Archived Streams of Consciousness

Yay! I'm back from England. It's good to see familar faces again. There's plenty of things for me to do in the upcoming week since the week following will be the first week of summer school. I'm trying to enjoy the freedom that I have this week before I plunge back into the work-filled world of summer school. I'm working on getting all those pictures posted and captioned. It'll take a while.

The night before I stayed up to write my very last paper. When it got around to about 2.30am, I began to get tired and discouraged. I thought I didn't have the energy to finish the paper and still get enough sleep to be alert for my tutorial at noon. I managed to pound it all out by about 5.30am (saw the sunrise...). I was so tired that when I typed that last period of the conclusion I quickly saved and shutdown and jumped into bed. I didn't really if it was ungrammatical. I woke up at around 11am and was able to go through the paper once before I printed it out and dashed to my tute. Before I read aloud my paper, I presented a disclaimer that this essay was not of my usual quality. I proceded and it turned out to be not-that-bad. He said it was a good essay especially since I only had a few days to do it. Our chat was good although I said "I don't know" a little too often. Oh well, I'm there to learn after all. So after we shook hands, I finished my last tutorial in Oxford. It was a liberating experience. I finally had time to do things without the constraining feeling of "I should be doing such and such right now". I bought a big duffle travel bag that folds up into something a size of a thick spiral notebook. It was on sale too. Kudos! So now with about 2 days to pack and get ready to leave, I think I can make it. See you soon.

Yay! I just had my tutorial and we went over that essay that I thought was good work. Right from the start, he said to me that it was good essay--something he has yet to say about my other work. We went over the different things more in depth than I covered in the essay. After chatting about those theories, he flipped through the rest of the essay that was only filled with checks instead of comments pointing out errors. I was quite happy to hear that he said he would be proud to call it one of his own and actually made a copy of it to keep for himself. One of the reasons why I put more effort into this essay than in the past was that my grade in that tutorial was hanging between an Beta++ and an Alpha-Beta, the marks that straddle the border between A and A-. He said he would definitely revise the grade in light of this essay being my best work. That's about it for now. I'm happy that he was happy with my work that left a good taste in his mouth. The other essays that I wrote for him were stinky, so I'm glad this one was better.

Finally an entry after months of inactivity. What I'm think about these days is how to make the most of the time I have left (which is about a week and a half). There are so many things I want to do like visit the Oaken Holt Retirement Home, the setting of the famous comedy, Waiting for God. I also want to enjoy as many British delicacies as possible before I go. I want to experience Oxford as a tourist for a day by seeing all the sites that I don't normally see. On top of all this, I have essays to write and things to pack up. I'll just have to be "on the ball" these next few days. In other unrelated news that you probably don't care about, I need to finish up the cartons of orange juice that have accumulated over time and I really enjoyed the Dolmio Stir-in Roasted Vegetable Sauce that I inherited. I just spent the weekend researching all about dark adapation so that I could write a stellar essay. I think I did it. The essay is pretty good in my opinion, but we will see what my tutor thinks of it tomorrow. So far, he hasn't been too impressed with my work and hence the Beta++ mark he gave me. I'm hoping to change that. Also I hope learn some good web skills over the summer. But it seems like I have plenty of other things to do so I'm not sure if that will happen. Happy Golden Jubilee, QEII!

That's it. The term is over and my 6-week Spring Break starts today. What am I doing? I am going to be traveling around Europe for most, if not all, of the time. I will be in Germany for the first two weeks seeing all the different German car factories like BMW, Audi, VW and Mercedes. After that, it will be Paris, Madrid and Barcelona with family. Then off to a little of Switzerland and the last two weeks in Italy. I think the thing I am most looking forward to in Italy is all the good food and seeing Mt. Vesuvius, Pompei and Paestum, a doric style Greek temple. It will be so much fun. But I am a little nervous about being constantly on the move, without a permanent home for 6 weeks. Also, with getting sick this past weekend when I traveled to Prague for the weekend, I know keeping my health up during the trip will be hard. Besides that, I think all the other things I can handle. Most of the arrangements are made and hopefully everything will work out. This means that my website will undergo zero change while I am away from my computer. But don't worry, I'll post all the pix of my trip as soon as I get back. I'll also be checking email when I am traveling, so please email me. That will also be the best way to get in contact with me. And if you're really interested, here is an excel file with my itinerary. Anyway, I'm off for Munich tomorrow. Keep me in your prayers!

I'm afraid this philosophy paper that I wrote yesterday is really not very good. When I read it aloud in my tutorial, I was bored, the tutor was bored and from the subsequent dull discussion afterwards, I could tell my essay was rather bland. Only two more essays to go. One psych paper and one philosopher paper. Hopefully, I can make the most of the time that I have left without stressing to much about everything. I must remember Philippians 4:13. Look it up if you don't know what it says.

I finished BOTH my psych paper and my philosophy paper. It took much dedication and concentration. But I am glad that both are done. And by tomorrow night, the cycle starts yet again--but this time more intense since it will be punctuated by a weekend of fun in London. It's such a dilemma: should I be spending hours and hours reading and writing (supposedly) good essays or should I be out enjoying England, meeting people, or indulge my desire to make British comedies come to life? Not sure. What a dilemma. I guess I should be lucky. It's kinda of like picking between two good things. Do I want cookies in cream or orange sherbet? Tough choice, but either way, I guess you can't go wrong. I guess I'm pretty lucky.

Being "efficient" didn't really work out. I was so worried about being efficient that I couldn't concentrate! So I decided after a futile day of worrying to be efficient but to relax too. Plans for Europe are still sketchy.

I realized that time is quite precious. It is something that we can't get back no matter how hard we try. We are at the unrelenting mercy of the linearity of time. Every moment that passes is one that can never be experienced again. I think this is particularly true of my time here at Oxford. I feel I haven't been using my time wisely--spending too much time on the computer and sleeping more hours than I need. Why is it that we have a compulsion to slip into laziness and waste the valuable resource of time? Think about it: Let's say that you're Evie Garland from that show "Out of This World" and you can stop time by putting your fingers together and live in that moment "forever" if you wanted to. Suppose that if you had a paper to write (much like I do now), you can freeze time, spend as much time as you want reading, writing, revising, or goofing off and still turn that paper in early. But sadly, we only have a finite amount of time to live. So we might as well make the most of it. I can't even imagine how it is in heaven where there is no time. It should be a blast. But until then, I need to take advantage of the opportunities given to me.

"Time is a luxury you don't have, Admiral." -Khan from Star Trek II

It really does feel like "my bridge is smashed and the computer's inoperative." But I need to call in damage control and get this essay completed.

"There is a time for everything and a season for every activity under heaven...He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the hearts of men; yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end. I know that there is nothing better for men than to be happy and do good while they live." -Ecclesiastes 3:v1,v11-12

I went to the open market to buy fruit and other cheap things. I was scolded for reaching to the display to feel the oranges. Some advice: don't go touching the fruit...the merchant will get it for you. It's a luxury that we get to pick our own fruit in the US.

Finished philosophy paper. Discussed it with tutor, and next paper assigned. Spent the day doing pretty much nothing.

I am working on writing a paper on Descartes today. And it's due at 5pm tomorrow. It's 8.30pm now and I don't really have an idea of what to write about. I hope I make it. I'm not even sure if Brendan really grades the students on the work at all. Rumor and speculation say that he gives good grades to all visiting students since he wants more of them to come. At any rate, that's no excuse to procrastinate like I did this past week. "I can do everything through him who gives me strength" - Philippians 4:13

I haven't updated this part of the site in a while. What's been going on? Philosophy of Mind is hard and the readings are dense. Perception on the other hand is interesting but the papers because of their technical natures are not as easy as I would think. Also I've been planning a lot for Europe during my break. I need to get all my plans settled so that I can order my train pass appropriately. Anyway, here is a voiceover from the X-files that I enjoyed. I love it when they have voiceovers at the beginning or end of the show. The following is best read aloud slowly and thoughtfully like how they do it on the show:

How quickly the feeling of school comes back. Today after some exploring and a trip to Tesco for groceries, I decided to brush up on my philosophy so that I'd be prepared for the tutorial. So after an afternoon of hard work (reading), I had dinner and found that my network connection was set up. All I needed to do was to configure my computer which took a few reboots. But now I am fully connected to the net. No more journeys down to the "email room" for internet access. This is why the webpage is newly updated. I also did my laundry tonight. I think I overloaded the washer and the clothes weren't washed all that well. Next time I will know better. Also the wask cycle is very long (about an hour) when compared to the 40 min machines back home.

Yesterday consisted of the trip from Worcester to St. Catz. All along the trip I was hoping that I wasn't going to be placed with the other American students. It seems that most of the American students here from the Butler program. And there is a sizable American population here at St. Catz. It kinda makes me want to go to another college instead. But I am sure that it will be fine and that I will have a great time while I'm here. I wouldn't say that the start has been that great. It's been acceptable. The time to get back into my studies is quickly approaching. I feel quite intimidated in this tutorial system where I am judged on my work. I've never taken a full philosophy class before and taking it here certainly won't make it any easier than back at home. In fact, I am especially excited to study perception in my secondary tutorial. It is strange to think that I will only be meeting my tutor about four times during the term and that's considered to be 4 credits. Nonetheless, I hope my recent encounter with philosophy students doesn't taint my experience here. Frankly I can't stand people who argue for the sake of arguing-and that's what it seems philosophers do. I hope that I will either learn to understand their passion or learn it well enough to debate them. I'd prefer the former.

Along with the other Visiting Students, I met Brendan, the tutor for Visiting Students. He is a strange fellow. Large, jolly, disheveled, and extremely British would be terms to describe him. When he walked into the room, I though he was a nut, but it turns out that he holds quite an high position here at the college. And I even think he will be teaching one of my tutorials too-Philosophy of Mind. That will definitely be an experience.

For my domestic life, I am learning to live on my own. I am discovering at taking self-prepared meals at home saves money and is often quicker than going to the dining hall. Anyway, these first few days I am without my Girovend card (which they tell me is arriving soon) so I can't charge it up with meal points and eat in the dining hall. No problem. I am finding cheaper alternatives in the city center. It is allowing me to explore and get a sense of the area before I my nose gets stuck into a book.

I still have to get my network connection up, so until then, it will be rather boring in my room with only books and my non-networked computer for amusement. I will spend more time outside getting familiar with the surroundings.

Yesterday was a day spent with the family most of the time. We helped take down the Christmas "dec" (decorations). While I helped hoover the floor to remove any excess pine needles that fell off the dried out tree, Trish prepared a traditional full English breakfast that consisted of two sausages, bacon, fried bread, an egg done sunny-side up, fried tomato and mushrooms. And all this was washed down with tea (or orange juice for the wimps). It was all very good and gobbled up super fast by all. That was brunch. For dinner, we ventured into town with the rest of the group for a game of ten-pin bowling and a buffet dinner. The bowling was typically embarrassing for me and the buffet was subpar (for I was expecting a Las Vegas style spread) with only bowling alley munchies available for the meal. Pizza, sandwiches, cheese and sausage puffs, chips, chicken nuggets, and the almost inedible cold quiche. After eating we went home and most of us collapsed into bed. It wasn't that we had done much during the day, but I guess the jetlag and the short days were still getting to us.

The following morning we got up early so that we could meet the coach to take us into Merry Hill shopping centre. We arrived at the mall at around 10:30 and left at 16:00. With almost 6 hours of time at the mall, I found myself very eager to get settled at St. Catz. At any rate, I investigate different pay-as-you-go mobile phone plans and bought myself a water purifier pitcher. In addition to making car stereos, Kenwood, to my surprise also makes water filters. Go figure. Anyway it was for a relatively good price since it was reduced. After enjoying the packed lunch with the sandwich that contained pate, I could have watched a picture at the cinema but didn't want to. So I ended up browsing around the shops and getting intimately acquainted with Merry Hill. Things in Britain are expensive. The dollar values truly do simply transfer over the number of pounds. For example, a Gap sweater that would be on sale for $19.99 at home in the US, would be on sale generally for £19.99. But Gap is an American brand so it only makes sense that it would cost a bit more here than at home. After a long day at the shopping, we went home and had Spaghetti Bolognese for dinner and baked apples. I was stuffed.

Tonight is the very last night with my host family. I will miss them and hope to keep in contact with them at least during the term of my stay in England. After about a week in Britain, I am getting "used to" Britain. Things that were once full of wonder are seemingly getting more commonplace. The British way of life is less of a mystery. The differences and similarities between this an home are coming more and more apparent. This country is slowly feeling more and more like home. However, I'm not sure if I could ever live here permanently. Things are just too expensive and the salaries are paltry compared to US salaries. Anyway, driving on the opposite side will need some getting used to. The people generally are very nice. But I often get a few looks from locals who might not be used to see an Asian walking around in shiny white "trainers" (sneakers). This is definitely different than home where an Asian face is relatively common. But I never feel any discrimination or anything like that. I feel a bit more out of place than when at home but other than that it's pretty normal. There are still many things still left to be resolved. I will try not to worry about them and cross that bridge when I get to it. I need to spend time in prayer.

This is the second night of the family stay with Stuart and Trish Robertson. They are of Scottish descent and grew up in Scotland. But now that live in Sapey Common, which is a small hamlet outside the city of Worcester [wer-ster]. When they aren't entertaining guests (which they often do), they are mortgage brokers, do a little ski helmet purchasing, and take care of their granddaughter, Sophie, who is just a darling baby. And if the point of this stay was to get a slice of life of a family in Britain, I don't think I got short changed at all. While it isn't fulfilling many of the stereotypes of a typical suburban English household like I thought it would, it does give a glimpse of the life of a family who is living a very relaxed lifestyle. Sapey Common is a small group of houses surrounded by pastures and a road where people drive very, very fast. As our small group of visitors decided to take a nice walk in the English countryside, we wished the road had a sidewalk-a sidewalk that wasn't made of grass and mud, that is. The roads here are narrow and the cars travel fast. When a car approaches and you're walking on the side of the road, you either have to run to the other side of the road or jump onto the grassy sidewalk. On one occasion, when cars were approaching from both (wrong) directions, we al scrambled and ended up almost jumping to the hedges. It was at that point that I found our walk a little too dangerous, so at the next sheep/lamp grazing, I decided to stand off the road and watch them graze and make the most amusing baah-ing noises. It didn't take me long to realize that they were baahing at me. The more I moved around, the most interested they became with me and started to inch closer to me. After about 10 minutes of standing there admiring their warm wooly uniforms, I headed back to the house since they soon became disinterested in me. It was also "a bit damp" by British standards, but since I am a Californian, I say it was raining.

The day was followed by a quick drive to the small village of Bromyard. Trish dropped us off since she went to the co-op to pick up some tea and curry sauce. Interesting shopping list, eh? Btw, many of the products used in this household were made by "Tesco." Is this the same Tesco of the Tesco Table Tennis Club? I'm not sure. But it nonetheless is fun to see that brand splashed across every label in the house. In the village we searched for a bakery to get some lunch. I got a turkey and cheese sandwich which was a surprisingly good. Upon her return, she offered to buy us lunch, but since we already did (hey, we didn't know she was footing the bill for every meal), she offered to buy us some cakes. Naturally I declined, despite her repeated inquiries. But when I found out that the cakes only cost 30p each (since the bakery was soon closing for the day), I wanted one, but didn't want to make a fuss about it or ask her to buy one for me. The cakes that were available included chocolate éclairs, a custard slice, a meringue or many of the other delectable offerings they had.

Speaking of food, the first night we had a simple dinner: sausage, chicken, chips (what we call French fries), and peas and corn for "veg". After handing out the pudding plates, we had mincemeat pie (a horribly misnamed food) with brandy butter and hot vanilla pudding, which she called custard. Remember in England, they often refer to dessert as "pudding". For breakfast the next morning, I had my first helping of Weetabix, a traditional English breakfast cereal. I enjoyed it, but I'm not sure if I can keep to the suggested serving size, just like how two biscuits of Shredded Wheat is simply not enough to fill me in the morning. I already told you that I had a turkey and cheese sandwich for lunch. And for dinner, I had a pork chop, broccoli, carrots, and roasted potatoes. For dessert/pudding, we had a raspberry sponge cake with vanilla pudding. Everyone enjoyed it, even picky Ryan.

The other students I am staying with include: Dan, an India-travelled Midwesterner; Ryan, a picky eater also from UMich; and Chad, a hacker/network security consultant from Danville. All have their interesting points of view. Dan and Chad are philosophy majors and often enjoying talking about religion.

But overall, this is an interesting stay, much different that I expected, but nonetheless enjoyable.

After a slight hiccup when going through the first security checkpoint (it was embarrassing when my bag kept on opening and unzipping itself), most of the rest of the trip was uneventful. The first flight from SFO to Chicago was delayed for about an hour, but that didn't make me miss my connecting flight from Chicago to Newark. It just meant I had less time to tour around the Chicago airport and see all the things. It didn't matter…the airport was small and there wasn't much to see. But one thing that I found really interesting was the weather. It was typical Chicago winter weather-cold. I hear from people that it gets cold and see on television that it gets cold, but when I stepped outside briefly just to see what it was like, it was like the time I visited the Dreyer's factory and walked into their freezer. It was so cold that it was difficult to take a breath. But I am sure that with time, you would get used to it and it be normal. San Francisco weather will be considered balmy.

The trip from Chicago to Newark was typical and departed on time. But I think we were in the air longer than the 1 hour and 28 minutes that the captain told us was the flight time. Both times I sat in the aisle seat. It's good because you can get up anytime to go to the bathroom without disturbing everyone. And you also get to leave first. But sometimes (especially when approaching Chicago) I wish I had the window seat. When descending into the airport, the scene outside the window was just like the beginning of "Family Matters." The weather in Newark is actually not as cold as in Chicago. I stepped outside and it wasn't that bad. Still much colder than SF but I expected the East Coast to be colder than Chicago. Anyway, checking into the Virgin Atlantic flight was fine. This time when going through the security checkpoint, I learned from my previous folly and did everything right and went through the check without incident. However, they did ask me to power up my laptop to make sure it's real. So that's why I am writing this now since the computer was already on.

Once we arrived, I need to fight jetlag. So I decided to take a "wow-I'm-in-London" walk around the neighborhood around the hotel. I saw many a-cool things. That night the whole group went for a dinner and we had baked chicken. The dessert was I think an small trifle with the bottom soaked in a little rum. The dinner wasn't that great.

The first day was orientation. The highlight was probably the talk by the ex-police officer Dave Castle who gave us tips about how to keep safe in the UK. Also another fun hour was with Lord Dick Taverne, who enlightened us about current events and issues in the UK. The lunch that day was ravioli or a chicken, mushroom and leek bake. The next day was pretty chill with the morning most devoted to packing and some walking about in London. I happened to stumble upon the house where George Orwell lived for a number of years. I took a quick browse through the Marks and Spencer's department store and later going back to Whiteley's (mall), I bought a packet of crisps (35p) from the Marks and Spencer's super market.