on midterms, life, and being a mental patient.

There's just something about finishing an exam that makes life feel so good.

What is it about exam time that just propels me to bad food, too much coffee and not enough sleep? And when I say bad food, I mean a block of cheese with microwaved pita bread. Yes. Gross. And by too much coffee, I mean two full cups of Second Cup coffee within a 4 hour period. There is an insane amount of potent caffeine in Second Cup coffee. And finally, by not enough sleep I mean going to bed at 2 am and waking up with a start at 7:50 am with the thought: "American foreign policy midterm."

Also, I had an incredibly strange dream/recollection last night in my exhausted, post-caffeinated sleep cycle where my sister and I (at around 6 or 7 years old) fought over a floating bath toy doll that we fondly named "Lifeguard" (which exists in real life). Then my mom came in and gave us each a "Lifeguard." I don't know why, but in the dream I was observing all this from the outside and finding it incredibly funny, and giggling hysterically. I will never know for sure, but I had the feeling the morning after that I was actually laughing. Anyways, the point is that exams induce me to act like a mental hospital patient. I can't imagine what my roommate must have thought if she were awake to hear my crazy sleep-giggling. Hah.

As for the midterm itself, I knew all my material, but it was a classic case of not having enough time to write out everything I wanted to. Oh well, I got the bonus question half right. It was a picture of a prominent American Secretary of State Dean Acheson, whose name I identified correctly but incorrectly identified as Defense Secretary. Not that it matters so much, I was writing it way past the point where I should have put down my pen, and sitting in the very front row means that the professor can definitely call you out on that.

Anyways, that's all over as of yesterday. I will only have to go through this again in two weeks, when I have two blockbuster exams. And when I say blockbuster, I mean exams that I will not study for last minute (again!) like the one I just had. Just watch, I'm going to go to a cafe right after my meeting today and study so hard my ass just might fall off.

Best of luck to everyone on their midterms, or love, or life. Or love life. In my case, it's midterms = my life = no love. For anybody.

one small step for mrs.hong...

This is another reason why I love my kooky Korean mother to death.

(on the phone)
Mom: (in Korean) So Beth,I was thinking, maybe this winter vacation me and Alice go on a cruise!

Me: Oh really? Which cruise are you going to take?

Mom: (in English) Well, I recently meet this homosexual man, and his, his...

Me: Partner?

Mom: Yes, their life is interesting! One of them teaches art at UBC.

Me: How did you meet them?

Mom: Ohh I don't know, I didn't ask them such personal detail...

Me: No, but how did YOU meet them?

Mom: Well, one of them has liver cancer, and I take care of him...anyway, they go on many cruises! And they give me so much good information. Beth, do you have pen? Write this down: "cruise specialist," and phone number is 800 544 2469.
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After this conversation, I marveled at the fact that this was probably the first time I have ever heard my mom speaking positively about gay people in my entire life. And for those of you in the know, yes this is the same woman who would "disown" me if I was a lesbian, and feared that my roommate in first year was going to "slither into my bed" one night (I swear I am not making this up).

I guess it all comes down to basic human interaction and its power to break down barriers. I mean, my mom doesn't actually hate or fear gay people, she's just never really met any. And look what happened: a simple conversation about the most banal of topics allowed her to see perhaps for the first time that this gay man is a decent human being, instead of whatever she imagined gay people would be like in her head (something I would pay money to find out, just for the hilarity).

Anyways, perhaps this is just the irrational and over-illusioned optimist in me, but it made me believe a little more in humanity.