multiple intensities
"she tells her love while half asleep,
in the dark hours,
with half-words whispered low:
as Earth stirs in her winter sleep
and puts outs grass and flowers
despite the snow,
despite the falling snow"
- robert graves; extracted from "possession" by a.s. byatt (a current read. god, it's good)
it was my second paper (medical microbiology and immunology, if you might ask) two days ago. we were walking out of the wayville showgrounds, intensely wondering to death why the tutors were too cruel and unkind. even adam commented that he "unfortunately had to lose a tenner, settling with a ninety" whilst us normal beings wished we could escape with a passing mark instead.
winter these weeks have been intense. the winds were so strong that even i was blown off my feet. all of us huddled in the bus-shelter as the rain started pouring. when i got back home, my window was pelted by falling ice-chips; a hailstorm i might add. i remembered my first hailstorm last year, as i was walking back from the local coles, grocery bags in hand. the sun was shining and the attack was sudden. it was a joyous event mind you, though one had to bear the minimal trauma on exposure to falling objects. there we were, two insane youths twirling around in the streets by our hostel. anyway, we received word from the news that the adelaide hills were snowing. pity i couldn't see it when i looked out the window.
yesterday, as i was waiting for my third paper (out of five, if you happen to ask again) to start, dan came to join us. seven layers he was wearing; a hefty seven. apparently seven wasn't enough, not even the double beanie this intensed fashionist wore on his head. he was saying how it felt as if we were trapped in a wind tunnel, akin to the one at monash - by the menzies building.
"ah, the menzies," dan recalled. "it was that place where that crazy chinese student shot his tutor because of his grades. i was at class then and we were told to stay in our rooms. i wanted to call my parents, to tell them that i was alive, but our mobile reception was blocked. we saw choppers coming in and the police encircling and sealing the area off. all because of one insane dude. man, that was intense."
maybe not as intense as the fear of the impending essay exam that day. we were joking rather weakly about how any one of us might turn insane (and shoot someone) if the questions were too darn hard. i hoped to God, i prayed to him, i wished with all my might that i would pass. with this paper gone, it feels like a heavy burden was lifted from our tired shoulders. the end of exams seem nearer all of a sudden.
i can't hardly wait to visit the dutch masters at the ngv. ah melbourne, sweet melbourne. another week left and you would find me there. i wouldn't call it a great city and melbournians are hardly a very interesting lot. you may beg to differ and that is hardly much of a surprise. i am not being particularly patriotic - adelaide lacks excitement and singapore has too much for comfort. adelaide is quiet at night while singapore reeks of urgency: people walking too fast, rushing for something still. adelaide lacks intense pressure while singapore is bursting in her seams. where does melbourne lie then? why, in between of course. but a city's character is not synonymous with her pressures; it comes with the presence of life. and like all australia, melbourne quietly closes her doors at 5pm (all-days and 9pm fridays).
life - i wish i could live my life right now. get out and do something totally random. unfortunately i have to return to (urgh!) anatomy now. the screaming in my brain intensifies the longer i look at my atlases. wish me luck for next week.
in the dark hours,
with half-words whispered low:
as Earth stirs in her winter sleep
and puts outs grass and flowers
despite the snow,
despite the falling snow"
- robert graves; extracted from "possession" by a.s. byatt (a current read. god, it's good)
it was my second paper (medical microbiology and immunology, if you might ask) two days ago. we were walking out of the wayville showgrounds, intensely wondering to death why the tutors were too cruel and unkind. even adam commented that he "unfortunately had to lose a tenner, settling with a ninety" whilst us normal beings wished we could escape with a passing mark instead.
winter these weeks have been intense. the winds were so strong that even i was blown off my feet. all of us huddled in the bus-shelter as the rain started pouring. when i got back home, my window was pelted by falling ice-chips; a hailstorm i might add. i remembered my first hailstorm last year, as i was walking back from the local coles, grocery bags in hand. the sun was shining and the attack was sudden. it was a joyous event mind you, though one had to bear the minimal trauma on exposure to falling objects. there we were, two insane youths twirling around in the streets by our hostel. anyway, we received word from the news that the adelaide hills were snowing. pity i couldn't see it when i looked out the window.
yesterday, as i was waiting for my third paper (out of five, if you happen to ask again) to start, dan came to join us. seven layers he was wearing; a hefty seven. apparently seven wasn't enough, not even the double beanie this intensed fashionist wore on his head. he was saying how it felt as if we were trapped in a wind tunnel, akin to the one at monash - by the menzies building.
"ah, the menzies," dan recalled. "it was that place where that crazy chinese student shot his tutor because of his grades. i was at class then and we were told to stay in our rooms. i wanted to call my parents, to tell them that i was alive, but our mobile reception was blocked. we saw choppers coming in and the police encircling and sealing the area off. all because of one insane dude. man, that was intense."
maybe not as intense as the fear of the impending essay exam that day. we were joking rather weakly about how any one of us might turn insane (and shoot someone) if the questions were too darn hard. i hoped to God, i prayed to him, i wished with all my might that i would pass. with this paper gone, it feels like a heavy burden was lifted from our tired shoulders. the end of exams seem nearer all of a sudden.
i can't hardly wait to visit the dutch masters at the ngv. ah melbourne, sweet melbourne. another week left and you would find me there. i wouldn't call it a great city and melbournians are hardly a very interesting lot. you may beg to differ and that is hardly much of a surprise. i am not being particularly patriotic - adelaide lacks excitement and singapore has too much for comfort. adelaide is quiet at night while singapore reeks of urgency: people walking too fast, rushing for something still. adelaide lacks intense pressure while singapore is bursting in her seams. where does melbourne lie then? why, in between of course. but a city's character is not synonymous with her pressures; it comes with the presence of life. and like all australia, melbourne quietly closes her doors at 5pm (all-days and 9pm fridays).
life - i wish i could live my life right now. get out and do something totally random. unfortunately i have to return to (urgh!) anatomy now. the screaming in my brain intensifies the longer i look at my atlases. wish me luck for next week.