Listening to: All The Rage Back Home by Interpol

As the year draws to a close, 2014 seems to have come and gone incredibly fast. But at the same time, a lot has inconceivably but definitely happened.

1. Got an internship at a wonderful company
2. Charmed them so much I also got a job
3. Ran a goddamn 41.95km marathon!!!
4. Climbed my first mountain at 4,095m
5. Partied on the boat of a random 60-year-old stranger
6. Finally hung out in the Temburong jungle
7. Started taking Dutch lessons
8. Went on a spontaneous weekend trip to Oslo, Norway
9. Conducted an experiment about an issue I deeply care about

It's weird. I feel like such a slob who doesn't know what she's doing with her self, yet I actually managed to follow quite a number of dreams in what now feels like such a miniscule amount of time. And these are things that I'm actually proud of having achieved.

Holy crap, was 2014 a year!

So, even though I am freaking out about the short month I have left to finish my WHOLE MASTER'S THESIS - the same month I need to sort out my life and get cracking on the next looming chapter - I'm also kind of excited.

:)

Days remaining: 32

In light of something I said previously (about not understanding how being a creep is sexist), I think I figured it out.

Being catcalled and flashed and masturbated to in public when a woman is on her way to work or school or brunch is a product of sexism because it is something that all women have experienced and in perpetrating these acts of street intimidation and harassment, men are saying they own you, that they can do whatever they want to you because you exist to whet the appetites of men who have nothing better to do than whistle and shout at girls as they walk past.

How's that? Did I get it right?

I am 24-year-old woman living in a little flat in Amsterdam; 10,917km from Brunei. It is beautiful here and I actually love it.

Sometimes, when I bike past the canals or get a waft of that distinct Amsterdam smell (you know what I mean), I remember that I am here, chasing a dream to learn and grow and be great. But other times, I remember exactly how far away I am and wonder what the hell I'm doing. I made this decision to make myself happy, but it's a little sad that if things continue to go according to plan, I will constantly be too far away from the people I care about.

If only there was a way to move them all here...

So, that's what's up after more than a year of silence. I am older and (maybe not wiser but) four months away from becoming a Master of Science. :)

Days remaining (a): 20
Days remaining (b): 118

(a) Submit 5,000 word Entertainment Education and E-Health Intervention Paper
(b) Submit 35 page Thesis