On Monday I started my lunchtime off by following a friend to the basement of Union House. This is the place where all the ‘geeks’ hang out and this particular lunchtime they were moving to the second floor for the ‘Fantasy appreciation society’. They were doing a writing exercise in completing short stories from short paragraphs. After seeing what the thing was about, and having a go, I found it just wasn’t my thing and left. I bumped into an American exchange student from college and spoke for a while, then later found one of my best friends from high school, who was speaking to someone they had become friends with in their course. We spoke for a while and planned to have coffee on Lygon Street next week. I feel that I’m not trying to catch up with old friends as often as I should, but then again there are a lot of things that I’d like to be able to do more of.
I had planned this Wednesday to go to the comedy show ‘The Mathematical Revolution’, but unfortunately the person I had going with me was overwhelmed with an assignment which was due in the next day and they had not completed it. They were free on Thursday but as I’m enrolled at a college tute at Newman for Physics A (Adv) I couldn’t go. If I had it would’ve made a $15 show into a $40 show, and it wouldn’t be the same going by myself on Wednesday, so I said ‘no’.
After having that Thursday night tute I started to talking to someone from Newman who was in my physics tute this time as they’d missed theirs earlier. They were only doing the standard stream of physics and felt a little bit that some of the stuff we covered was beyond their course, and therefore I hadn’t seen them earlier. We spoke for a while, just about how we were finding things, and also where we were wanting to go, and then suddenly someone walked past that I knew there face but couldn’t put a name to it. He was like “Rick”, and I’m getting all confused trying to remember where in the world I’ve seen this bloke! I found out it was from the International Science School at the University of Sydney last year. He’d come from Brisbane to study medicine, but I know he is also quite the maths fan, so I felt a little annoyed that I didn’t know that he was here sooner, then maybe I would’ve had someone to go to ‘The Mathematical Revolution’.
Friday was the day of the annual general meeting of the Melbourne University Mathematics and Statistics Society (MUMS). I attended, and ran for a few positions, and got none. {:-( There was one person who was ridiculously running for almost every position even though he was in first year, and really just wasn’t serious about getting most of them. In the end though, he somehow managed to get first year rep, of which there were six candidates, and some others probably would’ve appreciated it more than him. Maybe that’s the strategy I should use next time? Run for all positions until people feel I should just have a position because I’ve run for so many, even those I’d clearly not be able to get. (Such as vice president, secretary, or treasurer, as did this guy, and make the meeting go longer.)
That night was the intercollegiate swimming sports carnival. I participated in the 100m freestyle and in the 4 times 50m medley relay, doing backstroke. In the 100m I did shockingly. Just after I was heading back to where I’d started (now at half way) most of the other competitors had finished, and I was left struggling. I don’t often swim, and am no fantastic one either. I managed to get a cheer squad from other colleges, with them yelling ‘Ricky! Ricky! Ricky!’ (Obviously caught on from Medley people.) I was quite amused, and managed to finish the race in 1:52 compared to the winning time of 1:03. I’ll do better in the 1500m in the athletics. I went searching out for Lara hoping she’d be there, (to say hi) but I wasn’t able to find and recognise her, (Photos can be hard), too bad I didn’t think about saying I’d be there or anything. But I did manage to see and talk with some other people that I did know, including someone in Trinity from my old school.
On Saturday morning I went mask shopping (for the Medley Hall Masquerade Ball) with some other people from my college. I wasn’t planning on buying a mask, just more having a look at some so I could make one myself, and fetch some elastic and a Stanley knife to make it.
Later that day I had my grandmother, her partner, my mum and brother come over and went to see Spymonkey’s show ‘Cooped’. It was a very random show with birds running into windows, horses with no bodies, and surprising us with having something hidden on just about every part of the stage. Later we had a good dinner at Federation Square, and saw my grandmother and her partner off.
My mum and brother hung around the city, just looking in some shops. We found a shop that sold things from and about Greece. My mum got a bracelet, which I was looking at earlier thinking that they would make very good presents for friends, as they were quite unusual and different. The beads looked like rocks with eyes and swirly pattens on them.
We then saw the spaceman that I was talking about a few weeks ago, and watched him for about ten minutes. Just before we left there was a woman who approached him and yelled “How dare you!?!” Was she offended that someone was trying to mimic a Martian? She walked away cursing, and just happened to be the direction we were going. She walked into a Seven Eleven and just when we walked past we saw her slip a Mentos (or similar) into her pocket. After walking on we saw she’d left too soon to pay for it, and saw her take it out of her pocket to eat. Not the first stealing I’ve seen in Melbourne before, although last time it was more serious. This was back in 2003 where I was at a café with some people from school and saw a man have his bag snatched (when sitting down) and getting up to chase the thief. Another time when I was about 12, in the country, I had someone smash the window of my bedroom and attempt to get in while I was there. I had been woken up and thought that there was a possum outside my window. I went to shoo it off and instead was face to face with this man who was just about to get in, and we gave each other a huge fright. It was just after a few nights of being away, and probably assumed that where he was breaking in was the back of the post office as we were living in it’s residence at the time.
At 9:30 we saw Sammy-J’s 55 Minute National Tour. He plays a keyboard and comes up with some very clever words. This show was about a series of performances over a few days, at the capitals of the states of Australia, and having a total performance time of 55 minutes. We started out in Brisbane, and introduced as if we were in Brisbane. In between each ‘set’ of about three songs there was a short clip showing him missing his flight to the next city everyday and having to resort to riding lawnmowers, hi-jacking planes and travelling by boat. (who cares about being realistic). At the start of the show Sammy-J asked me my name and I was wearing the Medley Hall rugby jumper. He complemented on it and got me to show everyone. He then asked a woman in the crowd her name, and spoke a bit, and then once being in that city was over, spoke into a microphone back stage into a ‘diary’, and said how he saw her after the show, etc. Later he then was getting freaked out at several of his ‘gigs’ at the different cities that she kept being in the crowd. Quite funny. We then saw him after the show, got him to sign some posters and I learnt that he is a student at The University of Melbourne, but is finishing this semester. I’m hoping to bump into him again and be able to say ‘Hey, it’s Sammy-G.’ (As he was called on the radio every morning on the clips and sometimes introduced at the shows.)
It should also be known that Sammy-J's show got the Melbourne Airport Best Newcomer award. Yey! I saw an award-winning show! :D
I'm restless...my mind is on overdrive and it's been a long time since I had trouble sleeping at night.
I wanted to share how meaningful the advice a friend gave me on Friday was.
For the first time in my life I had someone tell me "Don't you think you're being a bit unrealistic aiming that high?" after I told them what kind of marks I was hoping to average at uni.
Lol. I know it sounds crazy. I recoiled in shock. How dare someone tell me I can't do something!
But you know what?
It was one of the best things I'd heard all week.
To have someone say to me that it's okay to set your standards a bit lower sometimes. That's it's okay to sacrifice some things in order to LIVE. That enjoying life is more important......and that I don't need to look like a genius to get into an Investment Bank.
It gave me some relief.
Despite being relatively short-lived...
I spent the weekend doing about 15 hours of Accounting, teaching myself how the hell to use Quickbooks. Brad Potter's introductory audio recording to it was helpful in the sense it explained the most basic of things....but when it came to the things that were more compex there was zero explanation. I wasted quite a few hours working out some really small but essential elements of knowledge to do with using the program. It is a good feeling to finally master something though. I also worked at the tennis club from 7:45am on Saturday til about 11am, then 4 hours at Target on Sunday.
My happiness was brought to me through 15 minutes of online window-shopping with J late on Saturday night.
I receieved a call from the President of the Melbourne Uni Political Interest Society tonight. He was calling to check I was nominating for the committee. I really appreciated him taking the time to personally call me like that. Consequently...I have nominated for the position of Social Secretary. I organise the social events! (If I get the position that is!). It would be fun. He told me that he, himself, had taken that role in first year.
Tomorrow morning I have to call Motorola with the intention of getting them to replace my phone. I've had it since the end of last year and it's been switching itself off. At first I thought I'd accidently switched it off myself, but now it's become more worse and noticiably NOT my doing. Plus the battery is not holding its charge. I am not looking forward to doing this but I can't afford to wait 2 weeks or more for them to 'fix' it. I hate multinationals!!!!!!!!
I spoke to the guy from where we bought it the other week...'it's not their decision' ect ect to replace it - the decision rests with Motorola and Motorola insist they look at the phones and fix them. He told me they hadn't had many problems at all with my phone (the V3) so consequently, trying to appease my frustration told me jokingly "The phone must hate you."
The result was that a slight chill ran over me as I considered the possibility of the phone being an entity of its own with some kind of control/power over me.
In many ways...it does control me. Switching it off (which I do on the rarest of occasions) is an incredible feeling of being able to relax at last - the joys of modern technology and its hold over your life.
J has psychometric testing all day (or whatever its called) for a certain well-known company. The whole job searching game is stressful and I live vicariously through him. I'm learning early what I will later face.
We're doing dinner in the evening...he's been there a lot for me the last few days so I wanted to show my appreciation by making the time to meet him after he's had a busy day and spending time with him.
Before that I have also managed to fit in a last minute coffee with M. I miss her so much. These days I'm a nightmare to schedule with unless its a week in advance. Last week I tried to organise something with her for Monday but she was meant to be recording....at the last minute it was postponed. By that point I had organised with J to meet, do dinner ect.
Anyways. I'm glad I can see her for a little while at least :- )
Okay I'm going to try to sleep now because I am truly exhausted!
It is way past my bed time!
xoxo
Sophie
Rain is falling down, i am thinking of it again. study :)
Sorry this blog entry is going to be messy, which reflects the state of mind sometimes. let me describe it to u, my mind is tiring after doing too much study, eyes are strained from using computers too much. So things become important and i feel grumpy
Fortunately i now find the solution to it. Just need to take breaks and tell myself that i can hf at uni. THe other time i just need to do work to make up time.
Indeed for the past 3 weeks, i was occupied with 2 major law essays and a philosophy essay as well a maths mid-semester test. This is pretty full on.
Law essays take so long to finish. It takes time to read and find the materials, then putting it on paper requires so much time too. because u need to use refereneces as well setting out the argument clearly, and logically. I was exhausted mentally at the end. But it was my fault, i guess cos i could take some rest in between. Well i learn my lesson, never work when your brain is tired. Need to freshen up, otherwise ur brain just can't operate properly.
So how can i improve. I guess i need to improve my reading and writing skill.
Regarding reading in general for law, it is interesting overall. All the topics relate to things in life. But i am reading them everyday, i just to got to do it otherwise i will not understand the topic fully.
But this can become boring every now and then. SO this explains why i feel lethargic with study or life sometimes. However i know this is the time to study and opportunities are great. Classes are really fun. Teachers are great, dedicated and friendly.
Well Johanna. It is Jim, from melb blogging i didn't know u have another blogger site. How do u manage all these stuff? lol
Good practice for ur art degree though.
I want to tell u that i am sorry that i forget to reply ur message.I was super busy, that is the excuse.
Thanks for ur advice.
Sometimes, it is hard to think like u, i mean to know the right way to life. But i am workign on it. I just get tired mentally of thinking about it. I feel my brain is not wokring. My body is lethargic. I keep thinking about the negative things even i know it is wrong. The above condition is only when i am frustrated and tired.
Study is really what u said. It can be sapping on ur personality. That is what i feel. But luckily i enjoy it most of the time. Just need to listen to my body, knows when to stop and hf.
Sometimes i just have to do study because it is a requirement.
My brain is getting tired now. =stop talking. So i talk to u next time. Lol
Haha, someone just discovered my MySpace page, then realised i was a blogger. I guess a lot of people really do read these things..we're becoming uni-famous fellow bloggers :D
http://www.myspace.com/muselara
i also realised i haven't sent in a picture to be posted on this website yet purely because i don't really have any normal-looking ones..so you can see a few pictures if you go on that site i guess.
ps- Hey Jess :p (feel famous? haha)
not looking forward to an 8am start tomorrow at all. *Sigh*.
Hmm, let's see.
Tuesday: all i had this day was a biology practical....but funnily enough i was asked for the first time about this blog by a girl who's on my table. She's friends with another first year blogger haha...small world this is indeeedy. Johanna apparantly you're in the same bio prac class as me :). After my prac finished, my dad came and picked me up, cause he was here til yesterday. Oh how good it felt to feel like i was back in school again being picked up by a parent sometimes. We went for a drive to Williamstown and around other various places i wouldn't know the names of seeing as i only know the name of a handful of suburbs in Melbourne haha. On Tuesday night i had my first water polo game with my new team, which was awesome and i think now that we've played together as a team and know a bit more about each other we will go pretty well.
Wednesday: Involved waking at 7am to be at maths at 8am. After this was my maths tutorial then a 3 hour chemistry prac, then more bio and chem lectures til 4pm. i actually fell asleep in chemistry cause i've been so tired and run down. only the funny thing is that i was sitting on the floor against the wall, so i musta looked like a bit of a bum hahah. Oh well, i can think of weirder sights in and around uni!! When i got back to college i had a hall dinner, then tutes straight after at 7.30pm till 10.30pm! That's like.. 14 hours of study in a day. God help me.
Today: today i had to meet with some people in charge of my faculty over some stuff...then i had my animals in society lectures, then back to college to meet with the warden. i really have a lot of decisions to make. i know i said this in my last post but if a certain person would just listen to me then my life wouldn't be so delayed and arghhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!
So tomorrow is an 8am start, 3pm finish. Followed by intercollegiate swimming- i'm in the 100m freestyle, the 4x50m medley relay, and the 4x50m freestyle relay...should be good fun...then i'm going to stay at the Rialto in the city with my dad then the next morning we're flying back to Sydney yay :).
This Saturday in Sydney im going to a friend's 18th. She doesn't know about all the stuff that's been happening to me lately...so i only hope i am able to talk to her before saturday night, so that she doesn't mention it all to me :(....I wish there was just something i could do for myself to save me.
On Sunday i'm going horse riding with another friend, then we're going to make our own dinner from scratch, and see a movie...Ah i love my friends who are willing to stay friends no matter what!! On monday i will be going to Sydney Uni to discuss with a man from the veterinary faculty my options and the consequences of each of the options concerned with them that may be offered.
Anyways, I'm off to ...ring my mum or something:( Being alone is too depressing when the original reason you were happy with it is because of someone who you've now lost.
Ughhhh end of rant! Ciao!
This week has been a week full of much contemplation about life, relationships, friendships, and how University changes or affects you as a person and in regards to your life as a whole.
There have been a few 'triggers' this week for such thoughts, but one in particular occurred while I was on the tram along Swanston Street.
I saw a girl from my old high school. 'Back then' (Year 12 I mean), she was this fresh-faced bubbly outgoing girl who never wore an ounce of makeup on her porcelain skin and never seemed to care much for 'fashion'.
Here she was now; with her made-up face, her new clothes - the fashion of the moment type attire, what seemed a more reserved persona...and above everything else, a new set of friends standing beside her.
For a few minutes I wondered if she had simply changed, or if she had changed because everything around her had changed?
It is often said that University is a "fresh start" so you should make the most of it. For most of us, these “fresh starts” only come around every 6 years or so - think beginning Primary School, beginning High School, and then beginning University. Between these times you must accept whatever category others have pigeon-holed you into and whatever friends have wound up by your side before you finally get the chance to change everything if you get bored, or if you simply change while those around you stay the same.
I wouldn’t say I’ve been necessarily ‘lucky’, but I have had the opportunity to experience more of these “fresh starts” than most people. Three different primary schools and two high schools afforded me many opportunities to test different waters and figure out the kind of person I was and who I wanted to have around me in life. At my third primary school I edged out of my shell realising that in life, if you want to get anywhere you need to be confident and outgoing or you will be missed in the crowd. By my second high school I found some like-minded individuals who encouraged my intellectualism and sharp sense of humour. Now by the time I started University, what I experienced was not a “fresh start” – it was a homecoming. I finally feel like I’m ‘home’ – that I’ve found a place where I can be exactly the person I want to be; the person I’ve become.
So for me I consider the two parallels; I wonder in the people I meet, who is experiencing University as a “fresh start” and who has finally come “home”?
I think neither is to be looked at as being somewhat more advantageous than the other – both are exciting prospects, both allow you to meet fantastic people and both create some kind of comfort. It is just interesting to see if anyone understands the perspective I’m coming from.
I had so many expectations for University; many of which changed. In fact I would say that so many more unexpected things have happened to me this year. Proving yet again that despite my (sometimes!) obsession with planning, it is always impossible to know exactly what will happen.
I came to Melbourne University with an open heart and an open mind; searching for excitement, intellectual stimulation, a riveting social life and new people.
This year I’ve now experienced at times, more excitement than I can deal with! I’ve found so much intellectual stimulation of which, sometimes works to the point of de-motivation where I think “Am I really smart enough to do this? Will I ever even make it to the office of an Investment Bank some day?” (Don’t worry these thoughts disappear within minutes as I realise if I don’t give it my best shot I’ll regret it for the rest of my life!). I’ve found a social life that causes my calendar to overflow, forcing me to learn how to say “No”. And I’ve found the most truly amazing people I could ever hope to meet. When older friends, associates and mentors in my life told me that University was where I would make many life-long friends, I never really believed them. Now I know I’ve made some friendships that will definitely see me through much of my adult life. In particular…I came here with no expectation of relationships…and somehow I found J.
It is funny how these things work out.
I started the week for some reason feeling very sleepy. I suspect it was the cold. I’d had more sleep over the holidays but the cold countered that. I also was on for dining hall duty this week. Each night after dinner I washed up all the pots and other huge things. My caterers commented that I looked tired. But fortunately the next day was Anzac day.
Anyway, on Monday there was a Physics Lab tour, where I got to see some postgraduate students working in optics labs, some quantum research labs for the development of quantum computers and a positron accelerator used for testing the structure of crystals. It was over very quickly and I don’t really remember much of what they said. (I was tired that day though.) I also found it easy to get back into study.
On Anzac day I decided to check out my forum on my site, (which is rarely used by anyone as I don’t actively encourage people to post), and found that there had been hackers at work! They put a div on my page, so that in less technical terms, part of the forum was covered with this thing saying about these Turkish hackers. I also spent a large part of this day just catching up on some homework and settling myself back in.
On Saturday night there was a Chess competition at Trinity College. We were playing five minute blitz games, and thus on my first game I lost by a flag fall. (timer runs out). The second game was on a dodgy table where one of the black pawns was replaced with a AAA battery and another was the bottom half of a knight, which made it half size. The funniest piece though was the white pawn replaced with a folded (not neatly) serviette. I managed to win that game due to the fact my opponent moved a piece which allowed me to get their king. (no such thing as check in blitz.) The third game I ran out of time again! Fourth game I was just lucky that my opponent didn’t realise I had them in check. The fifth game was against someone who was very serious. I knew that I couldn’t beat them on time, and eventually missed out on seeing my king was in check and lost. As soon as he’d won he got straight up to tell them he’d won. What a way to rub it in, it felt very cold, but he did make up for it after by coming back and saying good game, etc. Then my final game I just made sure to keep more time than my opponent and won by their flag fall. So in total I won three out of six games, which I felt quite proud of.
I’ve been feeling quite enthusiastic regard to homework this week. Must be the Easter break. There are exams coming soon, (June), and we get our timetables tomorrow. (Monday). Definitely time to start thinking about revision. I’ve got my Scientific Programming and Simulation assignment all done ready for tomorrow. Also now got a project for Introduction to Programming, which I think should be fun as we’re making a program so that we can add, subtract, multiply and divide large integers. Oh Joy!
The past few weeks have been filled with…well….Stuff.
I went home to Sydney for 6 nights…from the last Thursday of uni, through Easter till the 19th when my friend from Sydney and myself flew back here- she stayed with me in college for 4 nights.
Whilst in Sydney it was a good chance to catch up with life and family and my friends, which I really needed, and still need now but I’ll get to that later on.
I feel that ever since I’ve left school and started uni and had all these changes happen so quickly and continuously, that I’m realising how un-innocent life outside of that shell really is, and at the moment I’m really not too fond of it. How I would do anything to just be a little carefree kid again, with the biggest worry in my life being that I dropped a lolly, or something. Even to just be in school again, year 12 again even. I just hate the fact that I need a break when stuff has only really just begun.
Yet when we all leave university, it’s like another shell will be removed, and we will yet again be exposed even furthermore to the world. Maybe life is like something…with a lot of shells? And each time we have some sort of epiphany, whether it be good or bad, (can epiphanies be bad?? I think I’m having a lot of those lately.), nevertheless it is still causing us to move forward somehow.
Just a random comment, out my window I just heard the sound of a glass smashing to the ground, then a girl’s voice exclaiming “OH, S**t!” Hehe. College.
Lately I’ve missed a lot of uni still, and a lot of life. I have thought, been told, found out about, and asked, many things, which have made me cry, frown, scream, laugh, talk, stay silent….basically a rush of a crazy milkshake of emotions. I’ve found out my ex-boyfriend is no longer my best friend as such, and as was such for 2 years before we were together. He has some idea that us not communicating will help us in the long run, not to be “together”, to remain friends…even though he said that the reason we aren’t “together” anymore is nothing to do with us. *Sigh*. So now I have lost one of the most important people in my life, a best friend, and it doesn’t seem to bother the other half of this too much at all.
Today I pretty much lay in my bed all day, I couldn’t face uni, again. I’ve tried over and over to try and get through things, but I really am knocked back by the loss of such a friendship, such a great thing in my life. He doesn’t seem to get that, that being that I know what I need to help me and help me start living my life properly again, yet it is not willing to be given, when only just over a month ago and for 2 years before that, we were both cherishing our friendship insanely, and immensely. =’[.
That brings me to what I said I would get to…stuff I still need now. I have realised how much of a motivation our relationship really was for me to make the move to Melbourne, because I was told how good it would be, and both believed that. Maybe if he was willing to see that treating me like a friend would indefinitely save me, and save what I thought I had going here. I hate to write about “him” in here as it sounds like I’m complaining, when really I look up to him so much, like a hero, but he’s letting me down and I just can’t accept that…why would someone want to betray such a friendship, and think they are doing the right thing in doing so? I’m also just making him think I am some crazy person, but even I don’t know myself right now, and I know how to get back to normal, and that is by being treated normally!
When I go back to Sydney from the 6th-8th may, I am going to have a meeting with a man from the veterinary faculty at the University of Sydney. I’ll explain more on that in a later post.
Anyway, enough about the majority of my life that is depressing, and more on other topics which are slightly less so…
The last day of uni before the Easter break, I went to Werribee Open Range Zoo for a field trip, which was nice. I enjoy seeing animals getting a bit more freedom when they are kept in captivity, and was pleased to learn in a talk we had, that modern zoos are now much more for educating about and promoting strategies to maintain wildlife, rather than profit and entertainment priorities. We also got to go on a pretty cool safari-type drive where much of the area was explained to us.
When I got back from Werribee, I rushed home and finished off my packing, before putting my fish Wally in a friend’s room who stayed in college over the break, then handed in my keys and caught a taxi to the Sky Bus terminal at Southern Cross Station, then hopped on the Sky Bus to the airport and caught my plane to Sydney.
Words cannot explain the amount of meaning that was behind the sigh I released as my plane touched down in my hometown, Sydney. I knew that I couldn’t last much longer without getting back there, and so did everyone else I had been talking to. I know this is going to be meaningless to write but I’ll be right back- late night vending machine cravings call!
I’m back, and it’s raining- I love the rain. I wish my college wasn’t shaped like a donut tonight so I could go to bed perhaps peacefully for the first time in ages and just listen to the rain hitting my window. Its so nice that there’s even birds chirping, at 12:45am!
What was I writing about…oh yes... Sydney. So the night I got to Sydney I stayed at home and cuddled my puppy and spent time with my parents, in the comfort of my own home, almost a thousand kilometres away from all my troubles.. the next day I saw Scary Movie 4 with my friend- Haha that movie’s so stupid :p. That night we both went into the city, to Star City after sitting at South’s Juniors. We sat in the cocktail bar and discussed our lives, other people’s lives, and the simple idea that gambling is a really bad problem, after watching people lose thousands upon thousands of dollars that could be much better spent on living happily, before our eyes. We then met up with matt, her brother, and also a good friend of mine. Before deciding we were both buggered and caught a taxi home.
I’m quite sure I woke up in a completely different mood the next morning, another one of the times where I hate seeing myself like I never have before… I didn’t do much during the day, but that night met up with most of my friends and went to a hotel/bar/club. Alcohol really mixes emotions, and I didn’t leave that morning feeling very happy with myself or other people- let’s leave it at that.
The next day, ah, Easter Sunday. Full of chocolaty-goodness. My friend came around to my house to drop me off an Easter egg that afternoon, and to err..apologise for the previous night’s events I guess. I then met up with another friend and we both went to the Easter show for a couple of hours…we just went on some rides, wasted some money on show bags then came home.
The rest of my time in Sydney was spent at the park with my dog, and with my parents. On the Wednesday afternoon my friend misty and I flew back down to Melbourne, got back to college then went out to Crown. Don’t go to night clubs at crown on a Wednesday night, even in the holidays, unless you want to be chatted up by guys much your senior!
The next day was spent shopping and lazing around, we were both really tired the whole 5 days. That night, Thursday night, was crazy. It involved myself, my friend, student night at Billboard, two unknown males, lots of dancing, and $3 spirits. Let’s just say my friend was super happy that night, but not so much by the early hours of the morning, which saw me holding her hair back in a bit of a state myself on a lawn, before somehow stumbling back to college and having my floor thrown up on by my dear friend... haha.
We didn’t do anything the next day. Too tired and umm, yeah..:P i felt bad for a while about certain things too, but hey i'm over them at least. But went to the movies that night when Misty was feeling a little better, and saw The Inside Man, which I think is a really good movie…very well thought out. It was good to not have to watch something involving romance, for once.
Next night saw us at the Comedy Festival, where we watched Tahir (very funny), and then The Lion, The Bitch & The Closet, also hilarious. I love the comedy festival. The next day was a sad day for me because it meant I was once again alone in this state in the sense of Sydney-related people. And my mood, whilst it was always pretty low, went back to the low I had before.
So the Monday saw me back at university with an 8am start- maths. Joy!! Nah, I don’t mind the maths I do, in fact I find it one of my least challenging subjects. Monday afternoon wasn’t the happiest, and involved a few shaky events including a traumatic phone call with…someone. I was quite so shaken that I missed hall, water polo training, and eating that afternoon/night altogether. Tuesday- day off for ANZAC day, even though I would have had the day off anyway due to having no biology prac this week. Oh speaking of those, I dissected a rat for my last prac, it was really interesting yet the whole removing of the skin didn’t take my fancy at first. But nonetheless, I still enjoyed it a lot, and was even so kind as to attempt to reassemble my dear male rat friend after being allowed to discover his interior.
On Tuesday night, my friend matt flew down from Sydney, so I spent the night with him, where he treated me to coffee and tickets to see Spymonkey at the Comedy Festival, I really appreciate him… the most he mentioned about my worries was “You need some cheering up, hey! :D” before us having a really nice night together. I love my friends, especially when they show they care so much. After that I came back to college, only to be rung by another of my friends! So back to the city I went, where we both went to the HiFi Bar comedy bingo. Haha. Funny stuff. He then drove me back to college in his pretty cool car haha…another friend I am thankful for.
Wednesday I turned up to my chemistry prac class, which was easy enough. I’m happy with my chemistry prac marks, none of them have been lower than 9/10 which is slightly reassuring I guess. That night I got a message from Matt again saying “Please Please Please come out!!” haha..he was here by himself, because my friend misty, who is also his sister, told him all about how much fun we had, so he just had to come down too!! This night we went to Crown, where I only spent one whole dollar, yet got 6 dollars worth of bets! haha. Some guy stopped us and gave us a Crown card each, which had $5 free on it. We then walked back to Flinders St. from Crown and chatted about lots of different things before saying bye and wishing him a safe flight home. (Home, Sydney L where I’d love to be right now because of certain things that could be avoided!)
Thursday, was college day, which involved a few photos at 7am, pancakes, various activities which I couldn’t take part in because I had a field trip to the RSPCA which was also awesome in itself, yet saddening to learn of the cruelties face to face, that so many animals are subjected to. It really makes you want to help. We also got a big BBQ lunch, and a nice dinner. Then there was a pub and café crawl. It was nice to socialise with fellow college people and funny to watch others who were up for a big night, get just that given to them. One guy is still in bed, blue in the face, or so I’ve been told.
So this morning I awoke to spew in the bathrooms, and the smell of a used vomit cleanup pack lurking somewhere around the corridors. I went down to breakfast, then back to bed. I hope somehow I can find motivation within myself, or a certain person can see that I am asking for one thing, which will make me able to be at peace and not like this person I am not, yet they wont acknowledge that and it hurts, yet I still cherish them so much as a friend L. *sigh*
Ironically as I am finally finished this, the rain has stopped pattering, and those birds have stopped chirping, and my tiredness has been diminished. So it looks like its back to back Greys Anatomy episodes on the college network for me until I doze off into dreams that reflect my life, really.
My dad arrives at around 8am tomorrow morning, which will be good. I’ll be spending the weekend with him. I hope to post again soon, but if I don’t, next week holds my first water polo game, intercollegiate swimming, university, and on Saturday a flight to Sydney! Yay. I need to go home again, I really really do.
Until next time, stay safe and if you come to intercollegiate swimming on Friday night, you know which college is the safest bet to cheer for.
Ciao peoples and keep smiling, for me, cause i miss the smile that was once permanently displayed on this face.
I feel like I need a lifetime away from university right now ..
On Monday afternoon, I was in my bedroom packing things, and I accidentally stepped backwards onto a tube of moisturiser that had fallen onto the floor. It sort of 'squooshed' beneath my foot; when I turned around, a jet of moisturiser had been shot onto a pile of clean, folded washing. Words do not describe how I felt, but I'll try! I threw my hands up in the air and didn't know whether to laugh or cry - it was so bizarre, but it meant I'd have to do my washing all over again. Mmmm.
I miss music. Going home for Monday night and Anzac Day, I remembered and really appreciated how musical my house is. I brought my violin back with me to play, and Caitlin (my sister) was trying to play it all day, while I was trying to play her cello. It was so interesting; we managed a "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" duet sort of thing after swapping instruments. I felt like I could be so much rougher with the cello - you really had to work to press the strings down, and you really had to push the bow into the strings to get rich sound. Apart from that, I spent many hours at the piano just bashing out my loudest and grandest songs, and even just playing chords - anything loud! The feeling of creating music, making it fly from your fingertips, is something I always took for granted.. and to have it back, even just for a little while, was pure heaven. I also spent some time on my piano-accordian (which I am determined to learn how to play properly) and of course, I had to try out the new guitar.
It is strange; I have a music room in my house. Most people have sitting rooms, or rumpus rooms,... I have a music room. Let's see - we have an upright piano, two cellos, two violins, two guitars, bongos, piano accordian, pan flutes, and the computer with keyboard and recording set-up. I think we need to get some brass instruments, and maybe woodwind. I've always wanted to play the oboe, simply so I could play the theme of the Black Swan from Tchaikovski's Swan Lake. There is a small problem with our music room - it's only one room. If you have three or more people trying to play opposing instruments at the same time, not to mention cds blaring, it's a cacophony. I am amazed that the neighbours haven't complained in all the time we've lived next door.
Enough about that, I'm just making myself sad. I have to get a guitar - I only have a violin when I'm down here in Brunswick. A guitar would make it more bearable, although it would be brilliant to get a piano here.
Anyway, must go home and cook dinner.
And do washing... grrrrrrrrrrrr!
The last week off has been great but incredibly busy (when is it not though?!). I've managed to get quite a bit of study in but it always seems there is never enough time for absolutely everything you could 'possibly' do.
Currently I'm at home and have just enjoyed a delectable dinner of Cajun-spiced salmon done on the BBQ, Nina Simone playing in the background and a CAMP FIRE in the backyard made especially for my younger brother by my father -we toasted marshmallows!!!!
So what are some of the things I have been up to amongst all the boring hours of study?
Well, last Wednesday I was very lucky to have the opportunity to meet up with an investment banker from a very famous European-based bank.
I was so nervous before the meeting…going up in the lift to the offices this man in the lift with me asked if I was off to a job interview because I “looked nervous”! I explained and he wished me luck saying I would be fine which made me feel a lot better. The kindness of random strangers is such a great feeling. In the end I had no need to worry as the investment banker I met with was so friendly and easy-going (while being amazingly intelligent and successful!). I guess I had this expectation that all IBs would be stuffy, snobby and look down on me but he was so completely different! He gave me some amazing advice on my future career plans which I really appreciated. Now more than ever, I am so certain that investment banking is what I want to do with my life.
Saturday night J drove over to surprise me with company while I enjoyed the formidable task of babysitting my 3 younger brothers! My youngest brother (9) insisted on doing absolutely EVERYTHING with us which was adorably amusing. We watched Goodnight and Goodluck which I've wanted to see for a long time. (How can anyone not adore George Clooney?!) Halfway through I had to pause the film and explain the whole concept of Communism and the 1950s era McCarthyism in the US to Mr Nine. His ability to understand things at such a young age never ceases to amaze me!
Goodnight and Goodluck was absolutely fantastic. So deeply reminiscent of today's 'War on Terror' -the parallels are frightening. It brings so many questions to mind about the current state of the world.
The usual weekend activities consumed my time work at Target, work at the Tennis club and of course, my Sunday afternoon match at Uni. I must applaud our team’s win (the opposition simply didn’t show up!!).
Last night I went to darling little house party with my best friend M, at the house of a new friend of mine – B whom I met through tennis. B is English and very charming. It was a delightful night. Everyone was very friendly despite M and I being probably the youngest people there (the age group was mid-20s and up) so I was thankful for that. One of the highlights of the night was having my Tarot cards read by this sweet Canadian girl, J! She was amazing! I have never had them read before and being the cynic I am at times, was thoroughly shocked at how spot-on the reading was. M had her cards read too and found it a similarly enlightening experience! I think I could easily get obsessed with getting Tarot readings…but at $40 a time if you have to pay, it’s not something I can afford!
I made a new friend!...he is doing first year Engineering at Melbourne (though is 20 after deferring for two years), he is also learning French AND Chinese!!! I was utterly awe-struck! I wish I had a gift for languages!!! He was very sweet to ask for M and my numbers to catch up when we ended up leaving around 1am. I am usually the person who makes the effort to ask for phone numbers so I always appreciate when someone else makes the effort for once. He messaged me this morning so I am looking forward to seeing him again soon! His sense of humor can only be described as hard hitting!!! I love it!
The funniest part of the night was M and I realising that the theme 'Traffic light' had a whole other meaning other than what we thought. Us being the naive, innocent young women we are laughed at what we thought was a hilarious theme...I mean, TRAFFIC LIGHT?! We thought someone thought up the theme while half drunk or on some kind of non-natural substance!
So anyhow back on Saturday night, I told J I was attending the party. I tell him the theme and say I will go in red (as that is my favorite colour). He says nothing (thinking I understand the theme).
At the last minute however I end up wearing my green dress as M wants us to wear dresses.
After a few comments towards my colour green which didn't quite make sense and left me slightly confused, mid-way through the party it was explained to me: Green means you're single, orange/yellow means you're in between and red means you're taken!!!!
You can imagine my absolute shock!!!!!!!! It took half an hour for the consequences of my colour choice to sink in! It started to make sense how I'd already managed two invitations to dinner when men are not usually so forward!
Speaking to J the next day I explained my shock at having the meaning of the theme revealed to me. He laughed and replied with "It doesn't matter because you wore red right?"
Foolishly I had to explain "Uh no...at the last minute I wore green."
I am lucky he seemed to find it more amusing than anything!
Tomorrow night is his graduation ceremony. I am excited! I got him a gorgeous Parker pen which I had engraved with his name on. He doesn’t expect anything. He thinks I am getting him nothing…I know he will like it!
I have to run.
It’s already late, I have to do the dishes, prepare my clothes for tomorrow, my papers for tomorrow, do management tutorial questions and make a hand-made graduation card.
I hate Tuesday nights!
-Sophie
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