some people have a mind so powerful that they can think of a million things at once. they want nothing less than the best, they go out and work tirelessly at it and then when they finally get it there is only a short moment of celebration if any because, remember, there are still a million-1 things left to accomplish.
its very difficult to cruise through life, I keep trying and Iv decided Im really bad at cruising, i need a plan! what are your ambitions and as someone once asked, what is this idea of success that people will do anything for? what are your dreams? sometimes its really hard to put all of these into paper or atleast align them in my head.
i used to have a friend who was so clear headed he had his whole life mapped out. he had clear goals of what he wanted to achieve by the time we were 18, 25, 30 etc. Being friends to such a person made me feel like a slacker and of-course I had to jump on that saddle too. I made plans, set goals for the following years and the last one at that time (when I was 18) was : to be an economist, thats it. ha! funny how life works out.
when you are a student I find it easy to set goals and achieve them but after that what comes next, i mean when you have achieved all your wildest goals, where do you go? when you get your dream job at 21, what`s your life after that to be? yeah the world is so big and there are endless opportunities out there but how many people do you know who will give up a comfortable setting for an adventure, walking blind into the unknown? but then again, who want`s life without an adventure? Forget forever, tomorrow is not promised to you and your loved ones so how do I choose what to do first? `you have set yourself a base, no amount of falling can lead you to be below your base..`again, some people are just gifted with words and sometimes they confuse me even more. ahh..Growing up!
anyway, I was watching this movie called Finding Forrester and they say over and over again in it that a writer just writes and doesnt think. i have taken the liberty to just write what comes to my head without necessarily thinking if it gels or not. these are my thoughts at this particular moment. make what you will out of them, at-least I can now concentrate on the studying Im suppose to do without these thoughts distracting me.
Its a beautiful day in Brighton today! its nice, bright and sunny! I had such an awesome time walking through the downs and discovering a beautiful spot for sun bathing and more.
I have finally made it to London! I got to meet Sophie a friend from Pitzer College I hadnt seen in 5 years, we had such a nice time celebrating Bon fire night for FREE instead of the 6 quid recommended, hahah! I obviously went all touristy as weel! :) Here is my mini guide to London in 2 days:
My number ONE pick has to be the Borough market. This is a wonderful place tucked just towards the end of the London Bridge just adjacent the london brigde station. at this market you can find FOOOOOOODDDDD! food of all kinds, we wouldnt make up our minds on what to eat, what to buy and what not to! everything was so tempting from cheese blocks to chocolate delicasies, we hit a diamond mine and we wanted all of it! I actually dont think we took any pictures, we were so preoccupied. anyway, you can find it at http://www.boroughmarket.org.uk/
everything else comes second. We did the touristy stuff with a twist! we named our weekend in London "Walk London". I think its pretty self explanatory. We walked around Londont o see all monuments, I think the longest we had was for about 6hours where we saw. We visited the Tower bridge, Camden Market (another crazy all sorts market), Buckingham palace (and other near by palaces) , westminster, the parliament, St Paul's, London eye (and its graffitti), oxford street (and its beautiful Georgian style buildings) and well...London! I mean the city is a living museum. Amazing! Pictures below tell a story and are a great guide. You'l notice that Mafe did a good job of taking pics which is why, possibly for the first time I am in them.
There are lots of nice pubs around London. Drop into any and a good time is promised...depending on your company ofcourse and I was in good company :)
Enjoy!
Till I write and you read,
B
Drinkin chanpagne may cause delirious happiness!
Shaka Zulu in Camden market
Fireworks :)
One of King Henry VIII's palaces
The Brighton Marina
sometimes, all u want is a lil African food..courtesy of Chichi
yep!
Felt like Mary Poppins
Getin creative with Sophie's fam
'Big Ben'
it was freezing and Windy!! wt Mafe
Camden Market
crowd outside Buckingham Palace..Its not worth it people!!
Iv been getting some smack from friends who thing im slacking (yes, You know yourself!) and so Iv decided or been pressurized to atleast make a picture blog this time around.
its been almost 3 weeks since the last time I posted and I do have a very good reason of why im slacking. I got really excited when I got the opportunity to go back home and present at the National Business Conference on Youth Unemployment and Enterprises. I was back in Botswana for a week and by the time I got back, I was a week behind my school work so you know hard work needed to be put it. I wont bore you with the details but hopefully you will enjoy this picture story.
Till I write and You read again,
Boroko (good night)
B
Arriving at SSKI airport, Botswwana
OR Tambo Business Lounge
Finally a big bed! :)
Cathedral in Arundel
lovely walk in Arundel
Home of the Duke of Norfolk
Arundel was so dreamy
Flat mate's halloween special
Eyad's Eid party
humbled...
The Dubai airport Jungle, no place does fake better than Dubai
Arundel
some softy walkies, LURV :)
Nothing says welcome home better than 'Segwapa', yum!
I find myself feeling guilty quite often, for I am that human being who likes to enjoy herself, the one who LOVES free time to watch movies, chat with friends and walk around. yes! some may say lazy, but I'd dare them to say it to my face. I am not lazy, I am just practical! Too much work and no play would make me a very dull girl.
I have heard over and over again that my life should be in the library, i have seen or heard people talking about how they study more than 8hours a day...really? more than 8 hours a day not doing homework but reading? there must be something wrong with me since I cant focus for that long. Come on! does this make me a really bad postgrad student? my unwillingness to spend loads of hours at the library especially in my first 3 weeks in Uni? I have to admit, I know my lifestyle will have to change in a few weeks but even then, trust me, I will find that time to unwind and have fun. Im surprised by people who are surprised by my need to watch something or just lie on my bed and do nothing. How do you unwind? how do you ensure you dont go MAD? im curious, I know people are not the same and so Id like to know. Iv been told/read numerous times that in life you need to learn to work smart not hard; time management is key. the brain needs rest, we spend all day running up and down, trying to understand graphs & equations and then we force it to understand more things from journals etc. Psychologists say that once you force your brain to work when its not fresh, it stores data in the short term memory only which isn't beneficial in the long term when you need that information. I understand that an average person can concentrate for apx 30 minutes beyond which, we are just pushing it and wasting time. So a word of advce from me, TAKE THAT BREAK!
ok, I might have been trying to justify why my life is the way it is :) , however, it is proven that my recipe works. haha! there I go again, why do I need to justify if what im doing is what i know is right, plus who will benefit or...no, just benefit from this in the end, me! so, I took this weekend and did what I enjoy the best, hang out. Since I had no classes on Friday, I spent thursday night watching movies of all kind (mostly chick flicks; they know how to destress this girl very well.) honestly, I could tell you what I watched if i could remember, see I watch a movie to give my brain down time. I do remember watching Greys Anatomy, just to show you how far back I went; I got to hear one of the quotes that Ashley put up on facebook (yeah you tv junkie!) 'When you're little, night time is scary because there are monsters under the bed. When you get older the monsters are different. Self doubt, loneliness, regret. And though you may be older and wiser, you still find yourself scared of the dark.' I think its season 5, but I could be wrong, again, I watched a lot of random things.
Best 'not thinking' food
I took some time on Friday to look at my work, some texts and that night, it was on! haha. yeah, the Economics postgrad students had a pub crawl, we enjoyed a couple of drinks and i ended it with a couple of friends at 'Honey' a club known for playing some african music. It was good fun and I got to make some new friends. Its always nice to see your classmates out of class and you can talk about random things, get to know just how good crazy they are.
As Isha says it 'Econo-mixing'
The rest of the weekend was filled with some nice walks around campus and dinner with a friend's parents. The parents made a big feast, we ate so much especially the other guy who cant cook on his own, poor guy, he was starving! ahaha, yeah, you know yourself.This had to be my most chilled weekend I have had since being in the UK and I loved it. I know i should cherish it as I know the worst is near. the plague of assignments,papers, presentations and exams will be here sooner than we want it. Im more than positive that when the time comes we will be ready, no matter our style of reading/studying, we will be ready! *que cheer!*
Anyway, since I didnt do anything exciting this weekend maybe I should take you on a tour of my flat. hmm, maybe next week. Ok, let me share with you my studying songs of the previous week, maybe you will find that they work for you too wherever you are. I have a feeling I should tell you about the real reason Im here- I should probably tell you how the classes are going and all...in due time. All I can say for now is taht its finally nice to have some theory and things making sense.
Till I write and till you read again.
B
Music videos- My past week studying playlist. No watching of videos except during breaks! :)
Ashanti and Kells- Thats how we do
Chris Breezy- Don't judge me
Beyonce- I am tour! yes, tour! Pay attention to the horn in 'Crazy in love'
More pix
good awareness campaign, wish they could have this at home
No! its not snowing yet, however in anticipation of the snowy days I went out shopping on saturday. My favourite winter buy so far has to be my 'i heart snow' pj! they are so soft (no, not like a baby's bum but more like cashmere..I should check if they are infact cashmere!), anyway, they are so soft they make it so difficult to wake up.
I do Love me some snow days :)
speaking of waking up: I have a 9am class, may sound like its late but due to my student sleeping patterns, turns out its not late enough. Its been a tough 2 weeks as I have already mentioned before, I have been having 6 hour classes on calculus and statistics. Most of the things we were being taught i had either forgoten or have never even heard of! there have been some sessions when I struggled to comprehend what was being taught and Id beat myself up for it (I mean who doesnt like going to class and knowing whats on the board, huh?), however, today was a different day, while I was wallowing in my lack of comprehension, i had a brief but worth it chat with one of my class mates who wisely asked me 'why are you studying your Masters?, with disbelief I looked at him, 'huh?' he continued. I couldnt believe that in this day in age someone could be asking me such a question or maybe he thought I didnt deserve to be here. he quickly jumped in to give an answer before my seemingly pissed off answer, ' you are here to learn new things, arent you? things you didnt know before you came here. so why are you so mad at yourself for not knowing these things?' wow! at that moment I realized, this is exactly what I needed to hear! My classmate was heavenly sent! :)
'You are here to learn new things!' these words have been echoed over and over again in my head since and I must say, im ready for this new challenge Iv set for myself and hopefully my classmate will be there to smack some sense into me once in a while. yes! he just tied a blackberry to himself and he doesnt even know it yet! hahahha (evil laugh!) What a great way to start the week!!
Last week was not short of greatness either, how could it, Im in Brighton! I spent most of my weekend relaxing and getting to know more people. On Friday I met up with some of the Chevening scholars (www.chevening.com APPLY!) who are awesome, trust me, the stereotype holds! Shopping Saturday! woooohoooo! *no! it was a one time only...im an Economist and very tight pocketed :) *
Anyway, I spent my day looking for warm stuff; the pjs, jackets, thermal wear and boots. after the very exhausting day, we took it to the beach with my girl Chichi and had an AMAZING burger, it was unbelievable how tasty it was, given what a tiny place it came out of... it filled us with so much happiness and fat that we couldnt imagine doing anything more fun than sleep afterwards and thats exactly how my saturday ended. Again, a perfect ending and or begining to the Sunday that was to be the International Student's welcome recpetion; a chance to mingle with other international students, make more friends, and celebrate Botswana's independence in style!It was a beautiful night with beautiful people at the beautiful Brighton dome.
lovin it!
A perfect ending to this blog is a public proclamation of how I miss you all, through all this fun and GREATNESS, I find myself wishing you could actually share these moments with me.
Seriously though, rain go away and come again another year because grown up me wants to study!
I dont think this is a feeling special to me; when ever it rains I wana grab a cup of hot chocolate/ soup or anything warm, cuddle up by a fire and day dream or just sleep. I have found myself having a wrestling match with this said emotion and yearning and I must say, so far its 1 all, but I bet you, I and studying will win this one. :)
its been a confusing week, one of sunshine and rain and ofcourse my poor poor body got really confused and in the end lost to a cold. a terrible one I must add, however, thanx to a concoction of things I cant even beging to explain to you I am well and almost good to run a marathon (not that I have any intentions of doing so.) I just had to write about this one thing that has been bugging me since I arrived. i know im not 15 but OMG, the amount of fabric allowed on one's body here is definitely a lot smaller than i personally can deal with. No judgement, people have a right to wear and do whatever they deem fit. I was just taken a little by surprise thats all- I guess this is the culture shock that everyone warned me about. I thought after several years of travelling, I thought I was pretty much culture shock resistant. oh well!
my very own flu pharmacy
So back to the rain. Everyone looks so depressed and are forced to cover up when it rains and the minute the sun come out, then BANG! them legs come out! its so funny how fast it happens, i mean, I was in the bank for like 2 minutes and when i came out the sun was out and i saw girls already on them shorts. It must be nice to have those kind of reflexes :)
In other news, im sitting by my window enjoying a great view and nice weather while also doing my home work. Its been crazy, 6 hours a day of Calculus and statistics! I still cant believe that im back in the classroom and thats why its still fun to be integrating and differentiating :).
Its not often that while you are seated, busy at work that you realize just how blessed you are. one week in the University of Sussex, im in an Analytical methods for Economics class and for a second i had an out of body experience....where was I sitting and what was I doing? The dots were all starting to come together.
3 years ago I completed my Bachelors in Economics and I set my self a life plan: work 3 years, go abroad thereafter to do my Masters and well...the rest is for me to know and reveal later :)
Its been 3 years since that moment, I have marched on to make my dreams come true, during that period I had several rejections, some opportunities in paths that I didnt have interests in exploring (particularly as I thought they would derail me from THE MASTER PLAN!), I kept my eyes on the ball.
what a city at night!
Its been an amazing journey and how awesome is it that today I am a Chevening scholar (http://www.chevening.org/? Anyway, enough with the emotional stuff. Here is my story in the University of Sussex, week one!
On Sunday 16th September I arrived in the UK, recieved a warm welcome from the University and found myself a very cosy flat which I share with other students. The best part about the flat is my room, it has one of the best views of the university (atleast I think so) and I have to walk up about a 100 (yes, one HUNDRED stairs) every time I go to my room, if i dont get awesome legs from this Id be very pissed :)
the view from my room...its more beautiful live
I spent my first day with a South African World Bank Scholar, who I'd met at the airport, running around buying stuff for the room most importantly bedding. On the same day I attended the Welcome party by the students union which I have to admit (through all the fatigue and going there by myself) was 'rad'! (Im actually not sure if thats how its written or if I used it properly but I could have sworn I heard almost all teh freshers using that expression! haha).
fireworks after the welcome reception
The following days were filled by more house stuff shopping, food, ID collection, inductions and more welcome receptions. The most notable welcome reception by far is the one by the School of Business Management and Economics; we were served some wine, beer etc while we chatted away and met some new and interesting people. from that night alone I made what I hope will be solid relationships. I have already met 3 Chevening scholars in Sussex, I think there is about 10 of us and I should have met all of them by the end of this week.
We also started class on Thursday and for a week we will be doing 6 hours a day of Maths before starting other courses.
In between all the first week madness I found time to take several strolls down in Brighton; enjoyed the sound of the ocean, played for 2mins at the pier, walked through the old Brighton town 'Lanes' and bassically just goofed around. Week one down, many more to go! so far so good, lets see what Sussex has in store for me, il keep you posted. In the mean time, enjoy some pics (PS: taken with my blackberry!).
one of the top tourist attractions in Brighton: The Pier
