I know, I know, it's been a while... But now I'm back, and with a vengeance!
The past three weeks have probably been the greatest test of my academic career up til now, and I am glad to say that I managed to not only survive, but actually make quite a success of it! Great, now that I've successfully stroked my own ego, let's recap what has happened since the last post...
A couple of weeks ago, Stellenbosch was hit by the worst gale-force winds I have seen in my decade of living here. It's awe-inspiring and horrifying to think that one can harness so much destructive energy in mere air, and that so much damage can be sustained in just one night. Granted, these types of winds aren't a rarety in the country, or even the province for that matter, but it kind of makes a massive difference if you live in a place which is a) generally windstill and b) has a gigantic oak tree around every corner. As I was driving to work the morning after. I had to make 3 detours to due logs blocking the road, and when I finally made it to the farm, I spent most of the day clearing up the rubble (a tree fell down on the owner's house, and two in the parking lot) - it was actually quite cool, I got to play around with a chainsaw (a la Jason from Friday the 13th) and lug around heavy objects (my free state genes really shone through...)!
After doing my bit to destroy our forests, I managed to serve one customer during the day... A quaint man, didn't talk that much, kind of chugged everything down within a matter of seconds, then started chatting eventually. Turned out to be the former Welsh rugby coach. Go figure. Weird day in general... Oh well...
Speaking of natural disasters, one of my oldest and best friends arrived in the country recently, after a stint in the United Kingdom. It was both weird and wonderful to see Good 'Ol Deon again: So much had changed, yet so much has stayed the same. Upon first glance he kind of looked like the character from that game Hitman (pale, shaved head, black overcoat, wireframe glasses), apparently he had quit smoking, started drinking less, and also had a spurt of pseudo-religious reawakening - all good things. Yet, still, we reconnected within a matter of minutes, and he was very eager to share his stories, experiences and the reasons behind his redesigning of himself. He's still not out of the dark yet, but he's making massive steps, and I personally think he's on the right track. I'm proud of you, man.
The thing that has seriously been getting me down for the better part of three weeks has been academics. In the past three weeks, I have had no less than four tests, two assignments (one of which is essentially the first draft of a masters thesis...), and an oral exam. Miraculously, after spending more hours in a day studying in stead of sleeping (thank god there is now a place in the Neelsie where you can get free espresso and cappucino...), I managed to get through all with flying colours... Hopefully the nightmares of weirdly mutated lecturers (a la The Hills have Eyes) attacking me with overdue assignments will finally end... Now we just have to wait and see. Incidentally, I've also decided that I'm officially going to do a Master's degree in Law, and have started talking to my lecturers about what would be the best way of going about becoming ridiculously over-qualified.
Last weekend, the debating society attended the annual invitationals tournament hosted by "that other weird place inhabited by Capetonians who don't drink" (UCT for short...). After years of falling about between different partners, Martin Bekker and I (for the people who don't know what I'm talking about, simply skip to the next paragraph...) finally decided to have a shot at speaking with eachother again, in the hope that we can make our great last stand. Not realising how rusty we are (in terms of debating and showtunes...), we made absolute fools of ourselves and ended up breaking to semi-finals in last place (and that's only after one team had to leave early...), so we weren't feeling too positive when we were up against two incredibly strong teams. Strangely enough, to the amazement of all (especially us...), we pulled several rabbits out of a hat (proving the old adages "never piss off a philosophy lecturer" and "don't tell Koornhof about bad governance" - OK, so maybe they're not that old) and managed to be the only Stellenbosch team in the final. The final didn't go too badly, although the topic was horrible (honestly, a bill of rights for animals???? A bit too nice and fluffy...), and we managed to hold our own. It would have been nice to be take the cup home, but Rome wasn't built in a day, and Martin and I will have our vengeance...
For the past four months, I was essentially an only child. And I loved it! Honestly, who doesn't like constant attention, parents buying you lunch and dinner "just cos I haven't seen you enough this week," sending you wine and little extras, and these types of things? Anyway, after finally getting used to this new life and treatment, my sister decides to arrive back in the country from the states. Now, make no mistake, I love my sis and I missed her just as much as everyone else, and I enjoy the constant sibling rivalry, but it was kind of cool having undivided attention and not being blamed for everything that goes wrong... On the other side, she's looking good, doing well in both academics and her sport, and it seems like she's grown up just that little bit more... Maybe one day we'll be able to sit down and talk like rational adults, maybe never, but it's kind of weird and cool to see that the young'un is no longer that young...
Last night we had our traditional celebration of drunken debauchery and even drunker argumentation, that glorious thing we all love (or love to hate): the Stellenbosch Great Beer Debate! After several hours of arguing why Michael Jackson should be pope and hearing why dinosaurs REALLY went extinct (thanks Piet, thanks...), and still retaining the title of Champion Beer Downer (Tom Riley would be proud, I am finally under 2.5 seconds...), I found myself and several others being auctioned off to the, erm, highest bidder... After being bought by a mysterious group of women referring to themselves as "The Coalition," I shudder to think how I will be abused for three hours sometime next week... Oh well!
Right, so that's the end of that, and that's why I haven't had the time to update this bloody thing... Enjoy the rest of the M.M.O.M (merry month of may), and hope to hear from you all as soon as possible!!!
Music Lyric of the day: "If there's a problem, yo I'll solve it! Check out the beat while my DJ revolves it!" (Vanilla Ice, Ice Ice Baby)
Arb 80's trivia of the day: Funnily enough, Big Brother didn't watch you in 1984. At least I hope not...
Suggestion of the day: Phone up an old friend and have a drink with them. Try to re-establish that old bond - you'll find it's quite easy and well worth it...
Quote of the day: "Cogito cogita ergo cogita sum" - I think I think therefore I think I am... (Thanks Kev!)
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