Friday, May 29, 2009
The exam results were released this afternoon but I've only checked my results just now.
I managed to get the grade I wanted for Gothic Properties, and it's actually lower than the grade I got for Cultural Studies (which is taught, if you don't know already, by The Bishop as Pei calls him). The ways of the gods are mysterious, but I guess I can take this as a sign that I will most likely be able to write my Masters thesis on manga relatively successfully.
It feels a little strange to be receiving my results for the first time as a graduate student and a scholarship recipient. It seems like a mark of adulthood. When I was an undergrad, getting good grades meant getting rewarded with a place on the Dean's List, possibly an award, and a small present from my parents.
Now, I give my mother a monthly allowance, and I'm expected to get good grades or I'll lose my scholarship and my chances of getting another one in the future.
Growing up is a frightening business.
kaoru said at 6:39 AM
|
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Recently there has been a lot of media hype about the newly-opened Tampines One mall, so my mother decided to bring my sister and I to have a look at it on Tuesday.
It was disappointing. For all the hype, the mall was small, the architecture and decor uninspiring and the shops boring. Half of the shop space in Uniqlo was taken up by racks and racks of this disgusting new invention called the "bra-top" (which is a camisole/tank top with a bra attached to it - who could have thought of such a stupid idea) in seven different colours and with stripes and without stripes, but with essentially the same design. BOOOOOORING.
The Manpuku Japanese Food Gourmet Town was basically a Marche-style food court with Japanese food imported into Singapore for the first time, as the advertisements claimed, from famous restaurants in various parts of Japan. That's fudging the truth because most of the brands there can be found in other places in Singapore. I remember seeing a Botejyu outlet at Liang Court, and who are they trying to deceive when the logos of Ajisen ramen and Kyoto Ajitei are printed on their serviettes. The Aoba ramen from Hokkaido and Fruits Paradise tart shop are probably the only brands imported for the first time from Japan.
My mother, sister and I tried a slice of the Banana Chocolate tart and I thought it was delicious. The omu rice set was ok but I think the omu rice stall in the Takashimaya food hall gives better value for money. The black sesame ice cream with cornflakes and mochi was ok too, but not as spectacular as the desserts at Azabu Sabo. So the fruit tart stall is probably going to be the only reason why I would want to travel all the way to Tampines One again.
kaoru said at 7:53 PM
|
Sunday, May 17, 2009
It has been two weeks since my one and only exam ended and I've been bumming around, reading a bit here and there, drawing a bit here and there and basically enjoying a brief spell of rest after my first semester as a graduate student.
But now it's time to get back to serious work. I've just drawn up a timetable for the month of June and already it's looking quite packed. I hope I have not been too ambitious when planning that timetable (perhaps Joan will think me masochistic again) but I have 3 big academic projects lined up for the rest of the year.
1. Publish a paper on the postmodern ''Gothic' in contemporary Japanese popular culture in a journal.
2. Present a paper at an international conference on the "Neo-Victorian".
3. Write an ISM on a research question I haven't even formulated yet.
I also want to take Japanese classes outside school and I may have to tutor classes next semester as well, but right now things are so unconfirmed that I can't really draw up my plans properly, and this irritates me. I've also decided that I can't afford to wait for the ELL department to release information about modules available next semester for me to decide whether I should take a module or do an ISM instead, so unless the department comes up with something extraordinarily fantastic I absolutely HAVE to take, I'm going to do an ISM.
But this also means that I won't be meeting people in a classroom setting (anymore?) and the thought of spending endless hours alone in the Room or in a tiny study carrel in the library seems a little daunting. How do graduate students cope with the loneliness? Or maybe they like it and it's a sign that you're made for academia. Well, I'm not going to take any risks with my personal sanity, so I will be pestering my fellow graduate student colleagues to meet up often to discuss our research or just talk rubbish over lunch/dinner. Hopefully we can build up a supportive network this way and avoid falling into the trap of turning into unsociable hermits and cold, emotionless paper-churning machines.
kaoru said at 9:06 AM
|
Saturday, May 02, 2009
I'm glad I went for the Aware EGM today. It was a tough journey, it took almost 9 hours of nail-biting tension and wrangling, but we won in the end. And it was a victory the "old guard" of Aware deserved, for all the years they have contributed to the thankless job of NGO work.
The EGM was an inspiring lesson in ethics, leadership, political participation and passion. We showed the exco (now former) that we didn't tolerate their tactics of seizing power and their authoritarian leadership style. We showed them that we didn't tolerate their lack of transparency, their utter arrogance, their corporatism and their disrespect for homosexuals. We showed them that they had been hibernating since the 1950s and have slept through Second and Third Wave Feminism, postructuralism and postmodernism. We showed them that they had no right to treat us like we were children who couldn't make choices for ourselves on how to live our own lives.
Never before have I seen so many women willing to come forward and speak up, with logic, passion and eloquence. I'm proud of all the women and men who have had the courage to take a stand, and I'm proud I decided to be one of them. This has been a life-changing experience. From now onwards, I'm not going to simply whine about patriarchy anymore. It's time to do something about it.
kaoru said at 9:21 AM
|