I think a good way to get over depression is to laugh about it. Oh the irony. But anyway, I am in no way in actual depression, at least not yet. Last term things were a lot rougher. Anyway, I am a bit worried about where everything is headed. Again, I still do not really know what I want to do in my life future. As I typed that sentence, I realized I do not even know which road I am going to take in the near future… much less my life.

You know how in movies, the main character goes away to a far off country and there she finds herself. She then goes back home a changed person, with dreams, goals and direction. I have been contemplating going away for an exchange (even before getting into UBC I believe), since our faculty offers that option. I have not looked into the details of it, but from what I know, you can continue earning your credits while you are in your country of choice.

When I was still in high school I always wanted to choose Hong Kong as my exchange site because I have wanted to go to university there as well. My family also has an apartment there, so residence is taken care of. I will see all my old friends and family once again and things will be as they were, even if it is just for the duration of the exchange. But now that I feel lost, I feel pretty dumb for wanting to go to Hong Kong. I have already seen most of what Hong Kong has to offer and what I need are new experiences and something to (hopefully) open my eyes to a path I want to take and pursue. But where do I want to go? I am thinking somewhere in Europe, since I have had the least connections there. It will definitely be new, but seems so cliché. Everyone wants to go to Europe (unless if you are in/from Europe). Thinking about wanting to leave and find a dream seems like a thing out of a movie and as most movies are, I fear it is probably easier seen than done.

So how has my term been so far? First of all, I am not getting a gist of what the rest of the term will mostly likely be like just yet because I have only had a week of school. Believe me, it feels like it has been months, but somehow, it has only been a little more than a week. I can already feel the pressure of getting readings done on time. Reading one chapter of psychology takes me at least three hours on a good day. Reading ten chapters of A Storm of Swords (George R.R. Martin) takes a maximum of one hour. Probably less. Story of my life.

Asides from academic side of things, this week I went to the International Business Club: World Cities Night event! As always, it was fun to dress up. There were motivating and informative speeches made by keynote speakers, then some mingling and networking, all done in the quaint little restaurant Salam Bombay. The first speaker talked about the importance of self branding. It served as a really good reminder that whatever you decide to post online stays with you forever. Our speaker even went to quote Google’s CEO, saying that the young will have to change names to escape their cyber past, then moving on to joke that plastic surgery may be necessary with today’s face recognition technology. Scary, but very probable. So remember: whatever you post online can (and will, under certain circumstances) be linked back to you. Of course, this is not necessarily a bad thing. Your achievements may just as well be searched up!

World Cities Night! Have no idea what I was saying here...(credit)

We also got to meet Chris Chong, owner of Vancouver’s very own Butterbooth! It has always been fun, playing around in the photo booth at certain UBC events and what really caught my attention during the speech was how the business has expanded to Hong Kong! Being from Hong Kong, I can imagine all the difficulties that would have occurred with the expansion, and I really wanted to ask Chris more questions…sadly, there was only one of Chris, and loads of inquisitive people! Maybe another time!

The IB club basically took up the whole of Salam Bombay. I have never been to Salam Bombay on Burrard Street, but frequently to Shabusen (for All-you-can-eat sushi!), whose entrance is right across from it. The food was delicious and a new to me and I got a sample a variety of Indian cuisine. Yum! I was pretty full by the end of the night– always a good sign!

Bottomless Indian food! *drools* (credit)

The second weekend of my new term has begun! And you know what weekends mean…time to catch up on readings! The joys of university. 🙂

P.S: Okay, this is pretty random, but because I was really cold today and wanted to warm up, I went to look for something to drink. I really wanted a can of Coke, but it was cold because all our Cokes are in the fridge. So I decided to pour out the Coke into a cup and heated it up in the microwave. After taking it out, I added some lemon juice into it. I just want to say…best idea every for a cold day! It was super fizzy (not sure why though), warm (hot actually) and just nice overall! Hot coke for the win 🙂 Do not judge me.

Photo credits.