-August 22nd- Sunny in both Korean and Shanghai
So the day that I have been waiting for is finally here--- The departing day. For the last three years, I have been striving DEAD hard in order to get into a good university. And lucky for me, the god of this universe has been extra kind to this poor individual, and I'm accepted by my dream school.
I was in an international school in Shanghai for my previous stage of life, and I'm glade that it is finally gone. As what I've write in the year book graduation poem, "We are about to step into a new world which awaits us", this is very true, and is about to happen to me very soon.... As soon as... NOW!
Enough for the background story.... So today is the first day in which I'll be semi-permanently leaving my beloved home which I've stayed for as long as almost half of my existence. It's not a big or luxury room, but it is a home. A home to me, a unique indeed, and my cradle of memory that's both bright and.... well, not so bad.
Guess it is true that leaving makes people nostalgic after all.... You know, that feeling of leaving all that used to be important to you behind... All those stuff that have your happy memory craved on them…. For example, the BOARDGAMES! OMG I can still remember the night in which I played Carcassonne(a multi-player board game) with my friends in ShenZhen 1 year ago that summer vacation….. All those native English board games that you are supposed to be playing with your friends…. Anyway, they all have to be left behind now.
My first flight is suppose to take off at 1:35 pm today, which is, again, some plan that's never get done by the crew. Although we did start entering as early as 1:05, but the jet wasn't allowed to go all the way until 2:17. I am a good observer, that's a title that I'm happy and content to give to myself. For observation is knee to one's survival, especially when he is all alone in his surrounding now. Well, it's not like I've something else to do…. other than looking around, observing.
Bill came this morning to be my accompany, spending our last few minutes together staying silent beside me. Yeah, I forget to mention him, friend of all friends, a brother-ish figure to me. He is one year younger than me, but he acts like a fully evolved adult, which is something that I do only when I'm activating my reality distortion field. He has changed a lot since when I first met him two years ago---- Much opener, much talkie, and much more easier to get along with now. He brought me a U-Waterloo T-shirt, which is way too small for me and I can't wear at all, but Seriously, I appreciate his effort…. For that's something you do to those who cares about you…. Especially when those type of guys are a first-class-emergency lacked resources.
Luc didn't came today, probably thanks to his boss' overly packaged deadlines of his translating schedule. Life is hard indeed in order for it to be hopeful you know? Especially when you first become an adult, standing in this cold world with nothing nor no one to hold on to….. Well, to be honest, he does…. He has a girlfriend…. Which is another type of resources that I am lacking right now. She is a good person… We used to play boardgames together. I enjoyed this couple's accompany. I feel happy around them, for they are not my parents and they cared about me.
Yeah, I like it. I like the way how they've built the Korean airport. It is fabulous, ingenious indeed! I can't describe how enmense it is…. Big, big, and one more big is all what I have to say regarding to its gigantic size. I adore the way how the merry people of Korean does things. They build very nice buildings and crafting very interesting little accessories. Most importantly, they do stuff…. And they DO it in the HARD way, like like what she urges me to do 5 years ago. Seriously, since my transformation, I've been always admiring those who are serious about their jobs on hand---- even including Leonardo from TMNT, not the 2003 version but the 1987 anime one. Yep, people are attracted to those who has similar tastes and style, something that's one of my few passions of life that has more to do with psychology other than my major….. Or not?
Well who knows, maybe programming a computer does have something to do with the way how people behaves. The only difference is that you don't look for a computer that behaves in your way, but you make it, and it obeys.

-August 23nd- Sunny in both Korean and Toronto
So it has been a long and tiring day for me. I'm glad that I have finally got myself arrived in Canada. Waterloo turns out to be a nice place indeed to be studied in, and I just can't believe that I'm actually made to this stage alive. So why, thanks! The goddess of luck~ Honestly, there were a lot of places in which I could make mistakes that I didn't.
The orientation starts at September the 1st, while the international student life 101 starts at August the 28th. It turns out that I'm the first Chinese international student on campus there which kinda intimidated me at the first place. It even surprises me that despising of how brave and outgoing my personalities are, I was actually felling really nervous and don't know what to say.
Indeed I was speechless. I don't know what to say, and my words don't know what they have told. No matter how much you can speak your English, I've found that bit of excitement and sense of lost can jam your system. I was literally phrasing my sentences two times before actually spit it out, and guess what, they still don't make my meaning clear. I feel myself lost, even after these several years of ultimate loneliness, still is vulnerable to a new surrounding with no people clinging to.
Actually, what's really scaring me is that there are upper years students here on campus. I know this may sounds sissy, but dude to my pathetic childhood experiences, I've developed a specified fear for elder teenagers. I don't like teenagers who are older than me that's in the same school, for they just means nothing but troubles. Teenagers these age are arrogant, self-centred, and aggressive. They never learn how to observe people around them and the importance to tolerant others… Which is something that I was forced to learned a long time ago, through the hard way.
Gladly, it turned out that the stuff people here is beyond friendly to me. In fact, they are just so easy to get along with that I'm seriously taking them as one of the first year freshmen. Speaking of which, I still haven't heard from Austin yet since the last time when he emailed me.
Austin is my new roommate of the year. I thought he is an Australian just because that would be an alliteration right there… He is all like me---- out going, shinning, and humours, which made us both believed that we can become really good friends. Although I doubt about wether he understand what's under my mask, but I've made up my mind to back him up anyway. Although it is up to him to decide what his attitude towards me is, I've decided to just be the person whom I want myself to be.
I have never been too secure about other people's positive attitude towards me, and that has driven me almost crazy. You know, the most horrible thing on earth is that when someone who makes you fell really important just ignores you at the second second, so thanks to my extended period of loneliness, I've learned to never give others chances to hurt me easily. And that's exactly what's so different about those westerners form Chinese---- they speak god-level English and they constantly ignores you the next second after he makes you ego boosts. Guess maybe that's why eastern women can't quite handle their marriages with western men.
So today is a long day, combining the one day we had in Korean and the other day I had in Canada. It was shown on the message board that the aircraft was traveling at 638 mph, which is equivalent to 983 km/h most of the time. Interesting hey? I don't know why but I've found these two numbers are quiet the opposite. Yeah, so I've found that if you dig deep down into your life, every day is slightly shifted and has it own fun facts for you to observe, the knowledge.
They've kindly offered me two meals online---- one "breakfast" and one "dinner". They aren't the real thing for It was midnight around 1o'clock and 5 o'clock when the meal bus comes. Both of those had Salad with them, which is perfect making up for my running-low vegetable meter except they both had sliced raw fish as their toppings. I used to be allergic to all fishes, and that habit fails as time flies…. too bad not my puking desire for all seafood. Those raw fishes are gross, I barely had any, and by barely had any, I mean I finished all of them, as a mean of replenish my leaking protein.
Talking about food, I went to a grocery store today right after I settled down at my residence. It's a medium sized supermarket that's about 15 minutes' walk away from my living spot. The stuff there are just soooooo not eastern that I barely recognize the stuff they sold there. I got the cheapest bread($1.49) and the largest bottle of orange juice($3.99), which only ended up costing me $5 thanks to a 10%off free-membership card that I applied. It's available to all waterloo students and can be gotten for free if you have a few minutes to spare. It will proven its worthiness by the time given here---- 5 years. That's just about as long as how long university life lasts.
One remarkable thing is that I got on to Facebook and texted Jora, my rival back in grade 10 and grade 11. It was a long story. At first, since both of us are those super hard working type of students, we admire each other's effort and backs each other up. But thanks to my inability to tolerant her temper, I had made her a desperate foe other than a friendly ally. We could become really close friends, may be even Bill-level close, but all are gone thanks to my immaturity back then. It has destroyed a potentially great fellowship by destroying it mercilessly inside the creedal. It has been years and she told me that she actually got into University of Toronto, right next to my university…. Ironically, this pair of should-be-friends enemies ended up closest to each other, and her level of ability is superior than most…. potential even her boyfriend. Yes, now pretty much all my schoolmates are paired up, leaving only me behind in this lonely world… Heck! What was I talking about? I'm not lonely, for I know she would always be there guarding me….. Well, may be not she, but my conjured illusions of her at least.
You see, I've always benign driven by an urge of twisted positive energy. Yeah, loneliness is deemed negative, so I do not make myself alone. Teenagers don't know how to tolerate each other, so I ordered onion salad with out sauce and ate all the onion out right in one shot as dinner. And I swallowed.

-August 25th- sunny in Waterloo till midnight, rained a little bit after that.
Today is the first time of my life for me to actually hold an real modern phone in my hands. Still remember that day when I first met Bill and I took out my old Nokia… He was laughing the tear out of himself! He was then a mean person, used to poke people all the time back then.(especially those who others say are better than him.) Well… actually, I lied. Nope, I don't remember exactly what was we were doing when we first met, not to mention the things that have happen. Well, as what Garfield had suggested, the more you've learned, the more you will forgot. On the other hand, when you are suffering from the reality distortion field mutation, what's inside your memory card really doesn't matter anyway.
So I've went on a bus today, a Canadian bus actually, route 12 to the city centre, Conestoga mall to find Fido--- the only telephone company that accept only a study permit for international student to sign a free-phone contract. I had good time there, talking with the crew over there. One of them happened to be Chinese and he said he is from Chongqing, which surprises me for I was seriously thinking that Shanghai and Beijing are the only two parts of China that has international students. He is a 4th year student at another school near waterloo, so we talked to each other about the surrounding of our place. Through our conversation, I had noticed that his English is covered with a thick layer of Chinese accent, which is something that I used to find disgusting about Chinese English speakers. For I've always been thinking that if you want to learn a language and learn it well, you would have to cut your dirty accent off for the sake of the purity of the language. This struck me hard, for it is such a terrible thing to think about that if I goof off, then I would ended up not having a job at all, which would result in my banishment outside of Canada, and I would have face to see my angel again. Yeah, most chinese teenagers here have some serious solid family back out, I've pretty much have figured that out by now. But few knows what to do jf he or she is here all by himself….I'm glade that I an actually a Chinese anyway, for that gives me a chance to just grab everybody's view by acting exactly the opposite of what everyone is expecting from a Chinese student---- Shyness, arrogance, un native English accent…. None of these.
I have to give credit to a a random aunt that I've met today on the #12 bus. It is crazy, for when I first get on to the bus, the driver charges me 3$ straight, no change service available, just need plan 3 coins. I only got two dollar 15 cents and a sheet of 100$ paper money, and I was in a rush so it's either find some body to exchange my only currency or waste my 100$. I was nervous at first about asking, even the edge of my mouth were trembling. Yes, I was afraid to ask others. Yes, I finally realized that even the mighty myself knows fear. But at the edge of things, an middle age female helped me.(She speaks Mandarin so I know she is Chinese for sure) She kindly offered me a dollar and also give me out several instructions as well regarding to how the bus system works. One ticket is actually good for multi bus taking within a short period of time actually. So that's what she has taught me--- Chinese people looks out for each other's back. Meeting her has gave me a strange sense of familiarness that I've never ever found on anyone other than Stephnie. Well, finally met someone of your own race in a lonely city, you can't be feeling nothing! So that's what life has prepared for me as the event-of-the-days. Also later today, I met some other Chinese students who got into Canada through their parents' richness. I've always been bothered by a feeling that they have cheated, you know that kinda of life is unfair type of feeling, but not anymore. I am actually ok with them now, thanks to a strange feeling of calmness inside me. "Well, there sure are all kinds of people on this earth" I told myself, "whose origin are all the same." Those Chinese teens were nowhere even close to the image of "kind" or "polite" or any ideas like that. They were swearing in both languages right in the medium of the conference centre and yet they speak to each other with authority, trying to prove one's superiority by spit crap on those's name, classical immature Chinese teenager move. But they will grow up given time, for that's exactly the type of person I used to be when I first met she, and yet her divine smile has purified my heart. Just like what Stephnie has taught me, to believe the shining part of human nature, and you will become a symbol of purifying light of justice yourself, vanquishing evil and all negativeness.
I don't hate them anymore……. It is a beautiful world, or at least I choose to believe it is.

-August 27th- foggy
I am surprised that I wake up at 9 today honestly. I didn't go to bed until 12 last night, thank to this diary that I was keeping. It is seriously taking more than 1 hour everyday, so it's very time consuming. I don't know why I keep it, may be I just feel like it, or just it is some mysterious passion of life that drives me on…. Anyway, the important fact is that I am enjoying taking a good 60 minutes every night to write down what I've been through each day. Again, it is always nice to review what you have experienced so that you can learn from the previous version of yourself.
I didn't waste any of my time after get up. Today is the last day before the international student life 101 hits, also it is the only day till now since my arrival that I have not really any thing formal to worry for, so I've decided to takes some photos for my surrounding as what I had promised her. I have always marvelled the way how mother nature made everything the way they are. It is ingenious! For it's beauty is unmatchable. I saw a beaver 10 meters away from me today, which reminds me of Bill. I wonder how is he doing recently. It must have been the 28th there back in China already. His final term is about to begin, and I fell sorry our companionship has to take a short rest here. I used to call him that all the time like crazy, and he would swear me back, just like how best friends all do. How much do I wish that he can see that Beaver as well! Not to be personal or joking, but I really want to let him feel that sense of innovation that mother nature gives to me. Again, he is a genius and all those, but what he really needs, much like many other clever guys, is a passion of life, a feeling of touched creativity. I know it's hard to be 24-hours passionated straight, but it is essential to has a driving force for your life. Well, may be that is what has put my title even higher than him and Lawrence's.
Anyway, so I've taken a huge bunch of photos and after that I went to Sobeys. It is the first grocery store that I've went to the first day when I came here. I, in the first time of my life, bought a giant bottle of mixed fruit juice which is the best deal I've ever seen till now. 1.75L of 100% fruit juice for the price of mere 1$, I say that it's a good deal. Also, I got myself 2 bananas, 1 cucumber, and some students' utilities like ball pens and whiteouts. Honestly, now I'm already 111 per cent comfortable living in this place all by myself. I like the everything here, and I know where to go to. Thanks to my previous experiences, I'm very resistance to loneliness and other alluring factors, and is definitely 99.9% immune to girl's brutal charm attack. I'm saving that 0.01 percent for her here, for there is a girl alive who can easily smash my reality distortion field….. So sometimes I've been thinking that life is too unfair for others. You see, it is me who always get the best chances of improving, meet the best people that saves me, and have the strongest will to survive and recover from any negative event. Yes, looking from the other side of the line, I am seriously thinking that I am actually the luckiest one, for having the most devastating weapon on human history---- Passion.
Yeah, so I played pool again today, and I'm glad that my effort has paid off. Forget to mention that yesterday I got frustrating unable to hit balls, so I've spent 3 hours all alone, practicing my shots all by myself. It was a lonely and painful experiences, but it paid off like wonders today. My shots all totally 10 times more powerful and accurate, and my hits are so solid that all balls will go exactly a straight path upon been hit. So there you go, another great example of hardworking saves the day~
1 hour ago, somebody triggered the fire alarm, and it was just defining. The floor went panic, everybody got out of their rooms and some even grabbed their stuff and dashed outside… I was a little shocked as well, but I'm mentally ready for these thanks to those soap shows. Well, it is a western university after all~ You know, all kinds of crazy stuff just happens in high school, so not to mention that would be in university. Luc told me once that there are even drugs and sexes going on here and I believe it, so I almost laughed when it turns out that some crazy students were trying to cook food in the kitchen and get the steps wrong. Well rich kids, they never learn to do the basics. Oh boy, I'm just sure that my university life isn't going to be an easy one~

－August 29th- Sunny
It is the first morning that since I had come here for me to wake up finding a person sleeps the next bed beside me. His name is Omoar Tharwat, a kind quiet egyptian who is a devoted Muslim, which remind me of a distant memory. And that is "The Life Of Pie", the book that I had read about 3 months ago as my final English project. I can still remember the way how Pie Partel prays in the movie, and the fact of how he believes in the existence of god, and Omoar is just the exactly replica of him. Today, after we have went back to the dormitory before lunch, he asked me whether it is ok for him to prey, and I was about to behold the very first time when I see a real Egyptian pray. And the book is right! For just looking at his posture, it makes me believe in what he believes---- God.
Anyway, so we listened to a couple of more lectures, among which there is one that I would like to point out specifically. For that was when I activated my reality distortion field for the first time upon my arriving. So that was just after our lunch, and we were guided to attain a lecture about our students' insurance given by the campus doctors. Honestly, their lecture given is crap. I feel be humiliated to have them on such a great place--- They don't know how to give lectures. I mean, they are all PHD holders, and yet they don't even understand the most basic art of lecturing, and that is to speak loud, slow, and clear. Their topic is really complicated, and their speaking speed is SUPER. They don't even care about whether the students understands the information or not, they just want to deliver it and finish their job. My students feel betrayed by the school for sending such unresponsible people to give such a big lecture, for to be honest, the content is actually really important. It is about how to get our insurance card which we had already paid printed. So primarily with out the card, all your 200$ of insurance money would just gone. I can tell that they are just trying to bluff, and many international students have absolutely ZERO ideal of what's going on thanks to their insufficient English level. Many was on their phone all the time, and there are people just give up and start to either chatting or sleeping. I, as a honoured waterloo student, can not let these things happen. That is when I stood up and asked a super long series of question in my stern, strong, and clear to the core English. After I've finally got through everything, I yelled. "Hey guys! Give me your attention! NOW!" That is exactly what I've said, and I can never forget the way how I feel when the noisy hall all turned silent all a sudden and everyone's attention is on me. So I hold my idea map all high above my head, pointing at each section as I yelled as hard as I could to explain to everybody what each section of this insurance mean and how can we get our cards printed. All the sudden, there are thunderous cheering and clapping from every single corner of the hall, I've heard my guys say thing like "GREAT JOB" and "Way to go" and some cheering my name. I wasn't thinking of anything thing back then, it's just that one single belief that was keeping me going: I have to let everyone know this! It is critical to my friends! Strangely and dramatically enough, this actually evokes my memory of what had happened at the very first of my high school. I was enrolled in Willy's Drama class back then, and he was asking us to do a really embarrassing poss. Everybody hesitated, but I did not. I can still remember the way how my classmates watches me in admiration and the inspiration in their eyes, and I'm glad that it finally did happen again after all those years of striving. Now I'm truly matured, grown up, and evolved. As Stephnie had said, Yan is a spirit now, and I trusted her words. My shinning heart would always glow bravely right in the front line of darkness, illuminating the unknown future for my friends. And what is the first step of shining is that you would have to speak out!
And guess what, everybody knows my name and I'm famous around campus once again as always…..Not through my craziness, but my ever-burning-passion of HEROISM this time!!!
Thank you Stephnie, you have taught me well….

-August 30th - Sunny->Cloudy->Rainy
So today is the last day of this International Student life 101 thing. Although we are originally told to be down stairs and had our dinner at 7:30, but the breakfast thing didn't happen all the way until 8:30, which has really… troubled me. Well, what are the plans there for anyway? Plans are just there to be break, and it's not like it's the first time this has happened to me anyway. Great, andI used to think that the merry western people are more organized…
Anyway, so today we've had our one last lecture about our incoming life in waterloo. I like the way how they've named the lecture--- The good, the bad, and the ugly, which was a reference to a old mexican movie that Willy had showed us as the final memory of our drama 12 class. Well, basically it introduces all the good parts, not so good but not bad neither parts, and the ugly geese's parts of the university. So basically, it is one of those brainwashing lecture, well, basically saying that this is our school and it is awesome, and good, and awesome….
Later today, before this three day activity formally ends, one of our guide took us to Walmart to do some shopping there. Thank to my chinese instinct I extended from my mom, I was able to pick out what is the cheapest stuff that I need just like always. I bought two bananas, two white outs, one bottle of glue and all those had only cost me like 6$, which is awesome cuz that is considered cheap even according to the Chinese standard. On the other hand, my classmates aren't that "financial" exactly. One of them actually bought a luxury bicycle!!! It is really new, advanced, and cool, with the only fault of being too expensive. I mean, I like the cool part of the bicycle, but don't you think buying such an expensive thing right now before every one is a little bit… you know… too much of showing off? I mean, is it really necessary to buy such an luxury? DAMN! May be I am the most efficient machine after all…. Taking in the least, achieving the most type of stuff.
And after that I checked in my new residence and finally had a chance to talk to Stephnie. I was trying to get to her the last few days, but wasn't managed to make through. So it is always nice to get reunited with your friend. So we've had some really nice conversations. Well, it really should be a long conversation, but we were force to put an early end until tonight thanks to the move-in schedule. On Skype she told me to stop eating those Harvey's burgers and start going to city shop and buy microwave food there. She promised that would be even cheaper. I didn't trust her at first, for a good meal in Harvey's costs no more than10$, and I was thinking that was good enough. But I did go and checked anyway, and guess what folks? It turns out that the old age and stupidity has prevailed once again, for the microwaveable stuff in Sobeys are even cheaper! I was seriously seeing a 7 inch cheese pepperoni pizza been sold at 7$! With out that 10% student discount! So with that said, I've pretty much decided what i'm gonna to have as my breakfast and lunch tomorrow~ The only draw back is that it started raining the very first second when I came out of the shop….
Yeah thanks GOD! Right in my face you jerk! Happy?!!!!!

-August 31st- Cloudy
Today is the last day of the month August. Bill was on his way back to high school already. Not as a grade 11 kid, but as a big boy ready to step into the new world. I just can't wait until next year come so that I can be his upper year guide. I mean, that sure will be fun! LOL!
I went to bed fairly early last night, but I didn't wake up until much later, 8:40 actually. I got a handful of stuff to do, so I wasn't exactly on a schedule of resting too much. The first worry of the day is to go to the old book store to get my text books. I had got all my text books for the coming term figured out on the university website and thanks to their super not cheap price, purchasing from the old book store seems to be the only plan that's reasonable and financially manageable method. Speaking of that, it reminds me that I really should have look it up online earlier so thats I can just buy it online on Amazon. It turns out the the western version of Amazon expresses their goods way slower than how things were back home. It is seriously going to take at least 7 days if I actually buy my books there. Yes it is cheap, but by then my semester would have way started. I can't risk to have 3 or 4 days without text books, so I would have to get them in the used-book store. It sells the books at 80% price of the origin, but not as cheap as buying online.
Just as I thought that I'm going to get my books today, I found that the old book store is not opened today, and won't be opened until the semester hits, which is… Tomorrow! However, the good thing is that the abandoned book place is not closed. So the abandoned book shelf is outside the used book store, and anymore can purchase books there anytime they want by pushing your coins under the book store door next to it. Sounds lame right? But the books there are literally close to free, and they've seriously got some good books there. With the price of 50 cent each and 2$ for 5 books, I've totally got a hand full of useful manuals there. I have purchased 6 books today. I got two java script manuals which would be essential for my programming study, and another 3 books as a tribute to my almost-forgotten ap calculus, and at last one more book for my physics. Those books would have costs almost a thousand if not been abandoned.
I also met with a senior student that I've contacted through Kijiji.com which is a website for senior student to sell used cheap text books and stuff like that. He and his sister drove all the way from Toronto to here, and I felt almost betrayed them when I found that I've left my purse in the Harveys where I had my lunch which is really my breakfast. Gladly, that two are so kind that they agree to drove me to that burger place to re obtain my thing back. I had been going to the Harveys daily and me and the stuff here are friends to each other already. They had kindly kept my purse untouched and is more than happy to give it back to me. There has been almost 2 hours since I've left that place, and yet they've still kept my thing and waited. Their honesty had touched me deeply, and they had my deepest appreciation. To be honest, I really should be paying more attention on not losing my stuff sort of business. I mean, if I ever lose my money bag, I'm dead….. Stone dead…
Anyway, so I've got two books out of… something like 10 figured out…. great, only 8 more to go tomorrow. By the way, the orientation starts tomorrow, so that's going to be another busy day for me…. But I'm glad to know that Austin my roommate is going to check in tomorrow, so that is a nice thing to be expected. Also, I've being talking to my Don today afternoon, and I just loves the way how she talks. She is a very nice second year student going to her third years. We've chatted about a large variety of stuff from movies to personal things like having a boyfriend. Yeah, we've had good times together.
Just now, Elliot phoned, asking me to go and play pool with him. I hesitated, and conjured enough courage to say no…. For I know that I have to go to bed early today. Well, sometimes you just HAVE to say no to those teenagers. If you want to be great and does well, you make RIGHT choices in your life.