Did Michelle even make it to 2016? is a question of valid perusal considering how this is the first time I’m writing a blogpost this year. Meaning this blog has been stuck in the year 2015 for almost a month and not only are the metaphorical surfaces of this blog covered with thick dust, so is my writing too.
But you know what they say, inactivity online can be indicative of one of two things: inherent laziness or actually getting caught up in the events transpiring offline, in real life. And while I can never win in a case trying to dispute the former possibility, 2016 started off with me being slightly more participative in real life (unsurprisingly, also a new year’s resolution of mine) which is something that’s making uni life here more appealing compared to the past four months of 2015 when I usually lamented the days away.
New Year’s Eve seems so far away now when it was barely a month ago. The ushering of the new year was fun; there was a dinner gathering at my flat after which we played games and then after which we chased after the new year fireworks they were setting off at Albert Square. We didn’t make it there but we stopped at Gay Village to spectate this tradition of releasing gunpowder into the air to mark the passing of a day, a change in calendars.
Janice came from London a week after new years, and it was such a great week filled with baking, six-hour karaoke-ing (though we only stayed for four), learning how to play chor dai di until 3AM, visiting Afflecks again (where Janice got attracted immediately to the movie posters) and my personal favourite, watching strange Japanese videos on Youtube late into the night.
Unfortunately, the start of a new year also meant that exams were coming up so every other day since the first day of 2016 up until now was spent either in the Learning Commons or in my room absorbing criminal and property law and that explains my absence most accurately out of all the excuses I can give. I fell sick twice during the weeks leading up to my papers, which is something I would never recommend, and I literally only just finished my last paper yesterday after which I caught up on the new Haikyuu and Osomatsu-san episodes as well as finish the first Evangelion movie.
Second term resumes next week and that means weekly seminar work is looming ahead but I’m glad and appreciative for this brief breather period for a week, which is something you don’t hear about very often, the usage of “glad” and “appreciative” in my vocabulary since starting university. But ultimately it’s a new year and in the event of having to choose between being grateful and being regretful, I want to learn to always choose the former.
michelle teoh 