It's Chinese New Year again!
Things are slightly different this year (still feeling weird that Yeye isn't around anymore but oh well...). It's Day 1 today. Wasn't expecting anything much for lunch today since Mama can't cook but surprisingly Tari, our domestic helper, could whip up the same vegetarian dish that we have been having for the past Chinese New Years! :D I was really thrilled that it was exactly the same, in terms of taste, maybe slightly salty but everything else was there :)
There are 3 things I look forward to during Chinese New Year: Bak Kwa (and I'll get to that later), my mom's homecooked dinners, probably reunion dinner (cos the whole family will be there and it's just nice to have the whole family gathering for a change), ang paos (who doesn't?) and pineapple tarts, speaking of which, Daniel's mom made Kueh Bangkit for me on top of the 2 bottles of pineapple tarts she has already made! :)
Ok, I'm starting to give you the impression that I'm a glutton now but I prefer the term foodie, haha.
Back to the Bak Kwa. On the eve of CNY's eve, I was desperately craving for Bak Kwa and was wondering why no one bought Bak Kwa this year. The thing is in previous years, there was always an abundance of Bak Kwa but we didn't eat it cos it became more like a chore to do so after awhile due to it being plentiful that in the end, we had to throw away some of them cos they started to be mouldy (what a waste right?). Thankfully, my Dad bought MZX Bak Kwa the following day. Not gonna worry about the weight issue until after CNY when the period of feasting's over. There's still another lunch with the paternal grandma tomorrow and we'll be celebrating my maternal grandpa's birthday at Chinatown on the third day (another feast!).
Although we're supposed to be visiting people's homes during CNY, it has always been a period of rest for me (yeah, quite ironic I know). Since our family is so small (both paternal and maternal) and since the habit of visiting friends is dwindling, this means I can get as much "me" time as I want, which is a necessity cos I can foresee my schedule after this long break, especially when March arrives.
This Sem (presumably my last semester) is rather a "relaxed" one since I'm taking four UEs and a level 3 Psych module on Emotions (Socio-cognitive perspectives now, after last sem's psychobiological perspectives). I'm taking a Theatre module ("The Theatre Experience"), a music module ("Music in the Global Context"), a life science module ("Animal Behaviour") as well as an Intro module in Social Work. I should say most of the workload would be rather hands-on; lesser readings and more of field work although assignments and presentations still remain as part of the CA. What's different is that I'll be reviewing 2 concerts, a play, a film, a trip to see theatre behind the scenes, plenty of visits to nature areas as part of our project to observe an animal for more than 10 hours, as well as making 2 visits to social service agencies.
The theatre module's not bad so far. 'Was planning to blog about my thoughts on one particular set of readings but that will come later.
As for the music mod, I particularly enjoy the tutorials. We get to learn to play instruments from different cultures - we rotate after every 3 tutorials. I'm just done with the African music group and we get to learn the Mbira, which is a thumb piano, for 2 lessons and percussion (drums, shakers, double bells, etc...) for the last one. 'Will be moving on to South Indian music next week (Sitar, here I come!) XD
Dr.Ty's really amiable and knowledgeable and he can go on and on about his experiences and about the instruments and cultures to which they belong. The only reason why I'm not paying attention would be cos of involuntary slumber (which is due to sheer exhaustion from sleeping late).
As for social work, I'm beginning to have a newfound respect for the profession.It really isn't easy to deal with people and I agree that it takes a lot of emotional strength to be able to engage in this kinda profession and still remain emotionally healthy. Maybe I should consider embarking on Dr.Esther's idea of taking a week-long "silent retreat" too (impossible as it may be). Imagine a week without our cell phone, no internet access and music (music?!?! how's that possible?).
Realised I didn't talk about the Christmas events. On the whole, everything went rather well: the play with Alan and co. was great! 'Was nervous as usual but I really enjoyed myself working with all of them. Silverscreen Christmas was a beautifully chaotic event from start to end. Went to church early to help decorate the place, then we touched up on the props for the movie re-enactment, after which I had to help my cell group members to paint themselves blue (Avatar remember?) and cos some of them decided at the eleventh hour that they wanted to be Avatars too, which means we had to make additional costumes and spend more time slabbing body paint on more people at the hot basement carpark (we were like fighting with the heat cos they kept perspiring after paint jobs, which means more time touching up but they look awfully great in the end). I was so busy throughout the day that before I knew it, we had to gather at The Prov for the event already. The actual movie re-enactment was not bad although I felt we were mildly panicking while we were setting up the stage but everything went rather well :)
Hmm..it's already February 2011. Wonder how the year will turn out cos I'm feeling rather apprehensive about what will happen after graduation. I can plan as much as I want (grad trip before finding work, probably pursuing Masters if I arrive at a decision about whether Psych is really the field I wanna be in, etc...) but what if my mom disapproves? And it seems like my aunts are assuming that I'll be working immediately after I graduate :/
Choices, choices, choices. Sometimes I wonder if we're really given as much leeway to do stuff we like/want to do. Then again it depends on what orientation one is coming from. If we decide to wholeheartedly follow what we seek out to do, then we might most probably be doing so at the expense of being selfish. But if I decided to follow the general, run-of-the-mill path, I might not be truly happy and I might even be dreading work everyday. Imagine being stuck in this 50 odd-year vicious cycle of dread? :X
And what if what I want to do isn't in accordance with God's will? Another thing to ponder and seek God about...
I better start flipping through the brochures from the career fair and maybe start on my job hunt soon.
