Long time, no see
I'M BAAAACK!!!
yes, i know it's been over two months since i last updated, but now i can actually be bothered doing it because i'm at uni and i have nothing else to do. i've probably got quite a bit to say, so bear with me. as you all know, my darling Tammy was in Melbourne for 2 months, but i'm not going go on about that because it's all in her livejournal. but i will say that we had the most amazing time together, especially because of the fact that we got to live together for about 6 weeks, and about 3 of those weeks, it was just us in the appartment with no flatmates. twas pure bliss. anyways, we did just about all the touristy things that one does when they come to Melbourne, most of the things i was doing for the first time myself. one of the highlights was going to the Australian Open tennis. but yeah, like i said, check out tamzette's journal, if you haven't already.
well, Tammy left about 5 weeks ago, and since then i've been pretty much bored shitless till last week when i've gone beck to uni for various reasons. after Tammy i left i moved back in with my parents, and for the first few weeks i felt like George Costanza when he moved back in with his parents. all you Seinfeld fans would know what i'm talking about (looks at Tara, hehe). to put it simply, it was extremely frustrating.
a few major things have happened in my life since Tammy left. one of them was that i quit my job, of over 4 years at Red Rooster at the begining of February. one of the assistant managers who i was friendly with resigned because she had just graduated from uni and started full time work. i became aware that the store manager would be resigning too, because rumor had it that she was pregnant. but the main reason was that a few months ago we got a new area manager who turned out to be a real dickhead and was forcing the area manager to reduce store expenditure, and one of the ways was by cutting the hours of the older staff members and giving them to the younger ones. i was told that i would go from part-time to casual, meaning that i wasn't required to work a minimum of 9 hours (about 2 shifts) per week. and they cut me down to one shift per week, which is nowhere near enough to support me. so i resigned in protest. i saw to my former assistant manager last night, and she said that since i resigned the new managers have f**ked the place over and about 7 other people have left and the store is badly understaffed. now who's laughing!!! i've been applying at a whole heap of other places to work, including supermarkets, cafes, bars, bookshops, music stores, etc. i've had a few phone calls, but for most of the places, i don't have the right qualifications or experience, such as serving alcohol. i didn't apply at any other fast food joints like Maccas, KFC or Hungry Jacks because i really dont want to work in fast food again. i'll keep looking at other places, online too, but if i don't find anything soon i might have to resort to fast food again. i got a nice lump sum when i left Red Rooster to the tune of $1100 for my annual leave entitlements, but thats almost all gone becuase i've had a few expenses for uni, such as admin fees, textbooks and travel tickets. at the moment, i'm not fussed thaty i don't have a job, because it gives me more time to study for my exam.
"What exam? you just started uni this week" i hear you ask. well, this is another big thing. i've registered to sit the GAMSAT, an entrance exam to study postgraduate medicine when i finish my biomedical science degree. the exam is on the 19th march. there are 7 universities that have postgrad med courses, the University of Melbourne is the only one in my neck of the woods. the rest are in Brisbane Canberra, Adelaide and Perth, and two in Sydney. if i don't get into Melbourne, but can get into another uni, i would be more than happy. it's not the end of the world for me of i don't get accepted into any uni. i actually finish my degree next year, so i can sit the exam again. but this is one hard exam. it's divided into three sections, and has a total duration of 5 hours. the main reason i want to do medicine is to get into my desired prefession, forensic pathology. and even if i still don't get in, there are many doors open for me, in forensics and other fields. i can do honors or other further study, which i really wouldn't mind either.
so yeah, i'm back at uni this week. last week was O'week (the O stands for orientation, for you non-Aussies) which is mainly for new first year students to familiarise themselves with the university before classes start. one of the main parts of O'week are the clubs and society stalls ready to sign up new members. this year i'm the vice-president of AUJS (Australasian Union of Jewish Students) at Deakin uni. the stalls were held on Monday to Wednesday and we were pleased with the number of new members we signed up, more than last year. Deakin, which has a total population of about 9,000 students has about 200 Jewish student, most of which sing up to AUJS. on Thusday, i went to Monsh Uni, which is about 5 times as big (size and population-wise) as Deakin. i went to check out the AUJS stall there, and it was really great. it was an amazing atmosphere because of the huge amount of people there, the place was just buzzing with excitement.
this semester i'm only studying 3 units, physiology, biochemistry and cellular biology. i thought i'd take it easy and spread my units over the remaining time i have left at uni. but it sucks though, because by third year, some people have at least one day a week off. but not me, even though i only have about 15 hours a week of classes. i am still yet to have one day a week off. i guess i'm just unluck in this respect.
i knew there was something i forgot to mention, on the 22nd February was my birthday. i am no longer a teenager. sad, i know. i now have to pretend to be a responsible young adult. but as the wise saying goes, getting old is mandatory but growing up is optional. i went with some friends from work, uni and highschool to Strike bowling bar on Chapel Street. it's a really cool place and i got a good deal on the bowling, 2 games for $15. they have a bar there as well, and some video games and pool tables. i was narrowly pipped in the first game but won the second game on a reasonable score of 127.
Melbourne gets thrown into the spotlight this weekend as the Formula 1 racing season begins with the Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park, about 3km from my place. on race day, i can hear the cars from my place. i love F1 racing. i've been to the GP 3 times in 1999-2001 cos my brother Simon worked for Tag Heuer, the swiss watch company who are the official timers of the F1 championship and he was able to get free tickets, but now he lives in New York, so i can't go anymore. it's quite expensive to by tickets now. Australia has been overrun with offical heads of state this week. Danish Crown Prince Frederik with his Australian wife are here, as well as Prince Charles (without Camila), and also Israeli President Moshe Katzav. he is giving a public address tonight which i am going to. i can imagine security will be extremely tight, but it should be very interesting.
anyways, thats it for now. i'll try to update more often now. i hope i didnt bore you to sleep
be good
Jacob.