and specifically, facebook, has sucked up whatever free time i have had to updating it instead of this blog.  and since it's sooo much easier to update there than here (have i mentioned how much i think microsoft sucks fro making this site so shitty?  oh yes, i think i have, on numerous occasions) i'm gonna limit my updating to facebook, and just keep this blog for my random rants and as a photo depository.

 

so to keep informed of my happenings (or non-happenings), sign up.  it's not just for college freshmen anymore!  :)

 

and also i must urge everyone, whether i know you or not, to join linkedin.com.  this is a 'serious', more grown-up networking site, and this one might actually help me find a job, so the more ppl there are online, and in particular my 'network', the better!

 

finished the bulk of my 'econometric study' for my thesis, awaiting comments and a meeting with my supervisor, but i'm hoping (naively counting on?) that there won't be too much overhauling to do, and so i don't really have that that much left to do!

 

that and one more exam, 1 wk + 1 day from today, and then i'll be done done done!  (but graduation ceremony's in sep, tho i heard the 'ceremony' sucks ass, just like the school).

 

wow, not sure it's gonna sink in until, well, i'm on my way to my various sun-spot destinations in june. :)  consult updated travel list on left.

 

only other big news, and the only travel news, this past wkend went up to lüneburg for the wedding of a couple of friends.  was super-sweet, since i was there (literally, across the table at dinner 3 yrs ago) when they first started falling for each other.

 

alright, that's it, just to say that i'm alive.

 

note to hye: congrats on graduating!  and u know i woulda helped u move if i were there.  in fact, if u move back to gva, i'll help u unpack!  only caveat is that i'd have to be in town. :)

 

if you know me then you know that i like to do things very quickly.  i walk (too) fast, talk fast, work fast, etc.  my penchant for eating junk food is not for the taste but for the speed - walk in, order, and wolf down a meal in 15 min.  i think of it as a virtue.  i do 'stop and smell the roses', and believe u me, i know how to be lazy.  but it's a conscious decision, to turn off the 'productivity' switch and just relax. (hey, i'm a robot, i know).

 

not usually impatient tho, (except perhaps when i'm behind the wheel), but sometimes when i really am in a hurry and i'm running on turbo speed, i can get pissed off at the world.  today was such a day, when all i wanted to do was pop into the grocery store (have to cuz sunday everything's closed) to pick up a few things and hop on the bus.  20 minutes to do that.  "no problem!" thought i.  needless to say, i ended up missing my bus.

 

problem is that this is switzerland, so everybody and his dog (literally, dogs go EVERYWHERE with their owners) is out shopping today.  so huge crowds, long queue.  as i'v said before, the swiss just doesn't know how to behave properly in crowds.  'don't leave ur bloody cart in the middle of the aisle blocking everyone!' i'd like to scream.  but then my voice would be hoarse from having to say that a gazillion times in between the cheese section and the.. other cheese sections.  they move about as quickly as the checkout clerks work, which is to say that they would put glaciers to shame.

funnily enuf, this study on how quickly ppl from around the world came out a couple of days ago.  ranked at the top, singapore (and by correlation, hk probably ranks up there too - it wasn't surveyed).  near the bottom, switzerland.

 

in fact, the bottom of the list consists of malawi (nothing to work for, so no need to hurry) and many middle eastern countries (the oil's not going anywhere).  like them, the swiss needs not hurry (there'll always be money-laundering to be done) because they don't really need to work - they don't care about having to sell you things, cuz they already go enuf $$ in the bank.   operating a business seems to be a hobby that they do cuz they have to but that they actually loathe, and 'sales maximization' is by no means a consideration.  hence the store hours and the shitty service.

 

sadly, unlike developing countries where ppl take their time to be happy, the swiss take their time to bitch and complain and be miserable, and try to make others different from them even more miserable.

 

yes, i'm being unfair and generalizing in my swiss-bashing, but dammit i missed my bus!

 

anyway, the full list:

1) Singapore (Singapore)
2) Copenhagen (Denmark)
3) Madrid (Spain)
4) Guangzhou (China)
5) Dublin (Ireland)
6) Curitiba (Brazil)
7) Berlin (Germany)
8) New York (U.S.)
9) Utrecht (Netherlands)
10) Vienna (Austria)
11) Warsaw (Poland)
12) London (United Kingdom)
13) Zagreb (Croatia)
14) Prague (Czech Republic)
15) Wellington (New Zealand)
16) Paris (France)
17) Stockholm (Sweden)
18) Ljubljana (Slovenia)
19) Tokyo (Japan)
20) Ottawa (Canada)
21) Harare (Zimbabwe)
22) Sofia (Bulgaria)
23) Taipei (Taiwan)
24) Cairo (Egypt)
25) Sana (Yemen)
26) Bucharest (Romania)
27) Dubai (United Arab Emirates)
28) Damascus (Syria)
29) Amman (Jordan)
30) Bern (Switzerland)
31) Manama (Bahrain)
32) Blantyre (Malawi)

 

the two french presidential candidates are wrapping up their debate.  seems like everyone in geneva actually cares and is watching it.  several tv channels are broadcasting it live, including MTV.  !!

 

that's rather amazing to me really.  sure, swiss politics is inconsequential (rotating presidency, referenda ad nausea) and france is about 10x the size of switz, and most ppl in geneva are french or have french passport.  but stilll, i consider myself pretty keen on politics, but i never found it worthwhile to watch any cdn prime ministerial debates, and sure as hell i never bothered to watch US presidential debates.

 

been avoiding the debate the whole nite, but now ran out of things to watch on tv.  i couldn't care less.  well actually, i do care, but since i'm not french, i have no personal stake in this.  if i could vote, i'd probably abstain.  would be hard to force myself to choose between an unapologetic xenophobe who'll lead the world to take a giant step backwards with his clash-of-civilizations approach to the islamic world, vs an incompetent undecisive moron who'll lead the world to take a giant step backwards with her pandering to nationalist sentiments in her own ways and her ready arsenal of hair-brained ideas.  she's babbling about boycotting the beijing olympics as i type.  my eye sockets do not allow me to roll my eyes far enuf back..

 

i'm glad that i don't have to make this choice.  but, as a 'global citizen' watching this (for now still) powerful G7, P5 nation choose between these 2, i can't help but feel rather sad, and worried.