do? Major highlights included driving, playing pool, cousin’s birthday party that was on my birthday, grandma coming back from Melbourne. I also got my room painted and had to sleep on the couch for two nights. How I missed my room. The couch is uncomfortable and there’s no privacy. In the morning, Mom kept pestering me to do errands for her. Like hello, I’m sleeping! I’m such a grouch if I don’t get enough sleep! I could feel Dad watching me sleep just to annoy me and my brother blasting the music in the morning. F!
I’m so glad that I got to see familiar faces! <3 my gang!
For anyone who has ever studied Chemistry, you should be familiar with the notion that it is not something that cannot be learnt overnight – you should be revising your work every week. I distinctively remember Foti cautioning us during our very first lesson in year 11. But surely I thought; all subjects insist upon this so why is Chemistry any different?
Years later, I figure that he might be onto something. My lecturer told us that organic chemistry is a lot like this number 1417212428313538: ‘At first glance, it is perplexing but upon closer evaluation, there is in fact a pattern behind the numbers’. By week 3, I was totally and utterly lost – even the pictures didn’t help that I began to skip my lectures!
With that in mind, nothing tops the practicals that we have on a fortnightly basis. I hate that they’re always 2 chapters ahead of what we’ve learning in the lectures and so I have trouble doing the pre-LAB. I don’t know why but my poor demonstrator always gives me an oh-Jane-what-the-hell-am-I-going-to-do-with-you look. Maybe it’s because I ask him the stupidest questions because the answer is always right under my nose or that I constantly stuff up my experiments in which he just laughs at me.
He usually walks around the lab and one time I saw him approaching and
when I looked over my shoulder again he was gone. I was quite relieved
because I didn’t know what the hell I was doing. And then I realised
that he was standing right beside me.
HIM: How you going?
ME: I’m not getting any gases.
HIM (lifts up the test tube and gives it a swirl): What the hell are you talking about? There’s a shitload of gases there!
ME: Oh.
Yes, he says shit a lot but for some reason I don’t seem to mind.
I also have the worst luck with my equipment especially those made of glass. Last semester, I single-handedly managed to break a burette, 3 test tubes, a separating funnel and a round bottom flask – I must mention that we only had 7 practicals. Luckily, you don’t have to pay for the damages because then I’d be so broke right now. I can’t even say that I haven’t broken anything this semester because that would be lying.
Practicals are strictly monitored by this scary, middle-aged man. And
oh my god, I don’t think I’ve ever meet anyone I’ve been completely
petrified of. Killeen is a cute teddy bear compared to this man. For
those that don’t know who he is, I’ll try to describe him. He’s in
charge of safety within the lab and if you do anything unsafe, WATCH OUT! because he’ll come down on you like no tomorrow. I’ve actually been told off by him a total of 3 times:
1. Doing a titration – he came up to me and said that the colour was too dark.
2. About to put hazardous liquids down the sink
3. Putting my test tubes on the rack
On the third occasion, a guy pointed out that I had gone red afterwards. The man asked me if it was because I thought he was telling me off (he in fact wasn’t). I was caught off guard and I stumbled on my words but somehow managed a small yes.
What’s more is that we also have weekly quizzes and don’t me started on those.
Oh how I loathe organic chemistry!
‘You don’t need a broken heart to know one can be broken’. Evermore’s ‘Running’ continues to play in the distance but feeling heavy you simply roll over. You toss and turn in an attempt to make yourself comfortable before you hear the dreaded words: ‘You’re going to be LATE again!’
The pouring rain from last night had kept you up and you groan as you turn off the alarm clock -- 5.38AM. Staring in the mirror, you appear pale and have noticeable bags under your eyes. Mom gives a compliment saying you look tired. You shrug off the comment and get ready for the day. Eventually, you find yourself running around like a headless chicken because you forgot to pack your bag the night before and now cannot find your lab coat.
Your morning is a blur as you try recall whether or not you turned off the computer while you sit on the train. The windows are fogged and you shake your head as you recall stacking it as you stepped onto the train. The lady across the carriage gives you an icy stare; she wasn’t very amused when you used her to break your fall! You have repeatedly apologised and spend the rest of the trip avoiding her gaze. The driver announces that the train will not stop at Eastwood station because it has been flooded and you wonder how bad it could be since you’ve been there a couple of times.
Thinking that the shelter at Epping station would be sufficient to keep you dry, you decide it’s best to take out your umbrella after your glasses have become wet and blurry. As you trek to uni, it is before long you realise that your shoelaces happen to have become loose and you bend over to tie them. At the same time, you hear a loud beep and subconsciously look over your shoulder.
SPLASH!
Stunned, it takes you a minute to realise that what just happened did:
the bus refused to slow down as it drove over the puddle. You are now
drenched from head to toe. As you wipe the dirty, drain water from your
face, you are enormously grateful that mom made you wear that hideous,
waterproof jacket – at least you’re a bit dry.
***
Glad to be out of the rain, you stand in front of the warm heater waiting for the classroom to fill up. You curse the rain and in vain, hope that some of it will at least have the decency to fill the dams. And as if in response, you see the sun peeking from the clouds.
*Some scenes may or may not have occurred.
My new home. I'm still in the midst of unpacking.
