Master of Procrastination

The Fluff is Still Floating

2007-10-28T06:20:00.000-07:00

In keeping with my habit of posting on the eve of exam periods, here's my latest rant just days before my sixth set of university exams.

It's very hard to believe that I've now been in Canberra for three years. As much of a cliche as it sounds, it feels like just yesterday that I got here. Not much about me personally has changed, while at the same time, a lot has changed. For instance, I've had two girlfriends in that time. Minor stat maybe, but I learned a lot. For another thing, I got addicted to coffee and health cereal. Now I can't start a day properly without caffeine.

So, about the exams. I've got four in seven days:
Thursday 1 November - Corporate Valuation
Saturday 3 November - European Business
Monday 5 November - International Financial Management
Thursday 8 November - Credibility Theory
So that's Finance, followed by International Business, Finance again, and ending with Statistics. I've got mixed thoughts about my last exam being the toughest. Most obviously, it gives me the most time to study. Also obviously, it gives me the most time to freak out about it.

But most unnaturally, I actually began studying for these exams more than a week before the first one. This is a marked departure from past form, and a welcome one. It's about time I started learning from past mistakes.

There's an interesting theory floating (pun intended - you'll see why in a minute) around ANU about second semester exam study. Exams always begin around early November, but a couple of weeks before, the trees start giving off fluff. Don't ask me for what type of tree it is, all I can say is the stuff coming off it is best described as 'fluff'. Anyway, the theory is: if you start exam revision when the fluff starts floating down, you're doing well. If you start exam revision when the fluff stops (which is about two weeks after it starts), you're screwed. So I'm going to take this theory as a good indication that I'm on-time with my study, since the fluff is currently still falling.

I'm looking forward to returning to Perth for the holidays. On the cards are a trip to Singapore, a part-time job, and a new iPod. I've had a Mini for 3 years and the battery's been worn down from 8 hours to 5, so I'd say it's about time.

Seems like a lot of things are "about time" in this post. I've come to realise that's what life is like in this time-poor society: we get so caught up in the present that realisations about where we are, and where we should be going, come so suddenly and take us by surprise so much that we're knocked off our feet every time. Wonder what's doing this to us. The evils of capitalism? Reality television? Lindsay Lohan's latest rehab gig? (And yes, that was a dig at our obsession with celebrity life, which I myself am not immune to.)

But before we get too judgemental about how vaucous our lives have become, let's not ignore how the world has changed for the better. Two quotes about 'peace' have always stuck with me:
1. "Peace" is just a silent period where the world stands around reloading.
2. For a world never at peace, it's never been more in demand.
I've heard about a movement known as the 'Micah Challenge' whose mission is to reduce poverty by half - and yes, that's world poverty - by the year 2015. They started in 2000, and at this halfway point, they're about 40% of the way toward reaching their goal. It's good to know such belief in the human spirit is still possible.

But you have to wonder about all the 'fluff' that we in Western, first-world countries get overwhelmed with. Are we losing track in the fundamentals of humanity? Do we even know what those fundamentals are anymore?

Europe and exams

2007-06-04T18:39:00.000-07:00

July 22, 2006? That was the last time I posted? Why does that not surprise me. Blogging is fun whenever I get around to it, but during uni term there are always a million other things to think about. And it seems I only get around to blogging during exam time when I'm looking for any excuse to procrastinate!

It's currently Tuesday, and my exams are:
Thursday - Investments
Tuesday - Microeconomics
Friday - Maths
Thursday - Risk Theory (Statistics)

Once again I find myself dreading the Stat exam, but not as much as usual. You see, this year things have changed which have actually made me less of a procrastinator and more anticipatory. I may have to change the name of this blog *shock horror!*.

Over the summer holidays, my family and I took a trip to Europe (again). We last went 6 years ago, and this time went to many of the same places, yet it was different and somehow better. I guess that as you age, you grow to appreciate culture and history more and more. And since I was the official cameraman, I took some 5 hours of raw footage over the 3-week trip through Germany, Austria, Switzerland, England and Italy.

The 2-minute version is: we flew to Frankfurt and spent our first night there, then hit to road (we were on an Insight tour) to Munich. After two days there we travelled to Salzburg to celebrate Mozart's 250th birthday (my mother was over the moon) before heading to Innsbruck. After a night there we ventured to Lucerne and Zurich for New Year's (my personal highlight) and the official tour was over. It lasted 10 days.

From there we flew to London for a few days with a friend of my father's, and then the culmination of the trip was our five days in Rome. We saw the Colosseum and the Vatican along with other less well-known landmarks. It was awesome.

As I mentioned, I was the official cameraman, and so when we returned to Australia I was charged with editing the raw footage into a one-hour presentation. Some of the stuff I had to cut was painful, but the demands of an interesting documentary necessitated editing. In the end I even got to design my own opening- and closing-credit sequences (fun for me) to the music of 'Unforgettable' by Frank Sinatra.

Then I returned to Canberra - but the big change was that my sister moved with me. Yep, she's here with me studying Commerce at ANU. And she is the reason I'm actually decently prepared for my first exam on the day before the day before the exam itself. Read that again carefully: it's Tuesday, and I'm already mostly prepared for a Thursday exam. I'm shocked too.

Having a younger sister around means that I have to work. She will tick me off when I don't. So as a result I prepared a formula sheet last week, and my summary will be finished by the end of the day. What to do tomorrow? A past paper and that's it. My question: will I actually forget stuff during the time between finishing preparation and the exam itself? It's a scary thought.

Back to the Grind

2006-07-22T20:39:00.000-07:00

A week ago I returned to Canberra to resume actuary at ANU. For the three weeks previous, I was in Perth for one of my most enjoyable holiday periods to date. The weird thing was, there wasn't any particular stand-out outing I went to, bar one which most people may find a little edgy. Basically I was hanging out with friends at Garden City or else at home playing with my dog Oscar or watching Foxtel. Yet it's amazing how the simple things in life are so pleasurable.

The one stand-out aforementioned was the Ignite Young Adults Conference 2006. This event was put on by my church for the first time, and looks set to become an annual event to look forward to. Given this was the first time the event has been held, it attracted over 300 full-time delegates and nearly 500 for the night rallies. Pretty awesome no? With special guest speakers Jurgen Matthesius and Crishan Jayawardene (pretty sure I mispelled that one), the conference was an absolute blast, invigorating and refreshing. Even though next year I might go to Hillsong conference as well, Ignite will be more personal.

But now I'm back in Canberra resuming my studies. I have 13 contact hours a week, with one unit in each of the main areas of commerce (International Business), economics (Macroecomonics), finance (Financial Instruments and Risk Management) and the big "doozy", statistics (Survival Models). However the fact that I only have one statistics unit should equate to an easier time than last semester.

And to counter my extreme sleeping problems, I've got two classic novels to while me to sleep every night. Magician by Raymond E. Feist was written by a young man not much older than myself back in 1981, and I'm hooked even though I'm only a quarter of the way through it. Next on the agenda is "The Great DUNE Trilogy" written by the late and great Frank Herbert, apparently the greatest science-fiction novel ever penned. It's even longer than Magician, which is quite a feat considering the former is nearly 700 pages long.

So this is back to the grind.

One Cold July's Morning ...

2006-07-03T06:25:00.000-07:00

Being back in Perth has its advantages - and its disadvantages. Since I've returned home, I have caught up with most of my friends within a week thanks to a nice housewarming party on Saturday evening. Unfortunately as I was having dinner with my family later that night, I could only stay one hour, but in that time I managed to muck around with their dog Loki, play Time Crisis 3, play a little Go and down a beer (only half an hour before I drove home, but I was relatively fine).

On the downside, I received my first semester results last night. It's too depressing to go into here, but suffice to say I will find the rest of my holidays severely restricted by my parents' determination to get me studying again before second semester commences and I return to Canberra away from their watch. I don't blame them; I was very disappointed too. I passed everything, but at this stage I need to be aiming higher to achieve the exemptions from the Actuarial Institute examinations, which I'm told would be significantly harder.

And to top this all off, there's the possibility I may want to start something up with someone here. The whole long-distance thing has me hesitating, but if we make it clear at the outset that this will start casual, we may last till the end of the year when I return for three months (as opposed to the three weeks I'm currently here). But organising all this given my parents will now be watching me like hawks will make this that much more interesting.

And as for the title ... well, it's just a lot colder here than I remember Perth ever being in July. I'm told it even recently went negative, which would be a first. Then again since I've spent the majority of the last 18 months in freezing Canberra, it's not too tough dealing with it; what is tougher is handling our dog Oscar who will paw at our windows at night if he's not let into the garage, out of the cold.

I guess even dogs need their creature comforts. And they don't have to deal with statistics examinations. At times like these, I really envy my dog.

The Night Before

2006-06-18T07:59:00.000-07:00

Given my habit of waiting till the last minute to study for exams, deceiving myself into believing that I work better under pressure and that the reason that I procrastinate is so that I don't waste any time when it comes to the actual study, you would think that I'd have gotten over the panic attacks. Sadly, I haven't.

The odd thing was that this time, I felt more panicky last night than I do tonight, given that my exam begins in about eight hours. I'm not sure why, but I think it has something to do with being more afraid of Wednesday's Stochastic Modelling exam than tomorrow's Regression Modelling paper. Both of these subjects are of course terribly difficult, but Stochastic is clearly a league above Regression. Since I spent yesterday (Saturday) revising Stochastic, it might explain why I was more nervous last night than tonight.

I recall a similar post from year 12 which I can't be bothered checking now where I also published a blog hours before an impending exam. For some reason, putting off study to the last-minute gives me an odd rush, perhaps of adrenaline, perhaps just nerves. Whatever the case, it worked wonders last term during the mid-semesters, where the only revision I did for my Financial Mathematics exam was an eight-hour marathon the day before - and as a result, I score in the top quartile in my class (for the uninitiated, that means the top 25%).

Much as I realise that I can't allow this trend to continue, I find it hard to motivate myself during term when exams are weeks away and there are distractions right at hand, chief of them being the internal computer network. This year I moved on campus into Bruce Hall, and there exists a computer network between all the on-campus colleges such that using a certain program, rampant file-sharing occurs. I'd say about one to one and a half thousand students live on campus, and at its peak, there will be up to 500 users online at one time. At its peak, I've therefore seen up to 17TB of data shared on the network. The result is that there are thousands of movies and television shows available for me to download at the click of a button, and the phenomenal speed of download (up to 10 MB/s, average 300 kB/s) means that even the longest of movies can be downloaded within ten minutes, let alone episodes of my favourite TV shows.

This network has been the main detractant for me this last semester, so I plan to ebb the flow next semester and beyond. The latter may include moving off-campus so I don't have 24/7 access to the internal network as I do now. Of course the laptop is not alone in the blame. My sleep patterns are abysmal - I rarely sleep before 2am and often wake up after 11am. This means that during term, I find it hard to motivate myself to keep up to date, and marks are suffering as a result.

The primary difference between high school and university, I've found, is the degree of self-learning. In high school, you are tested on your subject every few weeks with tests, assignments and essays, all leading up to the final exam. In uni, you may have a subject where no tutorials are assessed, and the only assessments are an assignment and the final exam (as is the case with Stochastic Modelling). What's the motivation to keep up to date with such an assessment system? At times like this, I wish that we were made to do homework even in uni.

The result is this - the night before my exam, I haven't covered all the semester's material yet, and have had little practice at applying the theory. Next semester I will up the ante, but given my four exams are all within the next six days, I'm screwed for now. Better luck next time, eh?

Those Lazy Hazy Crazy Days

2006-05-23T08:25:00.000-07:00

Wow I have not posted for so long. Mainly because last time I tried to (over a year ago), for some reason when I logged in I got the account of this Saudi Arabian 25-year-old. Not sure why.

Well, I've been in Canberra for nearly one and a half years now doing a double degree in Actuary/Commerce at the Australian National University. For posterity's sake (and so I don't forget) I'll quickly make a note of the units I've done in that time.

Microeconomics - distinction
Money Markets and Finance - distinction
Accounting - distinction
Introductory Mathematical Statistics - credit

Macroeconomics - distinction (one mark off a HD! :@ )
Corporate Finance - not worth mentioning
Accounting - credit
Commercial Law - credit (considering i'm not a law student, i was v. pleased with this)

At the moment this semester I'm doing three Stat units simultaneously. That's right. 3 at the same time. The impossible mountain just got higher.
They are:
Regression Modelling (moderately challenging)
Financial Mathematics (my easiest)
Stochastic Modelling (the absolute motherload. Makes the last two seem like high school units.)

On the side I'm taking Marketing as an elective, and I may finally score a HD.

But you may be wondering, what does this post title refer to? It's actually the name of a country song which kind of describes my time. Lazy - my blog title has backing. Hazy - my lectures are so tough to comprehend I just drift through half of them pretending to write notes. Crazy - what I may become after this semester.

It is currently 1.30 in the morning. I have a Regression assignment due in just under 36 hours. I have not started work on this assignment.

That's my problem. There are so many distractions when you live away from home that procrastination becomes more like an art form. For example, I heard about this new series called Prison Break and conveniently enough, just four days before this assignment is due in (ie. two days ago), I started watching it.

I have since gotten through 14 episodes. That's nearly 10 hours down the drain staring at my laptop screen. Don't get me wrong, it's a compelling series, but my abysmal time management skills will bite me in the arse some day. It probably won't be this assignment - it's only worth 5% and is not a very long or difficult assignment - but it may be during an exam period. I can feel it coming, yet I'm doing little to prevent it.

Here's a shout-out to all those med students: just wondering if lack of sleep or sleeping late can cause a tic in the eye? Cause I seem to have come down with one. Or maybe it's just the excessive staring at my laptop screen.

Anyway, the point of this post was just to remind ppl - hell, just to remind myself - that I'm still alive and well over here on the east coast. Next post (hopefully): I'll post some of the more memorable events that happened to me last year.

University

2005-02-02T14:23:00.000-08:00

I'm going to Canberra.

*shocked exclamations from those who can't imagine choosing anything over Medicine (especially if offered in your home State)*

What's made me feel even more sure about this choice is the fact that since I sent in the confirmation form, I haven't once had serious second thoughts about turning my back on the prestige accompanying Med. I just couldn't go through with a six-year course I wasn't enthusiastic about. Sure, it's where I have friends and family to fall back on, and there's the rep that comes with having Dr. before your name, but I wouldn't enjoy it. I'm sure of that. About all I could imagine doing was Psychiatry - and I'm not willing to go through a general six-year course to specialise after all that gruntwork. Besides which, job opportunities are assured for actuaries as there is a shortage of them in Australia at the moment, and the pay (believe it or not) is better. As a ballpark figure a friend of mine guessed a starting salary of $120 000 per year, but I seriously doubt it can be that good. But the point is, it's better paying than Med ... and doesn't cut so badly into your downtime.

The fact that I'm moving interstate for four years doesn't bother me - at least not too much. I'm thinking long-term, which means I'll be back in Perth by the time I'm 22 anyway, and when you're considering the long term, four years out of an eighty-odd year lifetime isn't such a big deal. It's the rewards I hope to reap after my hiatus in Canberra that is really important.

And if you're still not convinced, consider that by the time I return to Perth having completed my degree, my Med friends will still have another two years to go, after which they still have internships, specialisation etc. which takes several more years. Actuary is maths-intensive, and since *shock horror* I enjoy maths, it should be interesting and enjoyable, if a little tedious at times.

For sure I'll miss everything in Perth - the family, the friends, the places, the home - but I'll be able to keep in contact with friends/family through e-mail and phone, and every few months I'll fly back for a short while.

Enough of this justification. The choice is made, I'm happy, and as I leave on the 10th of Feb, I hope to spend as much time as possible in the company of friends savouring these last times together before I leave.

Australia Day

2005-01-27T22:09:00.000-08:00

The 26th of January is where all those wildly patriotic, beer-swilling, cricket-loving blokes get out and bellow the national anthem at the various foreshores around every capital city in Australia - around every city in Australia, for that matter. It's a great time, I also found out, to catch up with people you said goodbye to just two months ago at the end of high school. Yes, I was at Shelley Foreshore with a couple of friends, and we ran into more old friends ... including some year 11s who knew me by reputation (??) and of course, my good friend Mr Whippy. It's such a pity that the street my home is on doesn't qualify for Mr Whippy to drive by, so Shelley Foreshore was good enough for me.

I have decided on what to do for university, for those interested. It was a difficult toss-up between Med in UWA, or Actuary/Commerce in ANU ie. Canberra ie. far from home. It was a matter of weighing up the pros and cons of each, but in the end going on instinct. Do I want to do a course which I would enjoy but is far from home, or stay here with a course I'm only just partial to but would guarentee me the support I need?

Tough call, huh?

Yes, I know this is a short blog entry, but nothing much has happened in the past week. Wait a sec ... I got my driver's licence. For those who will follow, the Hazard Perception Test is without a doubt the hardest part to pass. Even the practical doesn't compare to a computer test where the image is grainy, you don't have the same vision you'd have when actually driving, and you have to accumulate 25 hours of solid driving experience before they'll even consider you for the test. I hear they're talking about upping the time to 60 hours. I pity those poor sods.

Anyway, the P's are finally official, I have the card (yes! No more presenting my library card at the cinema to prove I'm over 15!), and it's a pure pleasure to drive alone in the car without a backseat driver telling you you're speeding at 51 km/h in a 50 km/h zone.

And great fun was had by all.

2005-01-19T22:22:00.000-08:00

Winners never say die. At least, they're not supposed to. But think about it. Just as an action hero, all waxed up to show off that muscular torso, is about to blast the bad guy into oblivion because he killed his parents, wouldn't he shout, "DIE YOU B***ARD!!"?

Just curious.

After the draining events of last week - PlanetShakers is very shaking - you'd think a period of relaxation would be in order. To some extent, I got it. My parents, in particular my mother, don't mind Battle for Middle-Earth as long as playing it doesn't get interminable. However mixed in of course is endless chores and moving rooms. That's right, I'm swapping rooms with my sister - an interesting situation because the room my sister is moving into is called the 'Study Room', so called because all siblings before and after me live in the Study Room while undergoing years 11 and 12.

The Study Room is the largest bedroom in the house (excepting my parents', of course) and is closest to the parents' bedroom. Unfortunately there's no lock on the door, opening the way (pardon the pun) for mum to barge in at any time and tick us off for listening to music rather than studying. Even more unfortunately (though most wouldn't think so), it's also the bedroom closest to the TV and kitchen, providing the best distraction possible.

My leaving the Study Room as I complete high school just brings home how old we get so fast ... I'm 17!! ... I don't feel like being back in year 8 where, from being the big fish in the small pond, I became the small fry in the big pond. But that's what faces uni students, unfortunately. Oddly, it doesn't daunt me whether I'm in Canberra or Perth.

Went bowling today and had great fun. Proving my technique is superior I won twice in succession, whereas some people threw 5 consecutive gutterballs - not mentioning names, of course. It's just great to relax with friends for a few hours with no pressure, especially as I may not see them for a while if I go interstate.

And great fun, as they say, was had by all.

Inhibition

2005-01-14T23:51:00.000-08:00

I was thinking recently about how my natural inhibitions came about. I couldn't help blaming my parents; I mean honestly, they brought me up, didn't they? Whatever they taught me in my formative years, I followed. So it's their fault, right?

But it's no one's fault. Sadly, it never is. We were all designed a certain way - I believe that. And as much as we think we're shaped by our environment and interactions, the fact is that all our experiences will only reinforce what was always in our genes. What I think is an enforced lack of ability to present myself is something that was always going to happen no matter what.

Well, not entirely.

For those out there getting scared, do so with good reason. Because only something really dramatic, something impossible, will change who we always were going to be. All we need to do is find out what's impossible - or rather, what people would believe is impossible - and think of the only way that can make the impossible possible. To change us.

I think people will know what I mean. Planet Shakers, which I've attended the past two days, has helped me lose a lot of inhibition. And since I think inhibition was inbuilt into me, the only way I could lose it was by something really powerful. Here's what I think. We can all change what's inbuilt into us by believing in what's been dismissed as impossible.

That friend I was talking about? His inhibition has been lost - but in a bad way. And he didn't deserve what happened to him. Because he did get changed in such a great way. I mean seriously, he was quite the arrogant one beforehand. Then he was changed so powerfully - only to find out what had changed him had decided to rescind.

But he doesn't need to backslide. Hopefully with the support of friends, he won't. For the rest of us out there, we just gotta find the one way to change who we are for the better. And I hope we all do.

So what's the one way? Let me put it this way - it's something most people would rather scorn.

Choice

2005-01-12T17:04:00.000-08:00

People think it's such a great idea to get out of school so you can enjoy 3-month-long holidays ... well, they're right and they're wrong. Because while 3 months off further education is a boon in anyone's book, it inevitably leads to incredible boredom.

Having been off school since early November, I've had a lot of time to ponder the end of high school. And it's not such a great thing. You feel like you're back at the start of yet another stage of higher learning, only last time it was just high school where you still had escape routes and your life hadn't taken path yet. But when entering university, you better hope you get lucky and choose something you'll enjoy, because if not, there's no easy escape route.

What if, for example, I don't enjoy studying in Canberra? My friends have been phenomenal to me in Perth - despite the fact that I seem to miss many social outings due to miscommunication - but I think I could make new, lifelong ones in the Eastern States. I should be able to exist independently without the safety net of my family. But what concerns me most is the course itself. Actuary has a very high drop-out rate, as it's a drawn-out, boring, and very difficult course. The mathematics involved is highly abstract and you have to really enjoy maths - not just be good at maths but enjoy it - to stick with it. I do enjoy maths (a shocking discovery I made only last year) so the 'stickability' factor, as Tim Winton's Cloudstreet would put it, shouldn't be a problem. But if the maths is really so complicated, and so abstract, that I fear I would soon be crying out for release.

The alternative is Medicine here. Yes, I realise it's what a lot of my friends will be doing, but it's a career path that never really jumped out at me. As john's pointed out, I like finding out how people click, so psychiatry has become a distinct possibility. However it's a six-year course - and that's just the university component. Add in the fact that it cuts like hell into your family life because of insane working hours, and it's a less-than-tantalising proposition.

It all depends on what your heart feels is right, I guess. If you believe in God, as I do, you'd pray for guidance, but how do you know when you're being answered? It's a decision I would rather not make alone, but the final choice is ultimately mine. I just wish someone would go make it clearer!!

And a recent traumatic event in a friend's life has made me realise what consequences that plunging into a decision can have. It really requires a lot of thought, and to this friend of mine who's now deep in depression because he thinks he made the wrong choice, he has all my sincerest sympathy (if he reads this blog). I can only hope I make the right choice by everyone.

Singapore pt 2

2005-01-03T10:51:00.000-08:00

I spent most of the time walking around the city, using the MRT/bus, or watching cable TV (which seems to exist in every home in that country). Sim Lim Square, Suntec City (not sure if that's how it's spelt), Night Safari etc. all flashed before me - oh, and a little trip to Little India, where for the first time ever I stepped into a Hindu temple. Another thing worth mentioning is those genius inventions of Ezy-link cards ... say goodbye to paper MultiRiders.

Also watched a couple of movies while there (National Treasure, Meet the Fockers), and what got me was the fact that they're shown with Chinese subtitles. This meant that the Chinese people were reading ahead with the subtitles and got the jokes before us English-speakers/readers actually heard them, which meant they were laughing even before the joke was delivered on-screen. This is very annoying, but I guess inevitable in such a Chinese-dominated country.

Spent some time in Malaysia too, which made Singaporean drivers look like saints. In Singapore they overtake and switch lanes without indicating, and traffic jams extend for a long time. But in Malaysia, one has to wonder if they have laws on the road (or driver's licences for that matter). People ruthlessly cutting in, motorcyclists buzzing past you like flies, no lane markings ... the list goes on. In addition, I witnessed the truly horrifying sight of watching a young girl fishing for food with her hands in a drain next to the road. Yes, a drain where excrement flows. This disgusting sight brought home how truly blessed we all are to be born into the lives we are.

Now that I'm back in Australia, I realise how much I missed it. The humidity in Singapore and Malaysia was incredible, and I'd take the sheer heat of Australia over the humidity of Singapore any day. Also you come to realise how much we take simple things for granted here - availability of quality milk, social security, education, driver politeness, among countless other things. So while I'm back I'm going to relish what we have, including quality time with friends before university.

On a more positive note, my results were very satisfying, thank you very much.

Singapore pt 1

2005-01-01T18:21:00.000-08:00

Going overseas cuts into blogging time, obviously, as does roaming the streets of a different country. But seeing as it's a new year and I'm home now, I can relate the best Singapore holiday I've had to date.

Probably the best part about going overseas during extended holiday breaks is the distance you get from whatever issues you have at home. I have some issues (that still need to be resolved) and yes, one of them concerns women. Only recently did I realise how massively I don't understand them - not that men do anyway, but I found out just how much I have to learn. Let's hope I have better luck with the opposite sex in the future. I would say more, but this is a public blog.

Right ... Singapore. The main reason was our family reunion - and believe me, this is a big deal. On my father's side alone (which is the side of my family living in Singapore) there are a whopping 35 members, varying in age from 8 to 37 (and that's just the cousins! :P) so these reunions mean a lot.

More to come - I'm out to dinner.

Interview

2004-12-11T19:19:00.000-08:00

Seems a bit pointless to have attended an interview when I'm not even sure I'll accept Med if I get in ... if I get offered the course I want in Canberra, then I'll most likely head there. But if not, then it's Med all the way.

Of course if certain ppl convince me anyway to stay here in Perth, then all this is irrelevant.

The UNSW interview seems like the ideal place to have had a first interview, now that I look back on it ... if I'd accepted it then I wouldn't have had no clue what the UWA interview would be like. Not that it was freakishly hard or anything, or that I fainted on the spot, but there seemed to be a lot of pregnant pauses where I should have been talking. Trouble was, my vocabulary may have made my answers seem rote-learnt (which of course they weren't) and interviewers hate nothing more than rote-learnt answers.

Not much use dwelling on the interview now though - all I can do is wait. Good luck to all those who did the interview too, I have no doubt that some or most of you (you know who you are) will get in. For the rest of you, just think of what Matt Damon says to anyone who asks him whether they should be an actor: 'No.' Damon's thinking is that if the person takes 'no' for an answer, they don't deserve to be an actor. Same for Med: if you don't get accepted by one uni, but you definitely want to do Med, then you'll try other unis or try again next year.

I never realised how much I'd actually miss school, but with literally nothing to do, throwing myself off the balcony just for some light relief from the boredom seems an interesting idea (rather than a suicidal idea). On the plus side, by Friday I won't be in Perth for two weeks so I won't have to be here when the TEE results come out!

The OC

2004-11-30T18:01:00.000-08:00

Maybe I haven't made it clear that I think the OC is absolute rubbish. Good escapism, certainly, but with no bearing at all on real life. The values they normalise on the show are just repulsive, such as sleeping with your ex-girlfriend's mother or losing your virginity at the age of 16 or letting minors drink alcohol in excess. I watch the OC for the fact that it's very funny and so I can guess what's coming next, which is enjoyable when watching a soap opera (if you haven't figured out that OC is a soapie by now, then shame on you). I definitely wouldn't encourage any of the morals and values the show implies.

Just thought I'd make that clear. If you want good TV shows, watch Scrubs or 24.

The One Leavers To Rule Them All

2004-11-30T12:18:00.000-08:00

WHOA!! Leavers was damn fun, I wish we'd stayed more than four days, and we would have if it hadn't been for those damn Med interviews ... we originally booked to stay till tomorrow afternoon but some of us had interviews booked for tomorrow morning so we had to leave early :@

I read a letter in the editorial of the paper when I came home this morning. It talked about how Leavers are being 'set loose' to behave like 'drunken idiots' and go around in mobs to drink and have sex. What this angry writer obviously didn't realise is that these people don't define every Leaver who heads out of Perth. I won't deny that a lot of bad stuff goes on at Leavers, but the purpose of our Leavers was to relax and hang out. And that's exactly what we did.

First day: I drove the two-and-a-quarter hours to Bunbury. Should cut into my 25 hours that's required to get my Ps :D so we met the owner of the Chaletshed, Don, who looks straight out of a WWE competition. Really a nice guy who provided us with everything we needed including a 51cm TV screen, DVD player and computer. Of course the screen was poor quality, the DVD player could have been picked up for $50 at Cash Converters and the computer didn't even have Microsoft Word (and was hardly able to run the OC), but it's the thought that counts. Spent the day playing Halo 2 and watching OC episodes on the comp, which John kindly burnt for us.

Second day: more OC, Halo 2 and Dead or Alive 3. On a more positive note we walked to the beach (bloody one-and-a-half hour walk thanks to wrong directions) where I was able to educate my fellow Leavers on the finer points of boogie boarding. Also simulated Bhav hanging onto a pole while we tried to drag him into the water - got a great pic of it too. Spent the night watching an unexpectedly hilarious Taxi. The movie itself sucks but we had English subtitles in such poor English that we cracked up in the most serious moments. Also saw Collateral - though only I thought it was a great movie.

Third day: more OC, Halo 2 and Dead or Alive 3 ... anyone seeing a pattern here? But today was significant for the fact that we can now say that we sat through the entire Lord of the Rings trilogy NONSTOP! Try sitting through 8.5 hours of television in succession and it'll test anyone's bladder, but with the help of near-unlimited snacks and some warm sleeping bags, we witnessed the entire heroic journey of Frodo to Mount Doom. Sometimes we felt we were on an impossible quest as well in some of the movies' dragging parts, but we stuck through it and were rewarded with an unintentionally hilarious scene where Legolas hints at a homosexual side when he gives an odd look at Aragorn when he's crowned king. Ask me about it and I'll show you.

Fourth day: had planned to hit the town, but couldn't be bothered, so just hung around playing more Dead or Alive 3, Halo 2 and watching more OC. Too much OC is bad for your mental health because you start relating everything else you see to characters and situations from the show. For instance we concluded Marissa could be Frodo, Ryan was Sam and Oliver was Gollum. Like Marissa and Ryan from the OC, Frodo doesn't believe Sam when he thinks Gollum is lying and playing Frodo for a fool - which, like Oliver, he of course was. Tried to hit the beach from a different route but got lost, only to discover that we had been heading on the right track initially. Still, at least we tried.

Some of us pulled an all-nighter so we could be ready to leave the Chaletshed by 5.30 to catch the bus to Armadale by 5.50 this morning. Eventually reached Perth City around 9, and finally came back home.

As much as I'm relieved to have all the comforts of home back, I wish we could have stayed in Bunbury longer enjoying each other's company and taking time out from the worries of the world. In particular my night-time walks proved very ... enlightening, as well as giving me permanent foot sores. All I know is that when the time comes to head to Uni, I'll miss the many friends I made in high school and the comfort taken in knowing you're going back to school next Monday with the people you know.

Unfortunately for now, Med interview preparation awaits. Can't wait till this time in two days when I can truly feel free.

Post-mortem

2004-11-22T23:01:00.000-08:00

Hey, TEE is over! Doesn't feel like it at all ... bit of an anticlimax really. They built up the TEE for the past two years, and then in two weeks, it's all over!

For the record, Applic was a little harder than the mocks, but still good. Dodgy last question about matrices though ... but no more worrying about any non-singular matrices with all elements not equal to zero and its inverse is itself. (If that was all gobbledegook to you, don't worry - it'll be Chinese to me in ten years too.)

But we'll never forget school. Two things that happened in the day after the last TEE paper reminded me of this. I went to David Jones (Garbo) and on the way out, my dad muttered that no one would ever buy there because it was so expensive and people would never have enough disposable income. BRRRING! Sets off the Econs signals ... disposable income ... factors affecting consumption ... ARGH! You get the point.

Hmm ... I've forgotten the second thing ... but like I said, you get the point.

Went ice skating today and my feet and thighs are friggin stiff as a result. Skating 5 hours in a row, especially if the last 3 hours is intense ice hockey, is bad for your standing position. Since I came home I can't stand for a long period of time without sitting down, and I walk slower than a Brazilian snail on drugs. Oh yeah ... the skating itself was awesome! I'm honing my technique as an attacker/wingman and growing out of my retreat-to-the-goalie position, and scored no less than FIVE GOALS!!! Take that you doubters ... I'm definitely coming back sometime these holidays.

Leavers is on in four days - far out I just realised how close that is. I really can't wait for it now. On the weekend I got a couple of boogie boards to take down, it will be hell fun out on the sea - as long as God grants us some good waves. But we're so far behind in preparation, hardly any of the food's bought, and we still haven't started packing, but what the hell, this is what post-TEE is like. All I do these days is either surf the net while chatting on MSN or watch DVDs.

Speaking of watching, Alias is on in about 15 minutes ... gotta run.

The deep breath before the plunge...

2004-11-18T13:20:00.000-08:00

Due to my incompetence on computers in general, I couldn't figure out how to post more blogs until now. How I managed to switch on the computer in the first place seems an achievement in itself now ...

5 down, 1 to go. It seems strange that just three weeks ago we were all freaking out about the looming monster of the TEEs, anticipating these unbelievably difficult exams that would come out and surprise us all by their ... well, their difficulty. And now here I am, typing blogs the afternoon before my final exam when I suppose I should be studying. Well I did a past paper this morning and got a very satisfying mark - suffice to say it was above 90.

But now for the post-mortems:

Physics - definitely easier than the mocks. Was surprised by the focus on Atomic Physics - not that I was complaining since I nearly aced the test on that subject and it was my best topic. I"m a bit worried about the calculations though, esp. on Motion. One bummer was the fact that I got to the extended answer section with just 15 minutes left, meaning I hurried both of them, especially the second one, where I later realised the answer to the last question had been in the passage all along. But all's well that ends well, so I should get 85+ comfortably.

Calculus - the second-most worrying exam for me before I sat it. However thanks to all those past papers I did, with a little help from my good friend Andrew Creelman, I found a lot of the questions in the paper were just derivatives (no pun intended) of past questions, so should be able to post a +80 score. Just a little worried on those damn circle/centre question where some insane equation like z+i/z-i=2 and then we have to find the radius and centre of the circle ... those always kill me.

Chemistry - the most worrying exam for me, but my fears were allayed when there were no in-depth questions asked on the structure/formula of soaps and detergents (the chink in my non-corrodable, gold-alloyed armour). I had thought I'd struggle to get an A (which is high-70s), but now I think I might do well, thanks to those nice lab technicians who loaned me the past 7 TEE papers for $5.

Literature - all that hard yakka with Aunty Lena finally paid off, as I was able to apply an in-depth contextual focus to otherwise banal questions. (Is this sounding Litty already? I can't get it out of my system - whenever I see a movie or read a book from now on, I won't be able to stop myself wondering whether a dominant male patriarchy that marginalised women influenced the construction of the characters.) Small moment of joy came when I made John panic that he hadn't talked enough about context ... kidding ... anyway, should be able to perform well.

Economics - DISASTER!! I took the study for econs far too lightly, waiting until the night before to even touch my notes. Considering I had one day to prepare for this exam after Lit, I suppose I didn't have much of a choice in studying too long ago, but I definetely shouln't have spent the night procrastinating on MSN where Baetsen very effectively destroyed my confidence with a barrage of questions on the factors affecting interest rates and the definition of the GDP.

And tomorrow - Applic awaits. It's less than 24 hours now - actually 22.5 hours - till I'll be free of school forever. It doesn't seem real, as these two weeks have passed so quickly I haven't really had the time to feel worried or panicked about any of the exams. A lot of well-wishers have made me feel better by covering me with prayer - always a good thing when you're going into the exams that may define your life path.

Damn Chemistry...

2004-11-11T09:53:00.000-08:00

Following the recent trend in blog posting, I have decided to follow suit and print my ravings on a blog. Whether or not people read it, I'm not too fussed, just so long as I don't have to compartmentalise all the thoughts running through my head without an outlet to release it on. So this blogspot will do.

It seems wrong that I'm typing this the morning before my Chemistry exam, especially considering Chem is my weakest subject (that's right, even weaker than Lit) and my revision has been very poor so far. All I've done is Sections A, B and C of the 2003 paper, which I recorded a mark of 83% on, so I'm happy with that ... however considering that I'm weakest on Section D (I've failed the essay in my last two exams) then perhaps that mark isn't a really accurate indicator of what I would get. On a more positive note, I aced the Calculations section! No doubt about it, that's my "money" section ... where I'll pick up all the marks I lose on Short Answer and Extended Writing.

John has written some very flattering comments on the Lit paper I did for him, so thanks for that...your own paper wasn't too bad, thought not up to your usual Lit Dux standard. I'm afraid your mark will be lower than mine, but you did ask me to mark critically.

Leavers plans are well and truly humming. Now I know I shouldn't be thinking about leavers right smack in the middle of the TEE, but I can't help thinking longingly of what I'll be doing two and a half weeks from now where we'll be playing XBox, boogie boarding at the beach, watching DVDs of every movie marathon known to man...but I must focus on the task at hand. It's 10AM the morning before my Chem exam, and I've got about 6 past papers waiting to be done, so I'd better be off.