Once again try as I might, the collective thoughts in my head are struggling to get themselves together so that I might pen them down into coherent and structured sentences and not just some bogged and watered down version of what I really want to present and express fully.
The IH Ball was on yesterday night where cam-whoring, dancing, some drinking, and a whole bunch of other unmentionable stuff took place. Please forgive the slightly over-the-top poses struck in the pictures as I'm not used to such cam-whoring activities even though it was all in good fun and jest. The photos though were all taken during during the dinner at San Remo Ballroom about a ten minutes taxi ride from IH. The food was just above average than usual IH food fare and it had better be as it cost us $AUD50. In between the entree, main course and dessert, all of us just basically went to find people to snap photos, admire each others' outfits, and dance and drink the night away. I didn't though as I get quite red in the face and I wouldn't want that appearing in the photos. Besides that, people talked, people shouted a little, got a bit tipsy and proceeded to hook up with each other and some other little stuff as well.
At about eleven the shuttle bus was here to escort the party-goers who bought the ticket which cost $AUD20 to attend the after-party at Velour Bar. Half-filled with skeptism and cynicism when I forked out $AUD70 about a week ago to get my tickets, I was actually excited to check out the club slash bar. Not to get high and pissed but to probably see other people get high and pissed. As usual, upon arrival we were greeted with a wave of smoke and darkness with a smattering of strobe lights and disco balls to match encapsulating the place. IH actually had the basement reserved for us exclusively and free flow of drinks was available all night long that is until the tap ran out close to after two in the morning later. I should get a shirt that says, "I went for the IH after-party and all I got was this lousy shirt and watered down vodka and sprite." The line was so packed and long when the second shuttle bus to bring us there arrived at the bar. Not complaining that I didn't get wasted or anything but I just would have liked to get my money's worth of drinks. In hindsight, I suppose it was good that I didn't get too many drinks to get me high and not remember the night before. I think most people know for a fact that I do not dance but last night was quite the exception. The music wasn't great so occasionally a bunch of us would sneak upstairs to the main dance floor where the music was so much more dance-able and better.
I don't know if I would want to go for another clubbing session like that again but we will see in the future. After two and nearly to three, our group made our way back to IH where a floor-mate from the other side of the building on my floor helped us order a pepperoni pizza as we were hungry and he was also getting something in too from the nearest pizza place. The pizza arrived where we were later joined by two more guys bringing MeeG aka mee goreng and overnight roast chicken with Nando's Perri Perri sauce. Hanging out in my room, because I was touted as having the biggest room among the group, and talking about the night was interesting. Highlights included recapping about the people who hooked up with each other and impliedly guessing as to what was going to happen after the party when they've had a little too much to drink. Actually seeing people making out right in front of you or next to you was a rather surreal moment for me. Not ot be rude, but prying your eyes away from them is actually a little harder than I thought but thankfully I didn't see a lot of them unlike some of my friends. The drama ensuing during the night was interesting and a bit overwhelming for the people involved in the drama. Gossiping about other IH-ers within the confines of my room was a light and slightly noisy affair which ended a little after five which I then said goodbyes and then went directly to bed.
To which I woke up for lunch at one thirty after seven and a half hours of sleep. There was supposed to be a group assignment discussion at uni today at eleven to which the other group member living in IH too and went for the ball and after-party reluctantly and quite guiltily asked to postpone our meeting to Monday. I feel really bad for doing that. This is what is going to happen more frequently if I keep going on like this.
So how was your week?
Assignments are building up gradually much to my and the rest of the residents' dismay here. Midterms abound as well for me as I have one coming up on Wednesday and another one the following Wednesday before departing for Easter break in Sydney. We actually have a foreign language tutorial program going on in the tutorial rooms currently and I attended my first Japanese tutorial on Monday learning some basic Japanese phrases and greetings to which I mostly know all already due to my incessant watching of anime shows. TV-watching always and consistently displays its worth every now and then.
The pressure of not falling behind in your studies is getting to me now. It seems that every single person here is either being funded by a scholarship or they're just really smart but know how to divide their time for fun and study and anything else in between. It's an inadequacy syndrome feeling where I don't feel like I really belong here among the elite of genius-ity here. It's like I just wish I could say I got a TER of 98.5% instead of my own 91.0% and that I'm here because of a scholarship award instead of being a full-fee paying international student. It's my own egoist maniacal personality surfacing where I just have to and got to be up there instead of where I am now which is not too bad really. I knew that IH had a lot of intelligent and talented people before I came here but I had no idea as to the extent of how they can balance that whole smart, cool, and incredible parts of their lives. It's kind of a double-edged sword thing where I do feell blessed and lucky to be here but also that I don't feel like I trully and fully deserve to be here.
The final of my compulsory self-help shift tomorrow at eleven. I can finally return to my normal weekend sleeping pattern starting next week. The weather is turning a little nutty now where it was just chilly and cold for the whole day and night now. I don't want to turn on the heater because it would just dry me out so I shall huddle within the warmth and comfort of my blanket now.
