Lol, was supposed to post earlier, but... You know the drill. I make the excuses. You just take it. Oh by the way, it's 12 midnight, and tomorrow I've got to be up at 6ish, to get ready for the white coat ceremony at NUS High early tomorrow. Bad time to blog, I realise. But hey, at least I'm making the effort. Now on to the post.

Hmm, on Thursday night I went down to help out with Rag Ops with some of our OG members. Our job scope pretty much consisted of making last minute changes/"improvements" to the Medicine Faculty float. In reality? We sat around and chilled the whole night away to Rag the next day. At first there were just four or five of us around in the evening, so at the end of the day's work some of us wound up at my room, just taking a look at it in general haha. Michelle and Feifan, and Nick, who was on an unnatural self-induced high that night for some reason >.>. I don't think anyone believes me other than the two us who witnessed it that it actually happened at all... But anyway. After that we met up with the rest of us who were to turn up and stay the night over, and be "on duty" for Rag. We just ended up colonising an air-conditioned seminar room, and played cards, listened to music, whiling the time away. Interesting time, since it's probably the last time we'll be staying overnight with each other for a long time. We all sort of knocked out towards the end though, maybe 5ish. This was the first night in the last month or so where I didn't survive the entire sleepover. Sigh, cut me some slack... It's my 8th one I think since Medicamp O_O.

Rag day itself we helped move the float and panels associated with it around at the start, so we missed the initial few performances (including the winning one for the faculty category, quite a shame). The sun was terrible, beating down on us the way it did. Merciless. We still did manage to catch most of the other faculty performances (and hall ones), thankfully. Medicine had a really well choreographed dance, and I believe many expected them to win it... Unfortunately, all we won was most improved flag day collection per capita... Very sad when you think about it >.> ah well, I think we're all past the stage that winning actually counted. Most of us were in it for the company and fun more than anything else. Oh, and after Rag was over, we discovered that Matilda (one of our OGLs and M2) appeared to have fractured her ankle or something, falling into a drain... Her foot was swollen enough =/. So we got her to UHWC, and then to NUH for X-rays and stuff, only to discover that it was actually a clean break in her metacarpal (bone in your foot joining your toe to ankle). She truly shocked us all with her pain threshold. Didn't even bother with painkillers she was given. I think she was actually sadder about the fact that she would be partially immobilised for the next month or so than the actual pain or discomfort itself... Truly impressive. I don't think any of us would have been able to repeat that feat had it been us.

There was a barbecue that night with the cell group, pretty meh (especially since I didn't actually get much sleep the night before). But still, I did meet some new people, who did in some ways make going down for it worthwhile, Joel and Man Ying in particular. She's starting school on Monday too, and staying at the same residence as me~! She struck me as quite an interesting person, and she was. Somehow the conversation just carried itself, as it does when you just click. It hasn't been happening much before, but recently I've started to notice: there are certain people who are just on the same... Frequency? As I am. And I'm inevitably drawn to them (and hopefully, them me), for better or worse. But generally it's nice meeting new people when you know they're on the same level as you are, interests and everything else aside. Deciphering what makes up these "frequencies" (quaint term, temporal until a more suitable description surfaces) is material for another post, but definitely something worth looking into.

Oh yes, yesterday was National Day. It's quite a hyped up event in Singapore (ahem, monopolise patriotism much), and that's putting it lightly. Well, a few of our OG mates decided to succumb and turn up at Boat Quay to watch the fireworks display at the end of the Parade, after meeting for dinner. The pictures I have are not worth putting up, our view was obscured first by a tree situated at just the wrong place, and then by the resulting smoke from the fireworks. Still, it was more the feeling of being there together with friends that made the night, more than the actual display itself. We did adjourn to a bar (called the Eskimo Bar, and aptly so >.> it was cold, but pleasantly so (at least, that's what I thought...)) after that, just a few of us, for a round of cocktails and some pretty deep "discussion" lol. But yeah, it was... An interesting night. We learnt a lot more about each other probably within that small group than we would have been able to progress any more as an entire OG. To Feifan, Nikki, Nick, Weixin and Weiting, last night was fun =). Definitely worth repeating, perhaps with remixed members (or not =P).

Church this afternoon (went for the later service, could not summon the motivation to go earlier). But I just realised that the distance to Expo is quite incredible. Taking into account waiting times and public transport routes, it took me between 1 and a half to 2 hours to get to church. Impractical++. The Jurong West service is starting to look more inviting by the week, and perhaps I'll pay a visit in the near future.

Met Man Ying for dinner (like I said, it's nice knowing people living around), just spent time chatting, getting to know each other. She actually isn't a Christian, but has sort of been visiting I suppose, when I met her. Probably just on her way out though, which is cool, and something I respect. What I simply cannot stand are people who try to impress their religion on anyone. I think it's just stupid and... Wrong. It's the individual who should be the one allowed to make the decision for his or herself. I think it's our responsibility to inform people of our beliefs, but that's where it ends. Personally, I would rather a person be free to believe what they will, than be psychologically forced into anything, even if that includes my own religion. It's sad, but I know it's happening. Anyway, she's pretty cool, and we talked about random stuff (see, the only time talking about random stuff actually works is when there's some sort of match in frequency. It just gets weird otherwise). She's doing an English major in FASS (Faculty of Arts and Science) (complete with Arts hours -.-). She got to see my room, and I hers (I'm in a Class A room while hers is a Class C... We were both interested in what the other side looked like I guess =P). The difference wasn't as great as I expected I suppose, the room size is about the same, except for the absence of the toilet and A/C unit. Which actually make all the difference ><. Oh well. My life as a Medical student officially starts off tomorrow, kicking off with a sort of Medical Inauguration I suppose (White Coat Ceremony), followed by lectures after -.- true to the spirit of Med school... Formal attire is such a chore to prepare though. Though from prior experience, it's feels grand once everyone's there and formal, with you a part of it. Well, we shall see how that goes. Oh, something that struck me during the barbecue. They were playing these childish ice-breaker games (which do work, amazingly, given the right crowd), and then it hit an ambiguious (not so, really) point, where there was a forfeit, and it was between a guy and a girl. And I heard the call "murmur mumble... GENTLEMAN... grumble", resulting in the guy going up and doing the forfeit. In my opinion, and many others, it should have by all rights gone to the girl. Which brings up another thing that annoys me, quite a lot. It riles when people invoke gentlemanly attitudes/behaviour in a game/competitive setting. Honestly. What's the point of playing at all when rules are bent and shortcuts taken, and girls get the lighter end of the stick at the end, yet maintain equal chances to win? I believe that all's fair in love and war (to use the idiom loosely), and if you want to play the game (on equal grounds I would assume, in the first world context of this age), please do so with pride and honour, instead of hiding behind ideals best left out of the competitive case. I find that over the last few months? Years even? My personality seems to be evolving. Technically, your personality should only change once in your life, and that's around mid-life, 30-40 years old type of period. And yet, when I look back on my personality profile, it almost certainly doesn't match, especially some parts. According to the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI), I apparently am (was) an ISTJ (If you're feeling lost, please refer to the "For everything else." link on my sidebar. It should help.). But it's hardly true anymore, especially the T and J components. Reading descriptions and stuff, I've actually almost shifted to F and P in some aspects, while in others I'm still on this side. Honestly, ask anyone I knew way back while I was still in Singapore, and they'd probably agree that I was an ISTJ. Yet if you asked anyone who knows me even moderately well now, I think they'd be wont to think otherwise. It's odd, and that means I probably can't be classified into a profile at the moment. It might have something to do with my exceptionally tumultous emotions at the moment, but still, it's a little bit ludicrous really. I shall monitor this, further developments to come.

And I'm starting school off with a bang indeed. It's only the first day and I'm already going to be sleep deprived. That's the spirit!

Forward!

Before it even began.

START Story Arc 3 - Medical School