Yay! I just got my license - manual if you're interested! I was out late last night so I was a bit tired when I had to get up for my lesson and then my instructor was telling me that I wasn't braking as well as I could and I wasn't too confident on my three point turns and parking. But in the end it didn't matter, I didn't even have to do a slow maneuver.
My test was extremely quick and my instructor and the test guy were chatting the whole time and I was like - is he even testing me? And he couldn't find anywhere for me to park so he marked my on a 90* park at the end, which was just driving straight into a park - sweet! In the end I only dropped three marks and my photo turned out alright.
Good Charlotte is playing now and I really want to smash the speakers just to make it stop, perhaps, I'll just change the station though. I'm off then, have a good one!
Arrrrrrrggggggghhhhhhhh! Last night was the Red Hot Chili Peppers and it was awesome! I love them I love them I love them. Though, Anthony Kiedis had a weird mustache thing going on that wasn't too great.
The supporting act was this 40 year old, balding guy with a massive pot belly who ran around the stage stripping and being a complete tool. Needless to say, he got many boos and left me, my cousin and my best friend wondering if RHCP had got him just to make themselves look extra good.
The Chili Peppers were awesome, the music was great, they were all pumped up and going off on stage and the screens were really good for when a tall person moved into my line of view.
Note: Concerts seem to be much more enjoyable for tall people.
I was debating whether to get a t-shirt all night and in the end decided to get a jumper, but they were all sold out by the time I got there. I suppose it was for the best - they were $90.
So, fantastic night and now my voice is all croaky from singing/yelling for three hours.
Have a good one!
Georgie
Here it is: the long awaited Easter break, promising us more time to... catch up with the work and revise for exams (yay!?!).
Nar, it's a reality too sad to be true. So let's look at the bright side: what is Easter all about? A friend of mine once upon a time told me it is all about smashing the kids with chocolate eggs and roasting the Easter bunny. Well, the game's changed: now we smash the Easter bunny and roast the kids! XD
Anyhow, it's time for a break - one or two days would have been enough. Don't forget to study, people - I'm constantly telling myself just that. Let's hope I'll get things done as planned.
Cheers,
I suppose it's easter eve (if there is such a thing) and I'm too awake to go to bed and too tired to do anything useful, so I thought, why not write, what I am sure will be, a riveting blog? I should actually be cleaning because we're having an easter family lunch tomorrow with mum's side and the house - namely my room and study - is still a tad messy, I'm thinking that I'll have to get up early tomorrow and do my share of cleaning.
I spent what felt like most of this week in the baillieu trying to finish the essays I had due in on thursday. Luckily, my brother, who turns out isn't too bad at all, let me crash at his place on monday so I didn't have to go all the way home (he lives just across the road from uni). But the next two nights I loaded up on V and red bull and powered through my work and managed to get it all done.
I was semi-happy with my Australia Now essay, probably because I really enjoyed the topic (but not the book - The Secret River, don't read it). But I really had no idea if what I was writing made sense or addressed the topic or was logical etc. etc. So I'm glad that it's only worth about 25% of my mark.
My other essay was Mod Lit on Dubliners. I hated the book and didn't even manage to finish it and so bullshitted my way through the essay and am hoping it will at least get me a pass.
I had this really weird day on Thursday. In the morning I went to my friend's sister's funeral. It was so horrible and I kept thinking, 'f***, she was only 21, how is this fair? how is my friend even getting up in the morning? What the hell would I do if something happened to my brother?' I bawled my way through the ceremony with a bunch of friends that had come for support and then had to go to uni. I felt a bit weird walking around all day with puffy, feral eyes.
Then I skipped my first lecture because I didn't have enough time to study for my mid-semester spanish exam and so went to my second home, the baillieu. I blindly made my way through spanish and then went for a coffee with a couple of girls and managed to wind down a bit, so that was cool.
Am thinking I'll spend most of the hols getting ahead in reading, starting and finishing my USA Today essay and fitting in as much sleep as possible.
Oh, and another thing, I was out in the city with some friends on thurs night and I was in a Maccas at like 2 in the morning and spotted this girl I had sat next to during enrolment week and had offered me mint m&ms, so had an odd, tipsy chat with her, turns out she's in USA Today as well.
I'm off now, happy easter to all! Good luck to everyone with study etc.
Georgie
College emptied out yesterday, and I'm one of the 10 people still here. In other words, I can run wildly amok in the college, hog the practise rooms forever, not have to wait in line for laundry or showers, not have to share the TV with people watching McLeod's Daughters/people vegetating in front of Halo 2/people generally watching shows I don't watch, and cook my own food.
About half of the people still staying are on my corridor, so we've decided to form a cooking co-op. I cook, they clean up afterwards, we split the cost of groceries. We're making lasagna tonight.
Unfortunately, we haven't bought the ingredients yet, which is incredibly unfortunate, because knowing this country, everything will probably be closed for Good Friday. Hopefully there'll be at least a convenience store open somewhere. I'm told that some of the stores in Chinatown are open during Easter too, since there's always the odd shopkeeper who either doesn't celebrate Easter or comes from a place like Hong Kong where people work on public holidays anyway.
So, over this holiday I have a nice long meaty to-do list, which I suppose I shall share here:
1. Principles of Public Law Directed Research Essay -- 2000 words, on the federal balance as expounded in the Work Choices Case (which, by the way, was in my opinion a step down the slippery slope of saying byebye to federalism and state autonomy. Not that I'm a particular fan of federalism or state autonomy, but I feel that if you're going to enshrine your founding values in a constitution, you should at least respect those values a century later), worth 50% of my grade for PPL
2. Legal Method and Reasoning Case Note -- 1500 words, on a case of my choice, worth 50% of my grade for LMR.
3. Aural Studies test after break
4. Catch up on practise, try bumping up hours as much as possible while time is available.
5. Buy a new mouthpiece for clarinet
6. Watch concerts. Fill out concert reports for them
7. Complete and total cleanover of room
8. Job applications -- there's a couple of emails sitting in my inbox for jobs as a clarinet teacher, random clerical work, and motivational speaking (!). I feel supremely unqualified to teach clarinet, and completely paranoid that I'll pass on any of my bad habits, but that sounds like a pretty fun job.
9. And of course, since most of the people staying here are either interstate or overseas, we're definitely going to run all over Melbourne, possibly country Victoria as well, to go sightseeing. Any recommendations?
I should also probably call my parents more. I've been completely and totally ignoring them since I came here. *feels guilty*
Doesn't it feel simply great to have a break after those lectures+tutes+pracs...etc..? Can't wait for this day to end and just go home, not thinking abt stuff to get ready for the class next day. However, it looks like our head authorities (meaning the lecturers and tutors) doesn't want us to just waste the easter hols resting away....they give us HOMEWORK! Let me add ASSIGNMENTS as well!!
I have got 2 assignments left after easter and I have to catch up on the lec notes that I couldn't be bothered revising...coz I had 3 accomplishments this week - 2 tests and 1 BIG assignment submitted..so I wanna reward myself for my hard work and not do anything this week. Maybe begin ticking the 'what-to-do's over the weekend.
But, looking on the bright side (which I always find hard to do) atleast we get to sleep in. And do things our way..perhaps get a bit disorganized..who cares? Anyway, have fun, people! Find some bunnies, or eat some choc eggs...
Till after easter
Two more days of university left until Easter! Yay! I'm really excited about going home on Thursday evening. I haven't been home since the day I left for college, which was about a month and a half ago. Lots of other people have gone home on the weekends, but I've had other commitments and I just haven't managed it. I shouldn't be complaining, because there's lots of other people at college from overseas or interstate who haven't been home and won't until the mid-year break. But I miss home and I'm looking forward so much to just sleeping in my own bed, eating home-cooked meals, and having my own bathroom.
One of the main things I've noticed in the first six weeks of uni is how difficult it is to make friends. Sometimes it feels like my life is simply go to class, come back and study, eat, sleep, uni, study, uni, study, and so on. I'm shy and anti-social by nature, and so it's very unlikely that I'm going to strike up a conversation with the person sitting next to me, but it takes so much effort that I really think most people just can't be bothered. We're all just too lazy, but more importantly, I think we're all too afraid of being rejected. And so we don't talk to the people sitting next to us, when in reality, they might be our best friends just waiting to happen. Yesterday in my HPS tute my tutor got us to split into two groups and attempt to debate a topic. I say attempt because we naturally got off topic. But being forced to communicate to the others in my class made me realise how friendly everyone was, and how similar many of our experiences were. If only I'd been brave enough to talk to them before, I would have realised that earlier.
So I guess the lesson here is to be the one to make the first step. To ask someone what they're doing for Easter, or to complain bitterly to them about how much you hate your class/lecture/assignment. But of course, it's easier just to sit still and concentrate on drawing the symbol from Heroes in the corner of my page. I have confidence that there's still time for making friends - after all, those of us doing double degrees are here for five years. I think the most important thing at this stage is not to get depressed about it, and just to accept that these things take time, and effort - effort which we have to be willing to put in.
Since my last post (which was my first ever) I have:
• been on a waterskiing camp
• been falling behind in study
• been wanting something that I will be unlikely to get because it is taken
Well uni is in full swing now and I am still not sure if I like it or not. There has been loads of homework, which is expected. But expecting it does not mean I can cope with it. Work comes in at a constant rate and leaves my desk at a slower rate, which means that I never get the awesome feeling of ‘a clean slate’. Assignments are not extremely difficult but are challenging enough to make me think twice about my answers. At the beginning of the year, I was actually looking forward to the academic challenges at uni. However, its about 5 weeks in and there’s nothing I want to do more than to escape the workload of uni and just spend lazy days and nights with friends. Speaking of friends, I barely get to see them at uni and the only social interaction I get to have in my day is the odd bump into acquaintances, short chats to people in my classes (short because uni classes are so much more intense than high school classes). I really want to get to know the people in my classes better but it seems like the fast and impersonal environment of uni does not allow me to do that. It just means I have to put more effort in trying to grow relationships outside of classes. And that requires effort, time and to an extent guts. The first move is always the hardest because I honestly don’t know what other people think of me. Fatigue has also played a big part. Late nights and early mornings mean that I turn up to class half asleep and not very inclined to talk as much as I usually do. This is frustrating as other people do not get to see the cheery side of me. Also, it’s been harder to meet more new people. During the first couple of weeks, there were plenty of new people to meet in my tutorials and at my extracurricular events, but now I see the same people every week.
Another thing bugging me lately is my impatience. Not impatience at public transport or impatience in a queue, but my impatience for experiences that will naturally in the future. I want things to happen and I want them to happen now. I want to get to know that person better, I want to live in college, I want to have great nights out, and I want to travel. There’s so much I want to do and some that I CAN do at the moment but I am NOT doing because either I DON’T have the guts or because I am not putting in the effort. It’s especially frustrating when my goal at the beginning of the year was to take more risks. I have always taken the safe path in my life and now I feel the need to live on the edge, maybe just a bit. Apologies if this whole paragraph does not make sense to you, but it’s more for me, so I can collect my thoughts.
I guess I just have to be a bit more aggressive in my approach to certain things in life. I have never been like that though, it’s just not me. But if I want to get what I want, maybe that’s the only option for me.
On a brighter note, I have discovered/used 9 different toilets at the university. Hopefully, by my next entry that number would have grown by a few since knowing where the closest toilet on campus makes uni life so much more pleasant.
Hey, it's not me who's threatening you all....
Recently, my friend joined the lacrosse club and she had to sign this doc for membership. There was this page on terms and conditions and I quote 'I fully understand that this sport may result in some injury or being killed..' unquote. My friend showed it to me and the moment I saw it, I simply burst out laughing. Call it my lack of knowledge, but as far as I have known, I haven't seen anyone write something like that!! Seriously!
It's like telling sum1, oh, u might die when u do this, so let's play it!!! It's so intimidating! This is not hard core soccer or basketball where some one as tough as a boulder might run into u...this is a simple sport, for crying out loud! I still keep thinking abt it and cannot believe my eyes...Anyone seen this before? Maybe they mention that in every sport so that they don't get sued or somethin, but still....just annoys the hel outta me..
Anyways, got this new chem lec..more serious and quite boring, and he tries to pull out a what do I call it, not-so-funny, yet funny...(if that makes sense) joke. We were learning about repulsion and attraction between two balls that are coming into contact. He relates it to ppl where u c ur friend in the distance and approaches him/her (attraction) and then repulsion coz u don't want to get too close, be right in their face! Sometimes, u get too close, probably hug, or kiss and I quote when it gets to the tongue part unquote it starts to get weird or uncomfortable. I could find myself laughing along with a majority of the others but shouldn't they keep their standard? Yes, it's funny, I agree but come on, he's a lecturer, and just trying to make someone laugh by saying almost ANYTHING is worse than just keeping quiet. Right?
Till next time
When I first got here, I had to take a musicianship test for aural studies tutorial placement. One of the questions was an aural analysis of a recording of a piece of music.
Today I was listening to a Philip Glass CD. (Philip Glass is a contemporary American composer who was one of the main driving forces behind the minimalist movement in the latter half of the 20th century. He's also a very successful film composer -- he did the soundtrack for The Hours and won his second Academy Award for it.)
Guess what I heard on the CD?
Yep. The very same piece I had to write an analysis of in my first week here. It's the Evening Song from Glass' second opera Satyagraha, which is about the life of Mahatma Gandhi.
I love it when I recognise music from random places.
Number of posts found:
1327