"Over and Out"

The days around Christmas were anything but traditional between my proposal defense and a class on the evening of the 25th. I’ve never really been one of the holly-jolly types in the time surrounding Christmas but this one required a bit more patience than what I’m used to spending around the holiday.

My thesis proposal was accepted on Christmas day but the professors want me to make revisions. I’m amazed at how particular they are about terminology, for instance I use the term ‘professional services’ but they want me to change it to ‘knowledge workers’ since I don’t cover the large array of research done on services in my paper. I haven’t touched it yet but intend to soon. The week after Christmas was spent working on another class’s project and lazing around the house. That project has proven to be a bit of a pain, they want us to analyze car sales and create a model for future predictions. The problem is that it’s nearly impossible to create a viable model from the data we have and the company itself has barely helped our class. It’s one of those projects where you just do what you can and hope for a passing grade I suppose.

I went up to Taipei 101 to watch the fireworks on New Year’s Eve and then spent twelve hours (midnight to noon) getting back to Tainan. With the amount of people that flocked to see the fireworks it felt like a lure into a trap that wasn’t easy to get out from, we spent nearly an hour walking until finding an available taxi cab despite having at least 100 in-service cabs pass us. I don’t think I’ll ever go to Time’s Square for fireworks, it definitely can’t be any better.

A friend from North Carolina who lives in Japan came to visit this past week. As terrible as it may sound, after the first day I just wanted to get back to the normal grind. I’d blame the fact that it’s around finals and a critical time for my thesis as the reasons for that. Regardless, I bit my tongue and tried my best to show them around this island that I call home. I think they enjoyed the visit and overall I enjoyed having them come but guests aren’t something I’d enjoy on a regular basis. Kaohsiung is only fun so many times.

Winter break is fast approaching. I’ll still be here when it arrives but it will be nice to have a three week break from classes, something I haven’t had the luxury of in a year. The winds are changing, I’m starting to develop a case of senioritis, and we’ll see where it leads in the coming months.