Youth

Was watching the latest episode of October Road on the telly, and heard these two quotes which left quite an impression on me.

The first quote goes, "When you are young, you live like giants, then with each passing day you get smaller and smaller…"

Contrast it with the other one, "Youth is wasted on the young." (originally said by George Bernard Shaw)

Having gone past the 30 mark myself, and wondering how much youth I still have left, it somewhat makes me think back on my younger days. Have I lived like a giant? And was my youth a wasted one? Things to think about on this cold winter night.

Which brings me to a song I heard recently which I've fallen in love with. Hopeful and poignant at the same time, it reminds us to seize the moment and make the best of what we have. The chorus of the song sums up this point.

Don't wait for someone to tell you it's too late
Coz these are the best days
There's always something tomorrow
So I say let's make the best of tonight
Here comes the rest of our lives

"Best Days" by Graham Colton

Year of the Rat

It's strange to be spending Chinese New Year away from home, and more so in a place that has zero festivities around this time. It's just funny, I suppose. I do not profess to be the most ardent fan of CNY, but I do appreciate the company of family and friends during this season, when everyone just generally wants to feel upbeat. I slip into melancholy easily and this is one of the few periods of time when my spirits are lifted up and sustained. Well, I suppose things will resume normalcy after some time, and I know after this year my appreciation for CNY will no doubt be enhanced.

Spent Wednesday night (Thursday morning in Singapore) making many phone calls to loved ones, wishing them Happy New Year. It's all quite exhilarating, hearing the voices of some people whom I've not spoken to for a while, and honestly I wish I was there physically to shake their hands and say the greeting. Received quite a number of text messages as well with festive wishes and that was nice. The irony of course was that it was snowing outside the whole night, but I think my apartment was never warmer.

新的一年，新的开始，新的希望。祝愿大家在鼠年心想事成，步步高升，身体健康！

February

The first 31 + 1 days of the 2008 have just gone by. Fast? Or expected? We are so caught up with various everyday tasks and situations, while time just steadily moves along. Was looking at my diary today, and realised that I've got less than 30 weeks left to be here. And there are still quite a bit of things to be done --- classes, travelling, bingeing on CNN...

The weather forecast predicted another 6 weeks left for the winter season, so to say I'm looking forward to warmer weather is an understatement. But this cold weather has been a pretty interesting experience, although there was none of the histrionics I was imagining before coming here. I thought I would be wrapped up like one of those boxes you pass around during a pass-the-parcel game in a children's party, but thankfully, the extent is much less than that.

Time to get on with weekend homework.

Another post.......

It is F.R.E.E.Z.I.N.G. here. The temperature today was -15 deg C. The morning was sunny, but the sunshine was unable to mediate the cold brought about by the lack of cloud cover. The wind chill was worse, came in at about -20 deg C. I stepped out of my house, and barely walked 200m when I decided to turn back to put on another sweater and wear my ski gloves instead of the fleece ones... This is what is called the biting frost. Thank goodness this does not happen everyday!




Realise that my blog entires have become somewhat more sporadic and also contain less details of late. Wonder why. Perhaps this is a sign of settling down with my life here? There is also no problem with communication with loved ones at home, so the blog now really is just an alternative rather than default mode of updates. Still, it is good to have this channel, because sometimes typed messages are somewhat easier to convey than verbal ones. There is a chance to think before the typing, and corrections can still be made after that, if the tone does not feel right. And of course, I could upload the blog entry any time I want.

Read the news about the O level results, and of course, I had to gravitate towards information about my alma mater as well. It's amazing how we are all so caught up with national examinations during the most part of our school life in Singapore. Every year we are either in an exam year, or working towards an exam year. And the most fascinating part is, most of us have survived the system, and have come out quite well. Over here in America, the idea of a standardised test is enough to make most people cringe, not to mention a national exam, a concept that is too far-fetched and will probably remain so, at least for this lifetime. Should a curriculum or examination be local or national? This is a question that can be debated till the cows come home. Of course, I have my own strong opinions on the issue, but that primarily comes from my personal experience, which, I would admit, is fairly limited. Well, at least this one year of graduate school in a foreign country adds some credential to my CV!

Been listening a lot to Amy Macdonald's "This Is The Life". Just a very melancholic song that puts one in a sort of introspective mood. I somehow find it very suitable for this wintry weather.

Weather, Semester, Career

The snow has melted. Earlier this week, the temperature suddenly went up to about 15 degrees Celsius, and the white scenery just simply vanished overnight. It’s quite interesting to watch people’s reactions at such a sharp change in weather. With the weather becoming much “warmer”, joggers were out, people were not huddled together at the bus stop shelters, even I was walking outside wearing sandals instead of snow boots.

But then came the rain and wind, and with it a much colder temperature. This morning it was about 1 degree Celsius. It’s kind of gloomy, as the snow is gone, and the trees are left with just their trunks and branches. Looking around, it seems so bleak and dark, even in the day. I don’t like it at all. Hmm…. Never thought I would be saying this, but I hope the snow appears again. At least everywhere would look clean and bright and white.

I have gotten into the swing of things for the new semester, the lessons are generally quite interesting, and I guess for now I could say I have selected the “right” modules. Hopefully this thought will sustain for the rest of the semester. Realised that I can actually say, I am going home “this year” now, instead of “next year”. But there are of course a few things still left to be done here before I make that final flight to Changi Airport. Studying, traveling, watching more trashy (and non-trashy) US television, to name just a few activities.

I have been re-thinking my career plans for the future lately. Of course, close friends would know of my “original plan”, and it appears that I am actually nearing the end of the time line. Quite unbelievable. I am quite fortunate, I should say, as I have more or less been able to stick to my plan (with a bit of adjustment here and there) since I graduated from university. Now, it’s definitely the right time to see what to make of the final two years of the “original plan”, and project where I should go from there. Have come up with some possibilities, shall spend some time weighing the odds of these possibilities.

Considerations and decisions……..

Brand new year, finally.

Brand new year. 2008. Finally, the past year is now gone, good riddance. Too much sorrow, too much pain, it's best to let it all fade.

The winter term has started. This will be a much more hectic term, as it is in a way, the final "full" term for me (spring and summer are half terms), so I want to seize the opportunity to take as many courses offered as I realistically can handle.

Being realistic. This is a lesson I am learning everyday. I don't know, I always believe one needs to have dreams, as a form of hope, a source of motivation, a way of believing that "impossible is nothing". But very often, reality bites. Sometimes, it is just a prick on the finger, sometimes it feels like a huge gash is being made in the leg. At the most extreme, it is a chest pain that hits at the most unexpected moment.


But it's a brand new year, and I want to feel all refreshed and recharged, ready to face challenges. I am thankful that I fared pretty well the previous semester, hopefully I can continue with the fine showing, so that I won't disappoint those back home who have been so supportive and encouraging.

It's going to be a tough year, but the road ahead looks pretty inviting!

A Bostonian Christmas

Went to Boston （波斯顿）recently to spend Christmas with some friends, and had a very enjoyable time. Boston, in the state of Massachusetts, is a place full of history; it was one of the first few places people settled during the 17th and 18th century when a certain country known as the United States of America was being established. Of course, it is now a very modern city and boasts a pretty good transport system.

Boston Common: the lungs of the city. Underneath the white snow lies a beautiful green lawn.

Views from the top: Boston just before sunset, and just after sunset.

Going nuts over the street signs!

An old-fashioned 7-eleven at Beacon Hill

Symmetry: Part of the glass structure of the JFK Library and Museum

Overlooking the New England coast

Video of swimming ducks at the harbour

Just across the Charles river stands the town of Cambridge, which of course has two of the world's most famous (and very hard to enter) universities, Harvard and MIT. It's a very surreal feeling, even just visiting the campuses. The atmosphere is just so different from the usual academic institution, as if one was going to school for the first time, and just starting to understand the concept of school. The buildings, the paths that link them, in fact just the environment at large. The buildings in Harvard were mostly closed for the holidays, but those at MIT were still open, so I had a chance to go in and walk through the corridors. It was some kind of mixed feeling, on one hand very intellectual, and the other rather inferior. For one, I know I will never get a place in either of these institutions. But I guess it was satisfying just to be able to visit them. With such conducive environments for academia, it's hard not to succeed here, I believe.

Scenes from Harvard University （哈佛大学）

Scenes from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) 麻省理工学院

This trip has definitely been one of the highlights of my American journey thus far.....