Today, one of my friends from primary school in Sydney, who I haven't seen since I was 7, added me on Facebook (she now goes to Macquarie University). A few weeks ago, I realised that a girl on my corridor hangs out with a guy who now lives in Medley, who I haven't seen in 12 years, but was my best friend in preschool before I stopped talking to him for childish clique-politics reasons (This is a different school in Sydney to the one I went to with the other friend). Another girl who went to my school in Hong Kong during Year 8 and then left added me on Facebook - she now goes to Princeton. And another girl who went to my primary school but whom I haven't seen since is now living right next door in Trinity College, and also doing law (albeit Commerce/Law, not Music/Law).
Isn't it amazing that after all this expansion of your social circle, and moving countries, and living in a city you've never set foot in in your life, you still end up seeing the same people over and over again in your life?
Happy holidays! And for those who get it, 'Shana Tova'.
What a relief to have 2 weeks break! I've been so busy with assignments and essays, but I got them all in on time, (Psych a day early!) and now I only have one to do over the break. Because his family have gone on holidays, I'm playing house with my boyfriend for a while in the break- exciting and terrifying at the same time! I still can't believe that I'm DRIVING let alone doing that... how time flies! And wow, only a few weeks of semester yet. Far out!
The best part of the past two weeks have been the Arts ball. It was WELL worth how much it was.
The only other thing really worth saying is that my email inbox has been FLOODED with emails from 1st year psych students. Each email has the title "FREE DONUTS" which admittedly I got WAY too excited about... but they're a huge fight about whether people have a right to talk in the psych lectures or not. Pretty funny.
One last thing: Does anyone remember "Sprite Ice"? It was in a blue bottle, basically it was sprite that was minty. I tried to recreate it by drinking sprite zero (in a blue bottle too) while chewing gum but it just wasn't the same. Tear :( I miss that drink dearly. What genious created it and what IMBICILE pulled it?
OH AND A COUPLE MORE ALL AT ONCE; you know how smoking is banned in clubs now? Well I've never smoked a ciggarette in my life, but when they changed the laws I couldn't really tell the difference aside from my clothes and hair not smelling bad. Thursday night I shlepped to the opening of this new club that I'm apparently promoting at. It's the only club in Melbourne with rooftop Djs, and they advertised that people could obviously smoke up there due to the open air. Buuut because it's been winter, Thursday they still had a marquee up as a roof, no windows open, and everyone was smoking. Yuck! It was SO revolting! I actually had to keep leaving the roof and eventually left the venue because the smoke was giving me headaches and making me feel terrible. And now I'm back to stinky clothes. Blah. Part 2- This guy tries to start a conversation with me by saying "Is it just me or are there a lot of p**ftas here?" MY GOSH. I was in a bad mood and oh, when I saw the opportunity, I RIPPED into this guy, saying "Why yes, and as a matter of fact, a few of them are my good friends" and told him that the people who run the night run these things to embrace acceptance and URHHHH!!!!!!! I cannot believe that someone can be so VILE as to say something like that.
And that's what grinds my gears :)
ADVICE FOR Y'ALL:
1. check this out every Sunday, it's brilliant. http://postsecret.blogspot.com/
Xx
"So, do you have hobbies outside of music? No, wait, you probably don't, do you? Music students usually don't." -- a tutor of mine.
*headdesk* It's true! I practise music, I read books on music history, I sing music in choir, I think about music theory, I listen to music, I compose music, I write about music, I watch musical theatre, I run organisations for music and music students, I occasionally teach music -- I really don't have hobbies!
The Labor (Rudd supporters) are ahead in the voting at the moment!
Till next time
Last Thursday in Biology prac, I ran into my old lab partner from last semester, who had swapped into my prac for the week because she had a SAC at her scheduled time. Yep, a SAC. Remember those?
It got me thinking about this time last year. I was completely stressed - struggling to get through last few SACs in each subject, angsting over my VTAC preferences, and completing tearing my hair out over my Media SAT. These last few weeks in Term 3 are pretty stressful for all Year 12 students. As you finish up the course content in each of your subjects, exams are suddenly all the more real. And so is the future. Completing your VTAC preferences brings what was always a distant horizon so much closer. It's a scary time, and I struggled with it last year.
However, only one year later, it really is amazing to look back on it with a different perspective. Last year my entire life was about study scores and ENTER scores. I was constantly predicting numbers and reevaluating my standards, measuring myself against the others in my class and on websites like Board of Studies (which I do NOT recommend to anyone feeling insecure. Those people tend to present worst-case scenarios as best-case ones). I was convinced that everything that defined me as a person was going to come down to that one little number.
Today I can't remember what topics I wrote on in the English Exam, only that the Gattaca one was on filmic elements, and I used the word sacrosanct in the intro to my If This Is A Man Part 2. I have no idea what examples I used for media influence in my Media exam. I have to think carefully to remember all my grades.
What I do remember is my friend stealing everyone's nametags after Media. I remember the guy behind me in the Maths Tech Free whispering "Shit!" when the 5 minute warning was announced. I remember another friend with a bad back who got to sit on those giant exercise balls for all his exams. I remember the look on the face of my sister when I met her after her final history exam.
I also remember hours of studying, numerous arguments, tears, tantrums and anger. And looking back on it, I wonder if it was worth it. I am proud of my ENTER score. It stands as a testament to hour after hour of hard work I put in. But it says nothing about those other memories, that ones that stand out when I look back at that period. It doesn't tell you about how I dressed up as a box for the Athletics Carnival. It doesn't tell you about how my sister and I rewrote an Auden poem while studying to turn it into one long Battlestar Galactica reference. It doesn't tell you about the funny thing that happened in my Chemistry practice exam, or the final maths lesson, or where my locker was, or where we'd sit at lunch.
It doesn't mean anything anymore. Nothing tangible, at any rate. Nothing worth building your whole life around.
So to the Year 12s, as I'm sure that has to be at least one of you reading this right now, I have some advice. The ENTER score is a stepping stone to further study. But it can't stop you from following your dreams. You make your own futures, no matter what course you end up doing. You'll find a way to achieve what it is you want out of life. Some of you might find that the course you miss out on next year enables you to do something even better.
The course you choose today will not define the rest of your life. People change their minds about their courses all the time - they change them, change institutions, take gap years, or drop them altogether. There's no shame in any of that - we don't have to get things right the first time. And people say our generation will go through several career changes in our lifetimes, so this first degree is simply a starting point for a long and varied life of work. This is why I do Arts/Science. It's a general course, and I have no clear career plan. I don't want to be a scientist, and I don't really want to be an academic. But I believe that I'll find something - or more accurately, I believe that something will find me. I don't care if that seems naïve - it's optimistic and it gives me hope for the future.
But enough about me. Year 12s, take the time to enjoy your last few weeks of high school. I miss it. When the study gets too much, do something to get some perspective. Take a walk. Investigate post-graduate studies. Watch TV. Talk to a university student. (I mean this last one - if you're unsure about where to go in the future, talking to current uni students can really shed some light on the situation. Feel free to ask me questions on this blog.)
Just don't ever reduce yourself to that one number. Because 13 years in the school system are really worth so much more.
About a month ago, I applied for a credit card. I was told that I'd get it in 5-10 working days. So today, wondering why it hadn't arrived yet, I thought I'd go harass the bank staff about it. Wanting to be relatively efficient, I thought I'd log onto my internet banking account and check the status first in case I could resolve my problem without having to make a trip down to the bank.
This is where things went horribly wrong.
Firstly, I accidentally froze my bank account by making too many typos in the password.
Secondly, when I was trying to get it reset, I also got the password reset feature frozen because I couldn't figure out how to input my account number into the online form (it only allowed a 10-digit number, whereas the version on my bank statement has at least 15 digits).
Finally, when I decided to just go to the bank in person and get it sorted, the bank was closed. At 4 pm. On a weekday.
This is where I have to vent.
Seriously, don't people in this country WORK on weekdays? How the hell are you supposed to go to the bank if the only time that it's open is 9-4 on weekdays? I mean, at least in university you might have a morning free, but what do other people do? Take sick leave from work every time they need to go to the bank?
And this is really not the only situation where the opening hours in Australia have really, really annoyed me. The music library is not open on weekends, which means I can't do research assignments over the weekends. The ordinary libraries are only open from 10-5 on weekends. Shops close ridiculously early, too - going shopping on a late Sunday afternoon here is like trying to find a swimming pool in the middle of the Sahara. It would be absolutely unthinkable for anything to be closed on a weekend in Hong Kong. All my friends in universities in the UK or the US or Canada have libraries that are open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. How on EARTH do people here survive?
Bah. Now I'm going to be cranky until I sort this mess out tomorrow.
EDIT: I have calmed down now. Apologies to any bankers, librarians, and/or ordinary Australians insulted/offended by the above spleen-venting.
EDIT2: Aaaand... my bank account is unfrozen now! Yay!
Ok, this might not apply to you and it hasn't applied to me (yet). But I really needed to let people know what happened to my friends.
On Monday, my friends were travelling on the usual swanston street tram getting to uni in the morning. As always, crowded like hell. We had a test at 10 and they were already late. They had to get off at Linclon Square. As the tram reached that stop, the doors open, people get off except for my friends. Why? Coz, they can't freaking move! My friend yells out "Excuse me!" and guess what? Everyone just stands there as if they are deaf. And no, they don't have earphones/headphones. The doors begin to close and they yell out to someone to push the button. Same response.
The result - they had to get off at the next stop and sprint back all the way. Late by 5-10 minutes.
I felt really sorry for them..but it made me think if people can actually be that way. Not that they are doing that deliberately, but I can't think of any reason. I don't know how loud she yelled out but atleast the person standing next to her must have heard her...(sigh)
Anyways, have fun with voting!
Till next time
You know when you've gone through a day in that lethargic mood where you don't want to do anything, and because you've done nothing you feel mopey, and that makes you even more lethargic, and then you go down a self destructive spiral of bum-on-chair and eyes-on-screen?
Yeah. That was me today.
It's been so long since I've practised properly - for the past three weeks I don't remember once doing more than an hour. This, of course, is A Very Bad Thing (TM) for a music student like me. Especially since this is the semester where I have to make a push for the finish line - there's all sorts of things happening next year that will really depend on what happens now. And to support my assertions, I will provide you with a handy-dandy list of examples.
Events, goals, and aspirations for next year that will depend on this year:
1. Getting into Individual Program: This is a class for the talented students. It basically puts you all together in a class where the standards are much higher than the normal stream and you get more performing opportunities, and longer lessons. I'd like to take this class next year, but you need about 90% in your first year final recital (end of this semester) to qualify for it. I got an 82% last semester, which means I'm on the right track, but there's still a lot of work I need to put in.
2. Compete in ABC Symphony Australia Young Performers Award: The other day, I saw a kid who'd I'd played against (and, four years ago, beaten) in competitions back in Hong Kong in the list of Stage III finalists for this competition - basically the last set of finals before they determine the category winners. This, of course, made me feel competitive and mildly jealous, and I am determined to match or better that in next year's competition.
3. Compete in the International Clarinet Society Young Artist Competition: Every year I tell myself I'm going to enter, and every year I miss the deadline for the preliminary round. My Hong Kong clarinet teacher's other students have been to the finals (although for the High School, not the Young Artist competition - the High School Competition is much easier but I've passed the age limit already), and some of them have placed and won cash prizes, and they all bring back awesome stories about the famous people they've met at Clarinetfest in Vancouver or Tokyo or Beijing or wherever the final is held, and THIS YEAR I AM GOING TO GET MY BLOODY ENTRY FORM IN ON TIME, DAMMIT. And really, this year is a good year - the repertoire list this year is stuff I'm playing for my first year exam, and I probably won't get such a favourable lineup of pieces for another few years.
4. JCH Student Club elections: I'm running for Arts and Cultural Rep -- if any of the (two) JCHers on this blog are reading, vote for me! Which means I need to prepare my election campaign - posters, speeches, the lot.
5. The music faculty concerto competition
So between all these music events... I have at least six pieces to play (Debussy, Spohr, Rameau, and Smith for exams, Bassi, Messiaen, and the same Debussy piece for ICA, Spohr concerto for faculty competition, and six pieces of choice for ABC Young Performers. So with the maximum amount of recycling, that's six pieces - Bassi, Messiaen, Debussy, Spohr, Rameau, Smith, and another choice to fill the sixth slot (possibly Messager), although I doubt whether I'd get the Bassi and Messiaen ready in time for first round ABC Young Performers, so I'd probably have to add two extra to the list - we're looking at six to eight pieces here) - which means at least 6 hours of practise a day, which is 500% more practise than I have done for the past month.
... and then of course there's the not insignificant promise I made to myself last semester that I'd beat my last average of 79% and get an H1 average this semester. And my group for the Student Ambassador Leadership Program is doing our group project this semester (fundraising for the environment and planning a big tree-planting event - stay tuned!), and I'm volunteering at a tutoring program as part of SALP, and there's the Music Student's Society secretarial duties, an essay due every two weeks from now until the end of semester, and a whole bunch of social events at college and uni, cultural events in the city, and other cool things that I don't want to skip out on.
If I were to be sorted in Harry Potter, I bet I'd be a Slytherin. Not because I'm evil (which I may well be, but that's not why I'd be sorted there - I maintain that Slytherins are merely misunderstood and that their ambitions lead them astray) but because I have ambitions and am too ruthlessly determined to give any of them up.
It's midnight now and I am failing to make sense (never was capable of working late nights, nor was I ever capable of even procrastinating them - I need my sleep), so I shall conclude with this thought: Days. Not enough hours. Goodbye.
When I write normal, artsy style essays, like the ones I do for music history, there are certain phrases which I like to use. These include "substantial", "remedy [for a problem etc]", "(in)significant", and "question". These words all have legal meanings, which, while similar to their common meanings, are actually not exactly the same. So when I write law essays, I have to go back and check all these words to make sure that it is clear which meaning I am using. In many cases, this involves either constructing rather unwieldy phrases to make it syntactically impossible for it to mean the other version, or using a less punchy word. It's rather annoying.
On a similar note, case names are such a waste of word count. When you only have 1500 words for an essay worth 50% of your grade, typing out Australian Broadcasting Corporation v Lenah Game Meats Pty Ltd or Victoria Park Racing and Recreational Grounds Co Ltd v Taylor repeatedly is really not a huge deal of fun, especially if you have a mental wordcounting instinct like me and are watching all the remaining words in your wordcount drain away.
I suppose this is why my essay focused more on Grosse v Purvis and Hosking v Runting.
I feel like I'm in an express train with no stops!
It's already the end of august and I can remember clearly the first few days of this semester. How fast did that go? And to think that, it's only a matter of few months that my first year will end. I won't be a first year anymore...
Time really does go fast.
Till next time
Number of posts found:
1327