I spent Christmas with my friend/ex flatmate, Marty and her family. They put up an enormous Christmas tree every year. It was no exception when I was there in 2006. Look at the number of presents under the Christmas tree!

A year has passed since I wrote this entry. 2006 was a fairly productive year for me. In 2006, I finished my thesis, moved house, graduated, made a few new friends, got my permanent residency visa and found a new job!

I hope 2007 will be filled with plenty of opportunities, dreams, challenges, friendships and love for everyone. Have a great year ahead.

Last night, I went to dinner with 2 couples. We had arranged to meet for dinner entirely through emailing. In one email, friend X asked friend Y whether Y would be bringing her boyfriend (so that X's boyfriend won't be feeling awkward!). Friend Y replied and said "yes". At that point, I should have said, "Thanks for organising the dinner. But I really don't feel up to it. Why don't you guys go ahead without me". But I kept quiet and went along with their plan.



I knew that it was going to be awkward. Half an hour before I was supposed to leave the house, I nearly called up friend Y to say that I wasn't feeling well and that I won't be able to make it to dinner. But I went in the end.



During the dinner, awkward moments recorded as follows:

• Couples talked to each other


• Couples shared their first experiences meeting their partners' family
  

What did I do to occupy myself during those awkward moments? I looked at paintings on the wall and took pictures of my food. See pictures below:

I ended up going home feeling slightly traumatised.

Excuses to use if I am asked to join them for dinner in the future:

• Sore throat
• Headache
• Not in town
• My goldfish (the one in my imagination) has died
• My flatmate is unwell ... need to stay at home

I attended a workshop on deafness and mental health today. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was very practical and informative. 2 take home messages for me:

1. It is not politically correct to use the term "hearing impaired" for people with profound hearing impairment. The term to use is deaf.
2. Deafness is a distinct culture with its own values and language.
3. 90-95% of deaf and hearing impaired children were born to hearing parents. Shockingly, about 90% of these hearing parents did not learn Auslan (i.e., Australian sign language)!

AND I had learnt to introduce myself in Auslan!

Ever since I upgraded my Norton antivirus scan in August, my laptop has been feeling unwell. Its condition deteriorated in the last few days. I tried everything that I could think of (including emailing Symantec Online Technical Support) and nothing worked. In the end, I had to send my laptop away for repairs. I was told they had to replace the hard disk! The technician said that Norton antivirus program takes up 40% of any computer's processing capacity. I am annoyed that Symantec does not warn potential buyers about that. I am peeved as I have to live without my laptop for a week. I am definitely looking at other virus scan when I get my laptop back.