Friday, February 25, 2011
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Week One
It's my first posting since landing in Australia, and yeah, lots of stuff has been happening. The days leading up to the departure were full of meeting up with friends and saying goodbye, and it was a good job- met with almost everyone that I could. I'm not like Samuel, who has no problems leaving without telling many people where he's going. I like closure in the things I do, a last word that closes a chapter beyond a shadow of doubt; in fact this even made me do something that I sorta regret once in high school.... but none of that here. The actual meetings were fun, as most gatherings are, but at the end of each I went home slightly depressed and teary eyed. It's terrible saying goodbye, because this length of parting is such that it's certain that people will change in that time span to become almost new people that one will basically have to re-know. It's bitter-sweet, going on to a better place but leaving behind all the people that one has spent so much time with.
It's getting better as the days go by, and as I get to know more people. Sitting alone in the room is good for short periods of time before one starts to get cabin fever. Luckily, the people that I've met so far a pretty nice (and pretty pretty too!), so it's easy to get along with them. The weather takes some getting used to though..... the sun is much brighter here than back home. Since it's summer, the days are hot hot HOT, but in the evenings it's really beautifu. If one walks by the river, one would feel a breeze coming from the banks, blowing at one's cheeks, and see a multi-coloured sky floating above that looks brilliantly orange at the horizon where the sun is setting, gradually changing to darker more mellow tones of yellow, green, and blue, before ending with a blackness unclothed by clouds, sprinkled with stars. It's so peaceful and calming that I think I'm starting to love it here.
It's getting better as the days go by, and as I get to know more people. Sitting alone in the room is good for short periods of time before one starts to get cabin fever. Luckily, the people that I've met so far a pretty nice (and pretty pretty too!), so it's easy to get along with them. The weather takes some getting used to though..... the sun is much brighter here than back home. Since it's summer, the days are hot hot HOT, but in the evenings it's really beautifu. If one walks by the river, one would feel a breeze coming from the banks, blowing at one's cheeks, and see a multi-coloured sky floating above that looks brilliantly orange at the horizon where the sun is setting, gradually changing to darker more mellow tones of yellow, green, and blue, before ending with a blackness unclothed by clouds, sprinkled with stars. It's so peaceful and calming that I think I'm starting to love it here.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Today the Star newspaper highlighted a couple of cases where people commited suicide after posting up their intentions on Facebook. In one of the said cases, after the 17 year old girl said she wanted to end her life, some of her so-called 'friends' on Facebook actually dared her to do so. Imagine that! Your friends, daring you to commit suicide?
This brings up the issue of Facebook friends. I know some people who have thousands of friends on their online social networks. But the value of such 'friendships'? When Facebook tells the people you listed as friends that your birthday is today, your wall gets plastered with hundreds of birthday wishes. Yes, the thoughts do count.... to some degree. I find these sort of wishes a bit meaningless- a convenient thing to do with a few clicks of a button that carries virtually no emotional weight or investment of time. I remember the day after my birthday I checked my account, to see maybe 100 people had posted on my wall some variation of 'Happy Birthday!'....... those 100 odd wishes couldn't compare to the time I had spent the same day with just one of my real life friends.
I think it's time for me to cut back on Facebook time. Previously it was about once a day that I checked my profile, I shouldn't be missing much if I now check it 2 or 3 times a week.
This brings up the issue of Facebook friends. I know some people who have thousands of friends on their online social networks. But the value of such 'friendships'? When Facebook tells the people you listed as friends that your birthday is today, your wall gets plastered with hundreds of birthday wishes. Yes, the thoughts do count.... to some degree. I find these sort of wishes a bit meaningless- a convenient thing to do with a few clicks of a button that carries virtually no emotional weight or investment of time. I remember the day after my birthday I checked my account, to see maybe 100 people had posted on my wall some variation of 'Happy Birthday!'....... those 100 odd wishes couldn't compare to the time I had spent the same day with just one of my real life friends.
I think it's time for me to cut back on Facebook time. Previously it was about once a day that I checked my profile, I shouldn't be missing much if I now check it 2 or 3 times a week.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)