La Musique

Thursday, February 23, 2006

Reading week anybody?

On one fine MSN chat, a friend asked me why I was online and not doing assignments instead. I told him that it was Reading Week. Obviously, he didn't know what it was. I don't know if students in UK do have Reading Week but anyway, he asked me what it was. I said it is a one-week holiday for university students. Then, he asked me if I had started studying. Of course, I replied with an affirmative "No." I was pretty confused because Reading Week isn't for studying. It is for de-stressing!

So, I asked him if he has the same holiday and he replied me, "If it is a holiday, we call it a holiday. We don't give it a name like Reading Week."

...

I couldn't tell if he was making a joke or trying to be sarcastic about it. Maybe he felt it was so lame to name a holiday like that. His first assumption was that it is a week to study since the name of the holiday has the word "reading" in it. It really isn't for "reading books." *LOL*

Reading Week is a significant holiday for students. In fact, it is a holiday that we especially look forward to during each academic year. Without this holiday, suicide rates go up. Through the years, they realize that amount of suicide cases increase during this time of the year. Hence, they officially give a holiday to students. I'd like to view it as the university's acknowledgement of our stressful schooling conditions.

I have been tagged with a "meme" by Maverick.

Haha. I didn't know what it was until I visited his site. Now I remember I have been tagged by Gareth sometime ago, and I forgot all about it until today. Sorry! I guess I was too preoccupied with school.

Since I have nothing impending to stress me out, I can spare a few minutes typing this "meme" out and tag some other people. I am just going to use Maverick's template and list my own. because I am so new to this "meme" thing :P

FIVE WEIRD HABITS ABOUT MYSELF
  1. I talk to that soft toy on my bed. If I'm feeling sad, I'll ask it why are all these shit happening in my life. If I am feeling silly, I will just talk some crap with it. And if I am feeling frustrated, I'll keep squishing it's face and body and try to roll it up into a ball (yeah, I know I am brutal).
  2. I like to wash my dishes. For some odd reason, I just like to clean things up when they are dirty. This applies best to dish-washing.
  3. I pinch my pimples. Ouch and yuck. If I see a pimple that requires pinching (or a blackhead), my hands get itchy. It feels good.
  4. When I wash my hands in a sink, I have to pour some water over the faucet a few times. Why? I think I feel that it is dirty.
  5. Is day dreaming considered a weird habit?

FIVE SIMPLE THINGS IN LIFE THAT GIVE ME PLEASURE

  1. The company of friends. It keeps my loneliness far away from me.
  2. Music. It sings with my heart and dances at my ears.
  3. Home. Whether I am here living by myself or back home with my family, home is the one place that I can seek comfort and privacy.
  4. Love. Being loved and giving love complements my soul and existence.
  5. Trees. I love plants. The world is such a beautiful place with mother nature's garden.

With this, I end here with a list of tags - Brenda, YunYun, AMS, Li Shun, and Gareth. Okay! ;)

4:18 PM | |

Thursday, February 09, 2006

Breakdown

It's amazing how university life can influence you.

Last night, after a long day of undesirable events (or shall I say it's a build-up over the weeks), I came home, changed into my pajamas and plopped on the bed. I had some soothing music on. I wanted to relax my mind. I needed to get away from studying or anything school-related for at least an hour.

But what happened after a few minutes of staring at the ceiling ...

My eyes poured tears.

It gradually got so bad that I was sobbing to the top of my lungs.

And it was unusual that I could feel local numbness on my body. It started from the face, and it soon spread all the way to my arms and legs. That's when I got really scared. I was so weak I couldn't even move.

But I still couldn't stop crying. The whole time I was questioning everything so negatively. No positive feeling was present in my mind. This is the third time I have been on a nervous breakdown.

I called him. He was at the bus stop. I was glad he came because I would have just lay there until bedtime and would not have done any studying for my exam. He is my support for strength.

But this should not happen again. Why am I pushing myself so hard?

11:29 AM | |

Thursday, February 02, 2006

Keeping myself busy

I am so busy this semester. Apart from school, I decided to commit myself to some volunteer work on campus. I think this will compensate my absolutely dead life for the past two years. I am starting to get more involved in university and I am liking it.

International Week kicked off on Monday, January 3. Perhaps I will post some pictures up later in the week. It depends on how many pictures I get to take. All in all, those crazy volunteer hours have earned me a free ticket to the closing ceremony's concert, which will take place this Friday, February 3. Speaking of February ... one month has already passed! Time flies so fast these days, especially when there's lots to do and lots to live up to!

Also, I am currently teaching English to children at SVCC. It's a volunteer job for 12 weeks, a commitment of 3 hours every Saturday. There are three young children in my class. The first lesson was a bad start. I had little time to prepare or expect the unexpected as I was the last interviewee before this session started. The kids were cute. But they are sneaky. And smart. And they speak good English. I was expecting children who don't speak English as their first language. Gosh, it was quite a shocking experience for me that day. Being all disappointed at myself for not doing a good job, I talked to my coordinator and told her that I am not suited for this teaching. Then, I talked to the VP and told her that I might work better with adults instead of children. I think I sounded like a spoiled rich kid who complains about everything. She told me that she cannot switch me to another class because they are short of volunteers now. Then, I requested for a partner because handling three young children (ages 3-5) all by myself is very challenging. She said she will help me to find one, or I can bring my own friend along. Unless there is a substitute, I will have to continue teaching this class for the next 10 weeks

However, after much contemplation over my shocking experience, I realized I was just unprepared. It was a rash emotional outburst. I was probably PMS-ing as well. Therefore, I pulled myself together to apologize to the VP and my coordinator about my behaviour. So right now, I am still teaching the kids. Still surviving. Although it is tiring, I must say that I like working with children. However, I am quite sure that there is a critical difference in asian kids and CBC (canadian-born-chinese) kids. I find that asian kids are much more obedient and quiet. Quiet in the sense that they don't ask you sneaky questions and tell you scandalous stuff.

This one girl, Amanda, who is five years old, came up to me and said

"I want to tell you something." (her hands were at her back and she was looking up to me like a cute puppy)

"My friend has a boyfriend. And his name is Simon." (and she looks at me with her big eyes)

I was like ... "Oh, okay...so ..."

"That's all I want to tell you."

Sneaky, sneaky, sneaky.

I guess I have learned something out of this. I cannot be too soft with these kids. I have to let them feel that I am in charge here in this class, and there are certain things that you must listen to me. That's why I feel there's a big difference in asian and CBC kids. I taught music to young children before, and they were fine. I didn't feel any pressure to impress the kids. When I am teaching these three mischevious kids here, I feel like I have to impress them a lot to keep their attention span with me. They really do have short attention spans.

I want to stay on teaching for another 2 sessions. I can get a reference letter and it will look good on my resume. Hopefully, they are able to find a substitute teacher to teach the children's class next session. It will be less work and pressure to teach an adult class.

If any of you guys have creative ideas on activities and games for kids, please let me know! I do need some help on this. Right now, I am searching on Google for good and fun activities, but I feel like I am going to run dry on ideas soon.

Muahahaha. As a Chemical Engineering student, I have access to this computer lab on the fourth floor of the building. In this lab, I can print for freeeee! But I have to supply my own paper though. It's cool. I just printed my lecture notes which were about 74 pages in total, and a few other pages on piano music sheets. Muahahaha.

Okay, got to go get lunch. And Happy CNY to ya all, eh! ;)

11:25 AM | |