Just a monotone hum

I'm terribly sorry about the lack of updates lately. My father mentioned that I hadn't updated lately, and I felt bad (since this seems to be the only way I communicate with people), but the truth is, nothing interesting has happened lately! I get up, slack, try to study, slack some more, and sometimes, there's even a class in there.

Last week I went to see two movies. On Thursday I went to see "Pride and Prejudice" with Limin... I adored that film. It was so cute and romantic. And on Saturday I went to see "Brokeback Mountain" which was interesting. In retrospect I was a little disappointed by the film. I knew it was going to be the way it was, but I had hoped for a little more romance and the like. I was amused by the audience reactions though - there were a lot of embarassed twitters from the packed house. And Jen and I were thoroughly amused by the "oohs" and "aahs" after a scene when the characters shot an elk and were drying the meat. The audience was so amazed by it for some reason. Tee hee.

That's it for my update. Seriously, NOTHING else has happened.

Last night Peggy and I had a long chat. Add another 3 or so "longs" in there. Gah. I think she came home around 11pm and we chatted until 3am. Wow. It was nice because we haven't had a long talk like that since last term. I don't have a freakin' clue as to why she started talking to me last night though - she started off by describing the time she worked as a waitress in a hotel. It was interesting to hear the co-worker dynamics and stuff she put up with at the job... But I still don't know WHY she started with that particular topic.

Anyways, we moved on to other topics such as jobs we want. She wants a job in marketing (specifically a job in setting product prices at a grocery store) - that explains why she's always comparing prices and the grocery store and driving me insane with what I thought was indecision. :) And I finally voiced my recent decision that I want a job in a sector that is both international and makes a difference in the world. I don't have to be in an upper position or on the front lines - I could be quite happy writing a report in a little corner somewhere, but I'd like to know that I'm serving a company that's not just working to meet its own ends.

From there our conversation moved on to comparing jobs in North America and Asia - whether it was important to live close to home or not, etc. We also discussed resumes (here it's apparently common to have to include a page-long auto-biography with your applications) and the like. I can't remember all that we chatted about.

We finally ended the conversation with some language exchange. Peggy learned the words "Oblivious" and "vicious" and I learned how to say "excuse me" more properly and how to greet someone informally in chinese. (The chinese way of life revolves around food - to say hi to someone, you asked, "Did you eat food yet?" - Ni chi fan le ma?" Silly skinny chinese!

I have to admit that lately I've been facing a lot of my own presumptions in the face and trying to overcome them. It sounds retarded, but I've always had this idea that if I told everyone how good Canada was, and could get them to go there, they'd automatically want to immigrate there. But now I'm seeing that there are a lot of good things about Asia that easily would make you NOT want to pack your bags. (I know this should be an obvious realization, and it is, but I just have a hard time grasping it.) Some examples are the night markets here in Asia, as well as the cheap restaurants. In Canada we have neither such markets, and eating out is a helluva lot more expensive. These are only surface comparisons, but it's been hard for me to admit that I can't convince everyone to come to Canada.

And finally, to end on an amusing note I shall briefly comment on Canadians gone international. We are some of the most patriotic people ever. Practically EVERY Canadian I've met here in Hong Kong, or abroad on my travels, has a Canadian flag somewhere on their backpack. A European pointed this out to me. You don't see the French or the British with flags - just us Canucks. And I know for a fact that I've been pimping Canada a LOT more while here in Hong Kong. Very strange.

That's it for now I guess.