Friday, September 24th 2004, 09:15
Friday morning. Couldn't be bothered to do my readings today. It's *my* turn to do my fair share of procrastination.
First things first: I hate the climate of this place. Yes I've been here for a year already, but I still think the weather here is retarded. What are you supposed to wear?
{table lost in archiving}
(http://www.wunderground.com/US/IL/Champaign.html)
Someone once asked me whether Kris will get a weird girlfriend or not, since he's so weird himself. Well the answer to that is "no". Now I never actually made an effort to hook onto someone, since I just couldn't care less, but every time a girl talks to me and we start all sorts of topics, it takes me less than 3 days to find out that they either have a boyfriend already for over 4 years or they're in a long distance relationship for the sixth. So that proves that I do, in fact, have good tastes, and that smart girls are always more appealing to guys than pretty girls.
Tuesday, September 21st 2004, 18:32
As with any open mind, we should always try to look at different points of view. People of different religious beliefs (or in my case, the lack of belief) should also do that. But what I find perplexing is to "try to believe in our religion". I really don't see how you could tell yourself to think something when deep inside, you don't. The only way to really do that is to convince yourself it is true, even if you think you should. Thinking something is true or not is like memory - you can't make yourself forget something even if you try. You either remember or you don't, and similar, you either believe that something is true, or you're not.
[from http://www.infidels.org/library/modern/paul_doland/author.shtml, criticizing The Case for Faith]
[First off, I am empathetic to Christian's fears that if there is no God, then there is no absolute foundation for right and wrong, and no ultimate meaning to life. I've read some atheistic counter-arguments to these fears, but I haven't found them to be compelling. So I really want to believe there is a God and that there is more to life than what we see. On the other hand, I am not able to convince myself of that which fails my own logic. "Pascal's Wager" says that one might as well believe in God, because if you are wrong, it won't matter. And I for one would take Pascal on his wager if I could. But I cannot force myself to believe that which fails my logic any more than I could convince myself that squares are round if someone offered me a million dollars.]
I sure hope most Christians aren't Presbyterians... because I honestly don't think that it's possible for a person to force himself to believe in something. Therefore, whether you believe or not is already decided, right?
Thursday, September 2nd 2004, 23:09
People usually get really excited when they see free pizza and pop in a club meeting. For me, well, there might be just too much of a good thing. I get free pizza provided by the finance club and the actuarial science club once in a while, I get free pizza dinners from firms coming on campus to hire actuarial science students every now and then, plus I get free pizza lunches every Friday for a finance class that I'm taking right now (that's for the different guest lecturers that come every week, and for making the course so hard!!).
Well it's not really free, since I have to pay dues for the two clubs, but then I also get other stuff there, and the total amounts of pizza I consume is obviously more than the dues anyway. No, I'm not getting sick of pizzas. I like it. I'm just really concerned with these "pure-carb supplements" to my otherwise fiber-heavy diet. Unfortunately it's really hard to deny free food, especially when your parents bankrupt 25 years of their life-savings & ��� just to let you study abroad.
Speaking of pizza parties, has anyone actually considered how difficult a task that really is? First you need to know where to get discounts, and you can only get them through specially negotiated long-term deals, and you need to work out the logistics of it really well. Then you need to decide how much you really need, because the amount of pizza you have sends a lot of messages to others. Estimating the number of people that come is hard enough, and it's nearly impossible if it's a new organization. Too little pizza, and you look skanky. Too much, and people will think that your club is crap and you're only trying to attract people with food (plus, no-one really wants cold pizza). If you have a company presentation, then it depends on how serious people are about trying to attain a position in that company. If you're busily trying to get your name across to the college recruitment officer, then you won't eat much. And what if people bring their friends along? How much do they want to eat now? Is there a frat party going on tonight? Are people going to eat more because they're about to drink, or less because they also provide food? Wow, pizza management is more difficult than you think!
Wednesday, September 1st 2004, 21:24
I'm pretty much well settled into school already. The most interesting thing is that this year feels just like my freshman year, with all these new friends and new activities. Only this time, they're more useful ones, and it feels like I'm starting on a blank slate, only this time my soft skills are improving. I realised that a major reason why some people get into great positions and others don't is largely determined on your network. A lot of presidents of clubs and other organisations have told me that they had high school friends a year or two older, studying in the same place. In fact, most local students have very large networks of high school friends here.
I do not even have one high school friend that's within hundreds of miles!!!
The good news is that my strategy of refusing to hang out in our own ethnic student groups, and just know people from the US, is starting to pay dividends. It's hard to explain in what way is it helping, but at least my gambit has not gone to waste. Whatever.
Also, I've just got my phone card right now, so someone PLEASE tell me to call them whenever they're free?