Take my message to your brother, And tell him twice

I am back! After my 2-week hiatus due to Olympics. And because of Olympics, I now (again) have a mountain of assignments to catch up with. Hu hu hu. I'm only here for a short while though, since everyone misses me so. *ahem* Teehee. Here's my quick 2-weeks-worth of entertainment before I head off to Olympics again.

I was over at my friend's place a couple of days ago and while waiting for him to get ready so we could go meet our group, his Korean housemate chatted with me.

"So you're from Malaysia?"

"Yes, but I'm Chinese. You know, Chinese Malaysian?"

"Ah ah, ya. So you speak Chinese at home?"

"Erm, I speak English at home, but Chinese with friends."

"Oh, but you speak American too?"

"Yes, I also speak Australian and Canadian and a little bit of Kiwi."

Little did I realise how much I overestimated the Korean guy's English and his understanding of sarcasm.

With genuine awe, he said "Oh wow wow, so many languages! So good so good."

At which I was internally going -.-'''. In order not to embarrass the dude any further, I said, of all things "Teach me some Korean!"

Wrong move...

Secrets and sins, All exposed, Spilling out

Just dropping by for a quick HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Abang Sim who is enjoying Kch and all its glory at the moment *grumble grumble*. It's 2 minutes to midnight, Toowoomba time. I'm sure this is gonna be a great year for you, simply because your birthday's falling on 08.08.08. Triple luck, my friend! Haha. I would write more, except I really should get back to my assignment which I started on today and is due tomorrow. Teehee. I never learn. Talk to you soon! xoxo!

On a side note,

Ah Bong, when did you start acting in Japanese dramas and not tell me? LOL. The guy pictured above was the reason I stopped watching Hana Yori Dango (the jap version) after 2 episodes. 'Cause he's ugly and gay. Just like Bong. They could've picked a better looking main actor! Bong, you know I'm only kidding right. It's okay, no matter how gay or ugly you are, I still love you the same. Heeheehee.

Yes, anyhoo, assignment time. Ka-pwing. Ho ho... hoooo.

Smile, And that's a good enough start

I have the cutest Data Analysis tutor ever. I assoom he iz Fwench becoz he speakz eggzakly like Inspector Clouseau. So much so that I nearly burst out laughing in class today when I realised that.

A week ago I was desperately trying to figure out where he came from 'cause his accent sounded really familiar. Couple of days later, I watched Pink Panther, and it still didn't come to me. Today in class, it suddenly hit me. O m g. I was stifling my laughter 'cause my classmates don't need to think I'm any weirder than they probably already do. He really reminds me of Inspector Clouseau, and not just in the way he speaks. He sorts of like, does questions on the board and teaches and then looks up at us meekly, as if seeking approval, and he smiles to himself, very cute!

Reminds me of Robin Williams. The little kind old man sort. Like Pope Benedict XVI. Benedicto! pap pap, pap pap pap.

Even if classes are boring, I promise I will attend his classes every week just to listen to the French accent. Heeheehee.

Push it out, Fake a smile, Avert disaster, Just in time

A couple of days ago, we were having a discussion about how most people become grumpy and cranky when they're tired. A friend made a passing comment about never seeing me tired, and I told him "Oh, I don't get grumpy, I just become very quiet and spout random nonsense in intervals". A couple of days later, he asked me "Are you really tired?", to which I replied "How did you know?", to which he replied "I haven't heard your voice in the past 5 minutes". Talk about biting me back in the bottom.

And now if you'll excuse me, I have an assignment to run after.

In the words of Ms Eliza Doolittle, "Come on, Dover, move yer bloomin' arse!" ...except my name's not Dover, and I don't have a bloomin' arse.

A statement, a story, a struggle, A chance to laugh

A message came through: "Are you still selling your Information Systems textbook?"

"Yes, I sure am! Wanna buy it?"

"Yes, when are you free?"

"I'm in class now but we can do the exchange after 4" (yerr, sounds like some secret-agent-highly-classified-top-secret files, heehee)

"I'll be free after 5 so maybe then?"

"Okay sure, just give me a ring"

I waited around Uni for a bit till 5.30 just in case buyer-person called, then decided to head home. Hours passed and soon it was 8 and yet, no phone call. I was due at my friend's place at 8.30 so I sms-ed buyer-person and said "Hey I'm going to my friend's place in a bit, so maybe we'll meet tomorrow instead?"

"Okay, how bout I call you around 12?"

"Yeap, sure thing"

12pm the next day rolled round, and on the dot, *message alert* "Are you like free now?"

"Yup yup, I'm free"

"Where should I go?"

"Are you in Uni? I can go meet you if you are 'cause I have to go there anyway. If not, you can come to Student Village"

"Yeah am in Uni. Call me when you're here."

As I neared Uni, I rang buyer-person "Hey, where are you?"

"I'm at *muffled sound* Just tell me where to go. I don't know many places here."

"Erm, how bout in front of the refectory? Wait, where are you again?"

"T block (or D block, I wasn't sure)"

"Okay then, just go to the garden outside T block, I'll head there"

And so the exchange FINALLY happened, and we stood there talking for a bit. And everything was all fine and dandy until "Hey you stay at Student Village right?"

"Yeap"

"Which unit?"

"Unit *3."

"Really? Oh! I'm in Unit *4. We're neighbours!"

Did I feel like killing myself? Yes. All those hours of waiting and arranging a place to meet... and he was my neighbour! I could've just walked a couple of steps and knocked on the door and voila, exchange done. Gah! Story of my life. Sometimes I wonder whether the angels have fun laughing at me from up there.

Turns out he isn't just my new Paki neighbour, he's also my classmate for 2 subjects this semester. -.-

*Unit numbers protected for privacy/anti-stalker reasons.

I just want to be there when the morning light explodes

Phone rings. I pick up.

"Hello?"

"Hi, is this Miss Jocelyn ***, studying at USQ?"

"Erm... yeah it is"

"I'm calling from the library."

"Uhuh"

We pause for a moment here to include a note from the author: It was very believable 'cause just that afternoon, I submitted my resume to the library so they can call me when they have casual work available. It was such a coincidence okay!

"Have you ever borrowed any books from the library?"

"Yeah, I borrowed one book before last semester"

"What was it called? Because in our records, you didn't return it."

"Organisational Behaviour or something like that. I can't really remember. But I'm very sure I returned it before the due date last semester!"

"Yes, but it shows here that you have an outstanding fee of $62. So the book wasn't returned."

At this point, I was starting to panic 'cause I know for sure that I had returned the book. And I was getting a tad bit suspicious too 'cause why wouldn't the librarian (the librarian with a M'sian accent at that) know what book I had borrowed if it shows in the records that I hadn't returned it? But my panic overcame my suspicion so the conversation carried on.

"But I'm very sure I returned it!"

"Where did you return it to?"

"What do you mean? I just returned it to the book-returning slidey thingy place in the library...?"

"The Toowoomba campus?"

"Yeah yeah"

"Oh, so you returned it to the main campus. 'Cause we have a few campuses you see."

Now obviously Ms. Chia has done her research 'cause there ARE a few USQ campuses and the Toowoomba one IS the main campus. AND the libraries often share their resources.

"Yeah yeah, I returned it to the main campus. I'm very sure that I returned it."

"Yes, but it doesn't show in our records. We need you to go to the library as soon as possible and settle this. Maybe tomorrow?"

"Okay okay, I'll go look for the librarian tomorrow. But I'm still very sure that I've already returned the book before the due date."

The conversation carried on for a full 5 minutes with me agreeing to go to the library to sort this out before "HAHAHA, joce, it's me lah!"

*** Family name protected for privacy/anti-stalker reasons.

O M G. Never EVER do that to me again. It's not good for my heart. I actually believed it 'cause for one thing, I had been to the library that very afternoon to submit my resume, so I assumed that 'cause of that, they checked my library records to make sure I was "clean" before letting my resume through. For another thing, I really had borrowed a book before from the library, and she even knew about the many USQ campuses and Toowoomba being the main one! O M G. I was panicking 'cause I have only ever borrowed ONE book in my whole entire semester in USQ and how could I possibly have incurred a $62 fine on myself from borrowing ONE book. Was I really that unlucky?

ARGHHHH. Evil evil evil. Gave my heart quite a workout. Chia Yii Fang is a master liar. Confession time for you, mi dear!

Nevertheless, it was still really great to hear from you guys! Hehe.

The earth fell fast asleep, This room is safe and sound

Signs that prove you're a student studying overseas:

• Voluntarily signing up for a workshop just because they have free BBQ after.

• Hanging around Uni at 12pm every Wednesday because they often have free food during common hour.

• Hanging around supermarkets for an hour or more on Saturdays waiting for prices of fruits and pastries to drop (to clear off stock 'cause they don't open on Sundays).

• Buying only homebrand products 'cause they are heaps cheaper than known brands.

• Rushing to watch a free movie every few Fridays even if the movie doesn't look that appealing in the first place because (a) the movie is free... it might actually turn out to be nicer than the poster looks and (b) they serve pastries and coffee/tea/juice for evening tea.

• Very thick-skinned-ly asking a person passing out food and magazine samples "Is this free?"

And this is only part of the list. Feels so cheapskate scrimping on everything possible. But whoever said life was easy? Particularly if your parents are old and still working their asses off to send you to Uni overseas to get a better education than they did. Thank you, mum and dad. You have no idea how much I love you guys. =) Bro, if you're reading this, I love you too, but you owe me money. Nyehehe.

Truth be told, I'ld rather have a not-so-good education and my family with me, than to have a good education but my family thousands of miles away. *sigh* Sacrifices.

Bro, in case you think I'm really serious about the money-owing thing. I'm not that calculative. I love you all the same. But that doesn't mean I'm letting you off the hook for using up so much money. =D