The Germans are taking over!

We had a farewell lunch yesterday for one of our German students- Nina (outgoing) and at the same time welcomed our new German student taking her place- Arna(pronounced "Arn-nia"). We've had so many students (especially from Germany) come and go in the past 3-4 years that I have problems remembering them all.

Let see, first was there were two german girls (can't remember their names now), then another german guy (can't remember either), then Philipp, then Jelena, then Nina and now Arna. Some of them have left a lasting impression and have been a blessing to me in one way or another.

Lunch was hilarious, Louis (the typical chinaman) had steak, with side order of rice. Enough said.

(from left: me, arna, tram, nina, george and louis)

We didn't have a tripod so i decided to flag down the first unsuspecting passer-by to take the photo for us. I'm surprised it turned out so well, considering his hands were shaking so badly! I thought to myself, "of all the people Lemuel, you had to get one with Parkinsons!".

God, Einstein and String Theory.

Despite my (usually) sunny disposition, I think the pressure is starting to get to me- I've got two pimples on my face (thats called a 'breakout' in my books) and early signs of stressed induced eczema are showing.

I'm fairly optimistic about life these days, I tend to look on the bright side of things. A friend pointed out that this sanguine change is due to the company of 'nicer' friends, but assured me that the 'inner-bitch' within would never go away. Apparently two years of therapy isn't enough for people like us. *grin*

The funny thing is, I get easily distracted these days. And I'm not talking 'bout surfing porn distracted, I'm talking deep-philosophical-thoughts distracted. I know self reflection is suppose to be therapeutic (well, depends on what you see i guess), but I find myself thinking random thoughts throughout the day with differing levels of intensity. Sometimes I might dwell on a certain area of my life, feel really shitty and mad at the situation; next minute, feel sad about how I dealt with something 6 months ago.

Just to let you in on how F*** my mind is..... I was studying last night when suddenly I remembered someone mention String theory a while back. So, I embarked on an hour long mission to enlighten myself on the 'ins-n-outs' of this deeply philosophical phenomena(was already past 1am). String theory is a pretty new concept, something that is not completely accepted by the scientific community but brings goose-bumps to physicists for its potential to explain everything about life as we know it (to an extent).

More specifically, it links the two most widely accepted theories, Einstein's general theory of relativity ( i.e the time-space relationship) and the theory of quantum mechanics; which explains interactions at the sub-atomic level. One theory explained the bigger picture, while the other explained the tiny-weeny picture; but no theory could link them together.

Not til now... with the developments in String theory.

My life has draws similar parallels with the whole string theory dilemma. One part of me has everything sorted out, my logical mind has figured out what needs to be done and dictates a path for me to follow. On the other hand, the God loving, God fearing part of me knows there are plans for me I cannot fathom. There are paths I need to travel down blindly, trusting completely in something intangible, at times, seemingly an eternity away.

Thankfully, I know theres something that brings it all together, that puts my life back into perspective and leads me down the straight and narrow.

My string theory, Jesus. JC is my String theory.

2 more SCARY weeks.

Another (frustrating) week has flown by, and exams are sooooo near.... its not funny. Thank God I managed to complete most of my major Accounting research proposal, was on FIRE today! (its amazing what fear can do)- 2.5 assignments and 1 presentation to go.

Friday was Alvin's birthday, which, for those who know Alvin, means lots of drinking. I found myself at Belgian Beer Cafe @ Eureka Towers, drinking my first SUPERSIZED Hoegaarden by 5:30pm. By 8pm, I knew Dizzy's with the gang was out of the question; especially since my 5th SUPERSIZED Hoegaarden just miraculously appeared before me.

When I say SUPERSIZED, I mean SUPERSIZED. Its quite a spectacle.

Anyway, got to catch up with some dearly missed uni friends and met up with a big bunch of lab rats- who said scientists are boring? But it's pretty daunting hanging out in a group where every other person has a PhD or about to submit their PhD theses. Makes me wonder if I've wasted away the past 5 years of my life.

By 10:30 pm, I decided to head off and join my work friends at The Retreat, where the party continued past 1am. I made a conscious effort to leave before 2am, despite the drunken mob holding me back and promising sexual favours; who said scientists are boring???

Walking back home for 20 mins after 3 hours of head banging and body-bopping can be quite a feat, my wobbly, jelly -like feet weren't helping.

Probably the most beer I've drunk while still remaining relatively sober *grin*

Saturday was church as usual, followed by the requisite 'after-service-dinner' at some restaurant(chinese name lah) with questionable customer service. Think Nam-loong-ish kind of service, or there abouts. The company was good as usual, albeit conversation was mostly one sided.

I recieved the biggest, bestest piece of news of the week today, my prayers were answered and a very special friend secured a job in Singapore! Wooohooooo! So so very happy (I'd like to think my prayers contributed in a tiny-weeny way), despite our inadequacies, God always provides us with bigger better things.

Have a great week people.........it's going to be a awesome week ahead, I can feel it.

Oh btw, that bird nesting outside my balcony, the eggs have hatched and I can see at least two chicks hidden beneath all that fluff. Wanted to take pictures, but today was way too cold *brrr*