Much Ado About Nothing

I know what you're thinking: I've been terribly neglectful of my blog. I apologize. The problem is, there hasn't really been anything of interest to write about. The day after we got back from Thailand, I started feeling very ill, which continued for the next few weeks. After seeing the on-campus doctor a number of times, he referred me to a Endomologist at one of the private (read: pricey) hospitals here. I had a bunch of tests done, including an endoscopy and a stomach biopsy. They found a stomach bacteria called Heliobacter Pylori. Apparently I could have picked it up in Vietnam (likely) or Cambodia (even more likely). If untreated, this bacteria can cause ulcers, or even stomach cancer, so I'm glad it's been discovered. As a result, I've been on intense antibiotics for the past week, taking 20 (no exaageration) pills each day. Starting tomorrow I'll be down to only 10 pills a day. They seem to be helping a lot; I'm able to eat again, and I'm not confined to my bed in pain anymore, so all is well. Hoping it will be all better by the time I get home. What is it about Asia and crazy bacterias? I always hear of people coming back from places like Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, with super crazy, super intense bugs. I guess we HAVE been to some pretty dirty places, so I shouldn't be all that surprised.

So, we are all done classes now, and studying for exams. Joy. A few days ago our massive Com 470 research papers were due (the one that we were granted to write, instead of taking that Financial Risk death course). Mine came in at 28 pages.......and I was more than happy to hand it in and get rid of it. It's nice not to have to think about it anymore. The title of my paper was "Small but Mighty: Environmental Sustainability in Singapore." I have a passion for sustainability, and was President of the UVic Business Sustainability Club last semester, and the Director of External Communications the semester prior to that, so the interest is definitely there. That said, it was actually not too bad of a paper to research; I learned a lot about what Singapore is doing in the name of Environmental Sustainability (which is A LOT, by the way)......the other thing that came out of my research was how very little CANADA is doing for the same cause. Singapore's Green Plan is very detailed, with set, specific goals to meet, such as reducing food waste by 30% by the year 2012......they're already at 9%. Canada, however, has goals like "conserve water and make sure it's clean". It's so vague, and modest, and down-right frustrating. If this tiny little country of 4.5 million people can be so environmentally sustainble, and so responsible, why can't we? Why aren't we leaders in environmental sustainability? It's incredibly frustrating. I'm so proud of Singapore for all that it is doing, and yet so disappointed by our own country at the same time. While the Singapore government is dragging it's population (in a good way) towards environmental sustainability, Canada is simply whispering a gentle suggestion that we should start thinking about it. Awesome.

Sorry for the rant. I guess I'm still in my analysis mode from my paper. I guess I liked writing about it more than I thought? ..... :)

Heather and I actually did a quick little trip to Kuala Lampur last week, on a whim. Just two days, one night. One evening we were studying together in my room, and started talking about the fact that we were bummed we never went to KL, seeing as Malaysia is RIGHT there. We started batting a few dates around, none of which worked. Then I said (half jokingly) "we could go tomorrow morning?" And with that, at 9pm, we booked our flights, went to bed, and were at the airport by 5:30am the following morning. We shopped, and saw the Petronas towers, and shopped, and went for dinner, and shopped. It was great fun, and definitely the break that we needed.

The day after we got back was Janene's 22nd birthday. As I'm sure I've mentioned in a previuos post, she loves penguins. Obsessively. It is one of her life-long goals and dreams to pet a penguin. The morning of her birthday, her and I went to the Jurong Bird Park, just because she wanted to see penguins on her birthday. While we were looking at them, I had an idea, and went to talk to the staff. It took about 25 minutes, and a bunch of phonecalls, but it was worth it. The penguin zoo-keeper brought Janene into a little roped off area, and put a penguin right in front of her to pet it. It was incredibly cute, she was so overwhelmed. I got it on video, so she can re-live the moment. It was so nice of the staff at the zoo to let her do that, and was a great start to her birthday. Then we went shopping for the afternoon (naturally), and the five of us got dressed up for a nice dinner out at Indochine. It was definitely a great day.

Now we're stuck studying until April 22nd, when our final final is. We have Services Marketing on the 16th, Corporate Lending on the 20th, and Malay on the 22nd (which, by the way, will be the end of me, I'm sure of it).

April 23rd, however, will be a good day. That day, we leave for 8 fun-filled, sun-filled days in Bali, and we will definitely need the R&R after this study binge we're in the middle of. It will be our last Southeast Asia trip, so we're going to make the most of it with as much relaxation as possible.

I'm home in 16 days. 16 days. When I got here, that number was something like 134. I can't believe it. It feels like the time has flown by, yet at the same time I feel like it's been years since I've been home. A lot happens in four months, when you're travelling, and I think that this was an amazing growth experience for me. Nothing opens your mind like being chucked into unfamiliar cultures. I am so glad that I took advantage of this opportunity. It's truly been life changing.

Well, with that said, I probably won't be writing again until right before I go home to Canada. Unfortunately I can hear my Malay notebook calling me "belajar, belajar!!" (study, study). How do you say "shut-up" in Malay? hmmm...should look that one up.