My life is STRESS

can i just say that i've had an incredibly bad week? so much so that i've decided to forget about grammar or punctuation and just write whatever i please.

well, first off: i lost 5 grand at work last weekend and am unable to find that money so my job might be on the line. this week at work, i was short $40 and normally, that isn't so bad...just throws off my balancing ratio but considering how i'm on the hot spot at work, this IS REALLY BAD. on that same day that i lost the $40, i had to cancel a school teachers' meeting that was mandatory to attend (cause i'll be teaching grade 7&8, 9&10 this summer). i also got a parking ticket at school...which makes me more mad b/c as it is, i'm in debt and working my butt off to be able to pay tuition. why is it that i am charged more money when i go to school?

i've also had a presentation today which me and my group put immense efforts into...we've met up a ridiculous number of times to get this presentation perfect. i was under tremendous stress today over this thing. my professor, who is the BIATCHIEST prof i've ever encountered in my 4 years at york, butchered us after the presentation...so much so, that after class was over, two of the three other group members started crying. (it's not just us though...i've seen guys cry after her class cause she really is that mean to EVERYONE, and every presentation). to make ourselves feel better, we went onto ratemyprofessor.com and read her reviews. (ppssst, Nadiah Habib). a person must have tenure in order to speak to students in the condescending and disdainful and disrespectful manner the way she does.

i think i'm going to end off about my bad week here but i want to say that i'm tired. i'm really burned out from trying to do school and work and keep up with friends, maintain a boyfriend, and sort out my crazy family. i don't remember the last time i took off a day for just myself. there are so many demands on my time...it's either talk to simon, sort him out (cause he's a huge worry), go out with friends, go to work, spend time with ken, go to the gym cause i'm getting fat, talk to my parents b/c they're worried about simon, take care of my grandma, keep up with my readings and assignments, take care of FESA stuff b/c i'm treasurer next year. so ya, i'm tired. so if i haven't emailed you or kept in touch, or been everything you wanted me to be, i'm sorry. i try as hard as i can to simultaneously play all these different roles but it can be hard at times.

White people wanted!!

So it seems that during summer time, most casual conversations revolve around how people's weekend went...and the topic of cottages always pops up. An example of such conversations goes something like this:

"So what are your plans for this weekend?" - Jenn
"Oh, my friends and I are going to a friend's cottage to spend the weekend. It's going to be great! I'm so hyped...what about you?" - someone else
"Um, nothing much...working this Friday and Saturday..." - Jenn

OR

"Hey, how was your weekend?" - Jenn
"It was AWESOME!! Me and my buddies went up to a friend's cottage and just chilled...(blah, blah, blah)...how was your weekend?" - someone else
"..." - Jenn

Conversations such as these make me wonder why I am not one of those individuals who spends fabulous weekends relaxing at cottages. And I think I have found the answer to this question: All my friends are immigrants! I don't have any white friends which is why I don't have a cottage to go this year, or last year or the year previous...or the years previous to that. So I'm always going to be faced with this situation until I find myself some white friends. So, if you are a white person looking for a Chinese friend to eat some chow fun with, or know of any white people, who happen to own a cottage, and would love to make friends with a Chinese girl to eat chow mein with, please refer her/him to me.

Random Pics

The first picture was taken in Shanghai (or was it Beijing) at a rock garden. The second pic was taken on a ferry boat coming from Phuket to Phi Phi Island. So if we look a little greasy in these photos, it's because it was HOT.

Rafting on the Ottawa River

Despite the bad luck Ken and I have been having with the weather while travelling in Ottawa, we still had a fabulous time. So Tanya, Ken & I drove up to the campsite on Friday night and arrived there close to midnight in a midst of rain and gust. After setting up a tent, we all proceeded to go to bed while outside our tents college students raged with drunkenness. We woke up Saturday morning to discover that the weather had not improved. In fact, it was damp and cold. Nonetheless, like brave warriors, we sucked it up and held our breaths as we put on our icy wet suits on.

Six hours on the river was a long time to be cold but it was well worth it. Ken & I did not flip over, or fall out. Not once. Which is more than what I can say about my Costa Rica rafting trip...I fell out twice on that one. Surprisingly, Widlerness Tours also served incredibly good food. We were well-fed the entire trip. Saturday night we just chilled and had a bonfire and had smores and roasted marshmallows. Sunday was another day of adventure. This time, we were on 12 people boats instead of 6 and it was the high adventure trip. We had bigger and crazier rapids to go through! It was awesome. At the end, we were allowed to get out of our raft and body surf through milder rapids (currents basically). It was during this last half hour of Sunday's rafting that the sun finally came out. I thoroughly enjoyed the trip despite the extremely cold weather. I'll stop here so that Ken can tell you other details like the Esprit boats at the Coliseum. :)