Checklist

One week left! Here are the forecasts for me:

Today I need to go to the dentist. I need to have my regular check-up.
Today I need to call my grandmother. This is long overdue.
Tomorrow I need to go to the auto shop and buy a pair of tires as a replacement for the flat we had the other week.
In 3 days I need to get a haircut. This might be postponed until the day before I leave.
In 3 days I need to call Philippine Airlines to reconfirm my flight.
In 4 days I will be having a final dinner with a few close friends.
In 5 days I will wash the remaining clothes that I will bring.
In 6 days I will iron them, fold them, and put them in my still-open suitcases.
In 7 days I will be sitting inside a Philippine Airlines Boeing 747-400 going to San Francisco, then connect to a Continental Airlines Boeing 737-700 going to Cleveland, then connect to again, a Continental Airlines Embraer ERJ-145 going to Buffalo.
In 8 days I will be arriving at Buffalo Niagara International Airport. How come it is called "International" but all the flights that come and go at this airport are domestic?
In 8 days I will check in at my on-campus apartment and start to unpack. I might meet my still-unknown flatmate that day, if he has arrived before me.
In 9 days I will go to my department office, meet the staff, and arrange for a meeting with my Graduate Advisor.
In 9 days I will deliver my final official transcript to the International Admissions Office since they need a copy.
In 9 days I will deliver my Health Record to the University Medical Services, so that they can be assured that I had my shots taken, and I am not contagious to other students.
In 12 days I will check myself in at the International Student Orientation. The Orientation lasts one week and they have tons of activities prepared.
In 17 days there will be a Welcome and Information Fair that I need to attend.
In 18 days there will be a department welcome party. This is where I get to know everyone I will bump into most of the time for the next year or so.
In 20 days I would be sitting in my first graduate class.

There. I am excited and nervous at the same time. Another chapter of my life will start. It reminds me of my picture in this blog. See the upper-left hand corner, where I have a picture of me hanging from a rope? That was the "creative shot" I had in the graduation photoshoot we had during senior year in college. Aside from the "gown shot" and the "traditional shot", we had a "creative shot." Most of the people pretended they were Cleopatra, or the bride from "Kill Bill", or some other fantasy character, and had their pictures taken. I pretended that I was going to die. Well, in a sense, I am. A chapter of my life ended the moment I graduated last April, and I think the picture rightfully symbolizes the event. It's time to be reborn and move on.

Q & A portion: In my previous post, The Zombie Lama asked me regarding the "gender continuum". Well, this is a term I learned in college. They say that instead of categorizing one's sexuality as "straight" or "gay", a person can have a blurred sexual preference. In other words, one's sexual preference need not be categorized in polar extremes. Meaning, a person can be 90% straight, 10% gay, or 70% straight and 30% gay. Everyone is inside the gender continuum. In this continuum, each is ranked by his or her homosexual and heterosexual tendencies. It implies that no one is 100% heterosexual nor 100% homosexual. Everyone has a bit of "gayness" inside.