Week After the Test: The Walk to Bitan and School Library Work

Greetings, Tim!
It has been a while, and as usual, midterms can be really depressing. It is Wednesday now, and I certainly hope that I would be able to finish this letter by today, but I don't think it would be likely of happening since there are still so much for me to write down.
The weather these days has maintained the same typically unusual patterns.

Novel about Dogs- A Dog's Purpose

I have always had a dilemma- If I had been reading a book, but not much into the book, if I found that it did not meet up with my expectations, should I simply put it back to the shelves or do I neglect the odd feeling of reading a book I don't really like so that I can at least finish it?

I found myself facing the question face to face once again when reading this book, A Dog's Purpose by W. Bruce Cameron. The cover of the book is here:

As what I heard from the reviews of either the book or the adapted version of the movie, I was told that this is going to be a heartwarming adventure of a dog that reincarnated numerous times so that it could stay by the owner's side as long as possible. Sounds like a nice story, even though I have sort of grown out of the realm of animal-narrated books a while ago. That was the reason I picked this book up from a physical bookstore.

I know it is not nice to judge a book by its cover, nor would it be fair to start being judgmental from the first chapter, but I really don't find anything attractive in the first few pages of the book. It started with a family of stray dogs which we see the narrator as one of the little pups, disgruntled with his sibling because they would have to "share his mother with him". To me, sounds downright and inexplicably selfish and not cute at all. Then they were all taken away by the animal sanctuary where the protagonistic dog was happy that they have a place to live. 

I find it very dull and -excuse me for my wording- boring, to start up a story with such mediocrity with no little climaxes. Nonetheless, I think I would still finish the book in case that the 90 % left of the book would be better. However, I would always remember this is a book that lacks a better beginning.

 A Walk to Bitan

Seeing that the test has just gone by like a gust of wind, on Tuesday, Mom suggested that she, my dad, and I go for a walk from our community to a nearby riverside tourist attraction, 碧潭(pronounced as Bitan).

My community far away

It was not quite a long walk, about forty minutes of walking distance, so it was not for the sake of doing sports; it was a matter of relaxing. It was in the evening, about seven o'clock, and on way, we saw a lot of people who as well were walking in the same direction, hoping to have a taste of this splendid breeze in the evening.

My dad and mom were walking hand in hand behind me, occasionally could I hear some outbursts of laughter of Mom's when Dad said something that was "humorous". I am glad -more than glad, I stand corrected- that my parents are able to maintain such an amount of affection after more than twenty years of marriage. I slowed my pace as they slowly walked past me, and I took a picture of them holding hands under the glowing of the dim orange street lights:

We arrived at the destination, at the riverside, there were some outdoor restaurants somewhere up the stairs by the plaza. A soft and sentimental piece of piano music was playing, and I almost hoped that there really hoped that it really was live piano, but only did I come to realize that it came from the loudspeakers around the restaurants.

Riverside

When we finally decided that it was enough walking for the day, we headed back, took a turn and entered the metro station nearby and caught one of them for the ride back home.

No Questions Answering this Week- Deepest Apologize

I have to say sorry to Mr. Maher.

Mr. Maher was the teacher who has never forgotten to send me a copy of his weekly newsletters, along with the ten study questions following that, and that was why I have been so diligent in making answering all ten questions per week possible. However, it was just the end of the midterm exam and given that I had to study for the test last Saturday and Sunday, I didn't have much time to update my blog. Also that this week I have a geography report AND a history report to hand in by the end of the week; I really should have started earlier.

Library Work: New Books ready to be Shelved

As you all know, I am working in the school library for the school-regulated volunteering hours, and on Wednesday (It is Thursday now) I went to the library, preparing and willing to shelve the returned books-It feeling like a treasure hunting game to me, exhilarating when I found the correct place of the books, according to the set of numbers on the spines of the books-.

However, the work I got yesterday was quite different.

I was brought to a huge stack of books. At first, I really thought that they were simply old books, returned by students in school, but with a closer look, I realized that they were all new!

I was told that I have to prepare it for the first shelving, in which I would have to a) tape a layer of invisible layer of waterproof sticker on the tags of the newly purchased books b) tape up the flaps of the books so that they wouldn't get fold our gotten damaged in the future c) tape the library's registration card on the last page of the book and finally d) stamp on the name of our school on the side of the pages of every book. 

That was a lot of workloads, given that there were about thirty of them, I was eager and anxious to start.

I was simply beaming with joy when I was just given the task, but then it was only until I had settled the books and the essential tools on the desk that I felt the slight nervousness in me. It dawned on me that I any of the steps went wrong, it was very likely that the act would be irreversible; in other words, permanently flawed.

With trembled hands, I was trying to put in utmost concentration, but the most unexpectable happened on the second book: I stamped the stamp upside down! I was nerve-wracked and I felt the cold sweat in my palms. With great trepidation, I went to the teacher. She gave me a death glare, but I knew I deserved it; she did warn that I was to handle with care. I failed, so I deserved the blame. I felt sorrow and shame, for I knew that it would at least stay on the shelves for at least fifteen years or even longer, with a stamp upside down.

There were other accidents as well, including getting stamp ink on one of the covers; fortunately, It has a smooth cover on the book, unlike usual ones with plain but merely thicker paper; THAT would be a disaster.

 I know that being a librarian is not easy work, but every aspect of such a job fascinated me. I hope that I would be able to spend time in such places more often in the future.

Abrupt Halt

Sorry, but this is all I can muster for this week. I have a lot more to write about, but I would have to see what I can put into the letter of next week, then.

Sincerely,

Hugo