Keep.

Keep me in your heart,
Even when I'm not dear - 
Still, then, your voice is
The last thing I want to hear...


S.

Dream.

I had the strangest dream last night. I was rushing, falling, down a dark tunnel towards a light. I was dying, and I told myself I was excited to be meeting my Maker. It made me feel better. I was trying to smile and it felt weak. When I woke up I was scared, and glad, and didn't know whether to take it as a positive sign or as a warning, and tried to frantically to fall asleep again, so I'd forget. 

A Fortnight in Arts.

This post will be a recount of my first two weeks in Arts. I wish I had more to say, some insight into the human condition, an ounce of wisdom. But I don't.


Starting a new degree is super exciting. New place, new subjects, new people. But it's also a little scary. My first day was tiring but exciting, and also really awkward. I got soaked to the skin (literally). Had to go to  female toilets at Melbourne Central to dry off under the hand-dryers. Really awkward. Also got lost. A lot. Couldn't take out my map of campus in case I was mistaken for one of the other newbies. I met some new people, saw some others again. It's all a bit of a blur.

Also, within the first week, I established myself as the stereotypical eager mature-age student. Emailed one lecturer to ask if notes could be made available online before the lecture, and the another to ask if recordings would be made available online. I FEEL NO SHAME!! Well, okay, I do a little bit. But still. My last uni wasn't this slack. Seriously, this uni is technologically challenged. Pretty sure a monkey with a typewriter could have designed a better webpage. It is a massive struggle waiting for the student portal to load. 


Other than that, my Latin tutor looks like Jesus and always wears blue. He's pretty cool. I think he knows like eight languages. Amazing. My French tutor is also really cool. Very French. I love it. 


I did have a moment in the middle of my second week when I questioned what on earth I was doing. I'd just hung out with some really cool girls from the Islamic society, and then had a tutorial in which I met my first stereotypically know-it-all Arts student. It made me furious, but in hindsight, I think I'd just had too much caffeine. I keep forgetting that I've had a lot longer to adjust to and learn about the real world. 


But things are okay. I'm usually tired or running late (consecutive classes at opposite ends of campus) or bewildered. But it's okay. I'm pretty sure I'm headed in the right direction. If nothing else, at least I'm learning something every day. Also, week 1 readings for one of my units introduced me to Slavoj Zizek. He's awe-inspiring. So enthusiastic and animated and funny. I think I want to be him when I grow up. His rant about flowers being disgusting because they are sexual organs inviting all the bugs and insects (obviously a joke) reminded me of a thought I had a few years ago about fruit. Fruit is part of a plant's reproductive tract. And we eat it. And it's delicious. This thought is slightly disturbing.


Peace and love,


S.

Given I have done Arts for a whole week now, I feel the need to post something insightful and politically and morally motivating. But I got nothing.