The Full Monty

Before I forget, I just HAVE to revel in how amazing last night was. First off, our flat got tickets to see the Bretton campus university production of the Full Monty at Leeds. I wasn't expecting much, but WOW it was so good, so well done, and soo funny, especially hearing the jeering coming from the audience at some points. Anna caught one of their hats. Definitely a good girls night out!! And to top all that off, our friend Arsh invited us to this little Indian party for one of his best friends in the university bar, the Mine. Once again, not expecting much, or anything really at all, the party ended up having an open bar and lots of dancing, and was just full of pure debauchery. Afterwards, Anninha lead us on this wild goose chase around the back of campus to find the 1.99 pizza at 3 am- which we did find. I must have made it home at 4 am to the flat all sprawled out and munching their pizzas in our narrow hallway. Presently, Steph with the aid of Jeff and some of her flatmates have taken on themselves a project of building a gingerbread house from scratch. While I helped eat some of eat before it even got made, it's safe to say that although 1/3 of the house has suffered some first or second degree burns from cooking in the oven, construction is well underway and looking rather yummy!

Cheers!

Non- Wintery Skating Wonderland

It seemed to me that after exams life would get more relaxing, but instead it just seems to have gotten even busier! For one, I've been trying to figure out courses, dropping and adding various ones right and left. While bored in my Introduction to Finance and Accounting class, I calculated that I've been sifting in and out of 5 different departments across the university (most people take courses only in one department)- Ah the joys of being an artsci! For those of you who thought you'd never see the day when I'd take a finance course, I think I like it, plus having a couple friends in the class always helps. Anyways, I intend to have all this class stuff sorted out by Monday.

My job search, unfortunately, is not going well, but I will be handing out resumes, or C.V.'s, as they call it here, tomorrow, keeping fingers crossed!

Otherwise, a huge group of us (maybe 15? or so) went skating the other night in the middle of the Leeds City Center. Although I would have given almost anything for a hockey stick, instead we had to rent these blue plastic skates with buckles on them that made your ankle feel like you were wearing a cast! Nevertheless, it was soo fun skating with all my flatmates and everyone. We went to the Old Bar in the union afterwards and met up with some others. Last night a bunch of us went to the Spice Bar. Although there were no belly dancers, we sat in a quaint little indoor patio outside the bar and watched Nicole sip her chili mango martini- seemed very spicy from where I was sitting! Of course, can't forget my beloved pilates classes and am patiently awaiting my GI Jane figure.

In other news, it also snowed in Leeds for the first and only time earlier this week. Otherwise, the weather is pretty mild, not wintery at all, but a bit chilly at night. It actually rained while skating, rather than snowing, funny enough. And in response to my room being such a pig-sty I cleaned it better than Mr. Clean could have ever imagined, even though it involved having to steal the hoover from the flat next door because ours just blows out dirt and dust everywhere. But it is SO clean now, and feels much better!

Cheers!

In Retrospect: A Reflection of the Last 4 Months

I have learned to love ridiculous fashion, wear too high heels (well, soon), and much too fancy dress, draping togas of falling red cloths held up only by brittle golden pins. And if I had to walk 500 miles more, I'd walk in stride, choose hangovers, the drunken clamor (but not too drunk, mom) of late night pizzas and fire alarms, and 1000 pictures and 90 bottles of Frosty Jack's later, wake up in the company of friends no longer strangers, hop on a speeding train to nowhere in mind, and let rolling hills, background landscape, and a rainbow (or three) yield to chatter of the mind, conquer the big uphill that divides mind from body to learn for the sake of learning, live for the sake of living and nothing is ever the same again. And it's not always easy, but 246 hours of cramming, 500 mg of caffeine (and 8 episodes of Hollyoaks) later, find endless shoulders to cry on, that red bull won't give you wings, but friends will help you fly. Four months gone by, just flew by, every ending is a new beginning, for it’s not the place, always the people, and the journey, never the destination.


* For all the cherished memories I will take, both past and future, thank you to friends that have left, to friends that remain, and to those I have yet to meet. Life will always be what you make it. Carpe diem. *


~ love, Rach. xoxo.

Freedom Rings!!

Finally! I can breaaaaathe again!! Anyone who has seen me in the past 3 and a half weeks or so knows that I temporarily abandoned my never take life too seriously mantra in order to isolate myself in hibernation in my room and at E Boyle library. Let me explain what the British school system has done to me...

Considering the fact that I did almost no work this year, minus write 2 submitted essays and keeping up with English literature, I was in a bit of a bind when I got back from Europe a couple days before new years. Since then I have basically been studying my butt off in my room and in the library. I had it all figured out, how I was going to manage my time, how I was going to eat well and go to the gym and all. That worked up until my third exam on the 11th of January. In between new year's and then Anna came home from visiting her brother in Edinburgh and later that weekend all my flatmates came back home, along with the entire uni population. Then after those 3 exams I realized that I hadn't even glanced at the other 2 courses all year. So smart me studied one course till the 15th and studied the other one for 48 hours till my exam today (17th). Aside from doing lots of procrastinating in the flat, in the library, and especially in our kitchen with those little egg suction cups you throw against the window (amy through it OUT the window hehe), I don't think I've ever had to cram soo intensely!! Yet the British are still so laid back about exams, but its soo different back home. I love how they give you a seat number in the exam room so you can't really write the wrong exam (unless of course it's their fault), ahem.. someone i know.. I think they went pretty well, aside from that one exam where I had to sit next to someone who shifted in his seat for 2 hours because he didn't try to write his exam... ugh

I won't find out how they went until February. Although they were all exams worth 75-100% of my final mark, I'm not quite sure how it translates back home when grad schools look up your mark. Anyways I am now a certified expert on climate change (sort of), modern literature, cognition, emotion, motivation and social psych and environment and society (well, sort of). I learned 5 courses in 3 weeks and handed in an essay, not bad at all.

I walked out of my exam feeling SOooooooooooooooooooooo happy as if I were finally alive again haha it took so much out of me. I think I will do more work next semester. I should mention that last weekend we went out for Anninha's birthday- so fun and I was going to go party at fruity but I felt sooo full from the buffet- they even had a chocolate fountain...mm (as Jason says, not all you can eat, but more than you can eat). Apparently I missed a really fun night but I didn't mind too much after hearing they got home after 4 am to have to stuyd the next day... meh they're so laid back that it's not so bad, if you fail you just resit the exam! haha ok i'll stop talking about school, so glad to have a life back now! It was bad at some points haha but I did it.

Anyways David, Steph and I just randomly decided to go to the driving range a couple of towns over. My hands really hurt as it was a bit chilly and a lot of swinging but soo fun. I want one of those putting greens in my room to practise with. So what now? Tomorrow, I have to pick out courses for next semester tomorrow, get some food, get settled and the sort. As well, a lot of the exchange students are only here for a semester and will be leaving this weekend, so there will be some tearful farewell parties coming up... :( oohh and on that note, I met some more McMaster girls today... I loved seeing their faces after just having gotten here- reminds me of when I first got here 4 months ago. I absolutely cannot believe that I've been here for 4 months- so much has changed and I am so excited for whatever lies ahead, who knows what another few more months here will do. I feel so happy and privledged to be here (thank u mom and dad) and I am without a doubt, having the time of my life. I'll save the rest for a more reflective journal later, and now, relaxing time.. aahhhh

Happy New Year!

It's a brand new year, and every new year seems to fly by with more inertia than the one before. If I may be honest, I don't believe in New Year's resolutions since they usually don't last longer than the latest yo-yo diet fad; I think we're better off coming up with these resolutions on a more spontaneous basis- we're probably more inclined to keep vows that aren't made for the sake of having one. But........ when I think of one I shall keep you posted.

Amongst all this "studyingness" (by this I mean to include all the procrastinating I've been doing), I of course took the time to celebrate the new year in style. In good company, I went to a party over at Montague for wine and champagne (the expensive bottle of wine Steph and I bought at the airport turned out to be bad :( )and then headed to Leeds town hall (which they surprisingly managed to convert into a club for the night) to ring in 2007. Although some people went out at 2pm to countdown the Australian new year- this was a little too ambitious for me- we managed to celebrate the European new year at 11, the British new year at midnight, and somehow, the Canadian new year at 5 am. THe last part, though, comes with a confession, I fell asleep at 4:30am lol- but I tried. Anyways I had a really fun night out! The streets of Leeds are beginning to seem less empty as students are flocking back to residence for the exam period. Renata has just gotten home today, Anna will be back tomororow, and the remainder of my flatmates should be returning sometime this week. Let the true procrastinating begin... :)