Bittersky.org

Scottish students in my class all love Trainspotting. Their favourite part of the film seems to be where the boys are out for a walk in the mountains and Tommy says “Doesn’t it make you proud to be Scottish?” The reason why they love it is, of course, Mark’s wonderful reply:

It’s shite being Scottish! We’re the lowest of the low, the scum of the fucking earth! The most wretched miserable servile pathetic trash that was ever shat on civilization. Some people hate the English. I don’t. They’re just wankers. We, on the other hand, are colonized by wankers. Can’t even find a decent culture to get colonized by. We’re ruled by effete assholes. It’s a shite state of affairs to be in, Tommy, and all the fresh air in the world won’t make any fucking difference!

While I’m envious of all the fresh air they’ve got, the Scottish students, and also the tutor, actually agree with Mark. It’s amazing how they identify themselves with it. Trainspotting is definitely one of my all time favourite films and I’ve watched it many times. However, I would be lying if I said I could fully understand the Scots’ sentiment when they watch that part of the film.

Therefore, on we go, I tried to think of films or film quotes that I can identify with. I did not succeed, instead, a friend of mine reminded me of a funny quote from a local film regarding university students. A little bit of information here, the film is called “AV”. It is about a group of university graduates who borrow self-employing funds from the government to make porno, while their real intention is, merely, to get laid. This is when a middle-aged man raps in Hong Kong English to the students.

You selfish generation!
What the hell you are doing? you know? huh? Where is your dignity?
Your generation upset me!
You upset all the Hong Kong people, and all the Hong Kong uncles.
All you want is nudity, sexuality, sex and the city!
You fucking stupid generation!

I am not entirely sure if I can identify with this and it actually creates a more comic effect than anything. I shall not elaborate on the situation because I am a university student who is attempting to just get by. Any comment I make will sound hypocritical. But he did make a point there. It is funny how we usually recognize and identify with the sad side of things when they are brought up.

I’ve just watched another psychological thriller named “Donnie Darko”. It burnt quite a lot of my brain cells because it has something to do with science and physics. Unlike “Memento” and “Fight Club”, it didn’t make me like it that much right after watching it. I sat down, grabbed something to drink and tried to work things out a bit. Now I’m starting to like it more.

At the last Scottish literature tutorial, it wasn’t surprising that everybody had so much to say about Trainspotting. It is an exceptional book. The characters are junkies but they are also a lot like us, seemingly spoiled of choices. “I chose not to choose.” Is it actually possible to choose life?

I found my camera out of battery after I had asked everyone in the class to take pictures. It wasn’t a big deal, just a little bit embarrassing.

I don’t like my dreams, and because of that I’m growing reluctant to falling asleep. Watching Desperate Housewives with flatmates apparently didn’t help.

I have two choices laying in front of me: being a quitter and failing a class. Never had I seen it coming before I went to see my academic adviser and lecturer yesterday. My failure in mastering a new language makes me feel like a loser now.

That said, I am still preparing to smile and take a couple pictures with my tutor and classmates in Scottish Literature tutorial on Thursday.

This is a test for the LJ-crossposting plugin, how I wish what I just said was part of a test too.

It has been a week since I came back to Scotland from my spring trip to Ireland. I have been doing school work, watching South Park and seeing my friends a bit. While I appreciate Aleida’s comment on my last entry on my adventures in Northern Ireland, I’ve decided to delete it and write another entry with a few pictures because it was quite unorganized, boring and messy.

This is the Botanic Gardens in the city of Belfast. I was sitting on a bench, talking to my friend and watching the kids playing football.

These are pictures from a place called Silent Valley in Downshire, Northern Ireland. It is where the water in the area comes from. We were surrounded by green trees and grass, nice small houses and clear water. I got my ankle hurt when trying to climb the mountains but it was worth it.

There was so much to see in the city of Dublin. I don’t even know where to begin. This is one of the many landmarks, the spine in O’Connell Street in the city center.

A beach in Malahide, just outside Dublin. The unpredictable Celtic weather, to our surprise, was not in effect. I am still in love with all the pictures I took that day, the colours of the sky blew us away.

Of course, there are a lot of other places that I visited but I’ve learnt that when an journal entry about a trip is too long, it gets boring and repetitive. Therefore, I’ll end this by saying that I enjoyed Ireland very much and I was very thankful that the leprechauns did not kidnap me or make me drunk. I cannot wait for another chance to visit again.