World cup, again.

I thought i was overreacting.

Germany did score 4 goals, after all. They're a good side. But they had an extra player on the pitch. One with a whistle, and the inability to see.

Now i'm watching Argentina play Mexico. I like argentina, really i do. Every world cup, after England go out, i switch over to argentina. But this time i'm cheering for mexico.

Why?

Because argentina are playin with an extra man too.

Maybe these linesman arent sure what OFFSIDE means. Its ok, alot of people dont know.

I can see the headlines now.

"Germany and Argentina go through to the quarter finals; two goals from referee sends England and Mexico packing!"

We should just ask FIFA to stop the competition now; just randomly pick a referee, blindfold him and ask him to pick a country out of a hat. It'd be fairer than the current fiasco.

World Cup

I wasnt really gonna do this. I thought it was just me, feelings of resentment left over from what was a bad english season of refereeing. But no. Its official. This world cup has been the worst one in my memory.

Granted, i've only watched practically every match in only two other world cups (thats 2002 and 2006), and there have been a few good games of football thus far (especially from the US, i thought, its so sad they lost last night to ghana). But what has really screwed this up is the referees.

Do they all have mental disabilities? Or some sort of physiological blindness? I really cant remember moaning how poor the referee was after EVERY SINGLE GAME like now. But i wasnt even gonna mention it in my blog. I was gonna give them the benefit of the doubt. I thought, boy, you're just overreacting, they're not that bad.

Breaking news: They suck balls.

I just watched an awesome goal from frankie disallowed, because the the linesman got distracted by that bright flag he was holding and forgot to WATCH THE FUCKING GAME. The ball was atleast two feet over the line. Really.

Can these people be fired? Sued? This is no joke, this is the THE biggest competition of THE biggest sport in - wait for it - the whole fucking world. And the people in charge are just idiots. If you've been watching the games, you know. The referees seem to have forgotten how to do their jobs.

I'll be joined by a lot of people in my disappointment if England lose this game because of this. I love the sport so much, but things like this make you want to tear your hair out in despair. And its not an isolated incident, almost every game has had an incident. This case isnt even arguable. The English football team has been robbed a goal. A perfectly valid, frankly quite awesome goal. They might as well have started the game 1 - 0 to Germany.

Fifa needs to fire these people.

I hope rooney can score a hattrick and save the linesman by making his momentary blindness negligible. Cause alot of people dont like him at the moment.

Life Lessons

Hi all.

Yes, its me again. I'm still here.

Its been an interesting few months. We've seen the start of my clinical school, i've started living alone again (albeit still with a family of sorts, yes, with all the usual family stuff) and United had looked like losing the premier league, then looked like winning, then looked like losing again, and most recently even God himself probably doesnt know who's gonna win it this time.

Anyway, this post isnt about whats happening at the moment. Its more to christen a new segment in my somewhat inactive blogging life. I shall term this segment, yes, you guessed it, Life Lessons! As i look past towards my 19th birthday, and reach forward to embrace my twentieth year, i come to the realization that i'm not as young as i once was, all those many years ago. Quarter of my probable life has slipped away, without me really accomplishing anything (yeah, remember that list i posted a while back? Nothing.) Plus once you hit 20, its all downhill from there.

So being the optimist i am (yes, i saw the last paragraph too), i decided that these past 19 years havent all been wasted, just mostly. I've still learnt stuff from them, and will indeed continue to. So i thought, i've got a blog sitting there unused, why not use it. So here i shall proceed to record various lessons i've learnt throughout my life (thats where the name life lessons came from, see?), so that hopefully when i reach 80 i can look back here and do some quick revision before i shuffle off this mortal coil.

And without further adue, here's Life Lesson Number 1!

*Cue applause*

Life Lesson 1.

Lesson: Never give up a chance to go out and do something, just because you're lazy or feel like staying at home. Always go.

Explanation: Have you ever had an invitation to go out for dinner with some friends, but just as you get back from work/uni/college/work/my house, you feel too tired to go? Just a hint of sloth? You'd rather just sit on the couch and watch a bit of the idiot box, then retire to bed early?

If not, please teach me, oh great master.

If so, stifle the urge! Forget about the state of your tired body and dying mind, and go out with your friends! For dinner, for a movie, to church, whatever!

This is why: Lets take two scenarios - One, you go out. Would you ever wonder, 'hmm... I wonder what would've happened if i had stayed in and watched tv instead?' Hopefully not. Scenario two, you do give into your languid urges, and stay at home. You catch a bit of Die Hard they're showing on tv, then go off to bed. Now wouldnt you wonder, 'i wonder what the others are doing now? What would i be doing now if i had gone out?'

You'll almost never look back and wonder what would have happened if you had just stayed at home. On the other hand, who knows what experiences you miss out on, everytime you politely decline at invitation to go somewhere else.

I think i learnt this when i was a kid, when my mum used to try and get me to go to church or catechism. I used to refuse and throw tantrums till the poor woman either beat me with a stick, or went to church and prayed that a stick would fall on my head. But somehow or another, whenever i 'won' and managed to stay back and play my computer games, i'd always wonder how church was, and who had come, and whether anything interesting had happened. I always had this sensation of missing a huge opportunity, and knowing that i'd never get it back.

Obviously, this didnt happen when i went to church.

And even more obviously, nothing interesting ever really happened in church.

The point is, things MIGHT have happened. If i had stayed at home, i'd never have known. I went and found out.

Again, this is not exactly a 100% rule. I'm sure there will be times when i go out, and then wish whole heartedly i had just stayed at home and minded my own business. But thats probably the rare exception, and to this day i can say i havent regretted stirring from my lair and venturing out.

So anyway, thats my first life lesson. Barring a piano falling on me tomorrow, there will probably be more to come.

Screw out.

On being back home - mostly.

Hail.

Its been a while! Happy new year, and merry christmas. I'd say i've been too busy to post, what with all my conferencing and travelling here and there, but thats not really true, its pure laziness thats prevented it. But for the novelty of this post i decided to get out my writing hat again, and let everyone know whats happening in my life.

The holidays certainly went by very quickly. Had the HIV inter-varsity summit, which was loads of fun organising, i didnt sleep for the three days of the conference (kicking ass at left4dead 2, fantastic game that, go try it), followed by a trip to the UAE. That was an educational week, you can read all you want about a place, but the only way to really know it is to actually get up and head out there. Lots of things happened, hopefully i'll cover that in another post, but the bottom line was: I saw a camel.

Yes, a camel. Not a silly zoo camel. A wild camel. Walking on the side of the road. By itself. Kinda like how malaysians see a dog on the road? I saw a camel.

What a trip that was.

I got back on the 27th, after spending christmas in the place wiht the whole family (its literally been almost ten years since the whole family went on a trip together), and on the 29th, for the first time in over six whole years, i flew off again, this time back 'home'.

So, people, this is my first post, and hopefully not the last, from my ACTUALLY home country of Sri Lanka.

And i tell you guys, i love it here. This is the greatest place in the world.

People ask me, 'Isuru, what type of girls do you like?' Well, actually no one really asks me that, but if they did, i'd usually answer that i like ALL types. Which is entirely true, i like womankind in general (i'm very forward thinking. Let women vote!). But there are certain ladies that catch my eye, though i've never really able to pinpoint what it was about them exactly i liked.

Well, now i know. I like sri lankan girls. I went to church on new years eve, and boy, my head went spinning. Girls everywhere! My kind! Out on the streets! My kind! In the shops! My kind! It was actually quite ridiculous.

I went visiting, too, went to various villages to meet relatives and what not, it was all tonnes of fun. It exposed my painful language problem ( I really cant speak sinhala), but all the relatives took it in their stride, and i had my little cousin to translate most of it for me. I went and saw where my dad lived when he was young (my grandmother still lives there), and fell in love with the place all over again. I'd stayed there for a few weeks at a time previously, but had completely forgotten how incredible the place was. Simple single story house, nothing fancy, with a huge garden (rural, you see, so its not even really a garden, its more like the house is in the middle of the forest). Exactly the sort of backyard you could go exploring, and come back with bites from five different species of snake, 23 different insect bites, and a headache from eating a wild poisonous berry.

I intend to live there one day. Maybe modern it up a bit, airconditioning, water heaters, internet... But i'm definitely moving back there one day. After i learn the language, hopefully.

Cousins are awesome too. Uncles and aunts are just as awesome. I've got tonnes of relatives here (believe me, i was carrying presents for them, they weighed more than all my clothes. I even had to pay airasia an extra 20 ringgit for the excess weight!) and they've all got so many stories to tell! These are people i havent spoken to in years, and i really wish i was here longer than my two weeks, because i would dearly love to sit down with each of them and just listen to how they've been, where they've been, how they grew up, what they're doing now, everything.

Plus i'd love to meet my 16 year old cousin sister's friends. =D

So yeah, this place is great. The people on the street are super friendly, from what i've seen. This is the sort of place where you can get stopped on the road for a police check (remember, they've just finished a real war here, and elections are coming up soon too), show your ID to the dude, and then chat with him about his duties, who he thinks is going to win, how his shift has been. I did none of the talking, of course, i was too busy furiously nudging the little boy next to me so he'd hurry up and translate, but really, the way the conversation flowed between people, it was so natural and easy.

And a place where you can stop a random person on the road and strike up a conversation is really definitely my kind of place.

Of course, there are tonnes of problems here too. Politicians are corrupt, price of living is high, and people drive like real maniacs (its crazy. Beyond crazy). But thats the way it is everywhere, isnt it?

I'd love to call this place home one day, and maybe one day i'll be able to. But still, for now, i'm stuck in my little limbo. I'm a monster hybrid, sri lankan by birth, malaysian by upbringing, neither in real life. Throw in my stint on the internet, and the whole church thing, i'm pretty much homeless. I cant remember if i've posted about this already, but i'm someone who has no real hometown; i dont go 'back' anywhere for holidays, cause i've no where to go back to; pretty much the modern nomad.

Its fine really, but i've wondered if i'm missing out on something. People who know where they're from, and where they can go back to, probably have a certain sense of belonging, one i can't claim to ever experiencing.
Where are you from? Sri lanka, but i grew up in Malaysia, so i'm not really Sri Lankan. But in malaysia i was in an international school in the most isolated god forsaken state in the country (you know where you are!), so i'm not really quite malaysian either. There's always a but.

Where do you go home then, Isuru? I really dont know. Cheras? Kelantan? Colombo? Sunway? Daraluwa? Old Trafford? I really dont know. I'm not really from any of those places. More like a mixture of them all.

Its a terrible disadvantage in a way. I cant imagine how screwed up my children are going to be. Being in the australian university and all, i of course intend to go and work there, for a while atleast. Do i settle there? Raise the kids there? I'd love to travel, go to the UK, to the Americas, Europe, all over. Maybe i should stay in one of those places. Or should i move back to Malaysia after all the travelling? Move back to sri lanka, where all the relatives are? What about the wife? What language would the kids speak at home? English? Malay? Sinhala? Where would their homes be? Heck, what nationality would they be?

Ah, my poor, poor children.

Ofcourse being from all these places is an advantage too. I'm comfortable (mostlY) everywhere. I'm used to everywhere, thats a better way to put it. All i need to do really is master both languages properly, Malay and Sinhala, then waaaala! I'm really from both places. And with my internet heritage, and the international schooling, i'd be a real amalgam of everything. its something i can be proud of one day.

If i survive the identity crises that'll probably come along.

Those poor, poor kids.