A Midterm & a Manhandling

The full-lipped singer drew me out of the crowd and the spotlight focused in on us. Her experienced hands gripped my belt tightly and then whipped it off. She pushed me back, spread open my legs, tugged up my shirt, and continued her racy performance. I smiled wide, wondering how red my face was and half hoping this might be the extent of my forced exhibition. But, just then, my grinning prosecutor called out a few more friends. I was led up on stage and pushed back again as several naughty school girls stripped away their “uniforms.”

Less than twenty-four hours later, I was seated in the library hall writing my Performance & Compensation Management midterm. The contrast wasn’t lost on me and in fact cured my idled mind and writer’s block. I fell into silent reflection: like a child’s Spot the Difference game, what other dissimilarities could I find in my life.  

Location-wise, of course, I’m considerably displaced. Based on longitudinal distance, I could only afford to get further from home by travelling to Thailand. The rain (because of the whole air-dry laundry situation) only marginally beats out Canada’s unending winter, but pales to my parents’ weeklong prime property in Jamaica.

In a temporal-sense, life is quite different from last semester, let alone a year ago. This time last term, I was sulking around the streets of a small Italian villa as homesickness had finally hit me two months after leaving home. Now, about three months since I’ve last been on Canadian soil, and after eight months of regular travel, homesickness has become but a faded concern (I’m considerably more broke though). At the beginning of April 2013, Easter was already over and I was finishing up the last few classes of my junior year. Here, I’m still two weeks away from my Taiwanese Easter getaway and eight weeks from freedom...

Perhaps the most difficult comparison was of my person. I read less, but study more – likely to show that I can keep up with the Chinese students. My exercise regimen is almost non-existent and my diet is completely altered. Psychologically, I feel as fulfilled and balanced as normal, but the variation in inciting events is considerably greater (case in point: the opening scene). I suspect that I’m wiser and more cultured, but recently I was asked to draw the US in front of my class and had to check Google Maps.

Life is exciting because of differences and disparities. It’s that age-old question of whether you can be happy without ever having been sad. And while I would generally argue yes, I believe that it’s the fluctuations – the ups and downs – that make life worthwhile.  Take the moment for what it is – and what it isn’t.