S in SEP stands for "Student" and not "Slack"

Whoever said SEP was slack must be joking. I found Finite Element Analysis (FEA) and Healthcare Engineering rather difficult. Because we planned to travel around... accusing silence at invalid reason for cramming schoolwork... we tried to finish the FEA lab within these few weeks. We stayed till end of lab time slot(can you believe the real students left already) and I felt that the Masters or PhD students managing the lab were really dedicated. They did not shoo us away but explained in detail using another software to illustrate. Must really thank the BFG (Big Friendly Giant), a black man-mountain who was ever so ernest.

Besides schoolwork and cooking, we had to plan our trips. Check train and flight timings, hostel availability and location, compare prices, plan itinery... faint. Most annoying was checking location on maps, some silly hostels give garbled directions from stations which only complicate. It's already hard to navigate in English not to say another language, imagine searching high and low for "Vicolo Uomo Selvatico" before turning into "Via Milan" blah blah blah, eyes would pop!

Other activities include reading and writing blog. No one would credit me with spending days on selecting and writing captions for photographs but I really did. I hate scanning through hundreds of pictures with same subjects at different angles so I determine to not put my family and friends through the same ordeal... that is, until my patience and perseverence run out, which might be pretty soon considering the 900+ pictures taken in Oxford... gasp!

Well, I want to share a moving book, "Somebody Else's Kids" by Torey Hayden that I recently completed. Thanks, Lin Xu! She recounts her time with autistic Boo who could only repeat words and not converse, brain-damaged Lori frustrated by repeated failures at reading, emotionally-scarred Tomaso given to violent outbursts and quiet Claudia pregnant at twelve. Her trials and tribulations arise from her desire to help them adjust to, and perhaps protect from, an unforgiving world. There are everyday tragedies that bombard them, like Lori trying her very best but still failing and being humiliated by an insensitive teacher who labeled her "lazy". However, a sort of cheerfulness and hope permeates the book, mainly through the happiness felt in these children's presence. It ends on a high note with Tomaso saving others in a burning building and Lori still spirited enough to celebrate after all her hopes were dashed. Give me their strength and courage when I'm down!

On a lighter note, here is a smashing mtv by Take That, minus Robbie Williams. Although they are not particularly handsome (I hope I won't be clobbered by any ardent fans), they are very charming. How else to explain them making simple steps look snazzy? I think if a lesser guy paused at every other step while singing would just make me laugh. Xianhong said the song was about themselves stepping out after a long hiatus from the limelight but I thought it was a message to encourage people lacking confidence... Well, just listen and enjoy!