Sunday, August 30, 2009

Mr. Dawkins and I


Finally! the day has come to bid my long-awaited adieu. I've finished packing today after procrastinating for the last week, thank Goodness. I'm truly sorry to the people I did not get to see before I left Victoria; I will hopefully be back in Vic for a few months after to see you all wonderful people again. Bye to the good Marketiers!! I will miss everyone that I've spent many a long hour working side-by-side, not rotating. Much thanks goes to my well-to-do friends for their continued support, guidance, and encouragement. I eagerly anticipate this new part of my life, and the challenges and experiences that I will undoubtedly encounter.

I will leave with my over-packed bags and my new book, which I acquired at a local used book store. So with my few belongings, Mr. Dawkins and his "selfish genes" are off to the journey of my lifetime.

Anyways, without drawing this out, I have one request to ask! If you do wish to be sent postcards and rare gemstones :P purchased at local tourist traps, please send me your address to my email (wu.johnny10@gmail.com) and I will try to mail them off when time is available.

Anyways, farewell fellow friends, acquaintances, co-workers, and fellow Vikes. Until next time!

Thursday, August 20, 2009

The Pickled Mind

As I sit in my newly acquired dorm room (long story...) reading an used copy of History of Sexuality  (Foucault), I suddenly realized that I leave in almost ten days and I still haven't packed a single item, not one item for my 3 month journey rumbling around the world. The symptoms of my university days; procrastination and 'chronic' do-nothing laziness have finally came back to haunt me. More seriously, my irrational fear of needles (see belonephobia) has caused me to delay getting any sort of "suggested" vaccinations by my Lonely Planet guide. I have decided that rather than overcome this long-standing childhood fear, I will simply venture into Nam like an wily veteran, seasoned and ready to go, meaning I will not get shot(s) before I leave. On the advice of a few "seasoned" travellers, I was informed that vaccinations although routine, are not 100% necessary. Upon hearing this timely advice, I went off purchasing a first aid kid from MEC and hope that if my life laid the balance, a package of gauze, band-aids, and cloth wraps will save me from such a perilous fate. Nevertheless, the anticipation is steadily growing, I will unduly miss all of the interesting people I have met this summer at the Market or elsewhere in Victoria. There is a sort of mysticism about this city and people here that I will undoubtedly cherish.

In the meantime, going back to the dorm room fiasco. My roomate and I have left our horrible leaving situation, where our rather obnoxious and oppressive landlord constantly barged in uninvited, insisted on going through our worldly possessions when we weren't there, and rudely woke us up in the early hours of sunrise with her ungodly banter. I will be staying in a comfy dorm till I leave Victoria shortly next week. Living in a dorm brings a sense of 1st year nostalgia back, while also constantly being reminded of my elderly state as new 1st years start moving in re-telling stories of leaving home and high school. Nevertheless, I find that memory of my life mildly hilarious, and I'm glad that university is done (for now...) and I will be getting out in the world again finally...

As for an update on my law school plans out East, they are very much still on track. I will be sending in my OLAC (Ontario Law School....blah blah) application this week, after paying their outrageous 185$ fee for "processing" my transcripts and what not. Along with this, I need to get my references in check before leaving, and hope that nothing tragic happens while I'm away. As for schools, I'm leaning towards York in Toronto, which would provide a nice cosmopolitan atmosphere. I have always found the cultural and social landscape of Toronto rather intriguing, besides wanting to meet new people of various ethnic makeups, it would be nice to venture out at 11 at night and not have all the possible places to eat closed, besides Pizza Zone and Second Slice. Its time for the big city again, and I very much look forward to what it has to offer.

Anyways, I won't bore you fellow readers/lurkers with an extended diatribe about my life, so off I go! I hope to see most of you important people before I leave Vic! For now, until next time.