it really doesn't feel like xmas today. but i am looking forward to my first xmas after graduation - in 2009... :)

December has always been a month with a heavy mood for me. This is the time when I reflect upon the entire year.. and think about the next year.

I dont usually write down my reflections, but today I would like to scribble down bits of some bits..... might not make any logically sense but its okay.

So this year Jan 01, 2007 was THE DAY when I decided to apply to a graduate school. I remember so clearly that the day before was when my mom arrived Singapore, and we were busy cleaning up the house until pass 12 midnight. then we were both lying down on my bed and I was telling her the cross-road that i was at - whether to stay in SMU to do a double degree, or to move on to a graduate school, or to work. My mom and I decided that graduate school could be a backup route, while my mom is supportive of the double degree, I was more incline to getting into the work force. Then my mom went to bed and I went online to look at SMU's graduate programmes. At that time I was only considering SMU's graduate programme due to some other reasons... while browsing around, I was wondering what are the programmes like in Japan... and that's when I found out about IUJ.

IUJ is quite a unique school I would say, with over 50 nationalities in one small campus... Somehow, I felt very attracted to return back to Japan for some more discoveries. I recalled how the last exchange programme in APU re-modelled my perspectives and deepen my thinking lots. Somehow, I was hoping that I could discover something about life in Japan. Why am I alive? What am I working for? What do I really want in my life? Thus I decided to try for it.

Then I was quite lucky, year 3 sem 2 passed like a breeze. I was TA of 2 mods, going into final rounds of interviews for 4 really good companies, while studying for GMAT and rushing through the madness of grad sch application procress. Everything went very smooth for me, and then I got the best scholarship the school could offer. So I went into the last semester in SMU, and then I met Syl.

Syl taught me quite a lot of things, directly and indirectly. Through him, I learnt quite a bit about human relationships. There are happy moments, while there are unhappy moments too. Those unhappy moments set me thinking about words, feelings, the common definition of love in life etc. Then I got engaged, and then we broke up. Despite everything happened in about 3 months, it was no doubt a good experience. In fact, I am glad I went through this episode, which prepared me quite a good chunk for Japan.

Then it was IUJ. This school is not a place for true education, but experience. This school might just be the kind of things I need to turn me into a human again. This school functions like a mini society, where it previews a lot of struggle one would face in real society and working life. The kind of silent tortures, the wide variety of human resources, the multi perspective one strongly holds on to... etc. Its interesting.

The last 2 months of this year, it was KG. The story is still developing and I dont wanna write much about it now.

Its a very fruitful year. This year passed by REALLY FAST, and its one of the most, or really THE MOST, dramatic years in my life. On a side note, from the heaviest weight this year to now, I managed to lose 6kg :D

Hohoho, Merry Xmas.