Category Archives: Holidays

Intro To Summer 101

I still have a blog, but everything’s different. First year is done and I’m living at home now. It feels weird going from the enclosed personalization of my dorm room to the open, nostalgia-inducing comfort zone of my childhood. But the size is the main difference. I feel like I’ve moved from the vault at a credit union to the vault at Fort Knox. One thing I won’t miss is the hallway. Every time I left my room, I’d stare down the long row of doors that is Nootka’s 4th floor and all I’d think of is The Shining. For some reason, when I walked down that corridor, I could swear that two twins were going appear in blood-stained shirts and torment me, saying such terrifying things as,

“Did you hear that Radiohead broke up?”

or

“Apparently M. Night Shyamalan is going to direct a sequel to The Shawshank Redemption.”

Wow, frightening stuff. One thing I’m very grateful for is that at home I’m given nutrition. A frightening realization I made within my first month in rez was that I was in charge of my own health. I always feared that, left to my own decisions, I’d eat myself into Jabba The Hutt, totally disregarding iron requirements, necessary vitamins, food pyramids, and other colour-coded nutritional information. So it became a chore to identify what was good for me and what was bad. Helpful hint: anything in bright packaging with a grammar-disregarding “z” is usually astonishingly bad for you. For example, I’m pretty sure cheezies, chicken wyngz, and sugar stikz are not part of a balanced meal. Anyway, I had to think of that stuff. And while it was one of many experiences that will prepare me for the rest of my mature life blah blah blah, there’s nothing like having mom there to give me what I need, like a Secret Service slipping the President some avocado because “I need the potassium.” Of course, I do sound a bit conceited relating myself to the President, but, who cares, it’s summer.

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Midterms and Papers and Productivity, Oh My!

From the burnt-out, dreadfully lazy, sweatpants-clad ashes of Reading Week emerged the library-going, textbook-reading, caffeine-guzzling phoenix of the past week. Yes, my friends, the week after Reading Week. Ironically one of the most stressful weeks of the year. You’d think a break would settle your nerves, calm your Chi. But I bet many students found themselves at 10:00pm last Sunday saying,

“I have six projects, four papers, two dioramas, a uncooperative dog to train, a sidewalk mural to paint, and an existential interpretive dance piece all due tomorrow! Damn my procrastination!”

So I found myself at IKB most of last week, half trying to find the comfiest chair and half actually doing what I set out for. Seriously though, they have some comfy chairs over there. Much comfier than any of the Koerner chairs. Although, Buchanan has two very snug couches. Geez, this could be a research paper of mine. I’m sure there’s an active academic community willing to discuss UBC furniture comfort. Well, maybe an inactive community, considering their obsession with lounging.

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State Of My Life: Reading Week

Reading Week, a title suggesting monocle-clad scholars in the comfort of their dens, analyzing Voltaire and Descartes, occasionally grumbling a

“mmmmmm, yes”

As they nod their heads ever so gently.

Well, I beg to differ. How have I spent the Sunday before Reading Week? Firstly, in pajamas. Secondly…there is no secondly. My whole day has consisted of resisting the urge to dress like a productive member of society. But let me tell you, it was awesome. When you don’t have a Philosophy paper down your neck or a History reading to catch up on, lounging becomes a lot better. But you know, this free time feels weird. I’m constantly thinking,

“I’m relaxing…for no reason whatsoever. Wait, no pressure? No midterm? No paper? What is this sorcery?”

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A Triumphant Return!

After a much-needed break, full of sleep, healthy food and other such luxuries, it’s good to be back for a clean slate in familiar territory. One thing I vowed to change for second semester was to get more involved early on. Going into first semester felt like a deer in headlights situation. There was this overwhelming horde of club VP’s and event coordinators hollering ,

“COME CHECK OUT OUR THING!”

“THIS AS WELL!”

“YOU SHOULD DO THIS!”

I was busy settling into my drastic new lifestyle, let alone finding my niche. So by the time I got seriously interested in clubs and volunteer work, papers and exams were taking up the precious time I would’ve committed.

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Anything and Everything: A Review of My First Semester Adventure

A full semester of UBC. A full semester of equal parts haste, equal parts precision. It showed me that intuition and intellect go nowhere without hard work, much like the papers to prove said intellect. It was fun though. I felt like an high school exchange student in a foreign nation, recognizing key concepts and learning patterns but reveling in this newfound form of tweaked education. Also, I can see the difference between high school and university now. At high school you’re part of the mass, trying to shine just a bit brighter than that guy or that girl. But at university, you’re a shining individual (that’s why you were accepted!), making up the shining mass. I like to think of university as a league of superheroes, because I’m amazed by what people are doing around me, intellectually and socially.

The clubs we have are amazing. I had the opportunity to be in a UBCimprov workshop, and it was my social highlight of the semester. There’s a beautifully ridiculous aura you gain when telling a story about a goat’s estranged mother, a balloon party for lumberjacks, an amusement park in a swamp, anything you want to say. That’s what improv is. It’s those niches we crave which give us the experiences we treasure. How many 100-level courses will we vividly remember? A couple, I’d say. And only the ones that truly touched us. But that crazy and monumental Colour Wars, that chaotic yet fulfilling Totem One Acts, that quaint Lord of the Rings marathon in rez, those are my vivid memories. That’s my niche.

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Nothing But Smooth Sailing

Last exam today. Yes, I’m the sucker who has an exam on the 20th, but I’m feeling less stress and more a feeling of,

“Tuesday! Tuesday! Tuesday! One day left for DECEMBER EXAM MADNESS!”

That needed to be read in a monster truck rally voice. Otherwise, I just sound like a crazy lunatic with caps lock, which is now mostly for angry people on the internet.

The storm is over for me, its rough waves of sleep-deprivation countered with caffeine overdose a thing of the past. I feel smug eating an apple now, content that I have the time to enjoy a juicy piece of fruit, not crouched over my laptop, much like a troll would, separating my candy stockpile into sour and sweet, the sole organization I’d use for nights of sporadic cramming with the occasional maniacal epiphany that doesn’t make much sense in a rational morning. I’ve lost the “exam posture” too, that hunched stance on a leaned-back chair, paired with a scowl saying, “none of this makes sense and I have to prove it does in two days.”

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The Eye of the Storm

You know that feeling at a restaurant when you see your food leave the kitchen and there’s that gap in time before it gets to your table? It’s an odd feeling, right? All you can think of is,

“That’s my food! That’s it! I SHALL BE EATING THAT!”

But your brain has to correct itself and go,

“Woah there cowboy. It’s not here yet. Just sit tight and act cool. Pretend to look at the martini collection or something.”

So you end up just sitting there looking anywhere but the server’s eyes, waiting for the last second to turn and be startled with joy at the arrived meal, as if eye contact would ruin the taste.

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What I Am Thankful For

And as Thanksgiving officially comes to a close, the glorious statutory holiday spent mostly digesting, I find myself looking back and forwards, side to side at my life. What am I thankful for? Who has gotten me here? And what was in that cranberry sauce? Seriously, 4 cups crushed cranberries shouldn’t taste like the love of Will and Rose, Forrest and Jenny, even the yellow fish from Finding Nemo and his bubbles. It was that delicious. But as the edible love of Sunday breezed into the bloated orangutan-like aura of Monday, I feel thoughts more of reflection than glazed ham, a rare occurrence for me. And I’m thinking of UBC, my life, and how everything has changed. So with that in mind, please enjoy what I’m thankful for:

I’m thankful for my room. Nothing beats a hard night of studying like the unkempt bed I strive to keep cluttered. Residence life gives people the right to be messy, and I love it. Owning a mess is a liberating feeling.

I’m thankful for the dining hall. Nowhere else could I have lamb, apple pie, soft-serve ice cream and a spicy chicken burger all in one meal. Also, nowhere else do lines go so quickly. I love swiping my UBCcard. I feel like Bill Gates buying a yacht, just putting another transaction on the card of destiny, the one card to rule them all.

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