Elephants

Everyone here likes elephants, right? Good.

Tuesday Mornings

There's a place inside my school called The Sanctuary. It's like a second cafeteria, except it's a little classier. It's got booths and tables like a restaurant's, but you still have to go to their kitchen area to get food. They serve beer here, too. It's kind of a novelty to drink beer inside of a school. There's a catch, though. They only serve beer on Tuesday mornings.

Isn't Tuesday morning the exact least appropriate time of the week to be drinking? For some reason, it feels even worse than Monday or Wednesday mornings.

The beer they serve is their own brew, too. That's right. I think my school has it's own brewery.

I only have one class on Tuesday, and it's at 1:00 pm. Needless to say, it's the least-attended class of the week. Besides being perfectly positioned to tempt people to drink before class, a lot of people who commute don't like to pay gas prices for just one class. We get maybe half the class attending every  Tuesday.

At first I thought it was weird that if the school was going to serve alcohol, it would do it on Tuesday mornings, but then when I thought about it, I realized that the least-appropriate time of the week to drink is also the time when students are most likely to be cautious about their drinking.

Nobody's ever come to class with alcohol in their system. Or at least if they did, I didn't notice. Is it against the rules to be in class with alcohol in your system? I kind of assumed it was, but now that I think about it, I'm not sure.

The Tuesday morning drinking time is really popular. They're usually packed. Everybody seems to get a buzz off the novelty of drinking in a school.

Car Crash

I saw a car crash on the way to school today. All these cars stopped and this other car didn't even slow down. This was on the highway, too, so it was going pretty fast. I was right next to the collision, close enough that I might have been caught by flying wreckage. The car that crashed into the other car bounced back on collision and lost the whole of it's front, but  the other one wasn't damaged at at all. It actually drove away without the driver getting out to check on things.  The other students kept walking. Nobody stopped to help the person who'd crashed. All the other cars just drove around her and kept going. One student stopped to give assistance.I stopped only long enough to see that the girl was up and talking. I'm ashamed to say I made it to class on time.

That's the kind of thing that will haunt you. It would've been worth being late for one class so I could think to myself "I'm the kind of guy who helps out in a crisis." Even when I was walking away,  I was thinking "Not worth it, man. Not worth it."

Ashley Nichols

We have a celebrity at our school. Her name is Ashley Nichols, and she is the Muaythai world champion boxer.  She participated in a competition of 1000 participants from 108 countries, the largest competition ever to be held outside of the art's native land of Thailand. Not only did she win, but she beat the former champion, who was from Russia in the semi-finals, which led her to fight Germany in the finals.

She's also the Athlete of Cambridge two years in a row, and she is the North American champion at kickboxing. She's going to compete at the Ottawa Brazillian Jiu-Jitsu tournament,and she's been asked to represent Canada in kick boxing at the Pan Am Games in December.

I know of this because she is a former student in the program I'm taking right now. Her achievement was broadcasted over my program's online messaging system (it's called ANGEL, don't know why). I watched her fight, and I gotta say, she was FEROCIOUS! It was the championship match, and you could tell who was going to win before the match even started.

In her interview, she is so cool and calm, with so many perceptions of her opponents. Her fighting form was fiery, but her perceptions are cool.

I saw this girl get her picture taken with her trophy in front of the Aboriginal services office. I see her across the school. She doesn't seem to get the kind of celebrity focus you'd expect. I should ask her for her autograph.

ESL Conversationalist Interview

Yeah, I think I landed the English as a Second Language conversationalist position. The interviewer said that I was "Obviously a good conversationalist", she asked me if I could take on more than one client, and she asked me if I could continue working with them into next semester. She also recommended some other places in the school that I might consider volunteering at, and she asked me to look for more potential applicants. Oh, and I have training next week. So I've elevated past the interview stage.  I'd have to screw up pretty bad to not get it at this point, I think.

The only place that I think I might not have done so hot in, was when she asked me how I would engage a client who wasn't talking much. I gave the standard of asking about their interests, their subject, their family. But then I said "I would ask them to teach me a little bit of their language, so that, if they were self-conscious about the way they sounded in English, they could hear me struggle with their language and it might make them more comfortable." She said that that "Sounds like a great icebreaker, but don't forget, the focus is for them to learn our language."

Respect

I've been accepted as a Respect ambassador. I just went to my first meeting today. I think I'm the only heterosexual white able-bodied male born and raised in Canada. Seems like the organization attracts people who feel like they've been denied some respect. We're organizing a Random Act of Kindness day... Still don't really know what it entails. It was supposed to be 4:00 to 5:00 but they got me to stay until 8:00. I spent the extra three hours packaging bookmarks. Kind of assembly-line style. Oh well, got free pizza.

I have an interview to be an English Conversation Partner tomorrow at 1:00 PM.

Got the chance to talk to the person in charge of the Social Service Worker program. She said that the Respect volunteer thing is prefect. So I've got Canada World Youth and Katimavik backing me, and then I'll top it off with this Respect program, and hopefully the English Conversation Partner. The other important thing is English. If I can keep my English mark over 80% and I've got this volunteer bit, I should be a shoe in.

I really have to stop procrastinating, though. So far, I've gotten everything in on time, and I've passed everything with flying colours. I'm one of the very top students, but I'm still nervous, because despite having done well so far, I've only managed to stay a half-step ahead of my game. I shouldn't be pulling all-nighters for every major assignment. Eventually I'm going to have several in a row, and no matter how well I'm doing, if I've got three assignments due in one week and I've put everything off until last minute, then I'm gonna burn out.

I got my first two major papers back. 100% and 95%.

My door lock is broken. My roommate managed to get in, so he let me in. I went down to the front desk, and the guy came up, looked at the lock, said he didn't know how to fix it so he'd send up a guy at 11:00 who knows this stuff better than him. It's 11:47 right now and he hasn't shown up. If I leave the room to go to front desk, I'll be locked out. Looks like I'm getting locked out tomorrow!

Aboriginal Services Office

The other day, a friend of mine was like "Have you been to the Aboriginal services office yet?" and I was like, "Why would I have been to the Aboriginal services office?" and she was like "Because the elder is really nice" and I was like, "But I'm not Aboriginal, and you're not Aboriginal, and I'm wearing my Chisasibi hoodie and he'll think I'm a poser" and she was like "No he won't. Let's go to the Aboriginal services office."

So we went to the Aboriginal services office, and  it turns out that the elder knows people in Chisasibi. A lot of people. Well.

It was actually pretty sweet, but we could only talk for fifteen minutes. He said I could drop by and talk at any time, and he told us about a smudging ceremony that we'd be allowed to come to. something about smoke going in the air.

I've got some application form to volunteer for the Respect campaign, which I don't really know what it is except that it involves encouraging diversity and understanding, and I'm applying to be a consultant for students entering Canada. I'd be teaching English and explaining Canadian culture.

Cool Pics

Huh. So all of my blogs had their pageviews completely erased.  Right now,  I have six subscribers and zero pageviews. Must be a glitch.

Here's some cool pics

No context. Just thought I'd give you guys something instead of just neglecting this blog entirely. Okay, back to my take home exam.

Locked Myself Out

Tried out my vacuum the other day. Works like a charm! I'm  not looking forward to the day  I move out, though. When I came here, I had only what I could carry... Two suitcases and a backpack, but I've been building since then... Nothing big, just a little here, little there, but it builds up. Everything I've gotten is minimalistic and transportable, too. I think it bothers my roommate... He really set down roots.

Got a Preparing for College paper back.  We have the opportunity to redo this one, if we don't like our score. I don't really think I'll bother though, as I've just got a lot on my plate right now, and I'm pretty satisfied with my grade of 100%! Ha! That's a confidence booster.

I have to do volunteer work in the social services field and get a letter of recommendation to get into my program next year. It used to be a part of the HSF program, but it isn't anymore.I have more volunteer experience than anyone, and a number of recommendations, but I still need recent volunteer work. I don't really know how to research volunteer opportunities in the social services in Kitchener, though... I'm gonna be pissed if this is what does me in, when I've got more qualifications than anyone.

I locked myself out of my room  today. I knew that was going to happen eventually. Too many automatically-locking doors. I'm not on top form in the morning, see, and when my coffee is outside of my auto-locking room, disaster is just waiting to happen.

I'm surprised I managed to make it to, what, the sixth week? At least my roommate did it before I did, so I beat him.  It wasn't a big deal. The guy at front desk said that it happens all the time.

But  the very next time I tried to use my key, it bent! I've no idea if it'll work the next time I try to use it. I managed to sort of jimmy it into the lock slot and thereby mold it into the right shape, and then I managed to move the lock in and out, so I should be good, but I haven't put it to a field test and I'm scared to try.

Bought a Vaccuum

Wow, sorry that I haven't updated in a week. I had no idea that it had been that long. Felt like two or three days...

I went home for Canadian Thanksgiving. I don't think I said this last time, but the Greyhound bus terminal in Kitchener is really bad.  They have signs up for each city's station, but the line for the Toronto buses are always so big that they span over all the other stations. If you stand in line behind the Guelph sign, then you're in line for Toronto, and since they need multiple buses for Toronto, those spill out into other stations, too, and if you board a bus at the Guelph station, you might be boarding a Toronto bus by mistake.

I bombed the math test... 9 out of 18... Better than I thought! In this class, though, you can do a redo, and whatever grade you score, if it's above the minimum to pass, than she'll give you a passing grade with the bare minimum. Better than nothing, I guess...

I got a little hand vacuum. My room is carpeted, and the cleaning people don't come in here, so the vacuuming is up to us. I didn't bring a vacuum, and my initial strategy was to "Just be careful not to mess up the carpet", but eventually that was seeming like an escapist way of thinking, so I went out and bought a cheap little hand vacuum. I took a nap when I got back, and I don't think it would be cool of me to try it out at this hour. Oh  well, tomorrow!

I'm running my finances down faster than usual this month because of the unusual purchases. The cell phone, the mouse, and the vacuum.

Got a Cell Phone

I have a take-home test for my math class.  It would be so easy to pass this thing to someone who better understands the subject that I almost feel obligated to do it. But I guess "If I cheat, I only cheat myself" and getting a good grade on a low-priority test through cheating will only lead to failure on a high-priority exam.

I don't exactly need to cheat, though. This test is so simple that I'm afraid I will get 100% and she'll expect that I cheated, since such improvement between this and the last test seems unrealistic.

I got an English test and assignment back. English is my most important grade to get into my desired course next year. I got 11/14 on one and 95% on the other. I don't know what % 11/14 is, but it sounds pretty good!

But... I bombed a Psychology assignment. Failed it, even. It was a group assignment, and I wasn't in charge of it. However, I did review and approve it and it looked FUCKING GOOD! The prof didn't leave any notes on why we failed, but it pushed my average in that course down to 69%.

I got a cell phone. Cheapest one I could find. All of my professors talk about how my generation is the "cell phone generation" and act like we always look down on them for not keeping up with modern technology. We're constantly being berated for our use of cell phones in class, and they're always trying to prove their ability toadapt to us based on their knowledge of cell phones.

Yeah, well, I'm a throwback in evolution, apparently.  I know less about cell phones than any given one of these professors. To be fair, they seem to be right. My friends have always treated me like I was disabled for not having one. Again, considering how it limited me, that's a pretty accurate comparison...

But yeah! Bought one. Just a shitty prepaid one at the base plan.  If you call a very minimal amount of time, it's the profitable way to go, but I've made two calls and two texts, and I've already used half my time for this month...

...I don't think I love cell phones. I tried texting, which is basically the iconic mode of communication for my generation. Yeah, that's right, I JUST LEARNED HOW! Anyway, it wasn't so great. Kind of awkward, actually. Simple enoughto learn, but the "taptaptap... pause... taptap... pause... taptaptaptaptap.... pause" seems like  kind of primitive way of typing.

I guess I'm some young person equivalent of being old...

All-Nighter

I pulled an all-nighter last night, finishing an assignment. Glad to know that I'm still young and vital enough to pull something like that off. I drank so much caffeine, though, that I got heart palpitations. I think I must be more sensitive to caffeine than most people. That's, like, the third time I've OD'd on caffeine. I see peers plugging back way huger amounts than I take in. I'm not used to being a lightweight. When I asked them if they new you could OD on caffeine, they all knew from personal experience that you could.

Shit. The caffeine conversation was exactly like a drug conversation. I wondered at the time how they even sell that stuff legally and publicly in the school. I'm the only one who hates the palpitations this much though, it seems.

In class, my heart was in pain and I was lightheaded, falling in and out of consciousness, not knowing whether I was high-strung or tired, thinking that if I let my concentration go, my heart would stop.

I started writing stuff down to help me focus on a task and thereby regulate my thoughts and stop me from succumbing to panic. Reading them later in the day, when I'd gotten past the palpitations and, for some reason, I'd stopped being tired, the notes sounded so desperate, it was hilarious. Stuff like "Heart palpitations" "Light-headed" "Halfway there" "Less than 30 minutes" "She said it would end soon" "Not aware of heart rate".

I think I hate the palpitations more than other people. Other people just get uncomfortable, whereas I convince myself tht I'm gonna die.

At Tim Hortons, they sell something that they call a BELT (Bacon, Egg, Lettuce Tomato). I bought one today, and they were like "Bacon, ham or sausage?" WTF. "I'll have a bacon sandwich, hold the bacon" Makes no sense. I still got sausage, but really, that's a SELT,  not a BELT.

When I was home a couple weeks back, I described to my mom what groceries I was buying, and she gave me a recipe to make a quick and easy dish with the resources and food items that I had. Since then, I've been feeling pretty slick, cooking meals and all that, instead of just eating a bunch of separate stuff.