I'm finally legal here in the U.S. And to continue my bday tradition of gettin totally wasted, I left the bar on wednesday before midnight.
School's been very lax lately, a new semester has started and we haven't learned much yet so there isn't much to study. I've been chillin the past couple weeks. Saw a couple movies: alpha dog = pretty boring, stomp the yard = pretty good. I liked stomp the yard, it was a good fluff movie. The only thing I didn't like was the shoddy camera work in the beginning, gave me a headache.
Gonna watch the football game now, go patriots.
Saturday, January 06, 2007
I can't believe it's my last day home. There is no song sad enough to convey my mood. This will be the longest I'll be away without coming back for a break. I won't be back for 5 months; I'm excited to turn 21 and party it up in boston but it's just not enough to make me want to leave.
On a lighter note, I had a great bday dinner last night. Thanks to everyone who came. Good triple A alberta beef, good company, and good presents.
See you all in June.
On a lighter note, I had a great bday dinner last night. Thanks to everyone who came. Good triple A alberta beef, good company, and good presents.
See you all in June.
Sunday, December 31, 2006
2006 has been a great year, it started at a bar called the globe and it will end there. We've decided to ring in 2007 in similar fashion. Although I doubt anything will ever top that night. Other memorable moments in january included my 20th bday, the drunkest I have ever been. I got kicked out of the club at 1230 and proceeded to spend quite a while sitting up against the wall and throwing up sporadically.
In february, I got accepted into optometry and it felt as if my life was finally on track. I'd had some hard times in undergrad, but my 3rd year was great. I had never planned to get my bachelor of science and I was relieved to finally escape. At that time in my life, I was sick of Edmonton. I'd spent 20 yrs in this town, and we'd come to call it "hick capital of the world." Many days were spent plotting our escape from the only place we'd ever known.
The end of april also marked the end of my time at the Univ of Alberta. Sort of. I continued working for one of my psych profs, it was the best job I've had so far. It paid $14.15/hr and it was super easy, we ran experiments and entered data into excel. I also got a job at lids which paid much much less. But I figured it was only fitting to work retail one last time in my life. The summer passed by; I spent as much time as I could hanging out with friends.
Suddenly, I didn't want to go. My great escape was causing me more and more anxiety as my lazy summer days dwindled. I felt like I'd just figured out undergrad only to have to leave it behind. I listened to a lot of dashboard, and told myself it was a rite of passage to be away from all that was familiar to me.
My brother, Stephen, went to Malaysia to fight in an international kung fu competition. He was gone for basically all of august and I wanted to spend a few days with him before I left for boston but Barbara McGinley insisted that I be in town for saturday sept 2nd orientation even though school didn't officially start till tuesday sept 5th. I still haven't forgiven her for the days I missed. Needless to say, I was miserable. Sitting in my tiny apartment, in a new city where I didn't know anyone.
I didn't stay miserable though. Once school got underway, I had less time to be homesick. But I could still see the streets of edmonton very vividly in my mind every time I closed my eyes. I grew to love optometry and was actually kind of freaked out that I liked school/my future career so much. I lucked out, I went into it for the wrong reasons: money, status, to shut my mom up. I'm doing very well academically, I get more sleep than I ever did in undergrad and the material comes easier to me. The only thing is we're in class for more of the day. Other than that, it's basically a walk in the park.
I went back home for a week in november during american thanksgiving break and it was exactly what I needed. I returned to boston totally refreshed and much less homesick knowing that I had less than a month until christmas break. Truthfully, it was very hard to leave and the only way I could do it without breaking down into tears was looking forward to christmas. This year, I took my love of christmas to another level.
The first challenge 2007 will bring is leaving my home knowing that I won't be back for 5 months. All I can do is spend the rest of my week with the people who've made me who I am.
In february, I got accepted into optometry and it felt as if my life was finally on track. I'd had some hard times in undergrad, but my 3rd year was great. I had never planned to get my bachelor of science and I was relieved to finally escape. At that time in my life, I was sick of Edmonton. I'd spent 20 yrs in this town, and we'd come to call it "hick capital of the world." Many days were spent plotting our escape from the only place we'd ever known.
The end of april also marked the end of my time at the Univ of Alberta. Sort of. I continued working for one of my psych profs, it was the best job I've had so far. It paid $14.15/hr and it was super easy, we ran experiments and entered data into excel. I also got a job at lids which paid much much less. But I figured it was only fitting to work retail one last time in my life. The summer passed by; I spent as much time as I could hanging out with friends.
Suddenly, I didn't want to go. My great escape was causing me more and more anxiety as my lazy summer days dwindled. I felt like I'd just figured out undergrad only to have to leave it behind. I listened to a lot of dashboard, and told myself it was a rite of passage to be away from all that was familiar to me.
My brother, Stephen, went to Malaysia to fight in an international kung fu competition. He was gone for basically all of august and I wanted to spend a few days with him before I left for boston but Barbara McGinley insisted that I be in town for saturday sept 2nd orientation even though school didn't officially start till tuesday sept 5th. I still haven't forgiven her for the days I missed. Needless to say, I was miserable. Sitting in my tiny apartment, in a new city where I didn't know anyone.
I didn't stay miserable though. Once school got underway, I had less time to be homesick. But I could still see the streets of edmonton very vividly in my mind every time I closed my eyes. I grew to love optometry and was actually kind of freaked out that I liked school/my future career so much. I lucked out, I went into it for the wrong reasons: money, status, to shut my mom up. I'm doing very well academically, I get more sleep than I ever did in undergrad and the material comes easier to me. The only thing is we're in class for more of the day. Other than that, it's basically a walk in the park.
I went back home for a week in november during american thanksgiving break and it was exactly what I needed. I returned to boston totally refreshed and much less homesick knowing that I had less than a month until christmas break. Truthfully, it was very hard to leave and the only way I could do it without breaking down into tears was looking forward to christmas. This year, I took my love of christmas to another level.
The first challenge 2007 will bring is leaving my home knowing that I won't be back for 5 months. All I can do is spend the rest of my week with the people who've made me who I am.
Saturday, December 30, 2006
First off, if you're planning on seeing The Good Shepherd starring Matt Damon, DON'T DO IT! Save your money and 3 hours of your life. This is probably the first movie that I've had a very insistent voice in my head telling me to walk out. I didn't, but only because I paid $11 to see it. It is intensely boring, there is absolutely no suspense throughout the entire movie. I can't stress this enough, don't see this movie. I know it looks decent in the trailers, that fooled me too, but don't make the same mistake I did.
OK, now that that's out of the way... I had a busy day today, we went for dim sum with some aunts and uncles, grandma and grandpa. Then out to dinner with a couple optometrists, one who works for my mom's optical and the other is my cousin. Sort of an office christmas/new yr dinner. Afterwards I went clubbing cause it was my friend's bday today. The club wasn't exactly packed, I've had funner nights drinking. But I've also had much worse so it wasn't bad. They should've played more sean paul.. I should've had more to drink... I'm barely buzzed, I only had like 6 drinks (hence the late night blogging), however the up side is I didn't spend a single dollar. People kept buyin me drinks since they hadn't seen me in months. The pros of being away...
OK, now that that's out of the way... I had a busy day today, we went for dim sum with some aunts and uncles, grandma and grandpa. Then out to dinner with a couple optometrists, one who works for my mom's optical and the other is my cousin. Sort of an office christmas/new yr dinner. Afterwards I went clubbing cause it was my friend's bday today. The club wasn't exactly packed, I've had funner nights drinking. But I've also had much worse so it wasn't bad. They should've played more sean paul.. I should've had more to drink... I'm barely buzzed, I only had like 6 drinks (hence the late night blogging), however the up side is I didn't spend a single dollar. People kept buyin me drinks since they hadn't seen me in months. The pros of being away...
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
As a materialistic person (and unashamed to admit it), it's now that time of year to take stock of all the things I have acquired over holiday break thus far. For christmas, I got a JL polo and an indoor grill from lana and den, slippers from bo, and a gift certificate from justine. Thanks guys!
Boxing day, I got a few shirts for myself. Although I was very disappointed I didn't get what I really want, lacoste shoes. But don't worry, I won't give up. I shall have new shoes.
Boxing day, I got a few shirts for myself. Although I was very disappointed I didn't get what I really want, lacoste shoes. But don't worry, I won't give up. I shall have new shoes.
Tuesday, December 26, 2006
MERRY CHRISTMAS!
well..... 364 days until my favourite day rolls around once again.
Christmas eve started out with dim sum with the parents; I picked up the lil cousins' christmas presents then went to my grandma's to put them under the tree I put up.
Today, I watched john tucker must die and thank you for smoking. And went to dinner at my cousin's place to celebrate his optometry license coming in the mail. It was a funner day than I thought it would be but still nothing terribly exciting.
Now I must rest up for the physical challenge of endurance and perseverance that is boxing day shopping madness.
well..... 364 days until my favourite day rolls around once again.
Christmas eve started out with dim sum with the parents; I picked up the lil cousins' christmas presents then went to my grandma's to put them under the tree I put up.
Today, I watched john tucker must die and thank you for smoking. And went to dinner at my cousin's place to celebrate his optometry license coming in the mail. It was a funner day than I thought it would be but still nothing terribly exciting.
Now I must rest up for the physical challenge of endurance and perseverance that is boxing day shopping madness.
Sunday, December 24, 2006
After my connecting flight was delayed and I lost 3 hours of my life sitting in the chicago airport, I made it home. And it's been awesome; I've taken a totally different approach. Last time I was back it was only for a week, so I had plans for every day. But this time, I figured with 2 weeks I wouldn't make any plans and just chill. And that's what I've been doing, sitting around and watching bad tv. I love it.
Tonight I went to my grandma's house for turkey dinner and was very disappointed that the artificial tree wasn't up! Apparently my aunt had been busy with work lately, so I basically whined about it like a baby and decided to put it up myself. My uncle helped and I asked my little cousins if they wanted to help me decorate the tree. They were so excited, VERY cute!
Merry Christmas!
Tonight I went to my grandma's house for turkey dinner and was very disappointed that the artificial tree wasn't up! Apparently my aunt had been busy with work lately, so I basically whined about it like a baby and decided to put it up myself. My uncle helped and I asked my little cousins if they wanted to help me decorate the tree. They were so excited, VERY cute!
Merry Christmas!
Saturday, December 02, 2006
The countdown to christmas has begun. Thursday night, a few of us went to the christmas tree lighting. It got up to 17C that day, so not exactly your typical christmas weather but it was still awesome. Pics are on facebook if you wanna check 'em out.
Naturally, the beautiful lights inspired me to start up my annual tradition of handing out candycanes at school. I started on fri, dec 1; spreading holiday cheer one candycane at a time.
Of course, the downside to the christmas countdown is it means finals are even faster approaching. Wish me luck, I'll see you all soon in edmonton where the snow makes the weather more holiday appropriate.
Naturally, the beautiful lights inspired me to start up my annual tradition of handing out candycanes at school. I started on fri, dec 1; spreading holiday cheer one candycane at a time.
Of course, the downside to the christmas countdown is it means finals are even faster approaching. Wish me luck, I'll see you all soon in edmonton where the snow makes the weather more holiday appropriate.
Saturday, November 25, 2006
Friday, November 24, 2006
Happy thanksgiving to my american friends. This week is almost coming to an end, this is the first time I've been away from home for sch and this trip home was great. I'm glad there's less than a month until I get to come back again. It's so easy for me to slip into the same routines, it feels like I never even left. I basically just have tomorrow left since my flight out is on saturday.
"What have you been doing? I must know for stalking purposes" you say? I wanted to see a move (the prestige) on wed but it wasn't playing.. they had changed the schedule because deja vu came out. So we decided against seein a movie and just walked around, semi-shopping. Then I headed to my grandma's house for a good ol' fashioned family dinner. We have a lot of these if you haven't noticed.
What did I do today? You guessed it, family dinner. It was my grandpa's birthday dinner, I love that my dad's side of the family is so close. It has definitely instilled some values into me that I couldn't imagine myself without. Quite a bit of snow fell today and made the roads extra slippery, and for some strange reason my grandpa chose to be a passenger in my car. (Why couldn't he have gone with one of my aunts or uncles?) Anyway, this made me drive extra careful. The stress of having precious cargo....
"What have you been doing? I must know for stalking purposes" you say? I wanted to see a move (the prestige) on wed but it wasn't playing.. they had changed the schedule because deja vu came out. So we decided against seein a movie and just walked around, semi-shopping. Then I headed to my grandma's house for a good ol' fashioned family dinner. We have a lot of these if you haven't noticed.
What did I do today? You guessed it, family dinner. It was my grandpa's birthday dinner, I love that my dad's side of the family is so close. It has definitely instilled some values into me that I couldn't imagine myself without. Quite a bit of snow fell today and made the roads extra slippery, and for some strange reason my grandpa chose to be a passenger in my car. (Why couldn't he have gone with one of my aunts or uncles?) Anyway, this made me drive extra careful. The stress of having precious cargo....
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Monday, November 20, 2006
I'm home and it feels so good. Definitely made the right decision to come home, everything is the same yet slightly different.
My flight landed at about 1230 Edmonton time. First thing I did when I got home was eat the food my mom had made me, then I took a nap since I had only gotten 2 hours of sleep.
Went to my grandma's for dinner, then went to see the new bond movie. I really liked it, Daniel Craig did a great job as Bond. And the movie itself wasn't as corny as last time around so that definitely helped.
Today started off with dim sum with the family followed by shopping at e. centre. I bought gloves and a fall jacket.
So there you have it, retroactive stalker.
My flight landed at about 1230 Edmonton time. First thing I did when I got home was eat the food my mom had made me, then I took a nap since I had only gotten 2 hours of sleep.
Went to my grandma's for dinner, then went to see the new bond movie. I really liked it, Daniel Craig did a great job as Bond. And the movie itself wasn't as corny as last time around so that definitely helped.
Today started off with dim sum with the family followed by shopping at e. centre. I bought gloves and a fall jacket.
So there you have it, retroactive stalker.
Monday, November 13, 2006
On a rainy sunday afternoon, I got bored with studying and decided to semi-pack for my trip back home. Basically packed the stuff I don't need here, clothes that I haven't worn, free pens and post-its I've acquired, dvd's that I've since watched many times, etc.
Good thing I'm comin home 'cause I am out of money. (I hate bank of america). Whoever heard of having to wait 4-6 weeks for a check to clear?
Good thing I'm comin home 'cause I am out of money. (I hate bank of america). Whoever heard of having to wait 4-6 weeks for a check to clear?
Friday, November 10, 2006
In a week from now, I'll probably be packing for my trip home! Words cannot express how excited I am. It's right about that time of semester when I could use a break from seeing the same people every day.
A few of us went to the bruins vs. leafs game last night. It was my first time at an nhl hockey game and I had a lot of fun; it was a high scoring game and the leafs won 6-4, so my ontarian friends were happy about that. Now I just need to see an oilers game and my life will be complete.
A few of us went to the bruins vs. leafs game last night. It was my first time at an nhl hockey game and I had a lot of fun; it was a high scoring game and the leafs won 6-4, so my ontarian friends were happy about that. Now I just need to see an oilers game and my life will be complete.
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
LESS THAN 2 WEEKS UNTIL I COME HOME! OK, sorry.. that's enough of that...
Post-exams, I find myself actually bored. Like there's not enough to study; if that's not sick, I don't know what is. There was some momentary stress related to my proficiency exam (like a clinical test, they judge us on how "proficient" we are in the skills/tests we've learned how to do so far). And I'm happy to say that I passed with flying colours! This means a lot to me, it's not some dinky cell bio quiz that's worth 1.25% of my mark. This is actually relevant to what I'll be doing in the future. So I guess the "take-home message" (as my TMVT prof would say) is that I'm havin a really good day today.
Lookin forward to many good days in my home town, see you all SOON.
Post-exams, I find myself actually bored. Like there's not enough to study; if that's not sick, I don't know what is. There was some momentary stress related to my proficiency exam (like a clinical test, they judge us on how "proficient" we are in the skills/tests we've learned how to do so far). And I'm happy to say that I passed with flying colours! This means a lot to me, it's not some dinky cell bio quiz that's worth 1.25% of my mark. This is actually relevant to what I'll be doing in the future. So I guess the "take-home message" (as my TMVT prof would say) is that I'm havin a really good day today.
Lookin forward to many good days in my home town, see you all SOON.
Friday, November 03, 2006
2 weeks until I'm home! I feel like a broken record, but here it is: I CAN'T WAIT! There's something about the tackiness of the "world's largest" mall (and cowboy boot) about edmonton that is irreplacable. It's absolutely surreal here, we see the same ppl everyday and life in boston basically equals optometry for me. There's no way to escape it, I go to sch, eat, study, sleep, live and breathe optometry. 99% of my friends in boston are from my school so even when I'm just hangin out, talk of amblyopia (and other equally as nerdy topics) pop up. Luckily, I really like optom (I'm amazed at how much actually). I guess my mom was right.. *shudder*
Even so, I still need breaks away from it. Sometimes, it's hard to realize that even though optom will be my career, it's not my whole life. And I think a trip home is gonna do just that. Seeing my family and friends will remind me of who I am, the values that have been instilled in me which have been kept intact thus far. I haven't been corrupted by living alone just yet. That probably has something to do with the fact that I'm not legal drinking age here though.. but I'm gonna go ahead and take credit for it anyway.
I got all my midterm marks back and I'm happy with them for the most part, I know what I need to keep doing and what things I need to change to do better. Missin you all, counting the days until i'm with the ones I love.
Even so, I still need breaks away from it. Sometimes, it's hard to realize that even though optom will be my career, it's not my whole life. And I think a trip home is gonna do just that. Seeing my family and friends will remind me of who I am, the values that have been instilled in me which have been kept intact thus far. I haven't been corrupted by living alone just yet. That probably has something to do with the fact that I'm not legal drinking age here though.. but I'm gonna go ahead and take credit for it anyway.
I got all my midterm marks back and I'm happy with them for the most part, I know what I need to keep doing and what things I need to change to do better. Missin you all, counting the days until i'm with the ones I love.
Sunday, October 29, 2006
Finally done exams! The midterms in most of my classes are non-cumulative so they're worth as much as finals :S
I have to say I'm not a fan of saturday exams, it really messes with my perception of what day it is.
So I finished my last exam yesterday, I went to harvard square to have dinner with a friend. Then we watched a couple movies, Seven with brad pitt and morgan freeman ==> I really liked this movie, it reminded me of what an awesome actor kevin spacey is and brad pitt was lookin very nice as a bonus; we also watched what dreams may come with robin williams, I was NOT impressed! It was super sad, and I basically cried throughout the entire movie. It's not like other sad movies that have certain really sad moments, this was non-stop! Very depressing.
I decided to give myself what was left of my weekend off, so today I went shopping then we decided to cook dinner for each other. I made chicken ceasar salad, kendall made soup, and janice made garlic cheese bread. It was "delish."
We do have class tomorrow so that sucks. But I'm takin tomorrow night off from studyin, we're instituting prison break night. Without my fave character abruzzi, wentworth miller will have to carry the show with his wicked good looks. I haven't seen the show in quite a while, hope it's still good.
I heard it snowed back home so I made stephen send me a couple pics of our neighbourhood blanketed in snow, any additional pics of the city would be greatly appreciated! Please email them to me! The best pic will be my desktop background. I cannot wait to come home!!!! Missin you all, love jo.
I have to say I'm not a fan of saturday exams, it really messes with my perception of what day it is.
So I finished my last exam yesterday, I went to harvard square to have dinner with a friend. Then we watched a couple movies, Seven with brad pitt and morgan freeman ==> I really liked this movie, it reminded me of what an awesome actor kevin spacey is and brad pitt was lookin very nice as a bonus; we also watched what dreams may come with robin williams, I was NOT impressed! It was super sad, and I basically cried throughout the entire movie. It's not like other sad movies that have certain really sad moments, this was non-stop! Very depressing.
I decided to give myself what was left of my weekend off, so today I went shopping then we decided to cook dinner for each other. I made chicken ceasar salad, kendall made soup, and janice made garlic cheese bread. It was "delish."
We do have class tomorrow so that sucks. But I'm takin tomorrow night off from studyin, we're instituting prison break night. Without my fave character abruzzi, wentworth miller will have to carry the show with his wicked good looks. I haven't seen the show in quite a while, hope it's still good.
I heard it snowed back home so I made stephen send me a couple pics of our neighbourhood blanketed in snow, any additional pics of the city would be greatly appreciated! Please email them to me! The best pic will be my desktop background. I cannot wait to come home!!!! Missin you all, love jo.
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
Saturday, October 14, 2006
Hey guys,
I'm not gonna be blogging very frequently for the next couple weeks, midterms start in one week! But I just had an urge to blog about all the little things I miss about home (in no particular order):
colour is spelled with a u
ppl say please and thank you
it's called a zed
hockey night in canada/cbc
not bein made fun of every time i say eh?
the way we pronounce duodenum
it's pop (not soda)
tim horton's even though i don't drink coffee
thanksgiving in october
relatively competent bank tellers
ppl knowing what you mean when you say toque
it's a pylon (not an "orange cone")
I'm not gonna be blogging very frequently for the next couple weeks, midterms start in one week! But I just had an urge to blog about all the little things I miss about home (in no particular order):
colour is spelled with a u
ppl say please and thank you
it's called a zed
hockey night in canada/cbc
not bein made fun of every time i say eh?
the way we pronounce duodenum
it's pop (not soda)
tim horton's even though i don't drink coffee
thanksgiving in october
relatively competent bank tellers
ppl knowing what you mean when you say toque
it's a pylon (not an "orange cone")
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