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Thursday, 17 September 2009
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九月一日，開學。本學期逢星期二三要努力準時下班上課去。由公司前往港大，我得走十五分鐘到駱克道等小巴，幸運的可以準時到達課室。試過有次等小巴良久，等到時卻客滿了，幸好身旁的太太建議一起乘的士。
我是一個兼讀學生，這個學期只修兩科：「International Relations in Asia Pacific」及「Theories of International Relations」。相比從前修讀的經濟金融，這一科的筆記可真多了，光是列印每星期的筆記已可花上一小時，即使環保地紙張兩面用，一面印兩頁，每星期兩科合共的readings都有一吋厚。每科的工作量，也令人驚嘆。兩科都要分組做presentation, 「Theories of International Relations」更要做 team debate和合寫幾千字的policy paper, 還有考試。「International Relations in Asia Pacific」則要獨力寫幾千字。
我們的課全都在晚間上，不用上班的同學多為「全日制」學生，但他們也不見得十分輕鬆，因為他們一個學期要修三至四科，才可於一年之內修畢整個課程。
讀undergraduate時不見得自己是個勤力的學生，每每「走堂」做莊務、玩和睡覺──即使宿舍與校園只是十五分鐘的路程。而且因為要玩又要補習，我差不多從不備課，結果混了三年還是畢業了，知識好像沒有甚麼增長，眼界倒是擴闊了。
這個懶惰學生現在卻不知為甚麼會用功起來。我「Theories of International Relations」那一組只有一星期準備presentation, 然後一星期之後再來team debate. 我每天都把readings帶在身上，嘗試乘車時拿著來速閱。由於其他組員都是「全日制」學生，為了找個時間開會，我寧願請假半天。開會前每人要閱畢該週readings, 再寫下每一篇的summary和自己的critiques, 開會時再詳細討論。無可否認，小組討論的確對於了解該週要學習的concept有幫助。事實上，我並不是唯一「忽然用功」的例子。同學們都有同感，就是全職工作之後學習心態反而更積極了(不論現在是否正在工作)。
我餘下的年假，看來都要省著用，直到唸完這個課程為止。
Saturday, 29 August 2009
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Orientation Briefing of MIPA
The orientation session was held in the Council Chamber at Meng Wah Complex, one of the most decent rooms with microphones and electronic voting buttons installed at the table. It is a mini-size Legislative Council setting. The professor delivered a welcome speech and briefly introduced the programme. The highlight of the programme is a 2-week intensive course in Peking University in late May.
We took turns to introduce ourselves. Not until then was I amazed at the class profile. There are 32 students in the class. Over one-third of the class is from overseas, but many of them have worked in mainland China for years. They come from Brazil, Czech, Japan, Sweden, etc. Twenty nationalities are represented in the class.
There are four police inspectors, which constitutes to one-eighth of the class. The MIPA seems to be quite popular in the Police Force because the current police commissioner graduated from this programme a few years ago.
Two students are teachers, who are creating courses related to international relations. There are students who were reporters (two of them were anchors). There is someone who is taking a year off from a certain consulate in Hong Kong to study full time. There is a lawyer who had worked at the International Criminal Court at The Hague for two years.
The professor told us that the average age of the class is 30. One of the guys has 30 years of work experience and has spent the latest 10 years as a student. He studied History and Philosophy before, and now he would like to learn about International Relations. Another guy is from Brazil, who worked in China for 15 years, and then in Hong Kong for 13 years. I am reletively young in the class.
I have never expected such a diverse class profile. As we introduced ourselves one by one, I began thinking what was in me that had brought me here. And as I was thinking, the session came to an end.
As we were about to leave, a sudden thought came to my mind was that the lady sitting next to me looked familiar. We looked at each other when the session ended and finally we recognized our link. Both of us are HKU graduates. I entered the university in the year she graduated, so we did not really stay in the campus together. However, we are both Liberatarians (from 10/F of St. John’s College), and we met each other in hall or floor events before.
A light lunch was arranged at the foyer. Students were expected to get to know each other better. Each of us has interesting stories to tell about ourselves. I look forward to discussing the international issues with these interesting people in the upcoming year. So, I am going back to school again.
Thursday, 20 August 2009
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過去整整一個月沒寫日記。
是從書展開始沒有寫吧！今年我不寫書展的工作了，反正傳媒也寫得夠多。我買了幾本書，都差不多看完了：《一個人的老後》、More Sex is Safer Sex, The Outliers,《通識詞典》等。
八月二日遊船河，我沒有帶泳衣，沒有下水。多得L帶了水槍，還有T和G「不辭勞苦」地將我運送上沙灘玩。船河之後大夥兒在西貢吃海鮮。也許是去年午餐不夠，所以記憶中去年的晚餐特別美味。今年也很好，這樣spend一個星期天是很快樂的事。
八月五日，我請了一天年假，在金鐘遇上A. 下午在PP兩個多小時。
八月六日，我看了”Up”, 感動得哭了。「感動」也許只是流淚的籍口。
接著是美食博覽，我返下晝班，每天下午二時至十一時。我只是吃了兩次「鮮果甜乳酪」和買了一包茫果乾。外面人太多，而且辦公室內也非常忙碌。「一樣米養百樣人」，今次精選有「貪小便宜的男人」和「天生一對的夫婦」。
開這些公眾展覽，星期六日都要返，通常都要連續返十二日才迎接週末的來臨。不過今天我又請了假，因為要溫習明日考試。其實都是一個test罷了。我要努力。
九月初我要到上海公幹，兩日一夜的。那會是我第一次到上海去。
Sunday, 19 July 2009
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九月我會暫時放下法語班，重返校園。人生太短，只是工作與睡覺對不起自己。
剛過去的星期四五我匆匆到深圳、佛山和廣州一趟。我上一次到廣州，大概是中三，算起來我已經十年沒有再從陸路北上。我穿著平日的上班服，一肩背著一個旅行袋，另一手拿著手提電腦。我的回鄉証沒有登記所以還是不能走電子通道，我排了另一隊伍又有人告訴我那是專為老人而設。狼狽的我排第三條隊才順利過關。十年沒見，廣州和深圳都發展起來了。
這次公幹除了來往深圳與廣州的路程是我一個人之外，大部分時間有內地的同事陪伴，所以比起要自己一個人走這個行程已經舒服得多。話雖如此，我星期四晚從深圳坐和諧號火車抵達廣州時還是累得不堪。幸好E安排的酒店只消在廣州東站走兩分鐘！只過一晚的我沒帶一套可穿著外出的便服，所以在房間放下行李之後仍是踏著高跟鞋去吃晚飯。一個人又累又身在異地，我也沒有心情外出找吃的，就隨便走到酒店四樓的中菜廳吃，應該最快最安全。
中菜廳裡單獨吃飯的也不只我一個，還有另外三個女的都是自己坐一枱。看著餐牌，我想點兩個菜又怕自己吃不完很浪費，所以最後點了一個湯、一個菜和一個白飯。
回到房間，整理一番之後是上網時間。想check公司的email, 有error; 想上Yahoo!網頁，上不到；想上Facebook, 上不到…… 所以check完私人email之後都沒有甚麼可以做，倒頭就睡了八句鐘。睡醒之後有奇蹟，因為終於check到公司email, 害得我差點趕不及吃過早餐才check out.
午飯是一頓official. 一切進行順利，如果身旁的那位不抽煙會更美好。
回到香港，累得我「散了」，我吃晚飯後迅速入睡。誰不知Facebook一個「散了」的status令朋友擔心了，下次我會寫清楚一點了。
Monday, 06 July 2009
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30 June 2009
I decided to go to the dentist and remove the last wisdom tooth in my mouth today, after careful consideration of my schedule in the coming weeks. This wisdom tooth was the most troublesome one in my mouth, because it grew horizontally towards the roots of the adjacent tooth. They were overlapping in the x-ray film I took half a year ago.
It took the dentist about 20 minutes to remove this tooth. It was scary to hear the drilling come out from your mouth. The dentist finished the stitches and showed me the tooth he took away from my mouth.
As the tooth has been embedded in the gum, it has never been in touch with any food. I found it interesting to discover that such a tooth was not shiny white in colour. The tooth was broken into halves in the surgery. Although the tooth lied horizontally in the gum, its two roots pointed to the Earth at the end, making an interesting 90 degree turn.
I tried to drink a bowl of vegetable soup that evening, but it took me almost two hours. I just couldn’t chew. I wished to smash the vegetables so that I could swallow. The dentist gave me two types of pain killer pills, one is the ordinary one that can be taken every 4 hours, another is a powerful one that works for 24 hours. I took the ordinary one and went to bed, but the ordinary one just did not work… I could still feel the pain and couldn’t fall asleep. Therefore, I took a powerful one. And it worked well!
1 July 2009
My face was swollen. I slept all day long.
2 July 2009
I took a sick leave today. My face is still swollen…
3 July 2009
I went to work today. My teammates said that my swollen face made me look chubby. J joked that I looked like a hamster. D was so kind that she ordered rice vermicelli for me for lunch.
It is FFOTM, so we had a committee meeting.
4 July 2009
Today is a Family Day. We went to Tuen Mun to watch 冰河世紀3. We didn’t expect that it’s a 3D movie. I look forward to “Up”. I bought a pair of jeans in the mall for the summer.
6 July 2009
I am going to perm my hair today. I look forward to removing the stitches in my mouth tomorrow!!
