x squared plus 10y = 720

if x>1 solve for y...

Thank god it is all over, for now. :) After 4 hours of the most intense testing conditions I have ever experienced I completed the GMAT exam yesterday. For those who are asking "g what"? it is just an entrance exam for the MBA course idea with which I am still toying for next year. It was a stressful experience, but more than stressful it was bizarre. I arrived early, having been told I should be there at 07h45 (gulp) for an 08h30 exam. This is so they have enough time to "register" you before taking the exam. The registration process involves having your ID verified, your photo taken, you fingerprint electronically scanned into and your signature captured onto the system. It was an exercise in new technology I tell you.

Then you are escorted to the testing centre - a little room with computer cubicles. You are not allowed to take anything into the centre, not even a bottle of water. My request to be allowed to take a jumper in was even met with slight concern! Once I had proved there was nothing in the pockets though, the request was approved :) Your little workstation is monitored by cameras above your head. Felt very sorry for the invigilators who have to spend 4 hours watching two people sit at a desk. When you reach one of your optional breaks between sections you have to wave at the camera above your head and sit back to wait for someone to come fetch you. Then your fingerprint is scanned again to log you out so you can go pee, have a drink etc. Then your fingerprint is scanned to log you back in and you are taken back into the testing centre. So 1 hr, break, 75min break, 75min again.

Anyway, the Maths section was a disaster. But the Verbal (such a misnomer for an entirely written exam testing your correct use of language and grammar) section pulled me up, thank god! Get my final scores in 20 days, so we will see.

So now I can get back to the craziness that is prepping for Balkanology as we scramble to find a new venue at the 11th hour and not stress about x squared and story sums :) Chat again soon!!
love
kx

life in the land of the free

Apologies for not having done this sooner, but here is my first post from Durham, NC. This last month (still can't quite believe its been that long!) has been crazy.

As I'm sure you've all heard, the States uses the "Socratic" method of teaching, ie they don't lecture, but rather ask the students questions in a way that is supposed to bring the point of their material out. What this means is that you have hundreds and hundreds of pages of reading to do for each class every week, and are expected to be able to speak intelligently and in an in-depth manner about all the material you've stayed up until 3 'o clock in the morning reading in front of all your class mates. The teachers all have seating plans for the classes so that they can see where you are sitting, and will randomly look up and say "Miss Eberhard, what happened in the cases of X v Y?". This is then followed by a 10 minute grilling on your opinion on the material. Terrifying!

The pictures on the left are of the law school and the Chapel, which I walk past on my way to class everyday. The university is super pretty, if only in a super manicured sort of way. Luckily, the mildly alienating perfection of the main campus is diluted by the not-so-pretty residence I am living in, which looks a lot like council housing in the UK kitted with 1980's office furniture.

The town I'm in cannot really be described as anything other than boring and colloquial, try as I have to find its good points. Somehow, I had thought that despite it being in the heart of hillbilly North Carolina, it would have a kind of student-inspired quirkiness to it. Apparently not.

To counteract the boringness of Durham, I have obsessively been googling bands and making travel plans: Will be travelling up to DC to see Rachel on the 6th October, followed byNY where I'll be staying with Matt for a dew days. Have booked tickets to see the National there in NY seeing as how the concert here sold out. Am also going to see Of Montreal next weekend in the neighbouring town, Chapel Hill, and Spoon a little later in the year.

Unfortunately lost my camera, but here are some pics others have taken on our first few weeks:

Believe it or not, but it tunrs out that the guy in the red t-shirt on the left is my cousin!




I also went to the beach this weekend for four days, which was lovely. Here are some pics of that:

Work sucks!

In response to Paul's post the other day about his life of unemployment, i offer a cautionary note... Work totally sucks ass!

S'true!

I know i started a little late, and even though the money is kind of cool, i would MUCH rather be unemployed again. Its not the hard work, mind you. I worked way harder as a student, for way less money, but there is something totally choking and constrictive about working for DAH MAN. Again, i have a pretty cruisey boss, jeans and t-shirts are standard work attire (casual fridays???), but still, afternoon naps are a no-no, and wake-and-bake is frowned upon. I once went to a curry restaurant in Hobart, Tasmania where one of the young ladies serving me was wearing a cap that said "Work Sucks". It was kind of funny because her bosses clearly could not read english but her customers could. She was right though, work sucks.

So anyways, this is kind of a stupid post with no pictures of polo games, or leisurely picnics in the park, but that's because i sold out and became part of the soulless corporate machine that is polluting our earth into extinction.

Happily though, i am really getting into the new Interpol album, so check it out if you can...

Kind regards,

#30101979GA

Jozi!!?

2 months in Jozi and I'm still jobless and bored.
But the weather's good, it's great to be near family and old friends again, and it was pretty lekker having some of julle around for this weekend.

Jozi is still Jozi...... people in cars want to kill you, people in bars want to be your new best friend..... or kill you. There's still no sea and not a hell of a lot to see.

Random pic's:

Grace's 3rd b-day


Spring day at Emmerentia


Sunday watching Polo..... cos that's what you do here


A horse....... cos Kerry wanted pic's of horses


But for those of ya that will be in Jozi on the weekend of the 28th and 29th, there are some good musicians out for the artsalive fest.

Here's a preview

Vieux Farka Toure


K-os


So if you're nearby (or just need to get your ass outta Kimberley) come along.

....now back to another day of doing nothing.

Chao amigos

Kids today!

Despite having only just been born, Baby Liam (of Claude and James fame) has his own blog now... Linkage to your right...