paranoid

LOL removed the last 2 blog posts cos I'm scared I'll be found on the internet and get arrested. Like not even kidding, got a threatening email saying the situation could be taken from civil to criminal...and that it's all my fault. I don't even understand what this guy wants...money? What have I even done wrong that's so "criminal" haha what a joke, moulting my hair and talking about it is illegal?

HELLO MONTREAL

When I say I haven't blogged in a million years, this time I mean it seeing as the blogspot layout is completely different from how I remember it to be...

So as most of you readers may be aware, I'm currently on exchange in Montreal at the moment :D I've been here for almost a month and it's ridiculously how fast time flies. I always thought my 5 months here would be fun, but slightly terrified of the idea that I'd never make friends therefore my time here would be SO SLOW.

In the span of a few weeks, I've stayed at a hostel and hung out with randoms for a week, moved out of the hostel and into a nice apartment with 2 roommates, taken a trip to NYC, experienced Frosh week, MADE FRIENDS and started class. In a way it feels like it's been a lot longer than a month since I packed so many activities into it, but at the same time I feel like I just left Melbourne yesterday. I'm still in touch with my closest friends pretty much every day but I still leave the house to do something every day as well!

So let's backtrack a little...

WEEK 1
Stayed in a 10 girl dorm at HI hostel, which was an interesting experience I'd rather not re-experience. 10 people to one tiny bathroom is awful, especially since the shower block is so tiny I can't rotate 180 degrees without bruising a random part of my body. I did meet some great people, mostly from the USA or Germany (or a mix of both) and spent a few days exploring Montreal with them by day and having a few drinks by night. Went to see: Botanical gardens, Old Montreal, Gay Village, a few markets, a few churches and general downtown area...touristry things. Whenever I got the chance, I emailed about 15 places enquiring about an apartment and I went to see a few before finally settling on the one I live at now! I learnt after a while not to take too long to decide, because there's always a million people who want the same room. So I took this one on the spot and I'm lucky I got it despite being unsure to begin with (couldn't decide if landlord was really nice or slightly creepy...I guess he's just nice but different culture comes across as weird).

WEEK 2
Memorable bit of this week was taking the Amtrak down to NYC to celebrate my birthday and see my cousins! Hung out with Darren and his friend Alex for a day and saw a broadway show with them :) Next day, had brunch with Linda and saw Cirque du Soleil with Annette & fam and just hung out/had a nice dinner. Last day, I shopped! Tried to get a new macbook to replace my old dying one but they rejected my card and had ridiculous tax anyway.
Settled into the new place! Moved my stuff in, did my laundry and groceries, explored the area and all other domestic things like that. Met up with some Melbournians and had dinner/drinks one night but to be honest they weren't really my type of people I guess. I registered for Frosh week and had no idea what to expect (mostly hopeful I would meet people and make friends with people I had things in common with)

WEEK 3
FROSH! Oh my god. Best 4 days so far ever! Basically it was like Aa camp or any faculty camp except it wasn't camp. Day 1 we were sorted into groups by running across the gym and being caught by random group leaders (GROUP 4!). We got to meet everyone in our group and chat over a bbq dinner which was nice, I befriended a girl living at New Rez so she invited me to see what residential life was like seeing as most people live on college. IT WAS LIKE A HOTEL! Front desk, room layout  and everything was exactly like any other hotel. I played my first game of beer pong and then went to my frosh leader's apartment for predrinks. Met some more people and went out to club 737, a nightclub on the 40th floor of a building and had incredible views of Montreal and danced the night away! Next day was pubcrawl which was probably my favourite event. Basically free beer/games - 8 bars in 2 hours! Befriended some of the girls in my group who were actually from Montreal, which I preferred a lot more over people from anywhere else. I feel like locals are more relaxed and don't bother conforming to social pressures so I liked hanging out with them a lot more. That night there was an event at a 6 storey pub/club and I went and sat down with some people from my group but I was completely bored. Everyone was sitting down and not really talking, so I got up and left and some weird guy was yelling at me being like LAME WHY ARE YOU LEAVING IT'S ONLY 11:30! I just wanted to be like shut up you first year kid, I'm too old for this and I'm not gonna stay here just because everyone else is! Day 3 was BEACH DAY! So much fun, but really...it wasn't even close to being a beach. The line was ridiculous to get a bus, I waited an hour! Some people waited for 3 hours but I pushed right to the front hehe. Spent most of the day with a girl called Cici (one of the locals) and her friends from CEGEP and got a sweet tan. The beach was more like a man made lake/river but it was still a different kind of fun to Australian beaches. They had mini slides, a dancefloor, a pool (who puts a pool at the beach...) trampoline, bars and food stands. We didn't want to struggle through a bus again so when we left we literally chased buses down to get one. That night was another fun one at a club near my house...I think I just really like dancing. I really loved our frosh leaders too, after a few nights they were basically my new friends (I was probably older than them anyway). Day 4 was a chill picnic on some island nearby, the girls from here are hardcore drinkers...I felt like my body hadn't been cleansed of alcohol for 4 days so I was really over it. In the evening was an all ages event (terrible) and I didn't really have the greatest ending to frosh but it was still fun! Disastrous cab home alone where my nose bled, thought I lost my keys and accidentally punched the fridge whilst I was desperately trying to grab a pitcher of water.

WEEK 4
So this was recovery week and uni! I've had 2 days of uni so far and it's more or less like Melbourne :) with tiny lecture tables and hard plastic seats. Music was a bludge (was still forced to buy the exercise book) but a small class, Integrative neuro is basically about the 5 senses, Intro to neuro is about actual neurons/nerves (and it's hard), Pharmacology is self explanatory and seems really interesting, and Molecular biology of oncogenes is a combination of extremely hard and still interesting. So I guess I got a good combination of subjects...I was tempted to drop oncogenetics because it was too hard and I'm here to enjoy myself but I can't be bothered/it's still interesting/I need a challege

So that's a crash course in what I've been up to, I can't be bothered with pictures! It's either on facebook or instagram so if you're reading this it's likely you've seen them anyway :) Hopefully I'll actually blog again soon! Maybe in a month or so haha...until then!

xo

HI!

Just checked on this, havent blogged since November. I had been writing up a huge long post about my trip to the USA, but I got to about 2 weeks into the trip and it was REALLY long/I had forgotten what I did because Susan held my journal hostage for 2 months. But I swear I'll finish it someday and post it up! (not that anyone would read it but future me)

Right now I'm completely drowning in uni...seems impossible to stay on top of everything, and I'm seriously lazy but I JUST CAN'T HELP IT! I think my problem is I'm too lazy to physically write things...I just want to visually copy and paste what I read in books into my mind :( ie have a good memory.

I did marketing over the summer semester, which kept me occupied I guess...never ended up quitting the fruitshop, came back from USA being so poor I would take whatever money I could get. In other non-study related things, I got a gig as an accompanist for the National Boys Choir of Australia! Only a temporary replacement, but having a lot of fun and earning $$$$ hehe. Also got a nomination to study at McGill University in Canada next semester, so currently in the process of applying. So that's about it for what I've been up to since November :D

BASICALLY I'm too lazy to even finish this blogpost properly. Here, look at some photos.

Alright, too lazy to upload more. Aa camp this weekend so it's time to kiss my liver goodbye...

xo

survived first year!

Well at least I think I survived...

It's only been a week and I'm already bored...dare I say I already miss uni =/ I think I miss the structure, and going to uni at least made me feel like I had a reason to get up in the morning. Now I just don't know what to do with myself ahahha

More hate on work - I agreed to changed my Sunday 7-2:30 shift to Saturday 10-5:30, so I could have a later start. Turns out after doing 2 Saturdays, I'm told that I'm working 7-1 on Saturdays and there was nothing I could do about it. EXCUSE ME if I were to willingly start at 7am, I would prefer Sundays! At least I could do more hours...I was so angry I almost quit right there and then, but I calmed down and decided to wait til I come back from USA, find a new job, and then quit :D

BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY AND EXCITEDLY - AMERICA IN 9 DAYS!

All flights booked, all accommodation booked, all tours booked...Amtrak from NY to DC not yet booked but OH WELLLL! Hopefully will be a trip of a lifetime (not gonna lie, I'm a little scared about getting shot though.)

So for the next few days, I don't have much planned. Gotta submit my exchange application for "Fall 2012" (check me out with my american lingo hehe) and fingers crossed I get accepted. My preferences are Carnegie Mellon, McGill University and University of Pennslyvania...originally I had UCLA and etc as my first preference til I realised their neuroscience program was totally different from Melb uni and it was just alllllll wrong for me.

Anyway I'll try update more often, especially when I'm travelling. Will probably update before I go!

xo

swotvac 2.0

I thought I was more on top of things this semester...but no. Exams start in one week from today, and I have an assignment due in 6 days, and 4 solid days of studying left.

Why?

Because for some weird reason I have more shifts than ever before at the fruitshop, and I worked 15 hours last weekend...I offered to cover HALF an 8 hour shift on thursday, but for some reason they suck shit at maths, and have halved it to equal a 6 hour shift. EXCUSE ME, THAT'S NOT HALF! And asif you even tell me there's nobody to "cover" for me when I'm the nice one who is covering in the first place! The best they could give me was a 5.5 hour shift. Like 30 minutes would really make a difference, soo stupid...

Things have started to pick up in terms of general busyness as well, I applied for Aa committee midsemester intake (not alcoholics anonymous) and they took me! It's a nice extra responsibility, and really interesting to see how things work behind the scenes when I've been attending the events all year. So many added complexities with understanding how things work, discussing things on their email system and fb group, selling tickets for the end of exams party, retreat coming up soon... and look, it's my face on their website! LOL *feels special*. I thought it might be really hard to fit in with everyone, cos the committee all know each other/have their own jokes and such, but everyone's been really kind and welcoming of me and the other 2 new members. Looking forward to a big year :D

In between end of exams and going to america, I have 10 days to re-enrol for 2012, apply for overseas exchange, pack my suitcase, make a list of things to buy, and celebrate some birthdays and going away parties...I swear there's more, but that's al I can think of right now. I need to calm down and get crackin into the books :(

xo

5 weeks to go

5 more weeks and I'll have officially gone through 1/3 of my first university degree D: Not feeling too stressed about exams right now, though there's still 3 more weeks of material to learn so...yeah we'll see .____.

IN MORE EXCITING NEWS! Susan and I have booked our flights to the USA :D Departing here on the 29th of November, we'll be hitting LA, San Fransisco, Florida and of course NEW YOOORK. So bloody excited! Will be finalising our itinerary tonight, and booking domestic flights and accomodation. GET READY TO HOP OFF A PLANE AT LAX WITH A DREAM AND MY CARDIGAN (AND SKI JACKET)

and finally, some photos from last week's Aa Ball:

Crown Palladium is so beautiful! and totally best decision to stay at Crown Promenade aaaah felt so special...wish the night didn't have to end :(

xo

spring has sprung

Well not quite. It's still bloody freezing, thanks Melbourne. BUT it's gonna warm up this weekend! Time to attempt breaking out the shorts yet again...

Anyway. This year is absolutely flying by :| This thought hit me when I realised the class of 2011 year 12's are graduating in around 4 weeks...yet only a handful of blogposts ago I was bitching about high school life, celebrating my freedom etc etc. And now I'm 1/3 the way into my first university degree...WHAT. Lets see how long it takes before I'm blogging something like "it was only a few years ago when I was bitching about a 2,000 word psych assignment and now I'm writing a 20,000 word thesis..."

I've actually realised how different my life is right now compared to even a few months ago. I feel like things change too fast in uni :( and it's scary to think which friendships will last forever, and which are only semesterlong friendships? Starting from next year everyone will be branching off into their field of subjects, which probably leaves me alone all over again. I know I'll always have my high school friends though :D I occasionally get jealous of the ones doing biomed/med/pharm because at least they know their friendships will (at the very least) last the length of their course. Whereas once I'm off doing my own subjects I'll have to consciously make an effort to catch up with people to maintain these friendships, instead of just rocking up to a lecture and knowing they'll be there.

I FEEL LIKE I COULD WRITE ABOUT THIS QUICKLY AND HAVE A LOT TO SAY, WHY CAN'T I APPLY THIS SKILL TO MY DAMN 2,000 WORD PSYCH ESSAY HAHAHA

Back to work.

xo

month-long illness

So I've been sick since the winter break, which is a pretty damn long time...I'm pretty sure it was since I got my wisdoms out, my immune system has just been completely KO'd :( Post-wisdom removal I fevered up to 39.5C and then recovered a week later. Just when I think I'm all good, I wake up 2 weeks later with another fever which transitioned into a case of pharyngitis. 10 days of medication later, I have a ridiculous dry cough that won't go away. More medication...and now I have a runny nose. COME ON IMMUNE SYSTEM, WHY DO YOU SUCK?

I hate how this is getting in the way of my life...antibiotics didn't really stop me from partying on my 19th birthday though :P Had an AMAZING night, best birthday ever! It started out pretty stressful though, I had uni until 4:15 (couldn't skip since it was a test) so Amanda and I got home at 5:15 and had approximately 1.5 hours to shower, eat dinner, do hair and do makeup. This turned out to be quite a mad rush, which was pretty exciting at the same time...however, we caught the planned train and arrived 20 minutes before the boat cruise began. This potentially would've been fine, except there were NO TRAMS FROM FLINDERS TO DOCKLANDS. We should've been at Docklands at 7:30, but at 7:35 we were still at Flinders...so we just took ANY tram and ended up at Southern Cross, which was even worse cos there was definately no tram from there :( Luckily a nice cab driver actually stopped for us with an empty cab and let us squish an extra person, then drove like a madman to the boat (of course we got held up by a red light) and we got there 10 minute before departure! SO MUCH STRESS!

It was so great having a birthday at the same time as an Aa event, cos all my friends were there and people buy you birthday drinks :D And generally being on a boat is fun. Dancing/walking is difficult when the boat tilts though, and it's reallyyy windy outside

xo

forever aloooone

Seems like all my friends are getting into relationships (ok its just 2...or 3 friends. or 4) and for some reason its just so depressing to be single around them =__= And it's always like "don't worry Soph, your time will come" ...well I'm not trying to be impatient, but when will that be? and why is it that the few guys that show interest are all so damn weird?! LOL. It's also one of those moments where you think you're over your ex for the millionth time, but then because of all these new relationships all your memories come at you and its just like...uguhhhghuhghghh stupid brain, cut me a break bro!

xo

recovery!

So it's been a week since I got my teeth out and it's pretty much all good now...the swelling isnt visible but it's still there, and I can slowly eat solids if they're not toooo solid. I've been holed up at home for a week and it's absolutely KILLING me :| I've finished all seasons of Big Bang Theory and multiple old movies in that time, so I'm finally going to Lisa's after lunch to bake and go to yoga again. I'm so glad I found bikram yoga as a form of fitness...I think I'm addicted :D Although I feel like dying when I'm in that hot room, I feel great afterwards and ready to come back asap. I also dropped a kilo after around 3 weeks of sticking to it! lovelovelove

xo