An Overdue Update!!!

Hello again, everyone! :D Yes, finally, after, I dunno, a month of luxuriating in blogging holiday, I have [cue deep, menacing, velvety-rich trailer-style voice] RETUUUUUUUURNED!!

First, of all, an update on what’s been going on in my life, in chronological order!!

Right after my latest post (the totally random, unprepared one in which I wrote about friends just because), I had to study like a maniac for my final exams. And, man, was I unprepared. I was taking 5 subjects that left a horrible feeling within the vicinity of my kneecaps that I was only going to barely pass. Itupun if I was lucky. Why?

My Sciences of Qur’an lecturer is notorious for failing the majority of the students in each of the classes he taught. He’s anal about English (insyaAllah, no problem for me!) and anal about his students answering exam papers identical, word for word, from the book. In other words, you might as well have sedekah Al-Fatihah for me – I was dead even before sitting for the paper. My strength in any exam is to be able to goreng my answers sehingga ranggup, with half of the ingredients taken from the book, and the other half (when memory fails me, which I can always, always count on) improvised with a dash of creativity, a pinch of fiction, and a huge dollop of common sense. You see, my memory capacity is as limited as the classes available for COMM 1010 this semester, so there was no way I was going to score well for this paper.

For my Prophetic History class, I forgot (memory failure strikes again!) to send in an assignment on time, thus automatically losing 30 marks. I assumed I would FAIL this one no matter how hard I studied, but still, no use giving up already. Plus, studying the history of our prophet is absolutely interesting. Try reading the text book; glaring grammatical errors aside, it’s like reading an inspiring story book.

History was so boring that a certain friend of mine, who pointedly sat in the first row, slept in class almost every time. I might as well say this; if there’s one thing I don’t like, it’s a lecturer who comes to class with power point slides, sits down, and then just reads what’s written in the slides to the class. What are these lecturers getting paid for? You don’t need a PhD to mumble out words that students can already read for themselves! You don’t even need to pass kindergarten, for that matter! And since I already had a copy of all the power point slides, I might as well just stay in my room and get my laptop to read it out loud for me (and get a chuckle or two from the robotic intonation, as well). It’s a pity, because History can be interesting, especially when you read about the glorious ancient civilizations.

Finally, Reseach Methodology and Social Theory are two sociology subjects that are meant for Level 2 students. I was well aware that I was merely a level 1 student when I registered for those classes early last semester, but my options were basically non-options to me. Either I take those classes, or not take any soca classes at all for the semester, since the other classes were full to the brim. No way, José!

The lecturers I got for Research Methodology (3 of them, including the head of department) were all wonderful teachers. They were funny, they interacted with the class, and they were clearly passionate about their job. Unfortunately, the time wasn’t so wonderful – 5 to 6.30pm aka Peak Nap Time. This is when my attention, which starts to wane at precisely noon, has already abandoned me and is sleeping in Cayman Island, leaving my empty shell of a body defenseless from the attack of the daydreams. Plus the text book we had to read was as dry as my lips always are prior to the application of copious amounts of Vaseline. Or as dry as my gums and tongue get when I wake up from a deep nap and realise I’ve been sleeping with my mouth agape. Or as dry as…You get the gist.

As for Social Theory 1, there were no books to refer to at all. We had to write down every word the lecturer said in class, literally. It didn’t help that he’s got an extremely strange accent, causing me to burst into a fit of the giggles each time he pronounced ‘society’ as SOH-SAI-UH-TEE in that rasping, aged voice of his. Plus, upon rereading my notes after class, I came to realise that he had a tendency to repeat his points using as many different words that he could, and that one paragraph could have actually been whittled down to one sentence. The fact that the subject matter is dull doesn’t help, at all. It’s basically about ancient thinkers; what they said and thought about society. Some of the theories were moot, or ridiculous to the point that I wondered why their thoughts even became famous; prime example being this bloke Thomas Moore who declared that the ideal society is one that is built on the island of Amaurate. I kid you not.

So those were the 5 subjects that I was taking last semester. It was a wonder I have survived to tell you the story today. It’s also a wonder that I passed all the subjects, even Prophetic History. Needless to say, though, my pointer for that semester plunged into depths that had up to that time remained untouched. It jolted me awake, I tell you. All my life, I’ve been idly fluttering through near-escapes with narely a scratch, thanks to my lucky star. My careless attitude towards almost everything in life has exasperated many people, I know. But I’m almost 20, now, and the time for me to buck up and take proper responsibility of my life and future has been long overdue.

Ok, time to change the topic before I get all self-reflective and bore the heck out of you guys.

Throughout exam week last semester, studying in my room at night proved to be impossible. I had seven other roommates (plus one squatter), and three of them were fairly quiet. But when the other five, plus a couple of their friends from other rooms, hung out, I swear it was like all the animals from Zoo Negara had come together for a meet-and-greet ritual every night in my room. Now, I love my old roommates to bits, of course, but it really, really grated on my nerves, especially if they started convening in the tiny compartment I share with my roommate. I mean, how would you feel if you come back to your room, completely exhausted and missing your bed like mad, or wanting to get some studying done for a major exam the next day, only to find a bunch of girls shrieking and laughing at the top of their voices, and not even budging as you try to maneuver to your desk? A part of me thinks that was God’s way of punishing me, though, for being so loud and noisy with a bunch of my roommates during my short semester in Nilai a year ago. We were so inconsiderate to the other, quieter roommates back then. Sigh.

Which is the main reason why I was so ecstatic when I finally got a compartment all to myself this semester. Sure, in return I have to climb 60 steps to reach it, as opposed to zero, but it’s WORTH IT, I tell you. My other roommates (a mere two!) are really quiet and, so far, I’ve barely interacted with them, but I like to keep it that way. It’s like, when I get to my room, Alone Time has begun! Without having anyone to share my compartment with, I can decorate it as I like, there’s no pressure for me to interact with other people, I can do whatever I want in it without feeling self-conscious, I can control the light and fan switch according to my own whims and needs, and, most importantly, I no longer have to get dressed in the toilet. Weehee! :D The room has it’s downsides as well, like the fact that it’s so high up, or that the bed is located above the desk, without a stair for it in sight (thus requiring Olympic-feat climbing before dozing off every night), or that they replaced the venetian blinds that covered our windows with curtain railings, which I broke on the first night when climbing up my bed. But I’ve solved those problems simply by appreciating the exercise I get from climbing four floors up, and by pulling my mattress down to the ground. Heehee! As for the curtains... ah well, I'm four floors up and surrounded by female hostels, so who's going to see me?


As for the subjects I’m taking for these two months? Malaysian Society and Social Stratification. Pendek kata, I’m loving it like MAAAAAAAAAAADDDDD. Oh Sociology, how I love thee!

I count myself extremely lucky that I got the two subjects I wanted, because I know there were many students who had to travel all the way back to Terengganu or Sabah because they couldn't get any subjects at all after a fruitless week of trying to add them by meeting the lecturers personally. Classes are just too darn full. Kesian giler.

OKlah, that's all for now! I'm starving and I still haven't mandied yet. So long, everybody! :)


PS: CONGRATS to Kak Amnah and Yeng for their engagement yesterday! :D :D

PPS: A photo of my niece Umairah, as requested by Amierah: