hi everybody. i just went on a 9 hours road trip yesterday driving from Aarhus to Prague and i arrived last night.The day before was horrendous because i had so much to unpack from my 10 by 10 meters square room. It was hectic and was feeling stressed because i think i will have trouble coming home with the excess luggage. will have to make plans to talk to the people at thai airways. rushing with the packing, and hectic good byes just felt so unreal. Come on, its leaving for good. Almost for good because i will be coming back to Aarhus but for just 2 days to collect my luggage and leave forever.
Aarhus had to give me 2 farewell gifts before I left yesterday.Firstly, I got swindled by my neighbour. shall talk about it another time. secondly, ling and i got caught for not paying for the bus ticket. we were slapped with a 400 kroners fine. can u believe it. my whole time in aarhus was all ok without paying when it had to happen the day before i was leaving and plus, at the last stop that we were getting off. how timely. anyway we lied through our teeth but the stubborn old conductor refused to listen. though we successfully manipulated the conductor with our lies, we couldnt get away with the fine. oh well...it was an experience but guess what...we are not going to pay at all. hahaha....try catching us in singapore with this petty fine, suckers.
anyway , i know i cant pen down my exact emotions and feelings about the leaving, the goodbyes because everything is rushed. but i will promise to talk more about my experience probably when i come back to Singapore. about the final trip and stuff.
i think some of you know, i actually dared myself to go on a trip alone to malmo and i did so extremely spontaneously. i will talk about this another time but i came back safe and sound. i love doing things that builts up my internal muscle.
ok so i will see all of u very soon.....after prague, after brussels, after paris, after aarhus.
cheers

Goodbye lovelies.

Thanks for making the stay in Aarhus so special.

Anne left on Tuesday morning back to Cologne. I was glad that I was able to spend some quality time with her the eve before her departure, having drinks at Aboulevarden together with Aline. We chatted about everything under the sun-exams, bad service, boys..u name it. I was glad to take some very good advice from Anne about relationships-no wonder the light hearted and spirited are always that lucky with love ;) I am already missing you.

Kazakh girls-Mira and Aika left for London and Madrid on Wednesday. It was a pity that we didn't have time to tea and chat with each other because of so many obstacles. But glad I managed to catch the last glimpse of the both of you by sending the two of you off at the airport bustop. I hope all of you are having fun right now.

Pernille, my best friend in Denmark, brought me out for dinner that evening. I love cycling to places with Pernille and spending time together. So, the person who's leaving next is me. And it will be this coming Tuesday on the 20th. .Sigh. I think at this stage, I'm still in self denial. I just can't believe that I'm leaving so soon! Anway Pernille, thanks for the dinner. You brought redemption to the typical notion of Danish food. It was superbly delicious! Hugs.

***

Time to start cracking and pack!

EU Law exam


My EU law oral exam was one heck of a difficult trial. Apart from having just 1 day to squeeze all the information into my very rusty brain, tolerating rowdy and noisy neighbours having after-exam parties at my kollegium ( I gave them a piece of my mind by shouting my lungs out the following-'mother fucker!!!!'. Effectively the music volume was reduced.), ran a fever over night and persisted in the morning few hours prior to the exam, having to wake up at 6am to memorise all the stuff I couldn't complete the night before, the lousy school system had to further agonize me by making us all come at 9am, just to sit around and wait for our turns. They didn't even put us in isolated rooms etc. Nothing. Just sit wherever you want or just come late because it's according to the list of names listed. Each person had 20 minutes to 'talk cock sing song'. Then why couldn't they say so in the email earlier? I waited for 4 hours just starring at my notes and I think my stare was beginning to create a hole on my paper. Was so damn boring!I was so unlucky because when it was just 1 more person till it was my turn, the teacher and moderator decided to go for lunch. Hence, I had to continue to wait for another hour just for them. Rats. I mean, I could have spent the valuable time resting more, making my mind more alert, ,less stressed etc. No. The lousy unorganised school had to torture me and the other exchange students. However, in the nick of time, I managed to squeeze something really important into my brain- a very pertinent material that I believed got me through eventually.
The oral exam was simply nerve wrecking. Basically, it runs by a whole load of memory work (memorising all the answers) and pure sheer luck (choosing the question that you are most confident with). Folded papers with numbers seperated as section A and section B, you choose one of each and answer them right after 1 minute of preparation time. Basically, the one minute of preparation was nothing but a time for you to calm your mind rather than scribbling down the stuff you wuna say. I think I was never this nervous other than my driving test 2.5 years ago. I began stuttering like a dumb ass, just beating around the bush. Luckily my professor began asking me questions and guided me through the exam-shooting questions at me out of the blue just to get my engines working. It was also a miracle that I chose the (only) question that my friend Lilin( my smart ass lawyer friend) discussed with me about, and hence I gave a very valuable 'personal' opinion about the important articles on the EC treaty. I scored double the points. At times, I gave personal input in which I so happened to have come across at articles on the internet etc. God was really on my side. Also, it was a blessing in disguise when I chose question 3 instead of question 1 ( I thought I was really good at answering it). Turned out that the way I interpretated the question (for #1), was incorrect because apparently someone from my class had the same interpretation as I did and gave his answers during the exam and it was wrong. He did very very badly because of the mistake. I could have suffered the same consequences if I had question 1 ( something that I was crossing my fingers to have). Anway, after making the professor and the moderator laugh at my rather unorthodox comments about the law, and having no time to complete the last part of the question because of sudden mental block, I walked out of the room thinking that I wasn't going to do too well. About 10 seconds later, the professor called me into the room. He asked me whether I was holding on to my folded papers with the question numbers in it and digging into my bag pockets, I realised that I was so nervous that I just stuffed them into my bag without realising it!It was so embarassing. The Danish moderator tried to crack a very lame joke by saying ' why, you wuna bring them back to China huh?'.
Right. China? just because I have a chinese name? I didn't care too much but retorted 'I'm not from China. ' hahaha...
The good news was they decided to give me 10 marks out of 13 because although I was a little unsure at times, I gave a very 'strong performance ' and he liked the fact that I gave my own opinions. Also, they gave me the benefit of the doubt that I could answer the question that I missed out if not for the lack of time. I walked out feeling relieved and elated.
On a whole, this exam was to me, not directly a challenge to one's application of knowledge. It was by pure memory work and luck . Although the professor did once in a while surprised me with questions to test whether I really knew my work, but hey, to me there are 2 kinds of students in this world-one who can just mug their heads off and regurgitate everything on paper; the other just by using their own brilliance. Both should be given equal and fair opportunity to compete in an exam. Having an oral exam such as mine, will only serve those who are smart and not neccessary having to put in any effort. Just using your language skills is good enough to get you a pass. It doesn't mean that you really know what you're talking about. While those who just worked really hard , I mean, what if they couldn't answer what the professor posed? Would that mean that they should deserve a lousier grade? Luckily I had Lilin and my group mates to go through the questions with me otherwise I would not have made it. It just doesn't make sense. Everyone should be given an equal opportunity to put what they've learnt on paper. I think if it's an oral exam, the questions shouldn't have been revealed to us and instead give us a couple of minutes to prepare a surprise exam question. That would be indeed a fairer approach. Oh well, Nuff said. I'm really happy with my grades and the fact that the only 2 girls (Anne and I ) in the whole entire list of male participants for the day beat everyone else with our Tens. Girl power (sia).

Huiling and Alvin gone for the week again. Scooted off right after our Management of Innovation Exam this morning. This time to Berlin to soak into the World Cup atmosphere. While I'm left alone to face another exam ordeal on Monday-EU Law. Dreads!
My encounter with team work had never been as satisfying as the studying experience I had with Hl and Alvin. Phasing out 2 chapters in which we thought were too much for just 2 days of last minute studying, we each took 2 chapters and wrote notes for them. The task was tedious-ploughing through the sea of convulated words, explainations of scientific processes which prooved too much for my little mice-y mind. Fortunately, I had the both of them to explain to me, embarrassingly, my part, but I did the best I could for the rest. The crash course tuition lasted for 4 intensive hours but we made it. This morning's exam was more or less a breeze as all we did was to flip through the notes that we made for each other and copied whole sale. (it was an open book exam)
With EU law oral exam left on Monday, I'm feeling kinda frustrated that I've got so little time left to squeeze all the info in my head. My friends are out playing, eating and grabbing every last bit of Denmark before they leave. But by the time I'm done, they would have all packed up their bags and I would have nobody to -enjoy with me=( ...My neighbours would be all busy studying while I'm left at home to lounge around once again.
Everything's just whizzing by fast. Too fast. Summer hols have come. Which ironically means my holiday in Europe is officially coming to a close...Once exams are done, I would have to start packing, dealing with logistics, and buying gifts for people back home and pack up for prague, belgium and paris. Sounds exciting, but it would be my final tour around Europe. Well, savour the best I can...

To my sister~

Happy 25th Birthday Jie Jie poo!

intelligent. doctor. capable. cute. irritating. gluttony. lethargic. nerd. nuzzling, lounging around. messy. spoilt. a lady. generous. corny. whiney. shopping. caring (I demand it's only to me). protective. the tuition teacher. chauffer. motherly figure. best friend.confidant. role model. the best sister one can ever have.

Farewell Party at Klubben

Today was the farewell party for all the exchange students and it was held at Klubben-the club that we paid homage to every Thursday. We could bring guests in and I was glad that I had the chance to finally bring Pernille, my neighbour in. She was somewhat disappointed by the interior of the club as it was not as modern as she thought it to be. But we all had fun mingling with the other exchange students, taking one last photo with one another, dancing (with bad music but we danced like no tomorrow), drinking ...just enjoying our last few days in Aarhus. One last look at the friends-the good, the fun, the bad, the mad, the creepy, the ugly, the funny, the friendly, the jerk, the asshole, -whatever it was, it was good memory to keep and to laugh about when I turn wrinkly and old. And treasure the genuine friendship made between some well worthy friends for a long time.
More photos here

Left to right: Aline, Mira, Assem, Ainura, Pernille, Katerina, Me and Aigerim

Assem, Mira and me.

Dancing with balloons

Pernille and Ser

Daichi fooling around as usual. Jay laughing hard.

Me and Khadija

Nagore and I

Karin from Norway

Aline and I

Rikke from international office. She rocks!

**Time out from parties. **

When to move out?

Kenneth, our International office peer leader, giving us instructions at our school canteen, Plug Inn.

Yea. something all of us are dreading to hear. To face the moment of truth. The painful reality. It's time to move out. To move out of our cosy kollegiums, to hastily pack our luggage and L-E-A-V-E. Counting the days left, I realised that I've only got 14 days left in Aarhus. Unbelievable. I guess it's hard to point out the experience and what i've learnt, but for sure all will culminate into the whole notion of what life is really worth living for. Maybe i'm still unconscious of the changes, and maybe it will be revealed when I go back home and lead my Singaporean life once again. Who knows?

Exchange students sitting at plug inn. The first place we dined at in Aarhus.

Aline together with friends, Joelle (from belgium) and Evaline (from Poland) shopping in Aarhus in the evening.

On a less melancholic note, Aarhus celebrated a very interesting festival today. Lifted from the visitaarhus.com website-

2 June: Throughout the city: Live Pictures of the World - Open Till MidnightOn the 3rd June the city of Århus lays on the show-stopping event Live Pictures of the World. Pictures of the World is celebrated for the 9th consecutive year with an event which has drawn more than 100,000 visitors in previous years. "Magical" Pictures of the World performed in the streets, squares, and pedestrianised areas in the city of Århus, with each 'magical' picture presenting a living and breathing enactment of one of Hans Christian Andersen's fairy-tales. This year the theme of the Pictures of the World parade is fairy-tales. Shops will stay open until midnight.

Yes. To hell with the artsy shebang. I was more interested in my shopping therapy. To get my mind off from all that was bothering me (PMS woes basically). For once, Aarhus was alive in the evening even till 8pm. Normally it's more or less a dead town when it's about 5pm. So today was indeed an exceptional case. The town was packed with shoppers, buskers, roadshow performers. It was so lively and exciting for us four-me, aline, joelle and evaline. Jostling and elbowing the crowd, we shopped and looked at almost everything that was available. For the first time I entered into bog and idle, Tiger -stores in which I never had an opportunity to step into. There were so many little knick knacks that were pretty cheap-I bought a dozen of cards and an umbrella for a total of 50 kroners so it was quite a steal. Then we had dinner at sidewalk cafe (Yes, my recommendation) and the waiter gave me half price for my buffet because I ate late and they were not bothering to top up the food. How lucky is that? I was really satisfied with the meal, company, and the exceptionally exciting atmosphere in Aarhus.

Live concert outside the cathedral. Beautiful light projection on the exterior walls of the church.

At the stroke of midnight, we were pleasantly surprised by the spectacular display of fireworks cracking in the dark velvet skies. Standing at the streets with our heads tilted high, we stood there admiring the fireworks. I began snapping loads of pictures to capture the moment. Unfortunately, the beautiful display turned out to be dangerous when the fireworks began to come too close to us that we could feel the burnt of the sparks ! We took cover underneath a shelther.

Admiring the fireworks

The fireworks was to me, a farewell gift from Aarhus. To wish me all the best in my endeavours, to always remind me that life is full of unexpectedness, that may at times let us down, but it's always up to us to make it beautiful and enjoy it at its fullest.

***

Plans for summer:

Was offered a trip to Prague. An impromptu and spontaneous offer made by my friend, Katerina, from Czech republic. Will leave with her on the 16th June and I will take the bus to brussels on the 26th June and meet up with Aline. Then we will go to Paris on the 28th June and I will come back to Aarhus on the 4th July and hang out with friends. Till then, take the train to copenhagen and fly back to Singapore on the 7th July. 10th July internship at Ernst and Young.

***

Alone again, naturally:

I miss my two buddies yang huiling and Alvin. They kinda whisked themselves off to Netherlands, informing me just 1 hour before their departure. Will be back on the 7th June. Meanwhile I shall rot at home and mug my ass off.