it's been a summer long hiatus. a lack of internet connectivity and work in general probably contributed to that, as did my laziness to update.

feeling absolutely exhausted and drained out right now, just not tired enough to go sleep yet. after all, it's only 6.30pm...

some short updates in a nutshell:
- summer was spent interning at URA, which i shan't talk about. all i can say is that i learnt lots, enjoyed lots, made lots of friends and generally, i'm of the opinion that since i have to go back anyway, URA's the best place to be. (even though the chance of being some overworked, underpaid worker bee will be less of a chance and more of a certainty)

- australia! that was great. randomly spending time with my family (esp my bro!), taking rides that basically shorten my lifespan by quite a few years, scuba diving & snorkelling at the great barrier reef, fishing for the first time in my life and actually catching 6! that was pretty cool...

- back to madison. never having enough time to meet all the pple that i need/want/should meet. never going out enough with them, and feeling absolutely guilty abt it. shoutout to all you guys: thanks so much for always being there whenever i'm back, and for understanding my tight tight schedule! you know who you are! :) [esp joseph... urgh i'm really really really sorry man!]

- moving. urgh. that describes it.

- south dakota! just got back yesterday (or rather, today morning) and yeah, it was absolutely fabulous. driving thru wisconsin, minnesota and reaching south dakota. seeing the corn palace, Wall city, Mt Rushmore (yeah, our good friends georgie, abe, teddy and tom haha), Crazy Horse, Jewel Cave (the 2nd largest cave in the world, with the potential to be the largest one!), deciding randomly to continue on to wyoming to see Devils Tower, back to S Dakota for the Badlands (which were oh so good), Sioux Falls...

driving was fun. it's the first time going at the speeds i did -cough- although it was perfectly legal. first time driving for close to 3 hours straight. first time driving so much. think i probably clocked up more time in the last few days than i have during my entire summer!

i could seriously get used to driving with the mountains as a backdrop. gorgeous, simply gorgeous.

and again, i ask myself, do i like geog because of the beauty of it all, or do i love the beauty of it all because i like geog? it used to be more a matter of asking if i liked geog because i'm good at it, or vice-versa. but honestly, i'm bad at it. i smoke thru, and God pulls thru all this while. yet, despite knowing that i seriously know nothing, i'm still in love with geog =)

amazing race today. pretty good effort by the exco, although it was a little... too much. partly cos sleeping at 230, waking up at 530 cos of the dog next dog, finally sleeping at 6 to wake up at 645 to get to 8am service, and then walking from 10am to 5pm honestly doesn't give a refreshed, energetic, vibrant joanne. think by the 2nd station, we had all pretty much given up.

lots of stuff to do. was looking forward to the start of the sem, but now that it's in 2 days, i dread school all over again. then again, since when have i never dreaded sch? since when has sch never given me nightmares? it's perverse - i enjoy it immensely, and yet i detest it so much. ah the contradictions and paradoxes of a college kid's life.

it's weird. going back, it felt like i was slipping into a pair of old, comfortable, worn shoes. it felt as though i had never been away. felt as though i didn't lead an alternate life thousands of miles away. and coming back here? it felt the same. i'm glad to be back. i'm relieved i'm back. and i'm absolutely contented being back. yet another pair of comfortable shoes, just not as worn or as old, but just as seasoned. it felt like i never went home.

i want to be here and there at the same time. but most of all, i want to be with You. doesn't matter where on earth i am, does it? Your guiding hands are always with me.