New Beginnings

This past week was a whirlwind!

I had quit my job, traveled by plane and road-tripping to three different states, saw all of my family and some dear friends in the course of one week, and now am in Maine to begin orientation at my new work. I can't believe how fast it all went by! It has been a very sweet, full, and admittedly tiring week away, and although I am plumb tuckered out from the road tripping and jam-packed days from before, I am also eager and excited to begin a new chapter. 

Sweet goodbyes from coworkers!

Lobsters for the family!

Happy birthday to dad!

Skipos Reunion! Photo by Cat

Skipos! Photo by Cat

National Aquarium

Making new friends

Jellyfishing

Birthday celebrations in Baltimore

This is probably the earliest that I will be going to sleep since last week! And surprisingly I think that tonight has been the most restful and reflective night that I've had since starting my roadtrips. (Ok, I guess it's not that surprising if I had really thought about it...) 

Looking forward to new beginnings! 

Good night from Maine

One More Week

Exactly! Well, less than technically, because my flight is at 8am next Monday.

Time has definitely flown by. Why does time fly anyway? Where does that come from? Why couldn't it have been 'time zaps' or  something, because zapping is surely faster than flying. More stuff to research into while procrastinating! Just kidding, there will be no procrastinating. Other than this.

As a quick update to my last real update (although I am still quite sad that viennetta is no longer produced in the states), Anna and Nia came to visit last weekend! We had fun exploring the whole of London and throwing things on the ground and eating everywhere. Everywhere. Pictures will hopefully be uploaded after this week.

I just finished one final! Yaaay!!!! 2 more to go, to be completed by Wednesday.. and 2 more essays, one more pset. Baahh craziness! But not unwarranted, since I've really brought them upon myself (the papers anyway)

There's a lot that I would have still liked to do - to go to these places, see those sites, try this out and that out, etc etc.. granted, I haven't left just yet, but I don't foresee myself completing that list of wish-I-could-do's in the next week. All said, I don't think that those will be regrets, just a faint kind of 'oh, that would have been nice'. We shall see...

My brother sent me a flat Gabriel and I'll be making some last tourist rounds with him - a small taste of home as I look forward to going! Can't wait lah!!! XD To see family again, friends from home, and also for wonderful home cooking :)

All that stands in my way are those darned papers really... and packing, of course. I actually find packing fun, and slightly stress relieving. Just slightly, because as much as it's an intensive cleaning and organizing ritual, it's also generally combined with the travel, and all the fun and hectiness that entails. 

Wow, the entire lab room just burst into spontaneous laughter. I feel so left out :( I believe they're all laughing at some machine vision inside joke. That's why it's so full in here..

ALMOST THERE!!!1!!1!11!1!!11one

Happy

Ahh, the blessings of family :) I'm thankful for many many things this weekend, and that is one of the highest ones... A happy late Thanksgiving to everyone!!! Although each day is a day of thanks :)

I haven't updated in a suuuper long time - doh! Nuts. Mmmmm I had a really good hazelnut and peanut donut the other day from Tesco :) but really, so sorry to those who have been expecting to hear more from here! D: I cannot make up for it, but will try my best to post more!

As an attempt at a thoroughish update... pictures are now being posted to Picasa from my trip to Europe! Europe mainland, I mean. There's so much to write about that, haha, but those pictures will have to do for now... Schoolwork has definitely picked up a lot, and I've been madly reading and writing and coding and trying to read and write and, well, not really speak, Hebrew. Academic life at UCL is more challenging than academic life at Wellesley - I forget if I've already written about that - it's a lot less guided learning and a lot more "hey welcome to _____ your exam/essay is in 2.5 months have fun good luck" kind of thing, with sporadic assignments (courseworks) spattered between. I quite like that :) Although I do prefer Wellesley's taking care of us much more... Also, there's no good study space here. It's all so crowded wherever I go... I need better places to look maybe, or better times to try :/ I went to retreat this past weekend with the small group fellowship that I've settled with - ahhh it was a wonderful time :) I am reminded again and again of God's faithfulness in everything man, everything, and of His totally awe-some-ness that I dunno how to put into words - His love, His mercy, His wisdom, His sovereignty, His above-all of above-all... WOW it's flooring. Is that a word? He really puts "awe-filled" and "awesome" to a new level, or probably more so, to the one it belongs in.

In other news, our little Wellesley contingent and my flatmates are having a makeshift Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow! It's going to be a crazy fest with a mix of Asian and American and Britishish food, SO PUMPED YAAAAAY!!!! *dances around in flippy floppys!* I just put the bird into the fridge for an overnight brining :) Side note, the bird is chicken and not turkey... the turkeys were all too big to fit into our fridge. HAH! This will be my first ever attempt at roasting a whole chicken! We'll see how that goes tomorrow. I'm slightly afraid that it will blow up. Or shrivel up. Or burn up. Or something to those effects. What a great opportunity though... Thanksgiving! :) Also, I'm slowly picking up a Singaporean accent.. Just now walking back from small group I caught myself talking with the intonations that they speak with, and even after retreat I really had to try hard and stop myself from being a poser and blurting out 'lah's and 'meh's and 'loh's and etc in my sentences..

Mmm one more story of typical Lulu to end this post with (wow what bad English!! One would think that living in England would not result in this). Earlier today I was running from the kitchen (no, nothing blew up) but I rounded a corner too soon and ran into it. And subsequently fell into a heap. And of course, had a great laugh about it. With tears though, of remorse and of hunger (good thing there were snacks at OCF, and Sam's delicious blueberry crumb bars AHHH I ate too many for my own good). I was actually quite amazed at how much running into an inanimate object could hurt! Because it's definitely not the first time that's happened... I would say though that it was a pretty good example of poor proprioception, as in my rush to get to the front door I somehow forgot that my body was a bit wider than just my eye-span. So the moral of this story is to manage one's time better so that one does not rush to leave. Also, wear shoulder pads. You never know when they'll come in handy...

Long legs are good for walking.

Have not posted in a while...

Things have been busy over yonder - psets add up and I can't pretend like I have nothing to do anymore :P I'm witnessing the effects of burial by work right now... And indeed, struggling to self-learn Matlab, still! Academically, I can't say UCL is overwhelmingly harder than Wellesley (minus Matlab) - in fact I really enjoy learning here (even Matlab)! I can't say these are classes I wouldn't be able to find at home either, but the experience itself is different... it definitely takes much more independence. No more hand holding or spoon feeding, not that Wellesley did that either... just comparatively, it feels like it. Also, there's no good place to study! Every study space here is CRAMPED. Unless you come at the absurd hours of the morning or evening... Or maybe I'm just looking in the wrong places.

I've finally settled on a church too - HTB, megachurch of megachurches (ok maybe not that mega). I'm going to a small group slightly related to UCL too, and have finally felt at peace about settling at these places... PTL :) It's comforting to know that there is indeed family everywhere. That said, I miss the family and fellowship back at Minn and Wells sorely... actually sorely. Yesterday I had a bout of extreme homesickness - even knowing full well that people are busy, even knowing exactly what they may be busy with, doesn't quite cover the ache of wanting to see or hear or even read something from them again. Definitely not taking that for granted...

Last Saturday we went to see the Big Ben again - pictures will be up soon! I still can't believe I'm in London. Is that strange?

Ok, will update post later - now for more MATLAB! YEahh!

D:

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So I was thinking today - long legs are so useful for walking! Well, speed walking in particular. Short legs are very useful for walking too (as are feet - can't forget those) But I digress! For a short legged person to walk the same distance as a long legged person, he or she would have to either take very long strides or scuttle madly, or perhaps both. But when both do happen in conjunction, it just looks kind of dumb. Long legged people just look better doing so (except when they also overstep their... steps) Yes, way to state the obvious Lulu.

Good night,
from London :)

On the way back

(buses have wifi now! ahhh!)

Mmm all in all it's been a great weekend... a true retreat into the city that turned up many things that I would never have expected.

I realized many of the blessings of going to Wellesley this weekend.. haha! That's kind of ironic - I originally was so looking forward to this trip as a retreat away from Wellesley, and now that I look back, it's become something that's helped me to appreciate it all the more... interesting.

Had so many great conversations these few days... strange and wonderful to catch up with home friends, meet their new friends and click with even newer friends - and that in itself was a strange experience. Clicking with others. Not that it's never happened. Actually, I think that's what brings about friendships - clicking! Ahh so many realizations through that too..

I wonder, how strong am I really? If I am strong at all? How long could I stand firm, if I can stand firm at all? One more reason to love Wellesley...

Other reasons include being able to eat without being judged (most of the time), and being able to talk to like minded individuals about things of frivolous matter in an intellecual way (like fashion and shoes. although the former includes the latter, the latter is also in a category by itself). And more.

The trees outside are so beautiful! Mother Nature is finally shedding her summer veil... Interesting how its Mother Nature and Father Time.

Etiquette is important.