All Things Yummy

I’ve been listening to interviews and lectures given by Professor Bernard Lewis lately. He’s an amazing speaker and a lecturer, and he provides many insights into Arabic and Islamic psyche that helps to explain and put into context the happenings in the Middle East. However, the most entertaining sections of the lectures are the question and answer sessions. Time and again, questioners try to ask provocative and very ‘liberal’ (Not in the original meaning of liberal, but in Howard Dean, you’re a fascist Nazi for invading Iraq and ousting Sadam the benevolent ruler kind of liberal) questions, seemingly to get him to stumble. What’s entertaining is Prof. Lewis’ swift and brutal put-downs.

Q: “I take it from your lecture that president Bush’s attempt to democratize Iraq will not be successful, is that true?”

BL: “That was certain not my intention, (audience laughs) quite the reverse. My point was that it is difficult, but not impossible, and that the alternatives are even worse (applause)”

Q: “I heard Gwen Dier (sp) say Osama Bin Laden’s reasons for what he did on September 11th was to provoke the United States into massive, moral-less, indiscriminate attack on the Arab world… thus bringing out Arab rage and thus bringing down corrupt governments and allowing them to be replaced byIslamic Governments… he said to that point, Americans had refrained from falling to that temptation. Do you agree”

BL: “No I don’t. My ability to penetrate the inner mind of Osama Bin Laden does not reach that far, nor I think does anyone else’s. No, this is an obviously tendentious interpretation, purpose of which is very clear (big applause)”

It’s interesting to note how the political climate in the Middle East seems to be changing. After decades of stagnation, everything seems to be falling into place. Syria and Lebanon, elections in Iraq and Saudi Arabia (albeit limited), scheduled elections in Egypt… I think it’s too early for people to be celebrating quite yet, but it’s good to see that some of Bush’s policies are finally bearing some fruit. Look, even New York Times is giving credit where it’s due.

Term	Finals	Midterms	Other/Notes
Pre-1A	0	0	1 (ELPE)
1A	5	5	2 (WHMIS and GenE 167)
WT1	0	0	HIST 200 just had 2 essays
1B	5	6	ECE 100 has 2 midterms
WT2	1	1	ECON 101
2A	5	5	1 (TPPE)
WT3	1	1	ECON 102
2B	5	5	1 (Does ECE 241 Lab Test count?)
WT4	1	1	PSYCH 101
3A	5	5	Highest Average!
WT5	0	0	Only workterm where I didn’t take a class
3B	5	5	Probably the toughest term at UW
4A	4	5	Only 4 courses with final exams!
WT6	1	1	ECE 682
4B	0	4	2 Midterms for EASIA
TOTAL	38	44

Well, I’ve updated my old total number of exams page to show the new and updated figures!

Wow, I’ve taken 82 exams so far, and by the time I’m done, it’ll be up to 89. Since final exams are 3 hours long and midterms are 90 minutes, up until now, I’ve spent just a bit over a week writing exams since I came to Waterloo… interesting number to think about… 180 hours of exams… And those are the essence of my 5 years at University of Waterloo, since they probably count for 80~90% of total marks.

I updated my resume today - you can see the final result here. I don’t know why I’m applying to jobs… but everyone else seems to be, so I don’t want to get left behind, I suppose. It was about time that I updated my resume, anyway. Let me know if you find any errors.

The oldest memory I have of ever hearing English (and probably one of the oldest memories that I clearly remember) is watching a video taped copy of Sesame Street back in Korea. I don’t remember how old I was, maybe 7, 8 years old?

I was visiting my aunt’s house which had - *gasp* - two bathrooms and two TV’s. They also had a computer machine thingy that I could play with, so I always enjoyed going over to their house. Anyway, this time while I was over there, my aunt put on a Sesame Street video tape… so I was sitting in their master bedroom watching the TV. The show was trying to teach simple counting - 1, 2, 3. The segment consisted of metal ball rolling down this elaborate constraption. As it rolled down the path, it would bounce, hit different things, change directions… always in multiples of threes. It would hit three spinny thingies and the screen would show 1! 2! 3!. It would do three loops and the screen would say 1! 2! 3!. At the end of the elaborate (and magical, to my young eyes) sequence, the ball ended up on a switch which started up a machine that plopped a cherry on an icecream, which was picked up by a young girl who said something (You have to understand, I didn’t understand a word of English back then) before eating it.

I’ve only seem it once, but it’s been with me ever since. I’ve attemped several times to find a copy of it to watch again, but I’ve always failed. Maybe it’s just as well… maybe if I watch it again, it’ll just end up ruining my fond memories of it.

You know you’re getting old when you start reminiscing about the good old times…

The Iron Ring refitting was today, so I was able to go and get a new one! Apparently the right size for me is 4.5, which is full 2 steps down from 5.5 that I had before. Yes, I have very scrawny fingers… Anyway, the new ring fits much better. I’ll wear it tomorrow during swimming and squash, so that’ll tell me for sure whether it’s the right size for me or not.

Anyway, it’s already March. It’s hard to believe just how fast the time goes around here… Before you know it, midterms are (mostly) finished, weather’s back to balmy -2 degrees, and there’s only 4 weeks of lectures left. It’s kinda scary how things seems to whip around you even before you realize it.