Life would be so productive if humans only needed to sleep 4 hours per day. If we didn't have to spend 1/3 of our lives unconscious, we probably would have found a cure for cancer by now. Although my life is not that interesting, my recent bout of insomia has opened up a new window of life- the 'magic hours' of the day between midnight and 4am where the rest of the world are slumbering and only a select few remain. I am a student who cannot study in her own room, and this has led me to the warm, noisy and vibrant common room- where we study with the tv in the background and people playing pool around the corner.

For the past week or so, I've met some very interesting people, who like me have weird sleeping patterns. Among them, I've met two Korean boys, one is 26yrs and the other 23yrs. I'm not sure if anyone has observed how Koreans interact, but my friend and I are sure there is some sort of 'secret society' going on haha. Mr 26 is the 'leader' of the gang, he has all the respect and power because of his superior age. All the other Koreans will come into the common room, see him and bow, it was very entertaining sitting next to him- imagining they were bowing to me (i'm so power hungry haha).

Mr 23 asked for my number on the first day we met and since then I feel that we've been playing this game that even outdates highschool antics! I'm so embarrassed to even say it, but it is definitely the 'mixed signals' game. A language barrier may also be causing additional problems in our communication catastrophe. Being an international student does not make the conversation flow as smoothly as we all hope. So yes, I have been stupidly sucked into the game of 'guess the meaning behind those words (which i am definitely over-analysing)'. It's all so childish, but I am just not mature or brave enough to ask him the question! I can imagine the amount of gossip there will be within the society. All the Koreans on campus will surely find out within an hour. I swear that every Korean knows every other Korean, and they are everywhere! My friend and I actually use code names 23, 26 and many others to address these people when we're in public. I mean, if only the Chinese were so organised, we would be ruling the world by now...

Salvation to my teenager-girl problem is close though. 5 days until I leave the city and 8 days until I leave the country. There are more important things in life anyways. Like 2 exams in 2 days. On an end note, I was ranting to one of my close friends about this silly situation. I posed him the question everyone likes to ask- 'what would YOU do if you were me?' After a long, thoughtful pause, he answered, 'I will play hard to get- if i were a girl.' For some reason, i think he enjoyed that brief moment of escapism. Maybe I should be content with life as it is, one day at a time (:

I have:

- 18 days until I leave for Beijing. I am SO looking forward to living in another city other than Canberra and Sydney. For the past year or so, I've just wanted something more than shops closing at 5pm and one 'shopping day' in a week. I love Sydney a lot, but it was becoming so predictable and lethargic, always the same places, same food, same songs, same people etc. As a kid, i constantly moved house and schools- i hated it because the minute you made new friends you would have to leave again. I think what came of that was my acceptance of change- you kind of become resilient to it. These days, I kind of welcome it. My life is just so steady and simple (uni for the next 10years-yay) that ANY CHANGE is a good one. It's so obvious im the type to swap jobs every 6 months...

In Canberra, I constantly hear the locals talk about their future- in Canberra- like it's the most exciting thing. Many of them would be quite satisfied to live here for the rest of their lives, and that thought saddens me. It's like they cannot perceive what is beyond the borders of the city, let alone country. Anyways, the discussion of the local population will be left for a future blog.

- 7 days until my first exam. Everyone rants about their exams in a 'woe is me' type manner come this time of the year. Every year i'm in the same position- really really really screwed. I don't know why i get myself into these situations where i'm forced to learn an entire course in a span of 2 days. I had the whole semester to get my act together and still did not do it. I don't really deserve to whine or complain..

So today I watched the 'Sex and the City' movie- hence the title of this blog. I have to say, it was brilliant, it brought tears to my eyes (i cry in everything) and definitely a lot of laughter. As a fan who watched the DVD's on repeat as a 'warm up' to this film- I truly enjoyed every minute of the film. I don't think any of the criticisms received for the film will change my opinion. The movie is like an additional season, bringing back great memories- not only within the character's lives, but also our own lives. My love affair with the show continues (:

I took a walk around my university a few days ago. As i live on campus, this doesn't sound so exciting, but my friend and I got lost not only once...The ANU is so large that it's even a suburb on its own. The uni isn't exactly very building focused, the school of psychology is very ugly and the law school tries to look grand and prestigious but it really isn't. However, the wildlife and natural environment around campus is truly stunning.

Campus Map

The leaves in Autumn are so pretty!

Ducks roam freely around campus. There was once when I nearly stepped on a sleeping duck while running to the law building to hand in an assessment. When it opened its eyes I was practically about to step on it! I don't know who was more horrified.

Our uni has a trail to Lake Burley Griffin- the stretch of water that divides the city.

Doesn't this picture look like a painting?

This path leads to something so cute...

Stepping stones! We have a couple of these across the campus for our convenience :)

The thing that looks like a camera tripod is parliament house

So adorable!!! An old picture of duck family.

Jackie Chan was here! He donated the Jackie Chan Science Research Centre earlier this year and has been supporting the ANU for several years- his late mother lived in Canberra for 20 years. This is a media pic as I didn't get to go ):

With Australian PM K.Rudd.

So, Canberra isn't such a boring place. We have all the politicians as our  default celebrities and occassionally a real one :) But really, I'm starting to appreciate the beauty of the place after taking in the small things- like a pretty tree on the way to class.

The worst thing is when you think that you're doing ok and in reality you're not. That's exactly how I felt today when I went to pick up my law paper. I hate studying law but this was one of the subjects that I actually didn't mind. Maybe I even liked it a little. Now I think i'll go back to hating it. Apparently, I missed out on a whole chunk of the paper and therefore handed in an incomplete assignment. Law markers aren't exactly nice people, but this one decided to scrawl all over my paper 'MAJOR issues not dealt with!'

All this has brought me back to the 'seriously thinking about dropping law' mode that I go into quite frequently. I'm studying law with psychology- which is what I really want to do as a career. My parents have quite happily accepted the fact that I won't become a lawyer, however they still want me to take it (oh no, Asian parents). I don't see how studying law will help my psych career. I don't really want to become a forensic psychologist- so I can rule that one out. I really hate the thought of having to survive (and pass) another 3.5years of law- just for the sake of getting the degree. I don't want to make the decision but I know the longer I put it off, the harder it will to pull out.

Any opinions are very welcome!

I've never really believed in horoscopes or the zodiac. I just think it's irrational, to be able to generalise portions of the population according to what month/year their parents decided to reproduce. Furthermore, if I read three newspapers a day and the predictions all differ, then which one do I believe in? The predictions are usually all so vague that they can be applied literally or metaphorically to everyone- depending on how imaginative they are.

On the AnD 'about' page, there is a bloodtype question which I found really interesting because it's not a common thing to be asked. I don't even know my blood type (eeek), so I decided to do a bit of research (perfect procrastination tool since i have an exam tomorrow). What I found was that the Japanese love to give their anime characters a blood type because they think it determines their personality. Here is the general gist of it according to Wikipedia.

Even though there is no scientific evidence backing bloodtype-character correlations up, it still makes more sense in my head. We inherit traits from our parents through nature and nurture, so it seems reasonable that our bloodtype will somewhat determine our personality. I tried predicting some of my friend's bloodtypes and so far it has been quite successful- however some people are very hard to pick (they're so messed up hehe).

Do try it :)