Vienna made me happy for reasons other than being in Vienna...

It's now 5:45pm, and I've been sitting in this net cafe for the last 7 hours. I'm currently in Vienna, and I managed to see a lot of the city yesterday and I just wasn't in the mood to see anymore. Besides, I actually enjoyed being indoors and getting my fix of email, Facebook and catching up on TV shows. Will need to head off in an hour or so in order to catch my night train to Rome. But for now, since I have time to kill, and I've caught up on everything, I will blog. One last note, I know that my parents read this. A simple message to them: I am fine. There is nothing to worry about. I am the most cautious/paranoid person that anyone will ever meet (ask my friends). I am very responsible. I know how to take care of myself very well. And I will return home in less than a month safe and sound. On that note, let's begin the recount.

Still alive after Hamburg, Berlin and Prague...

Well well well...once again, it's been a long time since the last post. I am still alive. In the past nine days, I've been to three cities: Hamburg, Berlin and Prague.

Day 40: Leaving Amsterdam for Berlin. Was woken up quite early by the Brits who had an extremely early plane to catch. Mind you, they were still quite high on weed and shrooms. Used the early wake-up call to get everything packed and was curious to see what the Brits had left behind in their sleep-deprived and high state. Looking around on the ground, I saw a few coins, which added up to about 10 euros. But my most impressive find was when I looked under one of the beds and found a phone. It was a Nokia something, designed as a music player. Looks like I got myself a new phone (albeit quite scratched). But I doubt I'll be using it since I don't have the charger plus I really want a different phone lol.

Tapas, here I come...

It's now 3pm on Day 8, and I'm waiting to head out on my tapas tour. I haven't really had much Spanish cuisine since I've been here. Had some paella the first night I got here, but that was included in a buffet (for only 10 euros!!). So I guess today will be my first true experience of a Spanish meal.

I got an offer for dentistry today. It's a weird feeling. I kinda made my peace with not getting in, and now that I've received an offer, there isn't really feeling associated with it. Just neutral feelings. I guess it was always meant to be a back-up option. Now if I get an offer for Masters in Org Psych, then I'll be overjoyed. Judging by the date that they said they would annouce offers, I should be in either Slovenia or Italy. But as for dentistry, I'm supposed to accept within 10 days via email. Still working that out because it's a bit weird and everything is so confusing right now.

Awesome weather...

It's the morning after I landed in Switzerland. Outside it's cold, gloomy and raining. But I guess that's what I signed up for. I was really hoping for snow, but apparently that doesn't come until around January or February. Not sure what I'll be doing today. My relatives are all at work or school, so I will be alone for at least half the day. And don't think I'll be driving here (not that I have a car to drive) but they drive on the other side of the road and the road lines are so confusing. Anyways, time for me to have breakfast and then start hopefully exploring the city!!

In other news, I got a rejection email for dentistry. Very disappointing because I thought I aced that interview. I'm on the waiting list, but that doesn't sound too promising. Don't think many people reject it. Oh well, as long as I get into Masters of Org Psych, then it's all good. Fingers crossed!!

HBL signing out from Emmenbrücke, Switzerland. Guten morgen!!

Still hasn't hit me yet...

Last night was my bon voyage dinner. Great fun. And great turn-out. It really makes me feel loved that so many people would show up just to see me one last time time before I fly out of their lives for 3 whole months. I'm really gonna miss everyone. To be honest, even though it was my bon voyage party, and people were saying goodbye to me, it still hasn't hit me that I'm leaving in less than 48 hours. It'll probably hit me once I'm sitting on the plane ready to take off. I've still got so much to do. Haven't packed yet. Still need to go buy a camera too. Must also sell my Bon Jovi ticket. But yeah, because it hasn't sunk in that I'm leaving so soon, there doesn't seem to be that sense of urgency. We'll see how I feel tomorrow lol.

In other news, USyd med offers came out yesterday. In the past few years, dent offers have always come out before med offers. I guess they decided to change it this year. Will be eagerly awaiting the results so I can know whether I have a confirmed back-up option. Results of org psych will be announced mid-December, so if at least, I have dent already confirmed, it makes the wait a little less stressful.

HBL signing out.

Confident and happy...

It's been a while since my last post. It's been a very cognitively demanding week. Psychologically speaking, this should mean that my level of willpower is diminished. So if I gorge on food, or splurge on buying clothes, I can blame this week. Finished both exams feeling like I could have done more (had I only studied more), but there's nothing I can do about that now. I just hope that they scale final marks up so my marks don't look too bad.

As for dentistry interview this morning, surprisingly I feel optimistic about it. I've never walked out of an interview feeling that happy and confident (if I find out that I don't make it -*knock on wood*- I'm coming back to delete this post lol). I felt like my answers were coherent and pleased the interviewers since they were nice and joked with me (or maybe they're like that with everybody). Nevertheless, I was so nervous before the interview, and being me, I showed up 40 minutes early. That gave me time psych myself out, and then calm myself down (slightly). But once I went in, I think my first interviewer was just so nice that it made me feel at ease for the rest of the interview. Even when they threw some hard scenarios at me, I felt like I was able to explain myself without sounding too lost. I'm actually glad that we had an ethics course, cos that helped me so much in answering the questions. Anyway, I'll find out sometime in November so it'll be a bit of a wait.

Now I've completed everything I needed to, besides the thesis. From now til the 11th, it's gonna be all thesis. Maybe a few more all-nighters at uni, but I won't be alone anymore since most of Lab201 are staying over as well. I've told my supervisor that I will send him a redraft of my intro, method and results by Sunday night, so I need to really get cracking. At the moment, it stands at 9500 words, but after cutting out the apparently irrelevant sections of my intro could bring the word count down a bit.

Well, I'll be staying at uni til 1 tonight to work on the thesis. John will pick me up. Don't think I could do an all-nighter at uni in my formal clothes. So bloody uncomfortable. But alas, I needed to look good for the interview.

HBL signing out.

Psych trumps dent...

Currently on 6000 words for my thesis, and it's due in 17 days. I'm starting to really freak out. I know I've left things to the last minute before, but this is just so major that it seems that there's a possibility that I might not finish in time. In order to get myself up to speed, I've imposed a mini-deadline, and told my supervisor that I would send him a completed intro by Sunday night. That gives me 48 hours to write another 3000 or so words, plus fix up my method and results.

Once that's all done by Sunday night, I should start studying for my two final exams on Wednesday and Thursday. The exam on OCD and PTSD should be OK. There's only two lectures to study. As for the exam for my elective, there's twelve or so articles to study, and memorise. And the annoying thing is that the article I presented won't be tested. But I guess with some solid study time, I should be able to get both these exams done with relative ease.

Then comes Friday. My interview for dentistry. I'm not really sure how to prepare for this. I've done a few interviews before, and the only one I can truly say that I was successful in, was my Yellow Shirt interview when I first got selected. I've failed at all other interviews. Not a very good track record. However, I do now have a lot more examples of initiative, leadership, communication and teamwork examples because of Yellow Shirts. Although, I'm not sure whether they'll appreciate constantly hearing about Yellow Shirts. But we'll see.

Being a dentist was something I'd always imagined myself doing. However, I just can't picture myself going through another four arduous years of study. But I guess it's nice to have options just in case org psych falls through. Dentist or organisational psychologist? I know I'd definitely prefer being a psychologist. I'll know the results of dentistry in early December, and the results of org psych in mid-December. That's gonna be a nerve-wracking few weeks for me. Luckily, I should be somewhere nice. I anticipate that I'll be somewhere in London at that time (or Lucerne, if I need to be Skyped for my interview). Either way, I'll be a lot happier when it's all over and I know with a bit more certainty what my future path is. Please give me at least one of them!!

HBL signing out.