kirei_seimei, posts by tag: uni - LiveJournal

Did I mention that I'm home in Australia?

:)

It's great, but weird. For the first few days I had a very heavy sense of dislocation, of being out of time somehow -- even though nothing had changed. My family met me off the plane, and they all look the same. I look the same (although my hair's grown a little bit!). For the most part, the City of Melbourne (and my hometown, which I went home to almost immediately for nearly a week) is the same as I left it.

One cool part was coming home and getting back in my car. It's been sitting idle for nearly a year, but it's as quick and punchy as I remembered it. (Needless to say, next time I go overseas I'm taking an International Driver's License with me, cause I missed driving like crazy.)

Things I've done since I've come back to Aus:
* Seen two theatre productions by friends, and going to at least one more next week
* Been to one impro show, and one impro class
* Driven to my hometown and back
* Caught up with several friends, and made plans with others
* Gone to see the location of my sister's forthcoming wedding
* Attended the Open Day of the university I'd like to attend next year
* Secured my first tech job since I've come back - working Sound for a UoM alumni's theatre company at the start of September.

Unfortunately, the last two items mean that my plans to visit Sydney will probably be delayed until the end of September; so I can work in the theatre, complete the tasks I need to do to complete my Postgrad Application, and find an actual, "omg-they'll-pay-me-money?!" kind of job. Tossing up between cafes and schools at the moment, though I know I really should be applying for both.

Oh, why couldn't they have had an Atlantis theme for the PostGrad Ball LAST year??!! I'm no Greek Goddess, but I reckon I would've gone... despite that price tag! =D

http://www.umpa.unimelb.edu.au/eve…

I'm watching 21 Up Japan and some of the things these guys and girls say, the things they talk about, are really profound. It makes me jealous and at the same time, I realise that they haven't thought this out, they don't plan it. But someone asks them to sit down and answer questions for them, to record the answers. And they take the time to answer those questions. It's inspiring, and at the same time I realise that they are remarkably like me and my friends - just people in the world, and it takes all sorts, all types.

Today we had our Chakai in Elwood. I was nominally in charge of the preparations area, but amusingly, that kind of authority extended to telling the two young boys who practice and perform with us to keep quiet. We did the ceremony 4 times today, for different groups of people. My teacher had said that he'd like me to serve tea like everyone else, but I was the only person not dressed in kimono or yukata, and it just felt ridiculous. So I stayed behind the screens all day - essentially I was a stage manager in the tea room today!

(OMG. One of the 21 Up children works in the Prefecture where I lived on exchange, she even trained in the city I used to visit with my friends. How amazing is that?)( Collapse )

*****

Got my final uni results through. The "completion" won't be "loaded" (whatever that means) until mid-December, but all the results are in: I've passed my Dip.Ed. How weird it feels to write that. After the tribulations of the last three months or so, I have to admit that I'm stunned. Well, not that stunned (although my marks were certainly better than I expected - much more consistant across the board than I've been in my entire uni career). But I'm very, very happy. It's all over, I survived, and now I just have the rest of my life to work on.

As of 3.30pm Thursday 22/11/07, I am officially finished. Yesterday I went back to uni, handed in my final essay (a little later than planned) and returned all my library books. Provided that I don't fail any of my essays, I'm done.

It's kind of scary. I have absolutely no idea what to do with myself.

One more paper due in. Writing it now. Should be done at 4pm, to be printed off and handed in by 5.

I hope.

*pumps fists mildly in an attempt to psych myself up*

Sleep deprivation, no matter how mild, short-lived or self-inflicted, is not fun.

... I can't wait until these bloody essays are done and I can SLEEP.

Sometimes I think I should take up smoking or something, just so I have a really good excuse to get up when I've got writer's block and go outside for a few minutes to clear my head.

As it stands, I just feel like an idiot and get bored.

sigh.

*gets back to English essay*

... Just In Time (management), that is! =D

You know you've spent too long at uni when you can estimate how long it's going to take you to do an assignment, and you procrastinate until there is exactly that amount of time left, then you do the assignment and post it on the tutorial forum 2 minutes before it's due.

In the words of Rodney McKay, saving a man in an elevator... (sometimes) I love me.

Then again, today has been a good day. Never know what tomorrow's gonna bring... ;)

It suddenly strikes me that far too many public figures - sportspeople and actors/performers in particular - have difficulty forming coherent and well-structured sentences when making press statements, or when doing interviews.

Last time my dad was in town and we talked, every time I'm "um"ed he gave me the evil eye. He's trying to get me to pause ("Like Tony Blair!" he said) rather than continue "umm"ing and "ahh"ing endlessly.

Life has been crazily busy this past week, working on 'Art' (The Guild Theatre, University of Melbourne, 7.30pm Friday and 2.30pm Saturday), with the last week of classes before upcoming placement, and trying generally keep all my juggling balls (especially Impro and promo photography for keldaryth's upcoming musical "Wonderful Day") up in the air. I even got to kendo on Wednesday!

But I'm surviving!

Can't wait for 'Art' to close, although I know that, just like all the other shows I've ever worked on; I will really, really miss it when it's over. I will miss the people, I will miss the show, and I will miss being in the theatre.

The Guild, as theatres go, is not that big. "Imagine a black box..." with a roof about six metres high. Not that tall, right? Yet I've never really had the nerve (nor the excuse) to get up to the roof and do any sort of rigging for any of the productions I've worked on. In the past I've been pretty content to let other people (namely those who are (a) skinnier, (b) lighter, (c) not apparently as afraid of heights as I am) do the work up on high. But yesterday the 'Art' crew were bumping in and I said to Tim that I'd have to learn to hang tabs (curtains) one day. After a minute we decided that the next time he came down from the ladder, I would go up and finish it, and although that didn't quite go to plan, I ended up hanging the other black tab by myself (with James T on the floor, taking some of its weight) as well as climbing back up to adjust two white tabs; and later climbing up to start focusing the lights above the audience.

Just thinking about it now still gives me sweaty palms!

It's not that big a deal - I've seen lighting techs work much higher off the ground, and in more precarious positions that I was in (including the techs I've seen at concerts and performances who sit up high for the entire show, sitting on catwalks or laced into scaffolding working spotlights). It's almost like blood donation: it kind of scares the crap out of me, yet at the same time I find it incredibly fascinating and awe-inspiring; and all I can think is, "I want to try that".

Anyone who's ever worked in the Guild will knowing that hanging tabs and lights in there is not really a big deal, but for me yesterday it was another chance for me to tell me fears to bugger off for a little while and have a go at something I've wanted to try and hadn't. Now that I've done it once, I would have less hesitation about doing it again; although I can't guarantee that I still wouldn't be nervous and/or unknowledgable about it.

Now, back to my stupid English assignment!