time, and the [perceived?] lack of it

time passes very, very quickly when you're a student. and being a full-time postgraduate means...

... a lot of hours need to be put in - to start with, each lecture is 3 hours long (undergrad lectures lasted an hour). and for at least two modules we have a weekly case study to be discussed as a group (we were told not to complain because if we were in Harvard or Oxford, we'd be having two case studies per night). to add on to that, 5 out of the 6 modules have assessed coursework. so group discussions happen on a regular basis. so regular that we don't seem to have time to read up the material before a discussion comes along.

... the office will call once in a while when someone needs help on some files which i had previously handled. the first week of my sabbatical (which was also the first week of classes) was a bit of a nightmare because i kept worrying about the progress of certain files at work while trying to adjust my brain to think in a different discipline ("stakeholder" in the legal sense isn't the same as "stakeholder" in the business sense - no wonder the merchant bankers in the recent deal were confused when the legal team insisted that "protecting the interests of the stakeholders" was "too vague"!). anyway, am glad to have finally 'officially' handed over my files to the new recruit who has taken over my portfolio.

... you don't get to take advantage of the free laser printing in the office anymore... haha, just kidding... not.

... you would have thought that you'd have a more 'flexible' timetable, not realizing that the reality is that it's just a disguised version of 'irregular working hours'. i wonder how much of my list of 'possible things to do with free time' will still be done:

. teach art to kids? (still haven't gone around to checking out the nearby centre)
. teach english? (ditto)
. teach piano? (can't bring myself to sacrificing my weekends yet)
. work towards the FTCL? (this means i gotta go for classes. not for the unemployed! :-D)
. guitar? (progress: i've cleaned the case)
. violin? (progress: i've cleaned the case)
. update my website? (progress: at least i've put SOMEthing up on the 'home' page. today.)
. peddling my perceived web design skills to unsuspecting pals? (progress: a possible freelance designing job coming up! which is why i had to put SOMEthing up on the home page. sample, lah.)
. clear up room? (progress: don't ask.)
. oh yeah. wedding planning. (progress: grandma has sent me the almanac for good dates in 2005.)

... suddenly legal research and drafting legal opinions seemed so easy. it's hard to break out of what you've been used to and grown comfortable with, to venture into different fields. but that's the only way to improve, no?

... you have assessments and exams to worry about. wonder why this wasn't so apparent when i was applying for the course. :-D