Mondays

Monday is the longest school day of the week for me. I wake up at 0800 and get home around 2130; 2200 to 2300 if I have dinner outside home. Thankfully, it's the day that Javin and I have the same timetable and that makes everything a whole lot better (:

I wake up at 0800, meet Javin to get to school early so we can have mixed rice from our favourite vegetarian stall in FASS. We have it before our lesson instead of after because they usually run out of our favourite dishes by the time we end class. It also leaves sufficient time for my heavy meal to be digested so I can run comfortably when Javin and I go to the gym after class. After some exercise, we have our very late lunch and proceed with school work. We then have our last class of the day and we head for dinner or back home after that.

It is a long and draining day, but I always look forward to my last class. It's pretty chill and my prof always talks about really interesting findings about consumer behaviour. For example, in the second lesson, we learnt about how women tend to shop more when they are ovulating, and are more likely to purchase sexier pieces during this period of time. Hahaha. Recently, we learnt about some love-related phenomena (like why girls like bad boys etc all supported by sound research) in light of Valentine's Day. Another reason why I love this class is because a lot of my closer friends in university are in the same class so we have a lot of fun joking and laughing at each other in class.

School should be this enjoyable all the time, but you know, life can't always be enjoyable and one of the best ways to grow is to be put into a difficult environment, so oh well goodnight very tired now

The past week or so

1. So the biggest thing that happened this week was spraining my ankle. I went to a Chinese doctor and did acupuncture for the first time in my life. I don't have phobia of needles so it wasn't bad, I thought it was pretty shiok actually haha! I was kinda bummed out over my ankle because I was afraid I couldn't fulfil my upcoming responsibilities. I was supposed to do some shooting/filming earlier this week for my newest commitment and at that time I was one of the two who were shortlisted for a print ad (which I didn't get anyway... but so close!) so I thought I wouldn't be able to do the ad. Plus my weekly shoot with MGP (but stocks have not arrived so no shoot this week). I had to cancel on the shoot/filming, but I took the time to work on my projects so all's good.
2. I've a current oat obsession. I went to the supermarket that day and I bought organic rolled oats, an oat drink, oat cookies and, the best discovery ever, Magnolia's oat milk. To add to my oat collection at home. I love Magnolia's oat milk. It reminds me of the cereal milk I used to drink in Korea.
3. Speaking of which, I miss Korea so much. It's strange because I never ever thought I would miss it. Not that I hated Korea, but I missed home so much while I was there. Guess the grass is always greener on the other side.
4. I still love Singapore, but school is awful. I wish I could say that I love school, I really do, but I can't. I could love school. I love learning, but I hate all the negative competitive energy all around. Education just felt different after secondary school.
5. I've been thinking about life lately. If I retire at 65, and pass on at 85 (the average age Singaporean women live until), what am I going to do for 20 years? Besides looking after my beautiful grandchildren of course :') I thought about the possibility of living for too long and why we all want to live for so long. It sparked a whole train of thoughts which is too long-winded for me to type out.
6. I found out that fries are healthier than potato chips! Yay another reason to feel better after eating seaweed shaker fries. Still, it's just the lesser of two evils, just like wholemeal and white bread, so I really need to watch this shaker fries habit.
7. Four more weeks of school!
8. You are pretentious and I don't need your fakeness

Star-spangled banner

One of my favourite snapbacks (:

What my tee says doesn't hold... Hahaha. Somehow after returning, I feel like life is so precious and not go with the normal flow anymore. I want to do as much as I can. I've talked to friends who feel just as jaded as I do about school so I guess I am not the only one feeling sick of studying. Learning is one thing and studying is another. I honestly wonder how it's like to grow up in a different environment, like in Europe or the States or maybe even... Africa? (Speaking of which, I really want to go to Africa! I wish I could roll around the savanna with the lions) I am really proud of how eager Singaporeans are to keep getting better, but I just wonder if we could somehow strike a balance. Thankfully, I don't feel the competitiveness as much this semester. Or maybe I somehow found a way to detach myself from it. I placed a lot of importance on studies during the first half of my education years, but now I just feel like there are other things that I want to do too. This semester I have taken up a few other commitments outside school and I am still finding the balance...

First day of school

It felt so surreal to be back in school again after six months. Although there were many more unfamiliar faces now that I'm in my third year, it did feel like a breath of fresh air to be surrounded by familiar faces once again.

The thought of studying makes me cringe, but I look forward to more learning. I am also so excited to spend this semester with Shawn, my best friend in school, after being separated from him for a whole year! I still remember how sad I felt when he told me he was going to take the semester before I left for exchange off to do his internship. I'm so thrilled that I don't even mind taking that 8 am class (which I tried so hard to drop but failed) because we're in the same class. My life is a joke. Since my first semester in university, I told myself never to take 9 am classes in future but I've had at least one 9 am class every single semester since, even during exchange. Now I'm taking an 8 am class...

This semester will present to me a whole new set of challenges (including that 8 am class haha). I have a few resolutions for this semester with regards to non-academic matters and I really hope I will be able to balance everything well.

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I see a metallic bug on the curtain but I don't dare to do anything. I hate insects. Times like this I really wish Javin was around because he catches them for me. He releases them outside instead of killing them because he's against inflicting pain on other beings, so I'm thinking that he's gonna be pretty sad because my mom just pulled out the Baygon. Haha okay end of this random paragraph.

Leaving things behind

On Sunday, Javin and I returned to school, along with some other friends, to watch our freshies perform for their own freshies as OGLs. A myriad of different emotions surfaced in me as I watched my own freshies carrying out the same responsibilities as I did a year ago as their OGL.

I was absolutely thrilled to see everyone again and to laugh with them even though it has been one year since we all were the closest thing on earth for those few days of camp. It was difficult for me to meet up with my freshies for the past year because of my busy schedule and also because I went for exchange for half a year, but they still welcomed me wholeheartedly when I returned on Sunday. It was such a warm feeling to be remembered and still be included by them.

Javin and I felt really proud that our freshies were all so involved in school activities and giving it their all. I could really feel their effort, and most importantly, their spirit. It was then that I realised that we played a big role as part of their first major experience in our school. Hearing them say how much they miss their freshmen orientation and us... I felt touched, because in all our hard work, we were able to leave something good behind for them.

That day, I really wished we could return to orientation days. However, I also knew that our time has passed. All good things come to an end, but to grieve the end is an experience well made; every end is the beginning of yet another amazing experience.