Advice needed (!!)

8th May 2005

Hey everyone..

I am feeling a little lousy right now. The weather outside looks wonderful, sunny and having the appearance of being warm, but it is all just an illusion, once you step out, you would be hit by a cold drift that makes you shiver. Terrible, the whole time I was just carrying my ibook to and fro, from my bedroom to the garden, then back again, because I simply couldn’t stop sniffling.

I went cycling earlier today. It was beautiful, but for the cold…and the sudden rain. The skies over Nuernberg are terribly fickle. They cannot decide if they should rain, thus the frequent and sudden showers of ‘blessings’. I never knew how cold being wet could be.

It is Mother’s day today, and do you recall the saying about how you would miss your loved ones many times more during festivals and all? Well, it is really true. I called home just now, and couldn’t help but cry when I heard my mom’s voice describing how they have spent Mother’s Day. It is not that they had a terrific celebration, just the normal, day-to-day things that they do, like shopping and wondering about the prices of fish (!!), but sometimes you just wish that you were there with them, taking in the sights and the sounds, making lame comments, having the company of your loved ones… Well, she didn’t know that I cried, and probably wouldn’t know, since none of my family read my blog. (Ironic, isn’t it? I started the blog with the intention of informing them what I am doing overseas)

Right now, I am keeping myself ‘grounded’ at home, not only because of the weather (it is 1-7 deg cel outside, according to weather report…I estimate about 5-6deg) but also I have to read through dozens of downloaded uni websites, in order to decide what other subject I should take besides my main subject PS. I want to take up the Magister program, which consists of either 2 main subjects (Hauptfach), or 1 main subject and 2 other minors subjects (Nebenfaecher). PS is my no. 1 main, but I am currently trying to decide which other Hauptfach I should take. I have within my choices Sociology, Economics and History, in the order of preference for now. The problem is that I think I would have lotsa fun taking Sociology, it seems to be the subject that I would jump at, but Econs is the more practical one, allowing me to really understand economics, thus understand rationale behind policies, and all. History would be very helpful for me to understand my main subject PS. The problem is that if I were to take 2 Nebenfaecher instead of 1 more Hauptfach, my understanding in the 2 Nebenfaecher, I imagine, would be rather limited. So any suggestions, anyone? Advice please!

Right, short break over, shall go back to studying the different areas of the subjects. And the big prob is that ALL unis have diff interpretations of the subjects. In addition, there is also a difference between the traditional Magister degree and the new international Bachelors and Master of Arts degrees. So, as I am applying to 3 universities, a simple calculation would mean I have 4 (subjects) x 3 (types of degrees) pdf files to read, and some of them can be really lengthy, ie 29 pages! And in German too, but frankly speaking, I find it easier now to think in German. So good training for me then=)

See the silver lining?
Ting=)