Glad tidings

So Christmas vacation started a fortnight ago and what have I been doing since? Why, catching up on all the work and revision I postponed during term! I even had to shift my entire workspace to the library because the darn computer kept distracting me Facebook and Youtube. Blogging activity has suffered as a consequence, I'm afraid.

Anyway, I digress. Why am I working this hard during the start of vacation? Well, simply because I have such an amazing holiday planned out that if I don't finish my work, it'll occupy my mind and that's not something I want to take with me on my travels. And everything starts tomorrow. Woo hoo!

So tomorrow, I'll be flying off to Vienna with the British XS Latin Formation Team to represent England at the World Championships. Alex (my best gay friend) and I have been designated travel buddies and will be sharing a room together (how cool is that going to be?!). David (our coach) will be picking us up in front of Churchill college to the airport and it'll be one happening party car. (He calls Alex and I the Chuckle Brothers. Go figure.)

There'll be 28 teams competing and it's going to be really tough for sure. Here are some videos of Latin formation teams and their themes:

Theme: Moulin Rouge
Not very strong technique but presentation is remarkable. Walk-on and walk-off are brilliant though!


Theme: Nightmare before Christmas
Very cute routine to very cute music.


Theme: Anime
A German team with the theme 'Anime'. You can hear the introduction song for Naruto as their walk-on. Now I know I've seen everything. (Brownie points to anyone who can name the rest of the animes from which the songs come from)

The competition itself is on Saturday and we'll probably explore Vienna on Sunday before flying back to England that very evening. It doesn't end there however as I'll be catching the next flight to Italy for the Christmas with two of my friends from Hong Kong. Maslina (a very old school friend) and her friends will be joining us in Rome up to Milan. The itinerary is as follows:

Day 1 (18th December)

Arrive at Naples
(will hopefully catch a glimpse of the Isle of Capri as described so beautifully by Somerset Maugham in his 'The Lotus Eater')

Day 2 (19th December)
Day trip to Pompeii
(my parents might've visited it but I might be mistaken)

Day 3 - 5 (20th - 22nd December)
Rome and Vatican City
(just before Christmas too. It'll be amazing! What with Christmas villages and the atmosphere. We might even catch sight of the Pope!)

Day 6 (23rd December)
Day trip to Pisa
(standard)

Day 7 (24th December)
Florence
(birthplace of Italian Renaissance)

Day 8 - 9 (25th - 26th December)
Venice
(to see the authentic Bridge of Sighs this time)

Day 10 (27th December)
Milan
(as much as it'll bore me to death, my friends wanted to do some shopping there)

On the 28th, we'll be catching a night train to Paris where we will spend the rest of the year till the New Year. I can barely imagine the Eiffel Tower framed by fireworks at midnight of the New Year. It'll be so wonderful!

So that's that. But until tomorrow, I've still got lots of work to do. There's no way I'll be able to finish everything by then but if I work really hard tonight (which I will after I'm done with this post), I should be able to get most of it done. Pictures should follow after I'm back.

Till then, a very merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year to everyone!

Life is short

Life is short. We've heard it a thousand times before. But we don't realize it till it happens to us: cancer, stroke, death. And then we start asking ourselves, 'how much of the world have I seen?', 'how many achievements can I be proud of?', 'how many people will grieve at my passing?'. Ultimately, 'what have I done with my life?'.

I guess in some ways we're not that different from animals. After all, we're motivated so much more efficiently by negative cues than positive ones. But then again, life just isn't all about food, shelter and reproduction. And I guess this distinguishes us from animals in some ways. But the main question is, will it be too late by the time we realize it?