Day 52

Day 52

Thur. Oct. 31, 2013

Happy Halloween for a rainy day...ResCouncil's planned events of trick-o-treat was going to get people from the residence to have a socia gathering, but it was unsuccessful due to poor weather conditions.

The walk to ENGL100A was windy and my umbrella broke as a gust of wind blew the inside out. How unfortunate eh? Today's class was talking about the novel of Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde and the ideology about split personalities. A light bulb went off and I saw that how it exists for all of us. On the online world, we can be totally who we want and get away with it. This links in with how people play video games and lose track of reality and then the virtual personality takes over.

The night was supposedly going to be good until I received a message from my girlfriend on Skype. It was her older sister messaging me...for some reason, my girl was at the hospital in serious to critical condition. I am in tears and I hope she is all okay.

Day 51

Day 51

Wed. Oct. 30, 2013

One more day before Halloween! Despite some midterms over and some homework completed, I am stressed. Why am I stressed? It's that fact that it seems to be me that been working on group assignments and always carrying the team forward for different course.

ARBUS200 for example, was pretty hectic was we tried to get the group to focus on the work needed to be done. On top of that, I also have group work for GBDA103 and it seems that my team members have disappeared into the blue and thus making me try to complete their part as well. On top of that, I haven't heard anything from my girlfriend for half a week and I'm clinging on to what I believe in.

A stress reliever was when we held our social poker gathering at our residence. Got a couple of girls to join us and a guy from my program which is always great to have. Good ratio is always good, but what can I say? I'm a guy...

Day 50

Day 50

Tues. Oct. 29, 2013

Day 50 and getting close to Halloween! Today was ENGL100A presentations on The Invisible Man. It was an interesting class seeing your classmates present insightful and new perspective works to the class. Speaking of which, I'm glad our presentations were finished and I got a decent grade.

Next was VCULT100 and we discussed the topic of orientalism and the documentary of Five Broken Cameras. My friend in the class was all pumped up from the Human vs Zombies happening on campus with NERF guns strapped to his belt. I wanted to join it, but I never heard of any advertisements to sign up. Shame...I'll join next term.

ResCouncil tonight was a long meeting. When I say long...it was long as we had to brainstorm ideas for an event. Other than that, I look forward to the Trick-O-Treat event we are hosting on Halloween.

Tomorrow we will have poker tournament at our residence with other residence people. Hope it goes well.

Day 49

Day 49

Mon. Oct. 28, 2013

Even though my Mondays are off, it feels like it's getting more and more packed with stuff. I got the weekly laundry, but now I have the weekly ARBUS200 meeting. That's around three hours of my day spent in meetings.

On top of that, I had to watch 5 Broken Cameras for VCULT100. It was a documentary about the Irsrael and Palestine conflict. It was very insightfu, informative, and somewhat inspiring about what the people did to defend their lands.

The day ended with some ARBUS200 group assignments and another VLog which I hope my girlfriend will see.

Day 48

Day 48

Sun. Oct. 27, 2013

A nice warm Sunday! Thank goodness the gas was back. I plan to get some work done today and then have some chill time with my roommates. One of my roommate decided to cook steak and vegetables for us and I decided to bring in a well reputable brand of Australian red wine to compliment the steak. Penfolds, it's a brand recommended by my Australian mate to try the higher end wines. I'm thinking of doing reviews of wines because I love trying to find the best ones to mix with food, gift, etc.

Anyways, later that night me and my roommate player poker again. Once again, I won five rounds out of five and he was exhausted and demoralized. We're thinking of hosting an event later this week for fun with other residence people. The more the merrier right?

After this blog, I'm going to do my daily VLogs for my girlfriend.

Day 47

Day 47

Sat. Oct. 26, 2013

Waking up in the morning was freezing cold. No heat and no hot water made you want to hiberate in your bed. The insulation from the styrofoam panels maintained the temperature so I didn't freeze to death. My roommates had gone elsewhere that may have warm shelter, but I can't go anywhere because I am out-of-province.

Three layers of clothings and boiling hot water to keep me warm was insane. Luckily, my don had contacted the Residence Life Coordinator who had responded immediately to the issue. Maintenenace was call in after hours and it turns out that someone had tampered or shut off our gas line. So at the end of the night, there was hot water and heat from the furnance. Thank goodness!

I did a little bit of homework and then had a poker night with my roommates before calling it a night. I won two tournaments out of three. Not bad...

Day 46

Day 46

Fri. Oct. 25, 2013

It was a cold morning for me to walk to get to the shuttle bus to Stratford. Those bus rides are so painful as they are so long. GBDA103 was another interactive class as mentioned by the instructor. It's classes like GBDA103 that offers the best learning experience that makes you want to go to class.

As for GBDA101, the instructor focused on making sure out HTML and CSS questions were answered for the whole class to work on the assignment. Despite me getting help from my brother's HTML lessons, a few classmates were asking me for help and I was able to provide some sort of knowledge to an extent that my brother had taught me.

When I came home in the evening, one of my roommate had informed that we had lost heating and hot water. Not good...not good at all. No hot shower today and I had to suit up for warmth. I insulated my room with styrofoam paddings I had collected on move-in day and placed it beside the window. I boiled hot water and wore three layers of clothing before I went to sleep. It feels like I'm writing a survival journal now as I am all alone trying to survive the coldness.

Day 45

Day 45

Thur. Oct. 24, 2013

I woke up this morning with a surprise. My girlfriend sent me a Facebook friend request and I was hesitant to add her thinking it was a trap by her parents. I confirmed with her and then I added her. It was nice, but it didn't last long as she unfriended me again in the night to prevent her parents finding out about us.

Today's walk to ENGL100A was slightly chilly and I encountered light wet snow. The class was very short today because the teacher was realized that half the class had not done the reading for The Invisible Man and therefore no discussions can be held.

Later the night, I worked on GBDA103 assignments and then ARBUS200 group work. It was a long day for work because things have been piling up, but I'm confident that a lot of the work-related stress can be resolved today upon completion.

Another Skype late night call to my girlfriend discreetly. Her parents were home so she can only text me while I talked on the phone. Oh well, it was better than nothing. She asked me to write some short stories for her to read to continuously remind her of me. Next, she asked me to sing songs for her since it's been a while. I sang a few good love songs until she was tired and ready to fall asleep. Gosh it felt like the old days when we weren't doing things so secretly. That nostalgia and that warmth was sufficient enough for the cold weather.

Day 44

Day 44

Wed. Oct. 23, 2013

First off, I didn't know people actually read my blogs so I didn't post them up anymore. Since I got an e-mail from a reader, I have decided to upload the missing blogs and linked it back to date.

Today was going to be the most stressful day I can get. There was ARBUS200 along with the group meeting and work, but I was more concerned about doing my GBDA101 web design assisgnment using HTML and CSS mainly because I had no clue at all.

I was originally going to attend a workshop on HTML and CSS, but they usually don't help that much from last experience. My brother is in the University of Toronto in Computer Science and I was going to call him on Skype for help.

My girlfriend secretly called again from her friend's house and we chatted for some bit. I told her how grateful I was to have her for two months now. Yes, it's our two month milestone since we started. We talked about how long we'll have to wait. How many months? How many VLogs I would have made when this is all over?

Next, I spent the whole night on Skype getting lessons on HTML and CSS from my brother for over five hours. Finally after a long hard day's work, I was finished with the assignment. All I needed was to write a statement of intent and that was going to be easy.

Feeling tired and ready to pass out, I quickly made a VLog and uploaded as I had said I would daily to my girl. Is this insanity or is this passion?

Day 43

Day 43

Tues. Oct. 22, 2013

ENGL100A presentation day! An that feeling of awkwardness if I see that girl in class... Oh well, last night's Skype got me back on track and in line with my motives. I already confessed to my girlfriend last night about that move I made and she was fine as long I don't do any funny business.

Presentations were smooth and the girl wasn't in class as well. During class, the girl messaged me on Facebook asking me how it went. Talked for a little bit and got notes for her to give for the next ENGL100A's class.

VCULT100 was a special class as we watched a Japanese horror film called  "Audition". Trust me, it was scary and messed up. Messed up as in scary from SAW and a mix of Insidious. Not a fan.

I posted another VLog and then Skyped my girlfriend the night after ResCouncil. So far so good...tomorrow will mark two months into our relationship!

Day 42

Day 42

Mon. Oct. 21, 2013

Woke up really early to do my laundry so that I have time to get to my group meeting on time. I wasn't going to skip laundry and let it pile up because I'm not the type of guy that skimps out on clean clothes.

ARBUS200 group meeting at Dana Porter library was a short two hour discussion and then it was time for that lunch meet. In the back of my head I was prepared that she wasn't going to show up mainly because she hadn't contacted me during the weekend. So I texted her at the meeting spot and she replied that she was feeling sick from something she ate on the weekend. Oh well, no harm done as I had the mindset prepared.

Later that night, I got ahold of my messenger to transfer messages to my girlfriend. He told me that she had Facebook statuses of her being "single and excited". It was upsetting to see, but let's face it. It wasn't going to hold that long so I told my messenger to tell her that she's free to do what makes her happy. I had to let her go…

Almost midnight, my girlfriends secretly calls me up on Skype because she couldn't let me go either. We had to be doing it secretly without her parents stepping in to intervene again. I told her I have a new plan of making us work.  A plan that was so covert that her parents won't know. It was going to involve Youtube VLogs and codes. Every time I upload an unlisted video, I will give her a code of the link so only she knows what that code is for. This is me not giving up on her because she hasn't given up on me. Is that love? I'm not sure.

Day 41

Day 41

Sun. Oct. 20, 2013

Today I'm just going to sit at home and work on my assignments. So much things to do and with my injuries...I really couldn't walk too far. I had to take some Advil with high Ibuprofen amounts to kill the pain and apply gauze every few hours to control the blood. If it gets worse, I'm going to see the doctor.

Focused on ENGL100A group presentations and turns out that only me and one other girl was doing all the research and writing components. One guy I had to call him up to get him to work on the PowerPoint slides while the other girl we had no contact with. Later that night, it turns out that the girl who we haven't had contact with said that her internet was out, midterms coming, etc.  A few of us were pissed when she mentioned that we got all the points she had down in the presentation...basically nothing more to contribute. Highschool all over again...

Next, I worked on that VCULT100 take home midterm and managed to complete it earlier than expected despite the essay and definition components.

Tomorrow was going to be jam packed. Laundry, lunch date, ARBUS200 group meeting, and I need to find my messenger to relay information.

Day 40

Day 40

Sat. Oct. 19, 2013

Today was Residence Dodgeball tournament at CIF! Originally we had over ten people sign up for a 7 person team. Turns out only six of us showed up for the games. The theme was "Hunger Games" and let me tell you it was indeed living up to its name.

Why? The game was intense because the first round I got smacked in the eye while trying to charge for ball. Not fun, but the worst part is when the second team we played killed me. In the game, there is a "hunter" in which he/she can cross the border to tag without firing any balls. This hunter that charged at me was a massive 120kg minimum guy who fell and placed his whole body weight on my left toe. The pain was excruciating and when the referee said that the ice machine was broken and that I'll be sitting out for the team and we will have a deficit, I took one for the team. Shouldered the pain and managed to play until that whole game with team two was over. One of my best dodges when was was injured was that I was last man standing and got cornered...I cartwheeled to dodge a shot.

Game three with the third team is where I couldn't handle the pain anymore. I took off my shoe and saw that my socks were soaked in blood. I knew I was done and that the injuries were somewhat extensive. I left the gym to get patched up when I heard that one of our teammates tripped and fell on her head on the gym floor. So serious that it may have been a spinal injury and that paramedics rushed to get her to the hospital. Hunger Games much? We forfeited the game at that point because it's not about winning. It's about the teamwork and our residence community.

That girl who got sent to the hospital came back the following night with short term memory loss of what happened that day. Other than that, she was fine. Thank god.

Day 39

Day 39

Fri. Oct. 18, 2013

Stratford Fridays! Always a fun day at Stratford minus the 2H bus ride to and from. That always drains the energy a bit.

GBDA103 was another interesting and interactive class as usual. One of our group members got switched to another group. I sort of figured due to group dynamics because she was always going in opposite direction of where we wanted to go as a team with our project. Oh well, the show must go on.

GBDA101 was a good class, but always a challenging one as I never have the right software to work at home/residence. Today's class was on HTML and CSS. New stuff that I've never touched on before…

Later the day, I set up that dinner with the girl in ENGL100A on Monday for lunch. Not sure how my girlfriend will react when she finds out, but when I get the chance I will honestly tell her. As for Monday's lunch, not sure how that's going to turn out...most of the time dates gets dropped. We'll see how it goes.

So much homework! VCULT100 take home midterm, ENGL100A presentations, and ARBUS200 assignments due all the beginning of next week!

Day 38

Day 38

Thur. Oct. 17, 2013

I must indicate that this day was a bit weird for me. Only ENGL100A today, but the class was usual except one part….

A part that sort of puts me in a tough spot to choose. Here's what happened in the class....the teacher assigned us into groups to do discussion about Quatermain's character and there is this girl. Oh yes, always the girl issue when it comes to the guys. Anyways, back to topic. This girl offered me notes to our other group project presentation which was very valuable because she had quotes and examples already complete despite her not being in the group. 

Question is...can you unintentionally ask a girl out in university? Yup. Here's what happened. She sent me her full notes to my e-mail and then I jokingly reply "Now I owe you a dinner" and she took up on that offer. So yeah...I got a dinner with a girl…

A bit confused at where my relationship stance is right now...

Day 37

Day 37

Wed. Oct. 16, 2013

Another ARBUS200 today, but with a twist. Two professor looking like people came to the class and we thought it was a substitute teacher. Turns out, they were here to teach us about Project Management and all that information. All slides were copyrighted so we had to copy notes by hand despite the presentation being very dry. Oh well, I had some experience like this before and I know that I can write notes speedily which was a plus for me.

Later that night, our ARBUS group worked on a massive long project building a class lecture. Since I was the person in charge of submitting all works, I had to stay up late until all parts were finalized. Eh, not fun when it's just me sitting and waiting.

Another day of no contact with my girlfriend...I hope she is well.

Day 36

Day 36

Tue. Oct. 15, 2013

A few relay of messages back and forth was hard. Not able to get instant replies and hear her voice or even see her face was hard. At least we are still in contact and that is what's keeping the relationship alive along with the promises.

We had ARBUS200 meeting today and we did some group work. Starting to think that not all group members are reliable as they seem. Back to high school all over again... Anyways, went for ENGL100A and talked about Quatermain for the whole day. First part was very less engaging and I nearly fell asleep. After that, it was good.

VCULT100, another three hour class lecture...oh my. The content was understandable and I was able to keep focused throughout the entire session.

After all that I went to Don's Root Beer Event and had a few drinks before heading over to RezCouncil. Must say, the Council community is really starting to influence my personality as a floor rep. Long day...must sleep...

Day 35

Day 35

Mon. Oct. 14, 2013

It's Thanksgiving and I'm spending the holiday by myself. I was planning to give my thanks to my girlfriend for everything, but I guess we got roadblocked halfway before it was time. So here I am, spending the day by doing my usual laundry and doing homework for ARBUS200.

Later the day, my girlfriend secretly messaged me on FaceBook saying that she misses and me and loves me despite going against her parents rule. Hours later, she was forced to unfriend me on Facebook. Another blow, but I had my friend who was willing to relay message for the both of us. For that, I am grateful.

I went to head to campus to watch film for VCULT100, but forgot it was a holiday. Campus was closed and I had to walk back home quickly to complete the film watch online. The subtitles for a Spanish film was horrible. Made no sense at all!

Note to self, keep on trying and never give up on her.

Day 34

Day 34

Sun. Oct. 13, 2013

The day was different. It wasn't because I started off the day without doing homework...it was that my girlfriend was not there to send me a morning message like we usually do. With a sigh, I decided to relax a bit as I come to my senses that it was going to be really hard for both of us.

I needed a plan to keep in contact and I needed to find my other friend on FaceBook to help me relay the messsages. I wasn't going to give up...no, I won't. Not when you made a promise and promises are meant to be kept.

Later the afternoon, I did some homework regarding my Illustrator assignment and finalized the whole project with some calls to my brother asking for his own visual interpretation of the infographic. It was good and that's what I'll hand in tomorrow.

I'm going to plan how to relay message tomorrow...

Day 33

Day 33

Sat. Oct. 12, 2013

I write this entry with great emotions as I am beaten to the ground with a hard stick. I will start by talking the day with the normal things I did such as Illustrator work for GBDA101 and then some reading in VCULT100.

Ordered pizza combo online from TwicetheDeal despite my previous experience. This time it was on time and it was hot. After a good meal, I went on my laptop and got the message from my girlfriend that will forever change us.

Her parents have decided that we can not be together any more despite what both of us feel about each other. She was forced to say goodbye and didn't really have a choice to make. All I know what that we made a deal before something like this would happen. That we'd wait for each other when the storm has passed.

I'm faithful and loyal and I love her very much. I just don't know how long I'll have to wait. It was a dark day for both of us...

Day 32

Day 32

Fri. Oct. 11, 2013

Today's bus ride to Stratford was easier to walk to because there was a new bus pickup point closer to my school residence.

GBDA103 was fantastic today as we built on our ideas in class. One of our classmates brought his brother from elementary school to class and our group was able to get him to help utilize ideas suitable for our product. The class reminded me when I was young again. Oh, that nostalgia.

Next was GBDA101 were our instructor taught us HTML and CSS. Oh boy, that's something I've never played with like Adobe Illustrator. I hope I can understand the scripting concept.

The following night, my roommates went to play pool, ping pong, and foosball all night long at the local residence center. It was fun!

Day 31

Day 31

Thur. Oct. 10, 2013

A full month in writing! This is pure dedication I think...more than doing my homework which is a bit scary. Oh wells.

ENGL100A studied Alan Quatermain in class. We watched a film about the Lost Kingdom in Africa talking about colonialism and post-colonialism. The movie was indeed fascinating in a way.

Tomorrow is Stratford again only this time, the long weekend is Thanksgiving. I hope I have a great holiday as I spend my time doing homework.

Day 30

Day 30

Wed. Oct. 9, 2013

ARBUS200 today and it was a typical day. The thing I was most worried about was my infographic assignment due Friday. After ARBUS200, I needed to head to the computer lab where there was a workshop on to use Illustrator. Sacrificing my dinner time, I worked on my project and had completed a very simple and clean presentation of my info graphic.

Luckily our instructor, Adam, thought that most of us had rushed times to finish this project and decided to give us a small weekend extension to allow us to work on it more. It was awesome because even though I had finished it, I feel like I can add a bit more complexity without stressing too much.

At the end of the night, I walked to my house and received two mail in the mailbox. One was  the first letter my girlfriend had sent me which was a poem and the other was my order of 100 stamps so that I can continue to mail my girlfriend. With the assignment extension and letter from my girl, I was a happy guy.

Finishing the night, me and two other roommates played poker knockout tournaments for many rounds with different stakes. We're thinking of hosting a residence-wide tournament. More thoughts need.

Day 29

Day 29

Tue. Oct. 8, 2013

Oh my, it's almost a month since I begun writing this daily blog on my university life! Today we had two class presentations in ENGL100A and it was very informative. I think I might be able to get stuff to write for that final essay assignment.

Next class was VCULT100 were we discussed about the film we watched. Oh, I realized I forgot to talk about it in my last blog. It was called "The Intruder", a French film, and gosh it was wierd. All the movies we've watched are not even close to the Hollywood expectations.

It's RezCouncil today and we helped make Stress Bubble Wraps. Nothing much really discussed in the meeting this time and no homework done. Thinking of calling my parents to see how they are. I'm starting to sense a meltdown...not good.

By the way, my girlfriend messaged me saying she got my second letter. Haven't gotten feedback yet. Will ask that tomorow.

Day 28

Day 28

Mon. Oct. 7, 2013

Same old chores in the house and it was time to do the laundry. To my surprise, I rather do laundry and chores over doing my homework. Wierd, but I got the task completed. I'm starting to think I'm procrastinating my assignments.

I realized that time was packed today and was not able to head to computer labs for infographic, but I had completed the research info. Not much, but better than nothing. Maybe I'm just telling myself I did enough when I can do more. I know that tomorrow will be a jam packed day as well leaving me no time to draw that infographic on Illustrator.

My girlfriend told me she has sent me two letters, but I have not received them. I'm starting to think if they got lost or sent elsewhere like the failed pizza delivery... I hope she gets my letter at least.

Day 27

Day 27

Sun. Oct. 6, 2013

Sunday is a day where I should be doing work, but I rarely did any of it. I am not proud at all. I managed to get an assignment for GBDA103 completed and did a little bit of reading for ENGL100A. The thing that I'm most stressed about right now is GBDA101 where I need to make an infographic using Adobe Illustrator which I don't have. That means I need to go to campus' lab to use their software on Monday.

Later the night, I ordered pizza from TwicetheDeal online and had to wait 1H 45min to get my pizza delievered because the pizza man couldn't find my area and rather not call my BC cell phone because of long distance charges. I am not pleased at all with the service and I will not order from them ever again!

Tomorrow is laundry day with a VCULT100 film session. Busy day...I wonder if I can get that infographic worked on...

Day 26

Day 26

Sat. Oct. 5, 2013

Another Saturday to get some work done. I've been slacking off too much with the infection. It's not good at all. I have to find some motivation to get the job done.

I worked on my ARBUS200 group work and then did some reading for my ENGL100A. One of my roommates was going to host a party at our place for his friend's birthday party. I decided to stay in my room and talk to my girlfriend instead of joining them. I try to get as much time I can with her especially when I'm far away.

After the party was over, the house was a mess. I decided to help out even though I did not participate in it. Thought that after I finish, I can grab some food and chat with my roommate to get to know him better.

Long day and little sleep these few days...

Day 25

Day 25

Fri. Oct. 4, 2013

Woke up the morning and it was pouring rain! I needed to walk from Southeast to Northwest cross campus. I also needed to deliever my written letter to my girlfriend which I said I would do. The walk to campus was horrible as I was drenched in rain even with an umbrella. I got the letter wet and was hesitating if I should deliever it. I decided I should because in the letter I talked about sending letters on time.

Stratford Campus had a Gamerfication conference and there were lots of games to try for free. It was an awesome day combined with the best class which was GBDA103 talking about personas and then followed by GBDA101 where we watched a movie about typography.

The medicine is making some progress, but I'll need to finish all to see the effects...

Day 24

Day 24

Thur. Oct. 3, 2013

Went to see the doctor as early as I could. Turns out that I had contracted a Respiratory Tract Infection and I need to take five days worth of antibiotics. Oh my...and my roommates that were infected haven't seen the doctor yet. That is scary!

ENGL100A today was the ordinary talk about characters in Dracula. It was hard to interpret some of the points made, but you have to move on. You can't focus too much on the things that are stressful.

Get some rest and do some homework.

Day 23

Day 23

Wed. Oct. 2, 2013

The day is not looking too well. I had trouble sleep last night with excessive coughing. So painful that I could not sleep at all. I know that I am going to see a doctor, but not today because of ARBUS200 class. That class practically took up my day for me to see a doctor before I can go in while they are open.

In ARBUS200, we talked about using a SCAMPER model to use in building a better bathtub. It's was fun because we got into our group and had crazy ideas about designing a new bathtub. All the creative thinking juices.

I come home and receive a message from my girlfriend on Facebook. Turns out her parents disapprove of me and has decided to break off her relationship between us. So no more Skype call because of her parents watching, but she said she was going to keep our relationship alive. She loves me and wants us to be together. So we decide that we write to each other by mail. Hopefully, in time, it will work out. I'm sure of it.

Got to sleep and get rest. Will go to see doctor tomorrow. A must!

Day 22

Day 22

Tues. Oct. 1, 2013

Can't believe it's been one month in Waterloo! I made month one alive and I haven't collapsed. The medicine is starting to wear off as it became less effective.

Today in ENGL100A class, we talked about feminine roles and then got into science about views of a women and men. Wierd, but okay... Next I went to VCULT100 and watched some short clips and talked about perception and tonality.

Here's the big thing I'm starting to pick up in these two classes! There were lots of coughing...like a lot! Many people around the classes seemed to have the same condition that I have. Could it be signs of an outbreak? Common cold? Virus? It's not looking too well since my medicine are not useful. I'm going to plan a trip to see a doctor to find out what is the cause. It must be something in the air. Those particles either are microscopic dust or some infectious disease. Either way, it's not looking too well.

Recommend people who are healthy to wear masks as well as people who are infected. I can sense an outbreak going to happen here at Waterloo. It's just a matter of time...