MAIN STREET

Dim sunlight struggles through suffocating fog
Warm arms stretching downwards
Glistening cobbles beneath
The black high heels
Chic knee high leather
Pantsuits, sleek coats, bright colours bringing cheer
Practical
Staccato steps with direction, purpose,
Bright hope
Haste past lines of people with
Hunger in their eyes
Anticipating, eager, pleasurable
Hunger
A breath of eau de yeast and flour
Baked to tempting perfection
Steam
Rising with a hearty aroma
Welcoming from warm cups of wake-me-up

Moonlight hidden by shadowy mist
Cold neon beckons to those teetering on the
Glistening cobbles beneath
Those black high heels
Slick knee high leather
Sheer fishnet, flashy jackets against biting chill
Inscrutable
Twitchy, jarring steps, with direction, purpose
Dimmed hope
Amble past gatherings of people with
Hunger in their eyes
Savage, carnal, delusional
Thirst
Whiffs of sophisticated eau de cologne
Barely masking the primal miasma
Stream
Running between the tiles
After another, and another, and another potent pick-me-up

Ah, I've missed writing. Writing the fic that has flopped and died and requires me to tear myself away from Chem, Math, Physics (how wrong I was in thinking I would never revisit them again) and the many other things keeping my rationality (or is it insanity now?) in overdrive and imagination suppressed in a miserable pool of semi-witty comebacks and dry humour. And I've missed writing the poems, silly ones of course, that I used to do in secondary school with E-hui.

Ah... how far we've come.

Well, today marks the end of one week of lessons in the University of Heidelberg in the, I must say, beautiful city of Heidelberg. I don't know if it meets my expectations, since I don't think I actually expected much besides hardcore studying, and so far that part is being fulfilled, but I do like the place, and I like what I've experienced so far.

I know I promised I would keep you all (i.e. close friends) plied on what is going on here in 10500km away Germany, but I've been busy; test next Friday you see. And as if general anatomy with the general skeleto- and muscular systems, circulatory system, nervous system and what else there is isn't enough, there is osteology. Now, at first I thought, "Hey, osteology, probably just bones. Well, 200+ of them to learn, shouldn't be too bad..." Oh how wrong I was. Osteology covers bones, joints and ligaments. And then the many different things that can be found on EACH bone. Like for example the shoulder blade (scapula; yes, we learn the Latin names) is not just about the shoulder blade, it is about the Spina scapulae, the Processus coracoideus, the Angulus lateralis, superior et anterior, the Margo superior, lateralis et medialis and many many other things. And then you learn which major ligaments there are and there names and so on and so forth. The best part is, it's more or less just memorisation, because our lessons in terminology (to help us with the Latin) will only start next week. Brilliant it is. 

Anyway, the point of this post is not to spill the crazy thoughts about the upcoming test, but rather to share something that I thought was very very apt. So it was the first true anatomy lecture we had and the lecturer was giving and introduction to studying anatomy and he told us a story that goes like this:

A professor conducting the first dissection class for freshman said to them, "In the study of anatomy, the two most important things you will need to learn are, number 1, to overcome your disgust/ fear of cadavers and number 2, to learn to learn by observation. So we shall begin with number 1 today."

The professor then places his finger on the cadaver before him, runs it along the torso and then licks his finger. "Your turn now."

So the students follow suit, one by one, going up to the body, putting their fingers on the body and then licking their fingers. 

"Well, lesson number one was very well carried out; I think that you all are no longer afraid to come into contact with a cadaver. But you all forgot lesson number 2 so quickly; I touched the cadaver with my index finger, and then licked my middle finger."

And so, yes the story is very cliche and  you kind of expect it to turn out this way. But that doesn't detract from the fact that it is still a very brilliant way to bring the point across. (Thankfully we didn't have to pass this 'test'... I would have failed spectacularly.)

I am actually quite happy that so far I have been able to understand most of what is being said and taught. Most. Not all. Not all by a long shot. And I don't get the jokes either most of the time so... oh well! But I am speaking more German by the day! Pretty soon, I hope, I will be able to pronounce stuff in Latin properly, and at least well enough to be of use to me terminology-wise. 

I MISS SINGAPORE A LITTLE MORE EVERYDAY! It's amazing how I can link things back to Singapore with a snap (particularly with all that bamboo around; I found another huge clump in front of the Krehlklinik after lecture that day, it was like BAM!BOO! Ohohoh, love the onomatopoeia pun :D). And I miss dim sum with a pang! Watching Glee with Tina complaining about eating dim sum every 'date' with Mike made me want to have some good ol' dim sum. Ahhh, the life I've put aside...

Forgot to take photos today at breakfast with JBC, R and then E...

But then again, why take photos when you can take home so much more than just inanimate (sadly we live not really in the realm of Harry Potter-style magic) prints?

Have I ever mentioned how much I love my friends? Well, I do. Because they are more than awesome and words fail me each time I want to pin an adjective sufficient to describe them on them, and it makes me feel guilty about my vocabulary. Then again, it's something that fits right into what we are.

Here's to friends, who as Rhea says, are different from the rest :D (We base preliminary suitability of a guy as a boyfriend on which football team he supports. How awesome is that?!)

<3!! 

Some things, need to be said. And then repeated.

 I will never cease to be amazed, how after having a mass convo and gossiping (yes, we do that) and dragging out details and talking on and on, we will still meet up and talk time away.

JBCPR <3!

Yay my pretty new glasses! New so wearing them gives me a headache from not being used to having shiny clean lenses after wearing the same pair for 3 years already :D

This is just one of numerous purchases that have made me glee: new watch, new bag, new clothes...Hurrah for retail therapy! 8D

我。崩溃了。

心。好痛。

Sadly, this only works when someone can actually decide whether or not to go. Also only when the other person actually feels strongly about this, instead of a more "You go, I will think harder about going" outlook on it. 

Oh, and it does help when there are more than two people actually trying to decide...

The next time someone asks me about my siblings, this is how the conversation will go:
Honestly. He comes home after his PSLE Math prelim and tells me that he's already lost 17 marks and he cried over two questions that he couldn't solve. That same day itself, getting him to focus on his work involves, as usual, reminders to stop-doing-that and can-you-pay-attention at five minute intervals. Getting him to start doing his work is an exercise in vomiting blood. 

To quote my mother, "If you sell your brain, it'll sell for a very high price." Why? Because it's hardly been used.

When we were still on the same little island, and sharing breathing space, these things never came to light. Now, on wholly different continents separated by every drop of the Pacific Ocean, I'm learning things about a friendship that I never knew. Defies logic? Probably...but then again, that is what defines our friendship. XD

"Do not confuse forgiveness with reconciliation -- Sometimes what happened means the relationship is not meant to be salvaged." I wish I had known that earlier. It would probably have made it easier to get through the red haze of anger. But then again, it's never too late to learn! Watching Martha Stewart really can be rather useful :D Don't need to see the person again to forgive; don't need an apology to forgive; don't need to like the person after forgiving. "Forgiveness is like a muscle -- the more you use it, the easier it gets." Strangely, of the little of the Bible that I do remember (Yes, lapsed. Not good. I know.), the one verse that has always stuck with me is: "...do not let the sun go down on your anger." (Ephesians 4:26). Good advice I should have taken ages ago. Lucky for me, I have good friends :D

Never knew, never knew. But now I do. And it's time to change...
----

IN OTHER NEWS: reading about NTU students and their module woes has been interesting. It made me realise just how there was sense and thought in the development of NUS' module bidding system. At least there isn't a need to pay in real cash for modules I need/ want. This still does not detract from how irritating and utterly confusing bidding is. Still dislike it.