Ok I don't know when I'll be updating this thing again, but for now I'll just start off by saying that 2007 is going to be a crazy year. Crazy busy, crazy new, crazy good. 2006 was largely uneventful in that it was 12 straight months of school, so anything worth noting was in the Waterloo/school/career-building context.

2007 is going to be craaaazy (cue Gnarles Barkley...Gnarls? Barles Glarkey?) because it spells my last school term ever; gotta hang in there and finish strong. I'm also looking into buying/selling vintage dresses more seriously since I'll have more time this term.

That's followed by 4 months of nothingness which I plan on filling up with travelling. May will be spent in Europe, followed by a quick stop at home for convocation at Laurier. The rest of the summer will be spent in Asia courtesy of Cathay Pacific's Asia Pass - all you can fly, baybeh!

Full-time work starts in September, and then The Sister is getting MARRIED in October (!!!). After that my hours should be relatively filled with CKE training. Exciting? I think so.

Let me know if you're interested in travelling to Europe or Asia this summer, my plans are pretty flexible at this point! All in all, I think this will be a huge year. A BOLD year, italicized, underlined, AND in caps. 2007! Ok I lied, I don't know how to underline something using blogger.

It's 4am and I don't feel like sleeping yet, and almost all my procrastinating options have been exhausted - email, news, finding new msn GIFs, reorganize binders. Blogging seems to be the next logical activity.

27 days left in the Loo.

How does it feel? I can't wait. I enjoy the people, the school, the peace and quiet of my room...but it's time to move on. I'll miss everything, but at the same time I feel very pulled towards the future - York next term (last term, thankfully), a part-time job, Europe/Asia in May, convocation in June, then more Europe/Asia. After 4 months of travelling my face off, full-time work beckons in September at KPMG and it'll be good. More learning, more fun, more stress, haha.

To think in the short-run, however, I am looking forward to exams being done. But even before that, I get to go to 2 holiday parties - one with KPMG and one with PWC, both with Tracy as my hot date. Too bad The BF is busy, but it's going to be good times nevertheless!

In other news, last weekend Easy Rock (97.3FM) officially started playing Christmas music. Hooray! Christmas is coming! It's getting so warm and fuzzy things are turning into mold : )

Oooooooooomg exam midterm midterm midterm exam. Advanced accounting is on Thurs and I'm very very behind but I can't FOCUS! Actually that's a lie because I took this stuff called "ginkgo biloba" which is a herb that "improves memory & cognitive function, enhances circulation." So yes I've been very attentive, TO SURFING THE NET. My cycle has become CNN - TheStar - CuteOverload - Nature - Craigslist - RFD - Gmail - RogersMail - WLUmail - Fark - NYTimes. Wash rinse and repeat! No sleep for the wicked.

A funny thing happened today. I finally mailed off my acceptance to KPMG's offer to take me on as a peon for the next few years, and when I got home from the post office, I found a pretty gift basket from PWC. Hurray! At first I was swept with guilt, but that lessened over the night inversely related to the amount of chocolate I ate. Here's what I got:

$5 Timmy's GC, 2 movie tickets + concession snacks, oreo cookies, toothpaste, lever2000 bar soap, pwc brand lipbalm, mni boxes of cereal, 2 nike golf balls + tees, skittles, mars bar, lindt chocolate, Kraft dinner, a mini stationery set (tape/stapler/highliter), a fancy shmancy travel mug, and to top that all off, a hand written card from the campus recruitment manager saying congratulations for receiving their offer.

Gifts and the such seem to be norm for hiring students into full-time at accounting firms. Over the last month or so PWC has sent me a suitcase (the wheelie ones that seemingly important people wheel around at the airport with important things inside), put me up in the Royal York, provided a limo as transportation for a night of drinks and sushi at the Boiler House, not to mention expensing everything involved with getting myself to and from these events.

On the other hand, there was KPMG. They didn't give away anything TOO overly lavish. As part of my offer I received Dr. Seuss' "Oh the Places You'll Go!", a copy of Macleans (which showed both KPMG -and- PWC as top 100 employers in Canada), a $10 GC for Starbucks so I can have a little time off during exams (accompanied by a card signed be some managers wishing good luck), and a party at the Steam Whistle hotel plus an overnight stay at the Renaissance Hotel. Oh and then there was that $90 lunch after my interview.

At the end of it though I don't think it was the gifts or how much they spent on recruiting us that swayed my decision. My thoughts now aren't too far from my initial impressions of these 2 firms after I first interviewed with them. It was a tough choice, and I can't complain about being in this position because you really can't lose. All I have to do now is to do decently well on this blasted exam so I can play.

By the way thanks for the surprises and acts of general kindness on (and before...and after) my birthday. Tax exam the day after dampened the festivities a little, but I couldn't have asked for more. YOU'RE THE MAN!

Week 3.

Thus begins the third week of my last term at Laurier. Things have been going pretty well in the sense that one presentation has already been taken care of and I’ve gotten quite a few administrative thing sorted out. As for studying, let’s just say my $172 tax package is still shrink-wrapped. No matter, this week will be a major catch-up week. Can you feel the drive?!

So this past week had been filled with one company information session (read: freebies) after another. Most of the accounting firms mentioned how there are a lot of growth opportunities right now in Calgary, Alberta. During the application process, I had some time to think about whether or not I should apply. Where it was an option, I did, although not as a first choice. Why? Because I think competition will be a little less fierce there (ie. smaller labour pool) and it’s close enough to Toronto so I can travel back and forth to visit if I want. I tried to see myself in that city, having my own place, establishing new relationships, and it all led to one question...where is home?

I think about how my parents moved from China to HK when they were young, surely they adapted quickly to the city. Did they imagine that decades later they’d uproot themselves again and move to Canada with kids in tow? Then there is the fact that if I tell someone “I’m going home” on a Thursday night, it would be ambiguous as to whether that meant my Waterloo home or Soggy home. Obviously a home is not just a building itself (aka. a house).

After some more thinking, my conclusion is this. Home is:
-where there is nothing stopping you from being yourself
-where you can re-energize after a day of work/study/etc
-where the people/pets/houseplants you care about are
-where you can run on auto-pilot, just for a little bit
-where you can do embarrassing things but it’s ok

And to tie that back in with Calgary...if I really do have to make a decision, would I be able to and is it worth it to establish all that (even if it’s just for 2 years) outside of what I already know as home?

Ahhh questions questions questions. I said I’d try to sleep before 4 today so that’s it for now. Any bed w/ clean sheets will always be a home to me.

***Warning***

This post may potentially be NSFL...not safe for lunch.

Okay, maybe just my lunch because I hate spiders and centipedes with a passion. But consider yourself warned.

JC caught a spider earlier today in his bug vacuum. Then tonight he found a centipede and added that to his collection. Well the former turned out to be a free meal for the latter, but we haven't decided who to feed the centipede to yet...

EWWW NARSTY!!!
The dark blob near the bottom in the next picture is actually the spider being carried in the centipede's mouth.




I'm slowly losing my appetite for shrimps and crabs : (

Oh me oh my what happened here.

A little fidgeting with blogger resulted in a fresh coat of green on everything and lost comments. No matter. Instead of using words to update what's been going on, I'll let pictures do the job.

Here's Hannah and I in Detroit, enjoying a root beer during a break (with Nevin and Ivan) from some intense outlet shopping:


Here's one of JC kissing a llama at the zoo, don't ask me why:


And here's one of the siblings at whitewater rafting in Ottawa:


So between all those and bbqs and meeting up with friends and softball and slowly unpacking and reading outside, I'd say this summer (ie. August) has thus far been a good balance between going out and doing my own thing. Next term is starting to cast a shadowy academic cloud over me, but until it actually gets here, I'm going to milk the last 2.5 weeks of summer for all its worth. I hope your summer is going just as well, whether you're working or just hanging around like the smog in TO. Speaking of which, the weather lately has been Perfect (so good it deserves a capital P), enjoy it while it lasts!

This is one of the most interesting obituaries I have ever read, check it out:

Frederic Arthur (Fred) Clark, who had tired of reading obituaries noting other's courageous battles with this or that disease, wanted it known that he lost his battle as a result of an automobile accident on June 18, 2006. True to Fred's personal style, his final hours were spent joking with medical personnel while he whimpered, cussed, begged for narcotics and bargained with God to look over his wife and kids. He loved his family. His heart beat faster when his wife of 37 years Alice Rennie Clark entered the room and saddened a little when she left. His legacy was the good works performed by his sons, Frederic Arthur Clark III and Andrew Douglas Clark MD, PhD., along with Andy's wife, Sara Morgan Clark. Fred's back straightened and chest puffed out when he heard the Star Spangled Banner and his eyes teared when he heard Amazing Grace. He wouldn't abide self important tight *censored*. Always an interested observer of politics, particularly what the process does to its participants, he was amused by politician's outrage when we lie to them and amazed at what the voters would tolerate. His final wishes were "throw the bums out and don't elect lawyers" (though it seems to make little difference). During his life he excelled at mediocrity. He loved to hear and tell jokes, especially short ones due to his limited attention span. He had a life long love affair with bacon, butter, cigars and bourbon. You always knew what Fred was thinking much to the dismay of his friend and family. His sons said of Fred, "he was often wrong, but never in doubt". When his family was asked what they remembered about Fred, they fondly recalled how Fred never peed in the shower - on purpose. He died at MCV Hospital and sadly was deprived of his final wish which was to be run over by a beer truck on the way to the liquor store to buy booze for a double date to include his wife, Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter to crash an ACLU cocktail party. In lieu of flowers, Fred asks that you make a sizable purchase at your local ABC store or Virginia winery (please, nothing French - the *censored*) and get rip roaring drunk at home with someone you love or hope to make love to. Word of caution though, don't go out in public to drink because of the alcohol related laws our elected officials have passed due to their inexplicable terror at the sight of a MADD lobbyist and overwhelming compulsion to meddle in our lives. No funeral or service is planned. However, a party will be held to celebrate Fred's life. It will be held in Midlothian, Va. Email fredsmemory@yahoo.com for more information. Fred's ashes will be fired from his favorite cannon at a private party on the Great Wicomico River where he had a home for 25 years. Additionally, all of Fred's friend (sic) will be asked to gather in a phone booth, to be designated in the future, to have a drink and wonder, "Fred who?"

(source: http://www.legacy.com/TimesDispatch/DeathNotices.asp?Page=LifeStory&PersonID=18382676)

On another note, here are some Montreal pics from the Canada Day long weekend!
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