I've literally done NO work this entire week. Not a single homework problem or practice question for any of my classes. It's been a very lazy and enjoyable week. I've been enjoying catching up with friends and chilling out in the hot tub. But my unearned freedom is giving me some time to organize my trip to Europe. I found out that Etienne is going to be in France to visit his family until May 26th. This presents me with an interesting travel plan. At the moment I am heading to London on the 22nd (and arrive on the 23rd), so if I immediately decide to travel to Spain via France then I can meet up with Etienne for a day, then make my way to Spain. I'm not too sure how this works with Pablo and Africa though because I think their exams formally end on the 8th of June. Clearly I haven't put too much thought into it yet, eh?
I also need to figure out what I'm going to do for the week I've got in the US without any place to sleep. A few people have offered me space on their couch, but I really want to travel throughout Texas to see more of the rural areas.
Oh yeah, I finally sent my earphones in to get repaired. I sent them via express post in the hope that they'll get back to me asap. I miss going on night runs without blasting dubstep into my skull.
I also just started making a movie out of all the photos I've accumulated in my time here. It's taking up a lot of my time and it's much harder to make than I thought it would be. I'm contemplating bringing my camera to parties now so I can have more photos with my friends.
Friday, March 30, 2012
Wednesday, March 28, 2012
Matthew Peter James Senior
I only just realized today that UT has incorrectly saved my name as "Matthew James Senior". I didn't pay much attention to it until one of my classmates asked if I actually had a kid. In hindsight I should have totally gone with it. I could have developed a new Catholic alter ego where I have 7 kids and hardly any money to support them.
But now that I think about it, this really does explain a whole lot. It explains why students look back at me with that confused 'wtf, man?' face whenever my name comes up on the projector. I always thought their priceless expressions were due to my super religious triple first name.
I also volunteered for the Texas Longhorn run promotion campaign today. Albeit, I was only there for 15 minutes until I gave up and went to class, but I still managed to grab a free shirt and water bottle!
I went to the local pub the other day (that's actually what it's called) with Ettiene and Vivek to play trivia with their other PHD friends. I really enjoy the bar scene, it's very relaxing and social. However, I can't help but feel incredibly stupid every time I walk out of the pub, because I know none of the answers ever presented in the trivia challenge. All the questions that are asked are all very specific useless facts - for example, one of the questions was; what is the name of the deadly scorpion that glows bright yellow under ultraviolet light? I have no idea, and more importantly, knowing the name won't help me if I'm ever surrounded by them. All I need to know is how fast they run, and how fast they burn once drenched in petrol.
Eeeargh, I've got a small pop quiz in 1/2 an hour. My professor made it compulsory to do pop quizzes in class in an attempt to improve attendance. It's not working though, more people just get worse grades because they miss class and the pop quiz...
But now that I think about it, this really does explain a whole lot. It explains why students look back at me with that confused 'wtf, man?' face whenever my name comes up on the projector. I always thought their priceless expressions were due to my super religious triple first name.
I also volunteered for the Texas Longhorn run promotion campaign today. Albeit, I was only there for 15 minutes until I gave up and went to class, but I still managed to grab a free shirt and water bottle!
I went to the local pub the other day (that's actually what it's called) with Ettiene and Vivek to play trivia with their other PHD friends. I really enjoy the bar scene, it's very relaxing and social. However, I can't help but feel incredibly stupid every time I walk out of the pub, because I know none of the answers ever presented in the trivia challenge. All the questions that are asked are all very specific useless facts - for example, one of the questions was; what is the name of the deadly scorpion that glows bright yellow under ultraviolet light? I have no idea, and more importantly, knowing the name won't help me if I'm ever surrounded by them. All I need to know is how fast they run, and how fast they burn once drenched in petrol.
Eeeargh, I've got a small pop quiz in 1/2 an hour. My professor made it compulsory to do pop quizzes in class in an attempt to improve attendance. It's not working though, more people just get worse grades because they miss class and the pop quiz...
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Monday, March 26, 2012
Blood
I know that's a morbid title, but it's an accurate one.
I donated blood today right after I finished my Engineering design exam. As soon as I got back to Moore Hill I opened 2 beers with my roommate and casually drank em while watching an illegal version of "the hunger games". It was good fun.
On the downside however, I managed to drop my free shirt I got for donating blood. This is devastating because now I can't procrastinate doing my Laundry for another 2 days :(
Also, I'm a terrible son, I forgot my Dad's birthday yesterday. So I'm going to wait till 2:45am in the morning to skype my parents.
I donated blood today right after I finished my Engineering design exam. As soon as I got back to Moore Hill I opened 2 beers with my roommate and casually drank em while watching an illegal version of "the hunger games". It was good fun.
On the downside however, I managed to drop my free shirt I got for donating blood. This is devastating because now I can't procrastinate doing my Laundry for another 2 days :(
Also, I'm a terrible son, I forgot my Dad's birthday yesterday. So I'm going to wait till 2:45am in the morning to skype my parents.
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Bitches n' Hoes
That's right, this post will be about American Rap Music.
Most parties here have an interesting blend of American Rap music and country music. I find this really weird because these types of music are polar opposite in nature, yet both seem appropriate in a party. Also, every now and then a song comes on called "the wobble" (i'm pretty sure that's what it's called). It's a very interesting song, not for it's lyrical genius or interesting beat, but because of how everyone acts once the song comes on. Whenever this song comes on, everyone instantly starts 'wobbling' (that's a euphemism for jerking your hips in a whole bunch of different directions). It's quite a simple dance, but I still can't do it.
I went to a party the other day called "Holi" - a Indian religious holiday to spread awareness about the unfair caste system in India. It was AWESOME. About 300 people were there just throwing water balloons and paint at each other. At one point, I even went crowed surfing - that was a life changing experience.
I met a few interesting people over this weekend, but I think I gave them a poor first impression due to irreconcilable cultural differences.
I still haven't hung out with the other people we met at Colorado. I'm going to put in an effort to invite them to a pub or UT activity soon. I'd like to see them before the UT run on the 14th of April.
Oh yeah, that reminds me, I've been training (occasionally running between binging food and watching youtube videos) for the UT longhorn run. I want to be able to run the thing without wheezing and panting.
Most parties here have an interesting blend of American Rap music and country music. I find this really weird because these types of music are polar opposite in nature, yet both seem appropriate in a party. Also, every now and then a song comes on called "the wobble" (i'm pretty sure that's what it's called). It's a very interesting song, not for it's lyrical genius or interesting beat, but because of how everyone acts once the song comes on. Whenever this song comes on, everyone instantly starts 'wobbling' (that's a euphemism for jerking your hips in a whole bunch of different directions). It's quite a simple dance, but I still can't do it.
I went to a party the other day called "Holi" - a Indian religious holiday to spread awareness about the unfair caste system in India. It was AWESOME. About 300 people were there just throwing water balloons and paint at each other. At one point, I even went crowed surfing - that was a life changing experience.
I met a few interesting people over this weekend, but I think I gave them a poor first impression due to irreconcilable cultural differences.
I still haven't hung out with the other people we met at Colorado. I'm going to put in an effort to invite them to a pub or UT activity soon. I'd like to see them before the UT run on the 14th of April.
Oh yeah, that reminds me, I've been training (occasionally running between binging food and watching youtube videos) for the UT longhorn run. I want to be able to run the thing without wheezing and panting.
Round up
Round up occurs the weekend after spring break. It's a time where all frat parties welcome all people in for lots of free alcohol and loud music. This is usually very uncharacteristic of frat parties because they are typically very exclusive.
Even though you were meant to get a green wrist band to enter the frat parties, i managed to sneak in with a crowed of people by flashing my UBSki wrist band. After I got in I met Simeon (the guy I went skiing with in Colorado) and a few friends from around UT that I knew. I was also wearing my JIS (Jakarta International School) shirt at the time, which was very convenient because one of the 'brothers' (one of the people who belong to the ridiculous overpriced Frat) also lived in Buket Golf in Jakarta. After mathing it out, we found out that he was in the year just below me. It was really rewarding to have a conversation about the 3 level cafeteria and other good parts about JIS which I thought I had forgotten.
Even though the music annoyed me slightly I still managed to enjoy the Frat overall. At about 12am (11:59pm + 1 minute), I went to Austin and Jason's place to check out a party they were hosting there. It was pretty decent, but I felt like I was just socializing with people I already knew there. In hindsight, I should have stayed at a few frat parties for a bit longer so I could meet up with a few more people. Ah well, it was still a good night overall.
Even though you were meant to get a green wrist band to enter the frat parties, i managed to sneak in with a crowed of people by flashing my UBSki wrist band. After I got in I met Simeon (the guy I went skiing with in Colorado) and a few friends from around UT that I knew. I was also wearing my JIS (Jakarta International School) shirt at the time, which was very convenient because one of the 'brothers' (one of the people who belong to the ridiculous overpriced Frat) also lived in Buket Golf in Jakarta. After mathing it out, we found out that he was in the year just below me. It was really rewarding to have a conversation about the 3 level cafeteria and other good parts about JIS which I thought I had forgotten.
Even though the music annoyed me slightly I still managed to enjoy the Frat overall. At about 12am (11:59pm + 1 minute), I went to Austin and Jason's place to check out a party they were hosting there. It was pretty decent, but I felt like I was just socializing with people I already knew there. In hindsight, I should have stayed at a few frat parties for a bit longer so I could meet up with a few more people. Ah well, it was still a good night overall.
Thursday, March 22, 2012
:(
So Pablo innocently asked me when I'm leaving the states to go to Europe. I looked it up and saw that it's the 22nd of May. That means I've got less than 2 months left...
I DON'T WANT TO GO :((((
I DON'T WANT TO GO :((((
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