Ups and Downs

Due to incessant travelling to and from London over the past month, on top of a ridiculous amount of work I've had to do and competitions I've had to take part in, I literally have not had a moment to myself to update. Now that I'm at home for 'Easter' (because that's a thing now) and my parents have actually banned me from doing any work, let me fill you in on March. I'll try and intersperse the good with the not so good.

Despite numerous interviews for all manner of positions, I still don't have a job. I'm still waiting to hear back from British Council - which should be any time at the beginning of April - but as for Law stuff, I think I'm giving up until I've actually achieved this degree thing that people also expect me to do well in. I've decided it's no longer something to despair over - something will come up (surely?) and my friends and family have a disproportionate amount of faith in me, which I'm, again, going to take as a positive sign. If not I'm just gonna quit life and be a model. That's a viable option right?

I came 3rd place in the UK final of an international Chinese speaking competition. Yaaay. I know you guys have been on tenterhooks waiting to find out what the hell this Chinese Bridge competition actually is, so let me break it down for you. It basically involves some awesome uni kids saying a speech for 3 minutes, answering 5 out of a possible 190 questions (again, in Chinese), and having some sort of 'talent'. Because I'm amazing I played the recorder. Minds were blown. It was a good day, if a deal too long and entirely too stressful. At least we got fed good food, unlike some of the 'lunches' provided when I go for interviews...

Me and the Edinburgh ladies at the comp,
 with our teacher Zhu zhu!

This is the piece I played on the recorder - obviously not with guy's ridiculous super-saiyan skill levels, but you get the gist. I also won £100 and a scholarship for 6 months study in China....so...yeah.

My classmate Meghan came in 1st (which is actually 2nd because there's some sort of very confusing 'Grand Prize' thing that only the Chinese could come up with), and if you want any more info about the comp you can visit the web page here.

I got a 1st in my Dissertation, yay. For those of you who aren't aware what it's about, the title is "What does the Wukan Incident tell us about the prospects for democratisation in China?"... which still doesn't make it 100% clear what it was about, but that's not important. What is important is that I got a 1st, which means that there's obviously this expectation that I'm going to get a 1st overall. Well, we shall see.

I also attended the Ballroom Dancing Ball which, as loyal flatmates, Sophie and I have attended every year to give Lucy support, despite our severe lack of Ballrooming skills. Beautiful food, beautiful dresses, beautiful dancing - that's all that can be said really. It was a good excuse to get out of the house and not think about work for at least one evening.

If you're wondering why this is a meta-photo, the photographer
was slightly overzealous and was taking surreptitious photos
of unsuspecting ladies all night.

That's all really. I'm not really doing anything besides work atm. My friends and I have booked a holiday to Albufeira (Portuagal) for the end of May, but I can't really think about that till I've got these 500 exams on a country I know nothing about in a language I don't quite comprehend out of the way. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some covert character learning to do...

First World Problems

Ergh, my life is so stressful right now.

After the 'stress' of having to get my dissertation done and handed in, which only happened like 3 days ago, I've now got a whole new set of problems to deal with. So, I've been forced to take part in the  internationally recognised, way-too-much-of-a-big-deal-for-the-Chinese-speaking-community Chinese Bridge competition against my will. Forced is a bit strong I grant you, but I think this situation warrants at least some recognition of my coercion. What is this competition, you ask? Well, they'll be a separate, much more riveting, post with the full details later, but needless to say between the daily practices at random times of the morning/evening, it's taking up way to much of my time. Time that could be spent in the library.

Good thing I can cancel one of those meetings though, as I've got a job interview on Thursday. "Great!" I hear you say. "no." I reply. They only told me today, which means that train tickets are gonna be however many thousands of pounds, plus i know next to nothing about the company, so the time i could have spent researching (or doing other work) is now taken up with 'panic!' time.***

Even better, I'll be coming to London AGAIN for another 5, lemme say that again, 5 days from the 15th because, hip hip hurray, the Chinese competition's on the 16th....and then I have yet another interview on the 19th. Because things only happen in London. I live in Edinburgh. thank God I've got family there otherwise I'd just sack it all off.

I've also got a presentation next week, plus two essays due in some time this month, so, in short:

So, if you'll excuse me, I've got speeches to learn, presentations to write, plans to cancel and trains to book. My mum was not sympathetic.

*Quick amendment - I've just seen that this interview start at 8:30 as well!!! What is happening!!

Mo' applications mo' problems

Next week is Innovative Learning Week (regularly shortened to 'ILW' by the university without any reference as if we're supposed to know what that means). It's basically a week off school with a few optional events, and I thought I was gonna have a great time. I had planned one or two talk-event-thingies about writing academic essays and learning and all my other favourite hobbies, and squeezed in a few volunteering sessions in between my sleep schedule.  Obviously I had forgotten that I had applied to 1 million and 1 jobs (see literally my last post for more info) and that they were going to get back to me. Well, I knew they were gonna get back to me, but I thought it would be eventually, you know?

On the plus side I got an interview - yay! It's...not for my first choice, but the phrase "I'm not sure if I want this job so I might not go to the interview" is just too much of a first world problem for me to comprehend, so imma take it. It's to become an english language teacher for a year in China on behalf of the British Council (how wonderful), providing me with the opportunity to brush up on my awesome Mandarin skillz (deliberate 'z') and explore further opportunities. As I'm changing my mind about what I want to do every single day, if I do end up with this job I will use this as  a chance to start a project/find a research assistant-ship in China. Random, I know, but I'm 21, I dont have a plan! (I have several.)

So that's on Wednesday next week.

On Friday next week I have an Open Day event with a law firm. Eh, what? I believe I applied for a training contract, why do you want to meet me first? You mean I have to dress nice and make an effort and possibly even sort out the 'winter hair'  I'm currently rockin' just to make an impression? I'll do it. I'm, literally, petrified of not getting a job out of uni - and I thought I was one of those people who didn't bow to peer pressure. So anyway, I'll be in London next week Thursday to Saturday if anyone wants to meet up Friday afternoon/ breakfast on Saturday. Brills.

Also, sorry about the delay in Lake District news/photos. I did have a wonderful time getting drunk and taking country walks, but I, unfortunately, was not in charge of the camera. I know some of you are dying to see a proper picture of Martin where he's not in fancy dress/wearing a stupid hat/wearing a fake moustache, so I shall request and post asap.

In your own time

I really hate the anxious, heart-wrenching anticipation of waiting to hear back about really important, potentially life-changing things. OK, it's not like I just had a tumor scanned or am waiting to hear back about my HIV results (negative - took it before China), but the more mundane - but arguably equally important - waiting game. Having just applied for about 1 billion vacation schemes with deadlines of, oh wait, today, I would rather they either got back to me immediately, or not at all. I know the majority will be rejections, but after an hour and a half an application form turns into your beloved child and you find that you're convincing yourself, as well as the firm, that you actually want to work for them. 

I've also applied for an academic competition where I had to write an essay about something or the other. Deadline: tomorrow. Outcome: uncertain. When will they get back to me? We can only speculate. I would appreciate it if they would get back to me immediately if I've lost though - if you don't like me, tell me upfront. Don't wait for a week and a day just to be 'sorry to inform me that I was unsuccessful due to the large number of applicants, and on this occasion be unable to provide specific feedback but hope that this result does not deter you from living the rest of your life as opposed to throwing yourself rather dramatically from the first floor window of your rented accommodation'. I hate this. 

Generally speaking, however I also hate waiting for: exam results, essays, 'group work' feedback, presentation feedback, what-christmas-present-did-i-get-oh-i-see-it-wasn't-my-first-choice-but-that's-still-ok, general feedback, email responses, buses, and many, many more.

And the thing is I can't even delete an application when it's done -  not only
will I need it for reference when I "get an interview" (lol), but also they really
help when filling in other forms...

And so, in response to this feeling of not wanting to hang around for the weekend only to count my rejection emails on Monday, I've decided to run away to the Lake District instead. I've heard there's no internet. Perfect. Don't worry, I'm taking my dissertation with me. Joy.

Await photos.
Xx

Things I should never become

I don't think I'd make a very good film critic. I know it's a subjective profession, but at the end of the day there's still a certain amount of professionalism that one has to have, and I am just way too emotional when it comes to cinema.

How have I come to this realisation, you ask. True, I had never before expressed a wish to become any type of film-blogging crusader - working my way up through dingy student news papers, editing IMDB for kicks and berating those of lesser opinion on twitter and whatever forums film-ies troll on to eventually write for the Guardian's film review - but it's good to rule these things out before the mid-life crisis strikes.

The thought struck me after having watched two highly anticipated films in cinema in quick succession. The first of these was Les Mis. Now, I would never be able to come up with something a 'summary' and apt like "Majestic" or "Does the trick", instead I would probably ramble on for 6 tear stained pages, throwing around spoilers and sprinkling puns worthy only of the Daily Mash. As you may know by now, reviews of Les Mis are very mixed. Half the people I know loved it, the other half...did not. You've probably guessed which side I belong to.

An age-old fan of the classic musical, I thought Les Mis was 'brills', ironic as I was the most pessimistic about it (I still think that handsome, manly actors shouldn't sing unless threatened at gunpoint). I thought it would be too Hollywood and shiny, but in truth I cried throughout most of it, hence the tear-stained pages. Objective, I would not be. Probably something closer to 'OMG it was amaaaaaaaaaaaaaazing!!!!'

Fun fact: my boyfriend and I are so cool that , the day after we saw said film,
we proceeded to sing the songs (in harmony) while he played the piano.
Imagine all the emotions from the above photo. But with more intensity.

However, had I been charged with writing a review of The Impossible, things would not have gone so well. Not for the publishers anyway. Baring in mind I had my eyes closed for about half the film (rendering any verdict incomplete, let alone invalid), my verdict would have to be:

"I AM TRAUMATISED. I AM TRAUMATISED AND I WILL NEVER RECOVER. DO NOT WATCH THIS FILM."

I was in physical pain after watching that film. Pain. I had to force my flatmates to hug me afterwards.

So yeah, not a backup option when it comes to jobs then. Considering the fact that you couldn't get me in the cinema to watch a "rom-com" if you paid me, it probably wouldn't have worked out anyway.