Rain has never really been much of a problem for me until now. I decided not to ride the bike yesterday and today because of the rain. This is the main problem with being so used to cycling. If it rains,
I’m in trouble. The roads are slippery when wet so it’s even more dangerous than usual, and yet I feel so bad when I don’t get to ride my bike. Yesterday I just felt a bit more sleepy than usual, but today I was feeling so bad that I thought about going home early. I couldn’t think as well as I normally do, and I just wanted to cry. (I managed not to do that.)

Well, I made it through the day, and it actually rained when the ELEC1103 lecture (the last one I have today) finished, and I was talking to a friend, and he ended up driving me home. It happened that he didn’t have an umbrella so we shared my umbrella on the way to his car. On the way out of the carpark, he addressed the person working at the exit as “mate”. So much for saying that he doesn’t say that term very often in the survey… xD (Oh well, at least he’s not one of the people who said that someone who uses “dude” is “the fish in Finding Nemo“. xD)

Quite a lot actually happened yesterday. I was done for the day with my classes at 12, but in the afternoon I went to CFR (Connectivity for Refugees), a programme where volunteers teach refugees how to use computers. (Well, in this case, asylum seekers, not refugees – there is a difference.) It was an interesting experience. There were two Chinese asylum seekers who didn’t speak much English (well, one of them spoke a little bit, but the other didn’t speak any), and they expected me to speak Chinese because I obviously look Chinese. I disappointed them because I didn’t speak Mandarin very well. My speech involved a lot of circumlocution, and I did some pointing and gestures too. Writing things down also worked pretty well, but I do realise that I don’t necessarily remember how to write all the characters, even if I can still read Chinese as quickly as (if not quicker than) I can read English. I still helped the first one a bit, and she managed to help the other one.

So much for following my friends around to their clubs and activities. I ended up going to the EU ISM (we definitely have acronym overload at USyd’s clubs and societies xD) as well. It’s not something I’m interested in at all, and I think that while it’s a good idea they explain everything in simple
words, sometimes it felt as if they were talking down on us. However, the people there were very friendly, and there were free snacks so it was still good.

The main reason why I went to the ISM was that I decided to go to the EWB meeting with my friend afterwards. There were members who are working, and they went there straight from work, so they were all wearing shirts and ties. I looked very conspicuous in my bright lime green jacket. It didn’t help that I happened to have rainbow scrunchies, a red top, a blue skirt, and colourful gum boots. EWB’s plans were interesting. After the meeting we went out for drinks (not that I drank much – I still have the typical problem of not being able to get drinks that I like – I can’t drink Coke because it keeps me up at night, I don’t like beer, the pub didn’t sell ginger beer, no iced chocolate either… how awkward xD), and we ended up talking for so long… I’m glad that I went though.

So, that’s it for this semester’s classes. Next week is stuvac. I’d better study more this time. Better not get into “conference mode” like last time. xD Not that anyone has time to Skype me now anyway.

I followed my friend to her lectures today. Both of them were actually pretty interesting. At least now I know that next year’s physics will actually be something I can look forward to. Following my friend around is actually quite a good idea.

I wasn’t so lucky with the lectures that I was actually supposed to attend. The three-hour power outage at Carslaw today made them really awkward. I had a torch, so I decided to “spotlight” one of the lecturers, and that actually turned out to be quite funny.

My cycling addiction seems to be getting worse. By now, there’s a part of me that wishes I’ve never started cycling. It’s almost as if I’m getting up in the morning just to ride the bike. It’s making me really tired, but I don’t want to stop…

Well, it’s “National Ride to Work Day”. I ride my bike everyday anyway… but it’s great to have some company on the Pacific Highway! Of course, the free food was good too. There were scones, bread, juice, muesli bars, coffee, and tea. I had some of everything except for coffee and tea. (Well, they had bottled water too, which I didn’t take either.) Maps and reflective snap-on bands were also given out. It was like a party!

There was a photographer taking instant photos for everyone to post on
the board. I was there quite early, so I had mine high up on the board.

The Mayor of North Sydney drew the raffle. I didn’t enter though.

The President of North Shore Bicycle Group announced that there is a plan to lobby for state funding to build an elevated cycleway to extend the existing Sydney Harbour Bridge cycleway. I hope it really gets built. That would really be nice.

Towards the end, the bulletin board was filled. Apparently, there are people riding from Normanhurst to the CBD. Now that’s a long trip… O.o

Somehow, I was still hungry after my first tute today. xD

I also watched “Ratatouille” today. Yay for rats! I like the song towards the end too.

Come to think of it… I came home by train three days in a row because I stay out so late these days. Today, someone on the train did some kind of gesture to me and I thought he was trying to tell me to move, so I moved my bike. He proceeded to stroke my bike and gesture to me that it’s a nice bike. Later on he told me the name of the stop at which he needed to get off, and then I realised that he’ll need to get out of the doors on the left (which I usually stand near, because all the busy stops before it open the doors on the right). It was kind of awkward, but at least this person smiled at me and wasn’t trying to make trouble at all. Two guards actually happened to get on the train, and they started talking to that person and I explained what was going on. It turned out that he actually had sight problems, but because he was gesturing at me with his hands I thought he couldn’t hear either, so I just gestured back. He did have some difficulty speaking though.

What a day…

Come to think of it… it seems like a long time since I’ve posted anything here. I’ve been staying up late to finish assignments recently. I never thought I would do this. I take a long time to recover, because I already put enough strain on my heart riding the bike everyday, so when I don’t get enough sleep, I can really feel my heart beating faster than usual, and it’s really distressing. It’s actually good that I didn’t attempt to ride in both directions this week. I do still ride in the morning though. Before I get on the bike in the morning I often feel so miserable that I just want to go back to bed, but by the time I get past the uphill part of Pacific Highway, I feel so much better. By the time I arrive at the university, I’m awake and ready for class. I never thought that cycling would become so important to me.