Chronicles of a Young College Boy

Saturday, November 25, 2006

heh...this is me in lord of the rings land...only thing wrong with this picture?...i had my eyes closed...hahaha...well this is taken in indo..not in US...and yep...its a really beautiful place...if i remember right at tht point of time im playing soccer with my cousin ..and im watching for the ball to come when someone took a pict...hehe...

Well this week is Thanksgiving week....and i sure had a good time and rest this week...on wednesday i actually did nothing at all the entire day but play a comp game i just bought...yesh the whole day...well u can take off the hours i sleep since i woke up at 1130...=)...then play until 6...then ate...then play until about 10....hehe...the game is called guildwars...if u got it...tell me!!!...we should play together...then i also had probably one of the biggest spending day i had since i come here...the day after thanksgiving..which is friday...is called black friday...its a day when almost everything and everywhere has a large sale...so me and my friends woke up at 330am...yes am...and go to a electronic store to to queue up...a bit extreme....but lemme list down what i got out for tht day...a new mouse (for comp)...speaker for comp...itrip...shoes...and mic for comp...all in all i spend about 250....a bit nuts man...well i didnt spend as much as i did when i bought my ipod and headphones...but this one is like so many electronic stuff!!...hehe i feel pretty happy when i get back home to set everything up...i think i find the difference between girls and guys when it comes to shopping...well this is kinda generalising but here is my theory...girls can spend the whole day in the mall buying clothes and shoes but men like me can spend just one hour in the mall and get bored...buuut...put a man (at least electronically inclined) in an electronic store and he can spend hundreds there...like one of my friends who spent 700 plus on tht day itself...hehe we had a blast man...

Thanksgiving is a time (at least in US) where everyone get together at dinner to take a moment to say what they are thankful for in their lives....so since i havent done the thanking...im gonna dedicate the rest of my blog to doing tht... firstly..i wanna thank my both my family for giving me the support i need when im here...thank you for giving me insights about how life is in the US and calling me to ask how im doing at times...=)....secondly i wanna thank my friends back in spore who..even though we didnt get to talk as often as we hav in my first smst...still served as people i can fall back on when i need consolation and help...thirdly...i wanna thank the friends tht i made here in the US bcos in this smst..i definitely got closer to u guys and now get to mess arnd with u ppl quite a lot...hahaha...i don think im actually doing justice by saying so little about what im thankful for...bcos theres definitely tons i can say tons about what im thankful for...but for now lets leave it at tht since i gotta get up early tmr....Happy ThanksGiving!! =)

DanieL counted snowflakes at 10:42 PM

Sunday, November 19, 2006

i took this pict last semester during the spring break i think...heh artistic isnt it...click on the picture if u want to get a bigger and clearer picture...its really just beautiful when it snows and the snow got stuck on the tree branches... really kinda little ppl tht time since its during break...so i got a chance to get a good picture of some places on campus... but there are other times last smst and this smst tht i kinda regret not having my cam with me...there r time during this smst tht there r like 5 different colors on the road when im walking...bcos its fall..all the trees hav their own colors to change to..some brown...some red...some yellow...its just really really beautiful...then during spring the trees would just be blossoming and full of flowers...haaa...and it hasnt snow yet until now...damn..haha..its nice too when it snows...especially the ay after it snows heavily and the sun is out...it will b like..wow..=)...

i just watch james bond's new movie casino royale...while its a pretty good action movie...there is this scene where bond demonstrate his ability to read other people...i think to myself at this moment...wont it just be so valuable if u can read other people...as in like see through other people's mask...like if they r sad but they r masking themselves with happiness you r able to see through them...i mean..this will b such a valuable skill if u know friends who r sometimes enigmas to u...

However if i actually put myself in their position...i can sometimes understand why they r putting up a false front in front of ppl...they dont want ppl to see who they really r bcos if they do...they r scared tht ppl wont see them the same way anymore..for example....if u hav a friend who always seem indestructable..confident..cheerful...but if suddenly u found out tht he or she r actually insecure about being around ppl...hav relationship problems tht he or she always ran away from to keep his or her own self-image intact...would u b able to see tht friend in the same way?...yea u can definitely say u r a good friend and will see ur friend the same way...but still it will b hard to find friends who r so accepting of u...

this kinda ties in with wad i said in the last post...im not sure if im being pessimist or something bcos i hav been nothing but blessed with good friends...but for some reason i feel tht there is a justification for my pessimist views...as in philosophy terms "fallacious argument based on ignorance"...in other words...if im saying tht i will meet no friends tht wont accept me for who i am...thts wrong bcos if i havent meet one unaccepting friend, tht doesnt meet tht i wont meet one in the future....but well lets just put tht at the back of my mind...so tht if and only if i meet one in the future..i wont be shocked...

DanieL counted snowflakes at 12:42 AM

Sunday, November 12, 2006

Its 230am...haf an hour ago i just came back from work..wiu...they need extra ppl and so they call superman in to help...so wad to do...hahahaha...just jk...the weeks for some reason are getting slower and slower for me...or its just mayb im thinking towards the date too much...bcos before fall break the weeks flew by like nobody's business..but now like a bit slower..haha...o well...35 more days till my return!!...=)...im so looking forward to all the food and familiar places...and most of all...time with family and friends...anyway this pict was taken last week during the birthday dinner...the more low-key party than the saturday's one...we were playing a board game called the battle of the sexes...the one on my right is my roommate...on my left is the only singaporean in the university...the other two beside him are koreans...

this week im kinda reflecting on both the strength and good in the human spirit...something happened in our community this past week and it shocks all who are related dreadfully....we lost sleep...lost appetite...hav difficulty concentrating...all those bad stuffs when u r really upset about something...my whole weekend was definitely screwed bcos i was related too...cant put my mind into anything...after a while when i got better i thought this event might divide our community...and im pretty ashamed to actually hav this cross my mind at all...what surprises me is tht...this afternoon the ones who are related got together to reflect on this event...how we feel and what can we do to help...i was pleseantly surprised at the good people have...really...u noe sometimes when ppl kinda mess around...joke so much...and ur impression of them are just tht they r jokers....but this event led me to believe tht there is almost always a side tht ppl have when crisis occurs....i am blessed enough to have ppl who are so supportive...so helpful...so future-looking...they are just so nice ppl... they are like going all out to help...its just a really nice feeling when u noe u have ppl to fall back on when u suddenly face a huge crisis...friends who are able to accept u for who u r are just so valuable and hard-to-find....and in time of crisis friends will show their true sides....im just so blessed and thankful to have them in my life...

another issue that is kinda related is the word belief...it sometimes take crisis to help emphasize how important some basic values are....i just watched a part of my fav season 5 episode in smallville again...its titled "fragile"...well its about this girl who kinda lose her self-identity and not sure about herself and no confidence....the episode shows how clark let her believe in herself by telling her assuring statements that probably plays a crucial role in building her own self-belief...i feel tht this is probably one of the very crucial things tht parents...brothers...sisters...cousins...friends....gf bf should do when they see someone close to them feel unsure about themself...a simple "everything is going to be alright" or hug can go a very long way for a person who is in very difficult situation... i know tht statement of everything is going to be alright can sometimes be untrue bcos of how much trouble the person is in...but sometimes he is just so drowned in murky waters that he needs someone to pull him out of this state...bcos continuing to be welled up in our own troubles and crisis can be damaging to our spirits... this is probably the reason why its critical to find good friends...which again i must say...im thankful and blessed to have in my life....=)

DanieL counted snowflakes at 2:07 AM

Sunday, November 05, 2006

heh..let me start with saying this is the most american-college weekend i had every had since i come here...i go to 2 parties this weekend..one on friday night and one just now...well on both occasions its pretty luck i didnt drink any alcohol...i kinda had enough alcohol at the start of the semester when i got kinda drunk...so i don think i really want to risk it again becos tmr i got quite a lot of work to do....so well the friday's party wasnt wild...BUUT the one i just came back from...geezuz its so freaking wild...bcos its about haf of our tkd club in the party...so we all hav a drinking game...well not me...they hav a drinking game...all in all....they drink 15 rounds....its just hilarious to watch them do stuffs during the game when they r partly drunk...wads even more priceless is tht my tkd master is also playing (hes 21)....so after a while he got drunk and got reaaallllyyy loud...the whole apartment was just so noisy...he is just dancing away when there is no music at all...wads so annoying is tht i forgot to bring my camera to take all the picts...maaan if i hav my camera...next week's post is going to b like full of my master there making a complete fool of himself....

last week i didnt get a chance to talk about something quite important....nowadays im realising about the importance of our 'why' in our lives....bcos sometimes when things get really hectic..u start to lose ur energy and become lost....then when u r in this particular position u suddenly become unfocus...thinking why am i doing this..thinking of very dumb things like why don i just give all this up...thinking that no one is actually going to benefit from this...all these dumb stuffs suddenly come creeping to u when u become mentally and spiritually lost...i noe bcos thts the position im in a few weeks ago...i bcome so busy tht suddenly in the midst of everything i ask myself.."wads the purpose of all these?...why do i hav to work this hard?...why don i just don give a fudge and play during the weekends like other college kids?"....i was lost and losing more and more energy as each day passed....even calls to my parents doesnt help me cheer up anymore...then i go to my source of wisdom...Stuart Tan...i posted the qst i asked him a few weeks ago...but im gonna write again...

Me: Hey Stuart,What do you do when at some point in life, things really get hectic and stressful, and you start asking yourself, "Is this all there is to life?"How do you break out of the hectic pattern?

Stuart: Well, Daniel,
That's really all there is to life. Without your pains and your problems, it's difficult to appreciate what you have when it isn't hectic. The most important question for you is, do you want life the way it is now, and do you want it to change? If you invested in something else and pushed youself beyond where you thought you could go, are you going to?
Stretching is an important concept here. Stretch yourself to strive for excellence. This will be a challenge to you, but I believe you will grow. Think of yourself as a piece of iron going through the molding process. You are under pressure - that's why you'll be a better blade!

When i read his reply...i started to see the spark in the middle of all the fog.... i realised tht wad im doing wrong is tht i keep on asking myself..."is this all there is to life?"....Stuart mentioned..."duh"...hahahaha..well not duh but yea its from wad he mentioned above la...wad he taught me is tht...yes...this is all there is to life...my job is not to whine about it and dream about a better day....my job is to make this hectic moments as enjoyable as i could...and as i enjoy myself during these moments...i will grow through challenges...failures...and successes...thts wad i learn from wad he said....the lesson is sometimes just so simple but yet so elusive...its just bcos sometimes all these hectic work and schedules form fog and mist tht u lose ur vision of purpose and values..this is the same as those scenarios u see on tv when a husband and father just got so busy with his work tht he forgot wads really important in his life...his wife and children....well in my case not so deep hahaha...just for now completing my bachelor's degree with gpa of 3.5 is quite a handful for me...heh and later ppl ask me if i already get girlfriend or not...-_-ll..damn i cant even maintain a respectable gpa for pete's sake...and im still pretty young...hehe so i got a loooonnngg way to go....=)

DanieL counted snowflakes at 12:03 AM