Coming Around Again

Feeling too tired already, but just too full in the stomach to sleep either. Had a huge Greek dinner at this tavern that I have always wanted to check out, and the three of us went there after our weekly game of squash. The tab was a tad pricey, but the food was really good, and the ambience was simply wonderful.

It was also the first day of demonstration for me at uni today. Geez, did I have the most stressful three hours! I was completely lost initially, not knowing what to teach the students or how I should go about giving a comprehensive pre-lab talk. My mind went blank completely and I was in a state of panic. I can't believe I would actually feel that way! I was talking faster than I should and yet trying to explain all the theories and principles of the experiment that they were doing today. Fortunately, I still remember some of the biochemical formulae and stoichiometric calculations pretty well to actually make myself useful to the them. However, the fact that I used permanent markers on a whiteboard (and having a bitch of a time cleaning it later) and informing them of the wrong deadline didn't help to boost my confidence at all. Like seriously, how lousy was I? In addition to this demonstration work, I have a weekly meeting with the students to guide them through the writing of their laboratory reports. Suddenly, I feel like all the stress back in uni days is back to taunt me again.

I am actually more stressed out by this additional work I am taking on than my usual work at St Vincent's. The students were all serious and enthusiastic about their work, while I was having this cruisy mentality all this while (I mean, I was thinking how hard could 2nd year uni be? I was such a bastard!). No, I must make sure I will do a better job next week (and for the many weeks to come) and brush up on my pre and post lab talks. It was such a sloppy piece of work I displayed today. Shame on me!

On a lighter note, I intend to buy myself a guitar (even before I have actually touched one before in my life) and to start learning how to play it. I will probably not take any lessons but to learn from friends and to teach myself along the way as well. I s'pose at this point, I will have sufficient motivation to make it last, as most of my favourite singers are guitarist themselves and the melodies are made up mostly by guitars. As oppose to in the past when I was doing saxophone, it was simply because of a fluffy reason like wanting to look stylish and hip. I reckon I won't give up the guitar so easily.

The weekend brought upon a chance meeting with someone I was involved with a coupla years back. No, I wasn't nicely impressed at all. Some chapters in life are better left closed, I s'pose.