My most wonderful question ever

Posted on 9 March 2008 | 8 comments

You know how they say that there are no stupid questions? Well, I honestly don’t think this one was so bad, given my background, but plenty of people will disagree…

So in Anth, I said, “I didn’t look this up, but who is Wayne Gretsky?”

Collective gasp. Someone exclaims: “You’ll get kicked out of the country for that!” A hockey fan couldn’t bear to look at me anymore and put his hat over his face.

My TA tried heroically to collect himself. “So… do you know who Michael Jordan is?” “Yes.” (From Space Jam, firstly, but I didn’t mention that.) “He’s like the Canadian [ice] hockey equivalent, the most famous player.”

I find it funny how “hockey” here is ice hockey and “hockey” at home is field hockey. Anyway.

Every Canadian I’ve spoken to is equally horrified and amused by my ignorance. In my defence, it goes to show that ice hockey is not the all-consuming topic it is here in Hong Kong. For one thing, we have no real ice or snow.

Wayne Gretsky, I shall never forget you now. You leave too many scars on my poor bleeding heart. [fistshake]

8 Comments

Posted in Academic, International, Recreation

What If…?

Posted on 9 March 2008 | 3 comments

I’ve just been hit by a wave of fear — what if I don’t get into anything next year?

The background is that, thanks to the IB, I got almost a year’s worth of credits. Coupled with a few courses over the summer, I will be well and ready to enter third year in September. I’ve started working on majors applications, and that’s what has set me off in this panic.

What if I don’t get into English Honours? I think I’d be pretty miserable for quite a bit because I want this so much. I want the smaller classes, I want the specialisation. I’ve been so much happier ever since I upped my number of English classes from one to three each term. It’s exactly what I need.

Worse, what if I get rejected from English Honours and the English Major? Then I will be English-less! For some reason I never seriously doubted that I’d be English-less, but now that I am trying to think of a really smart, creative way of saying “I love literature more than anything else and I will die without it” within 50 words, and failing, I am feeling sick to the stomach.

Because I don’t want to do anything else. I mean, I want to do lots of things, but English has always been the centre of my world. I think I’d be so upset I’d start looking for some other school that would accept me for my English-philia.

Undying love aside, there is nothing else that I’m even eligible for. All my other courses will be at 200-level next term, not 300/400. I’m doing all these extra summer classes just so I can be eligible for English Hons. In other words, I’m risking being completely major-less all for English!

I’m also applying for Creative Writing, but there’s no guarantee I’ll get in. Besides, even if I do, I might not like the workshop environment and want to drop out altogether. I don’t enjoy Anth as much as I expected, I have a hankering after Sociology but no credits in it to speak of, and —

I think I’d better buy a tub of ice-cream tonight.

3 Comments

Posted in Academic

Stars and Sunshine!

Posted on 7 March 2008 | 2 comments

After straining my little head (actually it’s out of proportion, I think, and I just can’t decide if it’s bigger or smaller than usual) for a week, I have managed to complete the major parts of my homework due in this week. I can breathe now! For a few hours, anyway.

And yes, I like stars and sunshine very much. I am madly happy whenever it’s sunny. One of my disappointments is that I don’t know how to recognise any constellations. There were never enough stars in HK — or more like the lights were always too bright to see many — for me to know them. I was more excited about the stars during the lunar eclipse than seeing a red moon, the skies were so clear. I don’t even know where the North Star is, which is (according to literature) The Star Everyone Should Know. I’m plotting to amend that some day.

Right now I am more taken up by food and gardening. I’ve been madly obsessed with the 100-Mile Diet ever since I heard the talk and went off on a research-binge for ways to live this, so now I have many more resources under my bookmarks page. On the gardening side, herbs are my new interest. I’m cautious about how successful I’ll be when I get around to planting them — speaking of which, must find somewhere to plant them, and also find the seeds or whatever to actually plant with — because I tend to forget to water my plants. My current pot plant, whose name is Celestia, was made up of bright orange blossoms, but she’s currently withering away. Maybe the ability to eat my plants will motivate me to water them… Or I could always leave them to the Vancouver rains.

I will have a chat with my mother about this. I’m going over to stay with my mother for the weekend, so this may be toodles. Of course, with the Great Internet being what it is, I might be online anyway, in which case —

Pseudo-toodles!

2 Comments

Posted in Recreation, Sustainability, Wellness

Oh ho ho

Posted on 6 March 2008 | 3 comments

So apparently I am a bad judge about myself.

I got an email on Monday offering me both the Gala group leader and the Imagine MUG leader positions. This was a pleasant surprise, doubly so given that I didn’t apply to be a MUG leader. After further consideration, I stuck to my original plan and asked to just be a Gala leader. I have grand plans about keeping in touch with my Gala group, and doing fun things if any of them are willing. Kind of like an informal International Peer Program thing.

Speaking of which, as soon as I have time to breathe, I have got to start thinking about what kind of leadership positions and activities I want to be doing next term. Applications for all sorts of things are going underway now and I must decide what role I want for myself, and just as importantly, how much time I have to spare.

Unfortunately I had to quit Trek, partly because it was eating up my time (four hours a week including travelling time) and I was severely behind on my schoolwork ever since it began. Trek in itself is manageable; Trek coupled with my previous volunteering commitment is impossible, so I had to pick and choose. Of course, I’m now also guilt-stricken because I never used to be so non-committal. Some elegant planning is required to alleviate myself from negative feelings next year!

Because cooking will also take a lot of time, considering how little I know about the art. It’ll be quite the learning experience. I’m taking applications for guinea pigs, by the by!

And before I forget, my current most pressing problem regarding moving out of rez is that I have no idea where I can practise the piano anymore. Does anyone know if the Music Building offers a public piano room of sorts?

(I think I should make an Off-Campus Life category. For now, I will classify this under Wellness and Sustainability as it is a most important matter of sustaining my own well-being. Very clever, not really.)

3 Comments

Posted in Involvement / Leadership, Wellness

I CAVED IN

Posted on 4 March 2008 | 2 comments

I ate the Indonesian shrimp crackers I brought from HK that I can’t find here. The ones that were only to be eaten when nothing else would cheer me up.

On the bright side, they are like my sacred food so I am feeling otherworldly now.

2 Comments

Posted in Wellness