Tuesday, October 30, 2007

i've been busting all my free time the past weekend on films and a movie!

sunday aftnn was spent on Lust, Caution at Guild Theatres, a 15-min bike ride off campus. that was an excellent movie, very powerful and intense but also extremely depressing. it's a complex and uber-emotional Lee Ang piece. i felt so sorry for Wong Chia Chi throughout the show and i didn't know whether to hate or sympathise with Mr Yee. both tony leung and tang wei were excellent - i think it takes too much out of the ordinary person to play their roles well. the intensity of the movie reminds me of Adrien Body in The Pianist. i keep thinking about Lust, Caution and wishing that i could discuss it properly with someone.

on a lighter note, sunday was also the fastest i ever biked. the movie ended at 7.05pm and we had to make it back to campus for dinner, which ends at 7.15pm on sundays. we arrived 10min late and so dinner was cereal and salad and fruit. which wasn't as bad as it sounds, actually. cereal is one of the rare types of food you always feel good eating.

i found myself at the UN Association Film Fest (UNAFF) friday and saturday evenings. it was a five-day event but i only watched three films. two of them were really powerful - they told me about the Darfur genocide and Northern Uganda war. the Darfur one was very grim because it was an account by an ex-Marine sent to monitor the ceasefire in Darfur, and the images portrayed were horrible. i could relate to the guy when he said that those were photos that kept appearing in his nightmares. i preferred the Northern Uganda film - it was much more optimistic. it told of children in the war zone competing in a nationwide music competition for the first time. some of these children had been abducted by the rebels and forced to murder people even though they were as young as 9. others lost their family. i didn't think it was possible to be a child and suffer such horrific happenings.

thursday aftnn was spent at the Opportunity Center off campus (5min bike ride). they provide housing for the homeless/poor in palo alto. i signed up as a volunteer with the children's dept and tutored a 7-year-old, played hot/cold with the kids and watched a mini talent contest. it's amazing how much energy they have, how short their attention spans are and how creative they are when it comes to wasting time during homework time. i got tricked by the 7-year-old a few times...

it was a pretty eventful and not-so-productive weekend! i love the fact that no two weeks at Stanford are ever the same. there's always something happening on campus, events to take part in, places to offer your help at and interesting people to meet.