*I wonder...*
"All of my life, where have you been?
I wonder if I'll ever see you again?
And if that day comes, I know we could win.
I wonder if I'll ever see you again?" - Again, Lenny Kravitz


'Nuff said. I had a lovely weekend. I really needed to get away from stuff. I only wish...~

*Oops*
False alarm... I left my Starbucks flask in the office... oops.
One more class to teach before I start my weekend. Yay!
I'm going to skip town this weekend... So I'm probably not going to blog this weekend... I really need the break.
A bunch of us here have a plan brewing... It's pretty interesting, and it's all hush-hush for the moment... We're talking in code until things are definite. Will fill y'all in as D-Day gets closer. Woohoo!~

*Sleep...*
The thing about graduate programs is this... it RUINS your SLEEP SCHEDULE! %&#*$@%...
I taught my first class today as a Masters student. Doesn't feel any different, and I definitely didn't feel any wiser about teaching... but it's a powerful feeling, teaching at Teachers College, Columbia University. Pretty neat...
I've also just come out of a 3-day workshop. My WHOLE weekend was consumed by this workshop! And quite honestly, I really didn't think it was all that helpful. I was expecting a lot more help and tips about teaching adults during the workshop. I figure since they were making 17 of us spend 7 hours a day cooped up in a 20X20 room, the weekend before we're plunged into our 10-week teaching marathon... they'd give us something USEFUL. I was definitely disappointed and rather angry about wasting my time there, instead of developing my lesson plans and course direction.
SO... I guess my plans for a relaxing weekend this coming weekend is out of the question. Instead, I'm going to have to spend the weekend working on my plans and catching up on my reading. As much as I love it here, and how really great this school is... I sometimes question whether or not people DO think of others. Are people really this egocentric?
Funny... I was talking to my mum just now, and she warned me about NOT letting "boys" interfere with my studies. To which I replied: "I don't even have time to sleep, do you think I have time to look at boys?". It really wasn't until that moment that it occurred to me that I'm completely swamped here...
Oh my goodness. I just realised that I don't have my Starbucks Tea Flask with me. I left it in my classroom just now while I was giving my students a tour of the school. I didn't bring it back with me, but I had cleared my room before I left. Someone must've swiped it while I was on that 5 minute tour of the school. THIS SUCKS! I'm so saaaaaaaad.... *SOB*...~

*Addicted*
"I'm trying to forget that I'm addicted to you.
But I want it and I need it I'm addicted to you..." - Addicted, Simple Plan


I'm completely addicted to this really cute song right now. It's so catchy...
Anyways... It's 2am, and I really should be sleeping. I have a 3-day weekend workshop, and it's so tiring! I had to give up going down to SoHo for drinks just now because I passed out the minute I came home!
Oh! I bought GREAT shoes today! I'm so happy! They were also so cheap! Problem is though... that they're over 4 inches high! (They're NOT platforms!). They're so beautiful though... and I vow to go back to wearing my heels.
Anyways... I've REALLY gotta crash now. It's still so HOT here! Where's the SNOW???~

*I was walking in Harlem when...*
*Background info* - I don't know if you know, but there's a HUGE A** hurricane hitting us at full force along the East Coast of the U.S. New York is as East Coast as you can get...
SO, this little asian girl was walking along the streets in Harlem on the way to the grocery store, when a VERY strong gust of wind came along and knocked her off her feet... at a very busy intersection.
Talk about utter humiliation... People here now think I'm even tinier now... NOT FUNNY.~

*Funny*
I just went out with some of my new girl friends, and we watched a movie called "Lost In Translation". It's a really funny movie. It's not your typical Hollywood sorta movie. It's a SOFIA Coppola movie (tells you a little about the movie), and her writing efforts are definitely better than her acting efforts. I must admit, the movie was a little strange, but it was really quite funny... a definite must see in my books.
Right, time to get crackin' with my reading. I have a Weekend-long workshop to get psyched for, and I start teaching on Monday! It's all so overwhelming...
I've got so much to say, but no time to say it! Everything's happening so fast! Ahhhhh!~

*Just HAD to...*
I just HAD to get a picture of this place... see if you know the place. It's pretty famous, and if you can't figure it out, email me and I'll tell you what it is... then, you'll probably say - "Oh yeah!".
Go to my NYC picture album and click on "Name That Place".
Have fun!~

*Soooo HOT!*
It's SO HOT here! I finally caved in and bought a fan. I kept thinking "we're going into cooler weather now"... yeah, it's not happening.
I've reshuffled my picture albums. I picked up my film today, and realised that the files are HUGE on the CD they gave me with my prints on it... So, I've uploaded my pix onto two albums. One has all my pictures from my year in HK on it plus miscellaneous pictures, and the other is purely NYC and Columbia. Both have been updated and there are new pictures on both. Don't expect much though, they're not very interesting pictures. But hey, it's better than nothing!
Guess what! Dick Bruna's coming to Barnes & Nobles on Wednesday to do a reading! You're probably going HUH right about now. He's the guy that created the character MIFFY, simply my favourite character... None of that Sanrio stuff... Uh, yeah, the books may be geared towards little children, but they're CUTE!
Anyways, so after my 4 hour stretch of classes on Wednesday at Grad school, I'm dashing off to this pre-school gathering... Go figure.
Right, going to try to go back to sleep... I was rudely awakened just now... MAYBE I'll tell y'all about it... maybe not.~

*PIX!*
I've uploaded SOME pictures I got on my mini-digi cam. They're pretty boring though, because I just took pictures of a whole bunch of beautiful buildings.
I'll be getting my 5th Avenue shots tomorrow. Will upload them then...
To view the pix, click on the link on the sidebar (My pix collection, under STUFF). Then look in my Columbia folder.
Oh! And I forgot...
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SHAWN!~

*Soooo Happy*
I had a really really great day today. I guess it didn't start out quite so good because I overslept and had 10 minutes to get myself together before rushing off to grade some papers... but it really picked up afterwards.
I've just got back from the pub. I met some really really super cool people today and I'm all smiles now. I had a lovely talk with Mikie (Hiya!) and I'm definitely loving life here. I'm much happier now than I've ever been, though... I do feel that there's still a void that needs to be filled...
I just opened my email Inbox and I found a flood of email! Yay! My mail has just been delayed... and if you want, you can still email me at my snap.to addy if you want. Shout-outs to Amanda, Lui and Terence!
I had originally planned to go to the Yankees game today, but the tickets were sold out... The cool thing was that I went to the Bronx! (John, aren't you proud of me??)
Gotta sleep, I'm heading out to New Jersey tomorrow morning. A bunch of us are going to hit Ikea for some "storage solutions". *smoooooch*~

*Update*
I've updated my email address (mail link on my sidebar). For the time being, please stay away from my snap.to account... It's being temperamental. Just send all your junk to my columbia.edu addy...
Gotta say this again... YAY, SAM! I'll be up at the end of the month to celebrate! YAY, SAM!!!!~

*GASP*
Just before I go to bed... just needed to say YAY!... YAY, SAM!...~

*Trouble*
People... I'm having some problems with my email... they don't seem to be coming through. Um... if you want to get to me, email me at my hotmail addy for the time being...
Will post more later... and have some pix up. Love y'all!~

*Dilemma, part deux*
"You don't know what you mean to me..." - Dilemma, Nelly ft. Kelly Rowland


Ok... maybe it's a little more than just a song stuck in my head. I'm nuts though... I know I am. This person isn't even in the same area code as me... I have a thing about falling for people outside of my area code. I wonder why that is? Is it a fear of commitment? I've been thinking about that for a while now...
Anyways... more important issues are plaguing me at this moment... ha... I need to do a heap of homework. A 4 page paper needs to miraculously spit out of my printer right about... NOW.
Nope... not happenin'... maybe I'll try to watch "Finding Nemo" again. I only made it through the first couple of minutes the last attempt... I bawled my eyes out when Coral died and couldn't bring myself to continue. Be thankful that YOU don't have to sit through "Nemo" with me...~

*Cool*
I went by the Loew's Theatre yesterday on Broadway... and I came across the world premiere of "Once Upon A Time In Mexico"! I saw Salma Hayak!! So neat... except that I was whizzing by in a cab. I missed my fave hottie! (Enrique)... Who apparently came with Anna Kournikova... I LOVE living in NYC!
I've just come outta my Phonetics and Phonology class, and I think it's going to be my favourite class this semester... except the part where I have to learn the phonetic alphabet. I've already tried TWICE for my TESL cert. and my PGCE... but I still haven't gotten the hang of it. Hopefully, I'll be able to have it down by next week.
Gotta get my papers and readings done... I can't believe the STACK of things I have to do already!!!!~

*Uh...*
Yeah, um... it's NOT a good idea to call me at 6am on a Sunday, whoever it is! I don't think my ringer was even on... you're lucky your number didn't come up on my caller ID thingy.
Oh... and LEAVE A MESSAGE if I don't pick up! I come back with 6 registered missed calls... and no messages... that's pretty annoying. You've GOT to have called me for a reason??
OK... I'm done with ranting for a while. I'm headed to the Upper East Side to pick some things up... Including that Coach bag for you sis! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SARAH!! XOXO!~

*The Tube*
It is DEFINITELY way too far to go for drinks on the Lower East Side, then haul ourselves back up to the Upper West Side at 1 o'clock in the morning. It took us a whole hour to get back up here! Next time though, we're definitely NOT going to be adventurous and just take the cab.
I had a lot of fun tonight. We went to Battery Park (right at the southern-most tip of Manhattan) to watch an outdoor ballet performance. The show was so good! It was basically ballet in drag... yeah D-R-A-G... Men dressed as Ballerinas... They were so good though! It was a satire on the traditional ballets, but not in a sloppy slapstick sorta way. Their technique was definitely pro, and they're all fully trained ballet-men (?). They were so graceful and precise... some were even better than women (in my opinion)...
We met up with some other people afterwards for drinks... and we went to this awesome place called "The Opium Den". It was such a nice place to be... but that was short-lived... We ended up going for dessert at this really good dessert place, then we tried out "Nublu"... but it's definitely just the shell there... What place ONLY serves beer and bad wine?
Anyways... it was a lovely, lovely day... and I'm really starting to like NYC a lot. I don't know how many times I've said it already... but the people are SO NICE HERE!
Time to crash... Hope y'all are well over there in HK and Canada! I miss y'all loads!~

*Omigosh*
This past week has been really bad (sleep-wise). I've been falling asleep while watching telly, fully-clothed, at around 7 or 8pm. I really have to force myself to adjust better to the time difference. Last night was the only night I didn't follow this routine, and that was only because I had a class AND I went out.
My room is a STY! I still haven't gotten around to buying more "storage solutions" and it's just a nightmare getting everything organised in here! Yuck... I can't stand the messiness, but at least there aren't any foul smells in here. I spent 3 hours cleaning out the fridge and microwave in my room... I Cloroxed both the fridge and microwave... uh yeah, I'm just a leeetle-beet of a neat freak...
The sun's out today! Yay! It hasn't been out since last Saturday, and I think some of us are going to head down to Central Park... I'm starting to enjoy living here in New York, there really is so much to do!
Right... I'm going to "try" to clean this dump up... I'm going to steer clear of just moving the things from my bed to the floor... Ta!~

*Wow!*
It's so great here... people are so nice! (Well, those at TC anyways)...
I've met so many cool people here these past couple of days. We all went out to a pub tonight (kinda disappointing), and there... I met someone who reminds me of a figure in my past. It was so strange speaking to this person, because all I could think of was "is he, or isn't he?"... Turns out he ISN'T a friend from the past, but still a pretty nice person.
The girls here are all super nice as well... none of that "HKU" mentality. I love how everyone here is out to help one another, and just never hesitates to help.. it's so awesome.
Right... I'm crashing now. I feel like jelly... *yawn*~

*Craziness*
I must be insane. My advisor has suggested that I take 3 courses instead of 4 this semester... and so has everyone else I've talked to. I'm going against their warnings though, and I'm going to take the full load including the practicum portion of my program... INSANITY! I'm going to be a wreck this semester, but I really want to free up my summer for my internship...
I went for a walk around the Columbia campus and surrounding area today with a friend. It was so weird, but when we got to Broadway and 112th... something caught us off-guard. It was the diner from SEINFELD!! It was so weird to actually see it in person. The sign's still the same, but the outer walls of the diner has obviously been repainted... it's really neat seeing all these T.V./movie places in person. I also walk by the Earl building every time I have to catch the subway too (Extreme Measures??)... So cool.
I'm buying my textbooks for my courses, and I'm surprised that my texts are relatively cheap compared to those from my days at Western and HKU. I guess it helps that Teachers College Press is a major publisher and publishes a lot of the leading Education texts... yay for me! Not only that, but they keep feeding us here! There's free food everyday (well, almost)... There's a Barbeque tomorrow, and not only will there be free food... there's free booze too! Gosh, how awesome is it to get an Ivy-League education??!?!?!?? Yay!
I've got to get some work done now. I can't believe I have homework already! I have to write a 4 page paper that's due next week! Argh.... this whole Grad student thing is really sinking in now...~

*Dilemma*
"No matter what I do
All I think about is you.
Even when I'm with my Boo
Boy, you know I'm crazy over you...
You don't know what you mean to me." - Dilemma, Nelly ft. Kelly Rowland


I've had this song stuck in my head for... just over 2 weeks now. Don't even bother asking why or how it's stuck in my head... like everything else that's going on right now... it's complicated, and I don't feel like explaining. But don't think too much... because like everything I fret about... it's NOTHING. It's basically just a song with a really catchy tune.
Gotta somehow find another course to take.... That Art Silk-Screening course is sounding really appealing right now...~

*New York, NEW YORK!*
WOW! Maybe that's an understatement... I'm completely overwhelmed by this city. I haven't been able to make it down past Madison Square Gardens (31st Street), so I guess I haven't really seen ANYTHING yet... but this city is intimidating. The subway system is so confusing... but I think I've finally gotten it figured out enough so that I can get from my place (Upper West) down to Penn Station (34th). For those of you who know NYC... you'll know that's just down one line... HA!
It's been so chaotic so far. I got into the city on Friday afternoon. I spent time that evening at Bloomingdale's and just wandering around Lexington Avenue. Saturday took me to Fifth Avenue... and OMIGOSH! That street is long! It was so cool, because as I was walking up Fifth Avenue, Condoleeza Rice (Secretary of Defense??) was coming down Fifth Avenue in a car with a motorcade opening the way for her... SO AMERICAN!
The move-in was horribly chaotic. My room's... "cozy". It's nice and comfy, but I'm definitely not used to going back to sleeping on a twin bed after sleeping on a Queen for over a year... doesn't help that I'm sharing the bed with "the dog"...
Today... Hmm... I've finally registered for my courses and met my advisor. It's pretty incredible, but there are only 5 of us in my program.. and that includes me! Well... 5 of us starting this year anyways... which works out for me I guess, since I'm quite fed-up with lining up to speak to profs.
The really really great thing about Columbia, is that this University comes with incredible resources. There are so many places I can go to for information or articles... it's just so amazing! And this university's definitely NOT stingy... like HKU. At orientation and registration today, they kept feeding us! Then, there are ice-cream socials, BBQs... and FREE BEER! Gosh... I've died and gone to heaven. This is going to be a wicked 2 years... so long as I can get my Thesis done...
I'm going to a YANKEES game next week! I'm so excited. I'd love to catch one of those... fly balls? Is that what they're called??? Oh... what the heck...
Hmm... I've gotta go... I've still got books to get and I've got to start READING them. I'm definitely a bit worried about the coursework, but I'm trying to psych myself up for it...
Drop me a line sometimes, peeps!~