Bumping Into Those Of Past

I was buying milk at Woolworths. Correction, I was buying milk at Woolworths and not watching M*A*S*H. But anyway, I was walking past the frozen peas with a bottle of milk in each hand, one light and the other full-cream, when I saw someone I recognised. Someone I used to know at school.
His name is Matthew ...? I will check the year book. Matthew Brewer, aka "Wombo." I'm not sure how he got the nickname, I did ask him once and I think he said "because people tell me I look like a wombat." Okay...
Matthew, or Wombo, which ever you prefer, was a year above me at school so I didn't always have that much to do with him. But when we were thrown together for whatever reason we got on quite well. I would go so far as to call him a friend of the time.

I remember the first time we met was during Wednesday afternoon "options" at our high school. Wednesday ops was a period for the year nines and tens to become involved in some type of extra-curricular activity. Students could choose to play a type of inter-school sport, or one the "options". These "options" included board games, bush walking, golf, bowling, and many others I can't remember. The "options" changed and varied every term. One time a thing called Tai-Bo was available which turned out to be a sort of kickboxing aerobics. It was pretty fun, and very good exercise. Me and Matthew/Wombo were the only males in a group of about 30 students taking part in Tai-Bo so we always partnered up. I think we mutually enjoyed each others company during the time, but as we were in different year levels we never really talked outside of the exercise class.

Back to the present...
I saw Matthew/Wombo at the shops, but I didn't call out to him for he was at the other end of the store and I didn't want to embarrass myself. I thought "I can catch up to him when he goes down the aisle."
He started walking down the chip and dips aisle, and I headed down baby and pet food (why do they put baby and pet food in the same place? I've always wondered that) intent on cutting him off and surprising him. But! He had made a U-turn into the confectionery section. Blast!

By now the two bottles of ice cold milk I held were beginning to numb my fingers and hands. I knew I had to eventually pay for the milk and leave, and my erratic running around was beginning to attract the attention of several Woolworths employees. But I just wanted the chance to bump into Matthew and say "hi."

I never got the chance.

Despite his slightly stocky stature Matthew was a swift walker and always seemed to disappear behind a shelf just before I could reach him. I eventually gave up and wandered to the checkout to pay for my milk.

Then I thought the tables had turned. As I stood in line, Matthew walked in my direction. I smiled at him as he walked past, mere inches from me. But he just kept on walking.

He had not recognised me.

I walked home rather disappointed and annoyed that I had not done more to gain his attention.

It also made me think. Had Matthew purposely tried to avoid me? Why? Would he have found it awkward to talk with me for what ever reason? Was the feeling of friendship not mutual? Did he in fact remember me as annoying or one to be avoided? Did he remember me at all? Did he not recognise me as he walked past; am I more different than I possibly imagined?

I shall probably never know.

Learning Experiences

My attempt at points of actual interest is nigh!

(Did I spell "nigh" right?)

I began my second semester this week at the Queensland University of Technology, Caboolture campus. For those who don't know, I am currently studying for a Bachelor of Education (Primary).

I started the day by hammering the snooze button into a pulp. Not a good move as it meant I literally ran to the bus stop. It put a whole new meaning on "catching" the bus. But I arrived on time, and was even able to grab a quick coffee from the canteen. I don't remember Kelvin Grove campus being like this but the Caboolture canteen is ridiculously overpriced. Anyway, I am heading to class with my coffee. Just as I take a sip someone calls "Good morning!" to me, to which I reply "Shit, I just burnt my tongue," slightly louder than I would have liked.

This only achieved a 4/10 on the embarrassment scale so I wasn't too bothered.

I have two subjects on Fridays. The first is Indigenous Studies, a very challenging subject. It is not about the culture of the Aboriginal people that existed over 200 years ago as one might think, but rather how Aborigines live today and experience life in a white person’s world. It has a lot to do with sociology and how we as an individual or group perceive the world and its many quirks and facets. Our lecturer, being an Aborigine herself, spoke with such a fervour and passion you couldn't help but hang onto her every word. We, the students, were so intrigued by her stories that it wasn't until some hours later it was realised no one knew her name. For all we know she could have been some random person just wandering by. A fun thought, but unlikely.

The second subject is Wellness and Citizenship. Please don't ask me what that means, I have no idea what it is supposed to be about. Our lecturer for this subject didn't actually mention anything about the content of the subject, she simply gave us a few dates and read some information off the Uni website which would have taken a normal person ten minutes under their own steam but she managed to drag it out to a full hour. But this is what I really noticed:

She has a twitch.

Her face twitches every ten seconds or so. Her cheek muscles in the right side of her face seem to spontaneously contract giving the effect of Arnold Schwarzenegger with half of his face burnt off during the Terminator movies. You know the scene? When you can see the metal teeth and mechanics just under his cheek. That is what she looked like. Scary.

I know I must sound like the nastiest person in the world right now, but this is the first lecturer to have disappointed me. She was boring and didn't look like she wanted to be there at all. A big academic turn-off.

And so ends the first day of the second semester. I hope I haven’t bored you too much.

My First Blog

Before I say hello, let us excuse the rather lame title of this blog, even if it is rather fitting.

As you probably would have guessed by reading this, I have decided to start a blog. As much as I would like this to be a regular thing for me, there is a good chance that it will wither and die and eventually be forgotton within a few weeks like so many other projects I have attempted to give life to. On the other hand, this may be one of my few exceptions. I do hope for the latter.

These blogs will be a way of saying how I feel about some things as well as any interesting anecdotes I come up with. But the purpose is not to offend, so if I write something you find insulting or incorrect just let me know.

I only ask that if you do read my blogs, please leave a comment or post a response, or whatever it is you need to do to show you have read this. I still haven't quite worked out all the buttons and dials on this site.