An hour ago…

I was sweating like a fat pig.

I had no idea what I was getting into when I promised to buy off my senior’s Physics textbooks for $50. Today, I am lugging 6 kilograms of paper all around the school. Ouch. It is something I hope never to repeat. These books are going home and STAYING home.

Today is proving to be the high point of my school week. In fact, all Wednesdays are going to be the day I look forward to most. For one, school begins late. Add this to the fact that I only have TWO lectures and three hours in between to spend online, and you’ve got a winner. I can just imagine NOT coming to school and mugging at home during exam time.

Wow.

I’m planning to join three CCAs, the most since I’ve begun schooling. So far, I’ve signed up for the Nanyang Chronicle (the school’s bi-monthly newspaper), Judo and the Catholic Students’ Apostolate. I just hope I haven’t signed my death warrant. The Chronicle, in particular, looks to be quite an enjoyable challenge that might take up a good portion of my waking hours, while Judo promises to leave me black and blue for most of the week.

Wish me luck.

Foreign Talent

You know, before coming into University, I never quite understood the rather high level of animosity from local undergrads to their foreign counterparts studying in the same higher institute of learning.

Today, having attended my first Physics tutorial, I can finally empathise with them and add my name to the list of “anti-foreign undergrads”.

Don’t get me wrong. I have nothing against “foreign talent” in general. I think they’re an important cog in the economical machine of life and they add a unique perspective to any industry. In fact, I personally believe that expatriates do provide wondrous insights and depth into any field, be it academic, political or commercial. Just look at Zidane!

But coming back to my point. In my tutorial group are two Indian nationals, who have since proven themselves to be among the smartest among the 20-odd freshies taking Physics. Already, they are helping the rest with their tutorials and are so chock full of Physics knowledge they could write a textbook. Add this to the fact that the girls in the group (all of them born in 1984) are literally amazed to discover that they are only 18 this year. Gee.

But the one thing that really turned me off is when they insist, especially the one who elected himself “group representative”, on answering EVERY single question asked by the tutorial professor. Now, this wouldn’t have been so bad if I could HEAR what they were saying, but their accent is so thick that I feel I’m missing a Universal Translator. For 18-year old Indian geniuses, they have the mentality of a 10-year-old (that’s approximately when *I* stopped playing the smartass).

Ah, for the days when classmates were all brilliant people who couldn’t be bothered to show off.

Minor Disappointment

I missed Gail Kim’s (less-than-spectacular) debut on RAW, SuperSports Starhub Channel 22 last night. Sure, I knew who won, I knew what happened, but I was still hoping to get a glimpse of her in WWE action. Nonetheless, I missed it because I was at a church meeting, which will always be significantly more important than ANY wrestling action.

Speaking Of Wrestling

I’ve signed up for the NTU Judo Club. *waits for the horde of sniggers to end* I watched the demonstration at the CCA fair today (you’d be surprised how many seniors still refuse to acknowledge the change from ECA to CCA) and I was particularly impressed by the technicality of the sport. But what impressed me even more was the number of moves I recognised as being pro-wrestling staples. I totally marked out when a black belt did a Samoan Drop on another guy his size. I think they weighed close to 90 kilos.

Phew.

In other news, school’s starting to shape out nicely and despite all I’ve said about the CC4C, they still gave me a goodie bag and I couldn’t help but appreciate the fact that the organiser and the testpad inside the bag was exactly what I needed during school. I wish they didn’t promote it as the selling point, but it was a nice gesture nonetheless.

I was initially going to talk about a comment I overheard a fellow ex-ACJC freshie mentioning, regarding the multitude of Christian communities alone within NTU, but maybe I’ll leave it for another time.

NTU Shenanigans

Okay, so I’m in the Lee Wee Nam Library (personal note: find out exactly who Mr. Lee is) and I’m stuck here till 3.30pm when I attend my first lecture in NTU.

*grumble* Yes, I missed my first one this morning because I didn’t know lectures were on as per normal. *grumble*

I found out who my tutorial group consists of, and I’m beginning to wonder if my mother was right. She suggested that we were grouped according to our grades and well… she may have a point. In my group of 23 freshmen alone, there are 5 guys from YJC - the college with the biggest representation. Did I mention that it’s 5 more than the number of YJC students I’ve met before today?

Not that I’m complaining, of course, since it probably (hopefully) means that these guys are hardcore muggers. All the better for me.

Of course, if they’re not exactly hardworking people, then at least I can count on the VJC girl and/or the TJC girl. There’s nothing like having women from top JCs to back you up. Of course, if my mother is right and they did get grades similar to mine… then I have nothing to say.

School started off relatively well with me NOT buying my lecture notes early this morning. Having now realised that the notes are probably akin to the fountain of life here in Uni, my next priority is to acquire them before 3pm. Hardly impossible, though I say that with significantly less confidence than is required.

All in all, a relatively decent way to start off my first week in school. I just hope I’ll be out of here in four years, no more, no less.

Goodie Bags

What in the world is the fascination that freshmen (hereafter referred to as freshies) have for goodie bags? Or, for that matter, why is NTU so insistent of marketing the “goodie bag” as THE reason for signing up for anything?

Come for the Welcome Ceremony! - Get a free goodie bag!
Join the Heritage Walk! - Get a free goodie bag!

I even overheard an OG leader mentioning how this year’s goodie bag for the NTU Flag Day is “SO MUCH BETTER” than those from the previous two years. Gee. I thought people volunteered for Flag Day for charitable reasons.

But the real kicker was a banner outside the Main Lecture Theatre. It had a BIG Smiley, the words “Get a FREE goodie bag!” in bright red bold typeface, while at the bottom, in relatively minute lettering “Join the Campus Crusade 4 Christ”. Whoop-de-freaking-do. Oh, did I mention that the theme for the Crusade Orientation Camp was “The Red Pill”? One wonders if anyone noticed the implications of using the theme of The Matrix (note: the original, not the action-heavy sequel) for a supposedly Christian camp.

I worry for astronaut now. Heh.

Despite all that…

I have a good feeling about this place. Sure, it might be MUCH more secular than any of the schools I’ve previously attended, but I dare say I felt the same way I did when I first walked around ACJC.

Hmmmm…

Happy Deathday!
Your name:	korgath
You will die on:	Monday, January 16, 2034
You will die of:	Exsanguination
Username:
Created by Quill

Somehow I never thought of myself as being Kindred fodder. Ah well, they won’t get much out of a 52-year-old man anyway.

BTW, did you know according to my palm, I’m supposed to die at 30 or 40 or something? Brings a whole new meaning to mid-life crisis.

Catholic War Machine

When an anonymous person asked me what Catholic War Machine meant, I decided it was time to review the name this blog maintains in order to set it apart from other blogs with infinitely more creative names.

So let’s put this in perspective first, shall we? From the entry dated February 3rd, 2002:

I do rather enjoy war. One of the many things I dream of becoming is a defense technology scientist/engineer. When you’re a big fan of Marvel Comics’ Iron Man, it’s no surprise that you want to become like Tony Stark, and build a suit of armour that can turn the tide of battle. Don’t laugh now, but one day, I plan to ride in my own armour, or at least build one. My own War Machine. But for the record, I may enjoy war, and love war films such as Black Hawk Down and Sahara (the James Belushi one), but I would never, ever wish it on any country or person.

I may not have come a long way since then, but there’s been a rather significant change in my life:

A desire to be more Catholic.

dys once mentioned and I quote: “maybe i should turn Catholic or something. Catholics seem to have more faith.” No doubt, this was written over two years ago, but maybe there is some truth in that phrase. In the game “Enter the Matrix”, Ghost quotes Danish apologetic Sören Kierkegaard’s belief that “faith transcends logic”. (Of course, this Christian stance is later simply discarded when Ghost claims “Onanism” to be his “higher purpose”) However, for the younger intellectual generation that I (somehow) belong to, logic is our God. And cynicism, which derives from logic, is our watch-word. Religion is losing out to the realities of the world, which are byproducts of cold, hard logic.

The Catholic Church, in particular, is a natural target of a logical, cynical populace. We are taught to believe in the superiority of the Holy Spirit, whose will is exercised by the Magisterium, the teaching body of the Church, led by the “infallible” Pope. We are taught that while the study of the Bible is important, what is equally important are the beliefs passed down from generation to generation, the practices of Tradition, which existed long before the Bible (in it’s current form) did.

There has been a great many arguments, divisions and even the several Schisms between the Church and the Protestant (how I hate that word) people - because faith transcends logic. At the heart of all the discussion: Can you trust a power higher than yourself?

And that is what I have decided to undertake: the defending of the Catholic Church against it’s greatest enemy — logic.

But as a constant reminder of the path I come from, that of a “student of reality”, I add the word “Machine”, for I can never be truly “Man” until I accept and assimilate my “Machine” nature.

I am the “Catholic War Machine”. It is my given destiny, it is what I feel called to do. It is who I am.