A sum of all fears

Life is not always smooth sailing. In the exact words of wisdom of my old friend Kelvin Chew, "Shit happens...". Yes I know that, thank you. The preparation work done by the three of us for the exchange wasn't going smoothly. Wasn't going smoothly is an understatement. We faced a shitload of problems (pardon my crudeness here, I'm just trying to vent some frustrations).

To begin with, several of our proposed modules to be taken at UWO was rejected by the host university. Reason? We did not meet the prerequsites of the modules offered in the host university. That is not the case. What happened was, the original transcipt we sent over in the BEGINNING of this year did not reflect the fulfillment of these prerequsite modules that we have already taken in NTU. To remedy this crisis, we have to pay $2.10 (AGAIN) for an updated transcript to bring over to our host university.

More bad news. Me and Jiahao did not manage to match any lab modules at the host university. Reprecussions? We clear 1 semester's lab sessions in about 3 weeks. Our reaction? Steam. This means that we have to submit 2 lab reports in the span of three weeks, at the same time squeezing in experiments in between lab sessions. We had a first hand experience of undergoing 9 hours of lab session in 1 day during our second week. I almost went nuts. Jiahao? He went nuts. But we survived, and the adage, "what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger." came to my mind. I told Jiahao we must really play to our hearts content in UWO and he agreed. I got a feeling it's gonna be more than to our hearts content during happy hours in Canda. More like havoc like there's no tomorrow.

Then came something I did not expect. Terrorists attempted to perform a mass murder using airplanes as a 'weapon' departing from UK. Fortunately, those bastards were nabbed in time. I could not contain my joy knowing that the UK police and the MI5 had foiled a September 11 scale atrocity. But the damage was already done. Inconvenience caused to the thousands of travellers around the world by the thorough security checks at airports was the immediate aftermath. Airports at UK took it a notch higher in its security screening. Besides banning all liquid substance on board, they limited carry on luggage to only absolutely essential items such as passport. I reeled in shock when I learnt of this. For a student going on exchange every gram of luggage weight allowance counts. If carry on luggage was prohibited, that means 7 whole kg lost! A string of vulgarities was let loose when I realised that this would mean that my laptop would be checked in together with my luggage. Even a fool knows what kind of damage a laptop will undergo if it is checked in with the luggage. For the first time in my life, I seriously considered joining the home team and dedicate my life to fighting these bastards who inconvenient half the world, not to mention taking innocent lives wantonly with their twisted deeds. In a fortunate twist of event, travellers flying to the airports in US only need to avoid bringing any liquid substances in their carry on luggages. God bless America! Recovery from shock soon followed.

3 rude awakening jolted me from the sweet dreams I had on this trip to Canada, along with it, unfound fears began to plague me. What if I'm short of money over there? What if I am the victim of an insidious terrorist plot? What if I miss my flight? These 'what ifs' had instantly transformed my sweet dreams into a nightmare. Insomnia soon followed. I slept for less than 5 hours. I began to look listless. I began to let this unfound fear consume me. It was not until during breakfast with my mum earlier this morning that finally set my mind at ease. I suppose the saying 'a mother knows best' couldn't be more accurate. She noticed my despondancy and comforted me during breakfast. Concerns for loved ones work wonders. The fear was at once overcame and the optimism I had for this trip was rekindled. Yes Kelvin, shit does happen. But what is more important than realising that life is not smooth sailing, is that we must eventually find the courage and fortitude to forge on ahead of these obstacles and difficulties we encounter. Before I end this entry, thanks mum.