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In case you are wondering...how we are doing...
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we are doing great !...thanks :)
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Sunday, April 17, 2005
Friday, April 08, 2005
04-07-05: A confession of a confused mind
OK…I’m a bit confused about my ability to recognize myself…
…
let starts back on March 31st, PKG815 2nd exam…
I somehow felt like I’m not ready to take the exam…I felt like I didn’t have any knowledge to put in the exam paper…and really wanna kick myself ‘coz I wasted too much time on watching the shows and enjoy eating foods during the last week before the exam…besides on the night before the exam…I got a nerve, so all I did was watching tv all night…I just started reading seriously around 11 pm…and went to be around 2 am
…
this time there’re only 4 question (plus 2-3 sub-questions each), 2 calculating questions and other 2 were review questions.
The calculating questions were a nightmare…’coz all graphs and data were provided when we did the exercise, so when I saw both questions…it took me 5 min to realize and assure myself that I need to plot 2 graphs to be able to answer the questions !...and please note that it’s not the easy digit like 10,000…it’s 12,873…5694…etc. :(
I finished the first 2 questions as fast as I could…and didn’t have time to re-check any answers.
The review questions were the end of the world…since this course is one of the first 2 courses I took in my FIRST semester here…and that didn’t include the knowledge of injection blow molding, stretch blow molding, biaxial-orientation or un-balanced orientation and also their effects of the properties of the amorphous phase above and below Tg temperature (I’m sorry if all these words scare you :P)…, so when the question ask for the analysis of the effect of these scary words on permeability, diffusion and sorption…I freaked…
I turned pages and pages of reading material back and forth…and finally assume that something involved injection surely had something to do with heat (thanks to Food Processing I :) ) and that had to be related to oriented-melt…now, something that was stretched would probably don’t need heat…so that meant it’s cold draw…and the rest of the exam was as chaotic as I told you.
…
I was the third person to finish the exam…, of course, after Turk :)
…
During the walk back to PKG building and the lunch at international center, we compared the answer…I had the feeling I used the wrong sets of equations for question 1 and 2…and I answered question 3 without any knowledge of the thing they asked…for the 4th question, I felt pretty good…, so I told Prang that I expect only 80-90 (from 100) for this exam…and she said I’ll get higher than 90, so we made a bet that if I got mark higher than 92 she will have the right to slap me as hard as she want to…and vice versa
…I was really confident that I’ll not be the one who will be attacked…
…
today, when I walked into the room, I saw the graph showed all students’ mark…and when the class began, Dr.Rubino gave each of us our exam-paper…
the typical way to gave back the paper which has mark on it to the student was to roll them into cylinder shape with the given mark inside…
P’Oh was the first Thai student to get the paper…she got only 70…I turned to look at Prang and told her that I couldn’t breath properly…she said her heart was about to stop…
Turk was next, and once I saw his usual superior smile…I knew that he got full mark…no surprise for Mr.Perfect…the man’s the real deal :)
Dr.Rubino handed Prang’s paper and then mine…I felt a bit clumsy and dizzy when I stretch the paper to look at the mark…, so I was really surprise when Prang started hitting me with her rolled exam paper…
…
well…
…
2nd Exam
…
I don’t know what to say…
…
I felt like I can’t recognize my own ability…but come to think of it…it may not has anything to do with me…it was probably the lack of ability of Dr.Rubino to check whether the answer was given by the student who truly understand the topic or just lucky to get it right …
I felt uneasy…giving that I and Turk are the only two who got perfect 100…, but I have no idea how I got it, while Turk know exactly what to answer…and he know more beyond than the answer he gave.
…
anyway…let me assure you this…please not be intimidated by the person who got high mark or academic honor…the true genius one will need more than that to be recognized…and, believe me, you’ll know when you’ve met one :)
Tuesday, April 05, 2005
04-04-05: Road to Detroit
I woke up at
P’Kerk picked me up around
Around 10, we got to
Somehow it made me a bit sad to see those old and not-so-well-preserved buildings…seems to me (and lots of people) that this city is dying…
It was the time when I saw the Canadian border that I realized how close I am…to home…if home is the place you can find peace…then I definitely have more than one home now :)
We took a lot of photograph (by Mod and Terk) at US border…I stuck mostly with Prang…as Terk and Mod busy took pics of each other…:P
Then we had lunch at Greek restaurant…and visited Thai restaurant, then P’Pu, Prang’s big sister, and Jasmine, P’Pu’s dog at her house…
…
we got to
…
to clear spaces for dinner, we went out for a walk.
...
after watching shows, basketball, and lots of talk, Terk dropped me off at the apartment around
Detroit, April 4th, 2005
…
…
sometimes during the trip to
Hello my friend, we meet again
It's been awhile, where should we begin?
Feels like forever
Within my heart are memories ff perfect love that you gave to me
Oh, I remember
When you are with me, I'm free
I'm careless, I believe
Above all the others we'll fly
This brings tears to my eyes
My sacrifice
We've seen our share of ups and downs
Oh how quickly life can turn around in an instant
It feels so good to reunite
Within yourself and within your mind
Let's find peace there
When you are with me, I'm free
I'm careless, I believe
Above all the others we'll fly
This brings tears to my eyes
My sacrifice
…
and couldn’t help thinking back to the time when P’Ae drove Off and me to Kanchanaburi…wondering, how amazing it would be if I had this trip with them…
...
...
When you are with me, I'm free, I'm careless, I believe above all the others we'll fly
This brings tears to my eyes…My sacrifice
…
well,…something’s gotta give, right ?
Sunday, April 03, 2005
04-01-05: April Fool’s Day: Budding with the enemy
I started the day with no recognition of what the day it was…of course I knew it’s April 1st…the thing I didn’t remember is that it’s also what we call ‘April Fool’s day’
Ancient cultures, including those as varied as the Romans and the Hindus, celebrated New Year's Day on April 1. It closely follows the vernal equinox (March 20th or March 21st.) In medieval times, much of
In 1582, Pope Gregory XIII ordered a new calendar (the Gregorian Calendar) to replace the old Julian Calendar. The new calendar called for New Year's Day to be celebrated Jan. 1. Many countries, however, resisted the change. In fact, some European countries held out for centuries (
In 1752, Great Britain finally changed over to the Gregorian Calendar, and April Fool's Day began to be celebrated in
…
So I started my day as usual…I went to collected data on PKG815 Term Project…the water vapor transmission rate at steady state by gravimetric method (sounds scary, Eh ?) needed to be check every 2 days…and the isotherm on Tuesday and Friday…for this week, it means that I need to go to packaging building to collect the data every day !
Around 2:30, I met up with Prang and Turk to collect the data together (we share the bucket for isotherm determination)…actually P’Oh’s suppose to be helping Turk when he weight the sample, but she had PKG455 class, so I had to help him out after finished mine and Prang’s…no big deal :)
Then we went to buy the ingredients for Mee-Krob and Kie-Sa-Te which we will bring to International party at Dr.Harte’s house tonight.
By the time we got to Prang’s apartment, Mod was busy cooking Kie-Sa-Te which I single-handed sliced and seasoned 8 lb of chicken myself, yesterday.
With Kei-Sa-Te cooking in Mod’s apartment, I, Prang and Turk used Prang’s apartment as a head-quarter for Mee-Krob.
Tell you what, if somebody tell me one day I’ll have to make Mee-Krob…I’ll consider them as stranger who don’t know me at all…what am I, a chief ?
Anyway it did happen today :P...and we have learned that we need more than 1 people to make it edible…with Turk throw the dried noodle down into the pan with boiling oil, I wait for the right moment to take the whole thing off the pan and Prang…hold the big tray for me to dump the fried noodle in…
Eventually, it’s only I and Turk at frying station…Prang’s off for preparing the dressing ingredients.
Around
Just half and hour after we started frying the noodle, there’s smoke everywhere…and I had to borrow Prang’s glasses to partly cover my eyes…every 20-30 min, I and Turk had to get some fresh air at the balcony and whip the tear from our eyes at the same time.
It was a nightmare…yet I found it’s a rare opportunity to get to know the people I meet everyday a lot better…especially Turk.
Prang’s easy going person…probably too easy...
Mod’s a very determined and demanding one…and the only person Turk listens to…with no objection…at all
…
since I met the man, Turk, he’s always sarcastic…yet he’s like a little boy who enjoys praise from other...and if you know me quite well,… you’ll know that he’s not gonna get such sweet words from me :P
so whenever I was alone with Turk, I always feel the urge to run away…not because I don’t like him, it’s because I don’t know what to talk…we have nothing in common.
But when we are with other…Prang, Mod, P’Oh, P’Kate, P’Na, etc…I can always find stuff to talk about him, especially about his romance with Nong Am and Mod (from my point it’s the truth…but I still don’t know him well enough to verify my suspicious :P)…so, he marked me as his greatest enemy.
…
but things seem really different today, I had no idea what the heck’s going on with him.
…today, there’s not a single sarcastic word coming out from his mouth…and with the absence of those words, I found a very passionate and fun-to-be-with person…
…it’s probably this new character that made the atmosphere when we went out to get more ingredients and pick up additional tray together (around
It was the first time I can look straight into his eyes…and smile
I’m not sure you can understand this feeling. It’s the feeling when you found that the person you always think might hate you, was actually like you :)
…
well, there’re some moment when we cooking together and when we were at the party together that he said something like…you like me, don’t you ? …
…I looked at him as if to say…what ?...what is the matter with you today ?
…he said that like 4-5 times today…and I’m not gonna analyze what does he really mean…
…
It was after Prang told me that she and Mod decided to do something fun on April Fool’s day…and that was to pair I and Turk…just for today…that it struck me…that maybe all that happened today was a lie…
…that I was fooled all day to think that Turk actually like me (as a friend…don’t even think he’ll like me as something else)
…that, perhaps, this whole wonderful day of me getting to know all of them…to finally feel like I might belong here…was just a cruel joke…on April Fool’s day...
Friday, March 25, 2005
03-02+...+25-05: There're something about my straight face...
It’s Friday, March 25th.
Nothing’s really special during this passing period, March 2nd-25th …um…come to think of it…It has been some changes though.
Let see…
1. I got in to a fight via email with P’Pong, Ajarn Tanus, about some crazy name calling thing…it was too stupid to talk about….after that every email I sent to him (about work, of course) has never been replied :( …I hope he’s just busy, not angry…’coz if such a small conflict like this can offense him this long…I think I’ll never work with him peacefully…well…we’ll see.
2. I do go to bed earlier than before…these days it’s
3. I’ve become Mod’s number 3 girlfriend…as she claims herself as a true lesbian…with Terk as girlfriend number 3 !!!...tell you what packaging people is always a bit crazy :)
4. I’m using Mozilla Firefox instead of Internet Explorer…according to Mod and Terk (who’re kindda invited themselves into my apartment one day) it’s the safer system, so I switched to MF about a week ago.
5. I got this 10 years old Gumball machine for 5 bucks…now, call me crazy…, but I can stare at it for 15 min with the smile on my face…it just makes the room look so cheerful :) :) :)
6. I got 99 from 100 with a –very good- compliment for my first report…which I have to say I’m really happy about it ‘coz Terk got 98 !!!...555…anyway, that 100 will make only 5% in the final mark…, so let’s don’t make a big deal out of it, shall we ?
7. I switched from drinking Vitamin D added milk to 2% reduced fat milk…’coz the taste of the first one’s suck :P
8. I got PC from Sai, my FT1 student, she sent me PC of Kan’s pic, Chinese keychain which means beautiful friendship, a letter and a CD…which, after listen to the first 3 songs, made me miss my student so bad…I cried about an hour or 2 :(
March 2nd - 25th
…I’m always feel really guilty about coming here, I feel like I left them behind in the time they needed me. Even though everybody keeps reminding me that I do this actually for my (future) students…they will have a better teacher when I got back…which absolutely true…, but what about my first students ?...they’re not gonna be around when I got back…so what’s the benefit to them ?...there’s one thing they should know: No matter what they think, they will always be the most memorable class for me…always be the dearest class I’ll ever experience in my teaching life…and they were, are and will be the inspiration to my every work. They made me wanna be a better teacher…even though they are not gonna be there when I’ve become one :)
Guess that’s about it…I better get start on my 2nd PKG815 report…and my 2nd exam is coming up this coming Thursday…wish me luck :)
Tuesday, March 01, 2005
03-01-05: I’m wishing…I’m wishing…
I was the first person to get to PKG815 class today…the storm was so severe…it start since yesterday…all day…and continue ‘til now
Everybody arrive after the class start 10 min !
I’m feeling a lot better form the flu…all I have now is just every 15 mins coughing…
Dr.Rubino told us she already marked all exam paper…
She told us the average is around 80 and the highest score is 100…I knew at once it’s Turk’s !...and sure enough I was right
…
when she said she will give us back our exam paper and go through every question together…
...
That’s when I start to wish I will see number 8 or number 9 as the beginning of the two digit of my mark (it’s 100 in total)
…
Look what I’ve got
...
I wished I'll se number 8 or 9 on my exam paper :)
...
555…that is just make my day
…I was shorted 2 marks from 100, ‘coz I forgot to give the unit of the R constant in my calculation…
that’s fine…I’m quite afraid to be perfect, you know ? (:P)
02-16+...+28-05: A Farewell, A Flu, The 1st Exam and A Donut
Hi…long time no news…here’s I am :)
As some of you may know that I was out ill for last couple weeks…well, the past-tense seems a bit incorrect…I am still ill…must be a Flu :(
…
I couldn’t remember what exactly has happened during this period of my life…
…come to think of it, there’re a few things I do remember vividly
…
First, of course, the farewell with mom in the morning of Sunday, February 20th…
We woke up since 5 am and were ready for a scary-look “Big Daddy Taxi” taxi which came to pick us up at 6 am sharp…
And everything during that time ‘til we gave each other a hug is hazy…all I remember is…how losing someone you love make you realize how much you love them…
…
I took a Spartan Taxi back home (I wanted to take a bus, but the first one will be at the airport at 9:54 !!)…arrived at my apartment around 8:10 am…made 3 phone calls, one to dad and Pa, one to Chi and one to khun-Ae…took 2 hr nap…and woke up with the more severe flu (I felt a bit ill since Saturday night…guess walking in the snow and wind at the airport accelerate the symptom :P)…
First thing I did after that was to move the sofa…the new adjustment made the room a lot bigger !!...
A couple days after that I couldn’t remember anything except the pain and fatigue from the flu…I didn’t have the flu this severe in years !
…
Let's take a look a bit closer...
Second thing I remember was an exam on Tuesday, February 22nd
…it’s my first sit-in and opened book exam (with PKG802 it’s on-line exam) of the program…unfortunately, the day before the exam and the day of the exam were two days that the Flu struck me the most
If I told anybody that my walk is slow (of course, not to compare with P’Ae :P)…they will never believe me…, but on those days I can barely move…it took me 3 whole minutes to stand-up and other 3 minutes to walk across the living room to the kitchen…
…I felt the heat evaporate from my body…I could barely speak, my throat was filled with pain from every-2-3-minute coughing…
…It was a nightmare…
…
so on the day before the exam date, I sent email to notify Dr.Rubino that I might not be able to make it to the exam room…she’s OK with that, but requested that I need to hand her a letter from the doctor…which is reasonable…except that the Olin Health Center, the nearest hospital, is located at the university entrance and that’s exactly where the I have to take my second bus to the exam room
…well, what’s the point of visiting the doctor if you have to walk in that snow storm (with the mix of freezing rain !) to the Health Center and not making it to the exam room ?
…
so, I decided that if I can get myself out from the bed the next day…I’ll have an exam…
that night I went to bed around midnight…with the last attempt to practice on the question of home work from previous year…that simple unit conversion took me whole half an hour to get it done !!!
It was the first time in my life that dieing and having an exam have the same definition…
…
I made it to the exam room with an awfully hollow brain…thanks god it’s an opened book exam, so everything that you understand and know exactly where it is in the book…you will most likely to get marks from that
…so I felt like my hardest attempt to read and understand every bit of the topic we’ve covered in class before my Flu-week was not lose in vain...at least I knew what kind of answers I have to give and where to find them
it was an hourly (60 min) exam with 2 bloody calculation questions and 3 write-‘til-you-dead questions
I felt like I got quite a good answer for every question…
…something got paying off, eh ?
…
after PKG815 exam, Turk took us, me, P’Oh, Prang and Mod to shopping at Walmart and stopped by at ‘Krispy Kreme’…for donut take-out
…
Have you ever after experienced anything that you knew exactly it’s the most wonderful experience of its kind ? …no matter when you’ll experience it in the future…it’s not gonna be better than this ?
Tell you what,…while I was having my first ‘Original Glazed’ donut…I knew at once no donut will be wonderful than this…even the second Original Glazed donut…You know what I mean ?
It was like when you met the love of your life, no other man…no matter how amazing that person will be…can compare to that :)
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Man vs donut…interesting choice of comparison 555
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Tuesday, February 15, 2005
02-07+...+15-05: A Home Work Week
For this week, apart from tons of home work, there were some rather depressing periods – the before-goodbye period - …
Why do I always have to be alone ?
...
Let’s see on Monday (the 7th), I stayed at home trying to finish PKG815 for the second round…, every time the knowledge of mom’s leaving in two weeks emerged…I have to spend 10-15 min crying the bathroom, but this wasn’t that bad compared to last time in Canada :P
…
On Tuesday, we had Packaging Graduate Orientation which lasted almost 2 h…then a PKG815 lecture…Dr.Rubino announced to us that the first exam will be postponed to next-next Tuesday :) …did I ever tell you how much I love her ? :P
…
On Wednesday, I was trying to complete PKG802 home work…that’s when I realized it’s not easy enough to finish it in 5 h !!!
...
I started with PKG815’s lecture on Thursday, then its lab. in the afternoon.
Sometimes working with people makes you know them better…not in the positive way though…
That day when I and Prang were scaling the samples, well, I’m always the one who scaling them and Prang’s always there to write the numbers down…we get along on working as a group pretty good :) …
When I and Prang were waiting for other groups to weigh their samples, we saw Ing, one of PhD student and her team using one of the balance that we remembered she didn’t use it last time, so we warn her about that (‘coz we have tested them and found that both balances are different in last digit about 8 point !!)…and guess what ?...she said Oh, it’s OK…you know ?...it doesn’t really matter, We can use both balances.
OK people, I’m a little bit confused here…giving that this person have already got her PhD in CHEMISTRY (!!!) in China and are seeking another degree (PhD in Packaging)…How can she not know this basic rule and skill working in the lab ?
Well, like I told you before, when you met someone who’s higher educated than you, it doesn’t mean that the person is smarter than you…:)
And the higher education one has, normally, the more persistent one become.
…of course, part of it because once we’ve learnt more in something, we feel like we have knowledge in that something more than other people (or maybe other tell us we are expert in that something)…that brings confidence…and sometimes it’s too much :(
…
On Friday around 6 pm, mom and I arrange ‘farewell’ party for mom (?)…we invited every Thai packaging students and also P’Kerk to enjoy ‘Pad-Thai’ and ‘Kaw-Tom-Kerng’ …, so basically, before that time all I did is helping mom prepare the food and type PKG802 home work (it’s 13 pages for the first draft)
…
I spent every min of the weekend and Monday working on PKG802 and PKG815 homework…which I finished them around 3 in the morning of Tuesday (today) :(
…
I had to PKG815 lecture ‘til 11:10 AM this morning and spent a couple of hours in the Mail Library and the rest sleeping…my real day just getting start, people !
:P
Sunday, February 06, 2005
02-02+03+04+05+06-05: Like Easter said...
"It nice it happen to you. Like you come to the island and had a holiday. Sun didn't burn you red-red, just brown. You sleep and no mosquito eat you. But the truth is, it bound to happen if you stay long enough. So take that nice picture you got in your head home with you, but don't be fooled. We lonely here mostly too. If we lucky, maybe, we got some nice pictures to take with us."
...
after all, the only thing we will get from this world is the memories :)
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:P...sorry for my absence again...but it's nothing to report so far
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On Wednesday, I stayed at home and finally finished reading PKG815...just the first round...I'll need at least 2-3 times more before all those miracle chemistries will sink into my brain :(
P.S. I think mom is trying to get used to being packaging graduate's mom :)
...
On Thursday, I had PKG815 class 'til 11:10 AM
As Lily asked us what we will going to do as soon as the lecture finished...I was irritated by the fact that I have to stay 'til 3 pm to attend PKG432 laboratory without any useful thing to do...
but wait a minute...Yeah !...I still need to talk to Dr.Singh about my 'Individual study'...which I've planned to do this coming summer...
Actually I had sent an email to him about this and asked for his convenient time that I can discuss the issue with him. He told me to go and talk to him (in his office) on Tuesday...2 weeks ago :P
Hey !, it's no 'coz I didn't try to talk to him..., but every time I went to his office (every day in the first week of our suppose-to-happen meeting...then every couple days in the second week)...he's not there !!!
and the same thing happened...
so I went to International Center Building for lunch with P'Oh and Terk...it turned out to be the 2-hour meal !...first we discussed about Hollywood (what ?), then being a Gay's friend and finally...Thai high society...it was fun :)
as soon as I got back Prang and P'Oh urged me to Dr.Singh office...and he's there :) :) :)
It's least-than-1-minute meeting...and I had loads of homework to do 'til our next meeting...
then around 3 PM...I just realized that the lab. manual I brought with me is PKG815's not 432's (and P'Oh forgot to bring hers)...
...
well, at least I had a talk with Dr.Singh today :P
...
On Friday, I went with mom to 'Capital Complex'...unfortunately the camera automatically turned off after we took our 3rd photo !...apparently we forgot to charge its batteries :P
Our first photo (the other two are more or less the same) :(
...in the building, we joined the group of elementary school students and their parents for a tour
it was somehow strange to be the only 2 Asian people...also those not-so-friendly eyes (I'll say 70% of the group) made me felt uneasy...well, perhaps they didn't know the fact that we can't choose our origin, we can only choose what we want to be and how we will live our lifes :) (smile ironically)
...
On Saturday, we, I and mom, had a 2 and a half-hour shopping at the mall and came back home
Once I saw mom's flight schedule...It occured to me that I'll have only 2 weeks with her 'til we meet again...in the future
I felt really sad...the time to say goodbye is coming...
...in the same time I know she need to go back...every important thing in her life is in Thailand...her 'real' life is in Thailand :) (smile sadly)
and with her gone...I'll be able to concentrate on what I have to do more...'til we meet again :)
yet...the more I think of this coming event, the more miserable I've become...
:(
...
Today, I's trying to finish the 3rd chapter of PKG802...still 20 pages to go and this is 11 PM !!!
it will be a long night, baby :)
Mom making 'Pork ball' today...it's great !
My usual activities: reading on the couch and searching for the food
Mom's usual activities: snacking, surfing internet...and cooking
Tuesday, February 01, 2005
02-01-05: 11 h
Today I woke up real early (7 AM) to attend PKG815 lab at 9 AM…OK 9 may be not that early…, but don’t forget it’s now 30F !!
The most difficult time is the moment you have to force yourself to get off those warm blanket…and walk to the bathroom :P
But once you washed up…it’s a different story :)
Thanks god today is quite warm (it’s 20F something, last week)…
I got to the building at 8:50…and got a phone call from Li, our TA, around 8:57 to notify us that he’ll be late…’coz he’s having a car accident !!!...don’t worry lots of people told me that this kind of trouble’s usually happen to Li…and it’s too often…to believe
:)
So we started our experiment around 9:40…and got to the class of PKG815 lecture around 10:35…15 min late…only to sit down for 10 min, then headed back to Packaging Building to have a quick look on our new machine for permeability measurement
…Continued our Isotherm lab. with Li
…went out for lunch at International Building
…and spent the rest of the time (including waiting for the pressure inside the vacuum oven to reach atmosphere pressure and waiting for the sample to cool down) ‘til 6 PM on Isotherm experiment again !...
When the time I got home…it’s almost 7 PM…it’s freezing out there :(
Then spent about an hour to edit the pics that mom took…and rearrange them so you can see what’s my apartment look like…
…
Room#27 @ CedarView Easr Apartment
…gotta go…Law&Order SVU is on !
Monday, January 31, 2005
01-29+30+31-05: Ordinary Weekend
This weekend I and mom mostly stayed at home...well, since I have exam every weekend (PKG802)…I always spend my time during the weekend in my lovely nest :)
Most of my time on Saturday and Sunday was spent on reading PKG815…after several h of frustrated studying…I finished only 4 pages !!!
…still 30 pages to go :(
…
Then on Monday I woke up quite early…trying to finish PKG802 Home Work 2
You know what ?...the more time you spent on working on something, the more paranoid you will be about it…
‘coz I’ve already answered all the Q since Friday…actually I did write the answers down in the paper since Tuesday…typed it on Thursday…and did my first correction on Friday :P
Still, I’ve spent 5 h re-correcting it again !!!
Around 6 PM, P’Kerk came to pick us up to go to P’Kate’s lovely place near the town’s cemetery
We threw sort of Birthday Party for P’Kerk and also celebrated his recent marriage (in Thailand) with P’Nong who’s now in Japan
He dropped us off around 11 PM…and we called it a day…
Saturday, January 29, 2005
01-28-05: A Dream
I'm not usually care about dreams...you know ?, ...(with the exception of Day Dream...which I sometimes consider them as Motivation or Encouragement...which is good :) )...
OK, back to those night dreams...which I believe I have too many...the funny thing is the one that I can remember, it always turn out to be just a dream
...but the one I couldn't remember or the one that seems like one's routine life or one's ordinary event which I usually forget about it as soon as I got off the bed...such dreams, if I had, always...well, let just say 99% of them...will be the event I'll face in the future
strange, ha ?...you have no need to believe this...and sometimes I don't wanna believe it either
The feeling of your life being controlled by someone or something or the fact that you might actually living in the Matrix...scare me
But I remember reading some articles about people who can see events from their future (come on, don't laugh...:P)...'coz something about the Brain frequency, or something like that...anyway...I believe I'm not the only one who has this 'Vision'
...
Back to my yesterday's life, shall we ?
:P
Yesterday (it's the 29th when I wrote this) I and mom stayed in the apartment...it's too (damn) cold to go outside
and all I've done is trying to finish PKG815 reading material...which was proved impossible, so I went to bed around 4 AM
That's when this 'dream' come to me...you know what ?...it was the first time since I've moved here, that I slept through the night without any waking up
In th dream, One of my old friends came to visit me at my house in Bangkok..., so I asked my mom and dad for the premission to go out somewhere with him.
Then (I think) we went to a temple...a very old and vacant temple...where we talked and talked and talked...and I felt so happy...like finally I met a person that I can be myself when I am with...again
Let's me clarify this 'feeling' a minute, it's not the feeling between the lovers, as you might think...it's more like when I was with Pa, Off, P'Ae, or Sai... close friends
It's getting dark, so we headed back home..., but then I remembered I left somtething behind, he offered to get that for me...and I told him I'll be waitting here...I remembered turning around to see what the place looks like...
Then he said...I won't be long, I'll be back soon...just wait here...
...
that's when my dearest mom woke me up...:) (smile sadly)
...
I don't know why I felt so sad and empty...probably because I just realized that I'm all alone again...that person - that old friend - disappeared
...
my mom's theory is I ate too much, slept too little...and we just talked about visiting the temple the coming weekend...well, she may be right :(
..., or probably because I missed my friends too much...after all, all the person I love...all my close friends...all my familiar places and faces...are in Thailand (or in Edmonton)
...
...
But I also hopeful...that one day...soon... he'll be back...I don't know who he is or what he looks like..., but I'll know once I met him...and I'll tell him he's been missed
Thursday, January 27, 2005
01-27-2005: A Hidden Bump
Well, sorry for the absence of my diary…to those who ‘have to’ read it everyday as their newspaper…
How can I say…I’m a very devoted teacher, right ?
ha ha ha… :P
…
My day started early today, ‘coz I need to get to ‘Olin Health Center’ for the ‘Skin Test’ result
Dude, I already knew I didn’t have TB (Tuberculosis)…, but when the nurse who’s amazed by my COMPLETE absence of any bump told me that the reddish purple area around the needle stab could be the ‘hidden bump’ instead of just the bruises…and spent 15 min try to prove that…I almost allowed myself to believe that I’m a walking disease…lol (= laugh out loud*)
After that I took bus # 33 to ‘Holden Hall’…where I spent my almost-an-hour quality time taking a nap , then another 50 min of Dr.Rubino’s class (with first 10 min of trying to make the visualizer work…as usual :) )
Joanne dropped us, Prang, Terk, P’Oh and me, at ‘Packaging Building’, we walked to ‘International Building’ for lunch…you wouldn’t believe how huge the crowd of hungry people was !!!
Then we attended our first laboratory: Equilibrium Sorption Isotherm…well, don’t think it’s as easy as the undergrad lab…you (and I, just before the lab briefing start) have no idea how much knowledge behind those simple graphs is :P...at the end of this lab. I think we need to submit a lab. report of at least 30 pages long including 4 different graphs, 5-6 tables and 2-3 solve-it-ourselves equation…Welcome (again) to the graduate student world !
Around 3 pm, I and P’Oh attended another lab., PKG432: Packaging Operations, Process Analysis and Quality Issues which we voluntarily took in order to get our hands on the real packaging machines, ‘coz the course PKG802: Distribution and Machinery (which is required for non-packaging-background graduate student) is an on-line course
Imagine how effective those ‘Long-distance learning’ or ‘On-line MSc degree’ would be ?...without actual practice with the real machine :(
We had so much fun…well, lots of labor too…with the Feeder/Counter and Case sealer machines…How many times will we have a chance to try to be a non-skill, labor worker in the factory ?
Around 4 PM I called it a day…and headed back home
…
It was a very long…yet fun and excited day somehow :)
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* thanks to Off who told me it’s ‘laugh out loud’…well, I thought it’s ‘lots of love’ for about a year !!! :P
Saturday, January 15, 2005
Sunday, December 26, 2004
One Year in Thailand
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not someone who’s visited Thailand as tourist…I’m Thai.
I was born in Thailand and never left my hometown ‘til I was 22.
Spending 2 years in Edmonton, Alberta…and I was back with my M.Sc. degree with a rather deep wound in my heart caused by people who I consider to be like my bro, sis and friends…ironically, all of them are Thai.
So, in November 2003, I was back in Thailand to continue my work as a university lecturer with the skeptical feeling on trusting people.
...But one year has past…and I can say that during this amazing 12 months…I’ve met loads of wonderful people… probably more than I’ve met all my life.
Thanks to Off, and also Ajarn-Tavorn, Ajarn-Kaew, P’Ae and P’Rin who have taught me that the real friendship can be found in the work place.
FT1 student, Ann, Au, Aur, Don’t, Fon, Ja, Jay, Jib, Kloy, Neang, Neuy, Oke, Oom, Sai, Tom, Tung, and Yok for making my very first teaching group of students to be the best Luk-Sit every Ajarn can ever wish for :) … thank you so much to be such a huge motive in every piece of my teaching work.
P’Tone, Khun-Aey, Nong-Kuy, Winn, Ae, P’Ake, P’Pol, P’Tim, P’Hi, Khun-non and the others from Jon-Tee Webboard to make me be able to accept that the real friendship in the cyber world do exist.
For Sai, Ann, Kwan, Maew, Mam, A-Ngun, Yui and Joy to show me that after 8 years of arguing, working, crying, chatting, competing, parting and long-distance phone call…we’re still be a ‘9 monsters’ !
For Chi, for being my first love :)
For P’Noi, P’Kaew, P’Nuch, P’Jum, P’Singh, P’Bum, P’Ake, P’Adist, P’PingPong, N’Pop, P’Jeab, etc. to teach me that every coin has two sides…everybody has both angle and devil in them…it depends on what side we prefer to remember :)
Thanks to Viv and Judy who talked and laughed with me when nobody didn’t.
For lots of people I didn’t mention here – thanks for coming into my life and make me to be who I am now.
And for my Dad, Mom and Pa…to always assure me that there’re some people who can love you more than you can love yourself !
…
Thanks to every individual and every moment I’ve met for making me be able to learn and accept who I really am and finally…to be able be proud of myself.
…
You all have made this passing year to be the best year in my entire life !
…
Comparing myself now with me in last year’s November, I barely believe how much one can learn - - and change.
I was finally be able to accept that there’re difference in all individuals…and life is somewhat the chance to get to know, to understand and to live with these differences, happily.
Hope my new chapter of learning of living in the States give me the better me :)
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