Running in Circles

Hey all,

It has been so long (1 month!) since I last posted a blog entry. Honestly, I didn't really miss blogging that much since I keep personal diary entries anyways but these couple of days the realisation that I haven't updated my old friends about a lot of things got me back to this blog again. It's not like I have a large following audience, but it'd be good to make sure some of my friends are updated.

After I got back to Sydney from Bundanoon and Santi Monastery during the holidays, I went for job hunts. I had an interview with McDonalds (McCafe, to be more accurate, which is a part of McDonalds that focuses more on pastries and warm drinks) and I thought I'd be working there real soon. A few days later, Bo An told me that the camera shop in Broadway shopping mall was looking for a new casual sales assistant. That was pretty much a job that would suit me. And so of course, I went and apply. Surprisingly, it didn't take long before I was hired a few days later. There was a semi-interview thing but my employer informally just asked a couple of questions which I quickly answered and that was it. I was employed!

There was quite a bit to learn at the camera shop and I'm surprised by how fast I learned everything. I guess I was just really enthusiastic to doing well in my new job. I only work 12 hours per week with minimal pay, but surprisingly, I'm very happy to be working there. My colleagues are very nice to me, very patient to teach me anything that I didn't know. I guess I like this feeling that we are more like friends than employer-employee and that's what makes the job so much less stressful and more fun. I don't yet have a photo of my in my uniform working in the shop, but perhaps I might take one in the future.

As for the rest of the winter break, I worked a bit but was more involved with helping out with IHMA's (International House Member's Association's) Re-Orientation week events, welcoming the new residents of the House. And as expected, I met lots of new friends from different backgrounds, and the activities we did were great as well: bushwalk, Sydney Biennale, and many more that I can't think of right now.

Oh yeah, I also cooked! Great joy of cooking!

Bushwalking in the Sydney Royal National Park

Sydney Biennale at Cockatoo Island

Dragon Beard Candy?! ... Taken at the Aroma Festival

Many of the new residents by Circular Quay

And then school started, and things started to settle down. At first it was weird, trying to balance school and work, but it's pretty much a routine now: classes in the morning, work in the afternoon, back to IH in the evening. One good thing this semester, I'm taking 4 subjects and I have Fridays off! I guess free Friday isn't actually a good thing because I don't do anything productive with that time anyways...

Other than work and school, I have been very involved in the IH community recently. There's this big event called I-Night (International Night) coming up in 3 weeks or so that showcases performances and acts by IH residents and I have had many request with video help from many groups. I'm the co-director of the annual and much anticipated Malaysian Act as well, which is quite a large responsibility. I'm not even sure I'm going to survive in the next few weeks ... And as my attention goes from work to IH events... I'm slowly losing touch with my studying schedule, which is a concern -- read the next paragraph.

It's now the fourth week of school and this morning, I just got asked by my tutor at a tutorial how my essay was going. I was a little shocked, as these few weeks I have been so focused on other stuff other than schoolwork that I haven't been doing very much. I really need to catch up on my studying as that's definitely my number one priority here. If this goes on any further, I'm sure I'd be lucky if I passed.

On the sport side of things, I'm actually doing pretty well. I have recently committed myself to the IH football team and have been playing with regularly every Saturday. We had a game last week, which unfortunately we lost, but oh well we had fun. In addition to football, I've also immersed myself in a work out routine, which though tough, has been going pretty well so far. I'm happy by what I've achieved and plan to achieve even more. While working out, it's so important to be disciplined or there wouldn't be much progress. Honestly, it's as much a work out of the body as it is of the mind. Mental strength counts for everything! Oh, before I can forget, I'm also taking salsa lessons every Monday night, and I do occasionally go to Hard Rock Cafe Sydney on Sunday nights for their Salsa Clubbing Session. It's pretty awesome though I'm still a beginner in it.

Football! Photo Credit: Jon Choo

I guess that's all there is to update for now. Let's hope I can get my study schedule back on track!