Year Three Almost Free 6: Studying and Family Gathering

Hello Tim!

We all knew autumn was creeping nearer and nearer as days progress, the winds blow a little harder every day; the sun riser a bit later every day, and there hadn’t been a day that passed in which I hadn’t heard at least one of my classmates complaining about the cold weather (It’s mostly William. He can look tough, but he is, in fact, sensitive to temperature change.)

Writing Class

Throughout the two years of our high school lives, we have had a foreign teacher for company. He’s an Australian English teacher who teaches us different skills for English every year, and for this year, we have writing courses. If I were still the several-years-ago me, I would have cringed the instant I hear the phrase “writing courses,” but guess who has changed and was the only person bouncing and excited before the class starts? Me. It always feels nice to be able to write or type out a lengthy article of over several thousands of words and feel good about myself, but along the way, there could be some very horrible grammar mistakes, some inappropriate choice of words, or some atrocious sentence structures lurking in a dark corner. I would try doing a self-inspection but never could pick out many problems. Now we have a teacher who could spot over twenty places needed fixing, Ind i was very grateful. Writing stories by describing a four column comic, describing myself, and give a tour around my bedroom, etc. I put all my heart writing these articles and I would still be so surprised when I have come to love writing so much. Alex, our teacher taught us to avoid wordiness, as in to make every word in your paragraphs serve a purpose, among which avoiding hollow words like “very” and so on. I find that very helpf... no, I find that helpful. Avoid wordiness!

Ways to Keep Myself Focused

As I subtly mentioned last week, I am quite a cell phone addict. I have been looking for ways to reduce my time of using the little irresistible gadget, and I was presented with a solution just this week. With a new system adopted in my phone, I am now able to keep track of my screen time. This is where Matt comes into the game. When I find it hard to concentrate, I take a look at my diary which I had named Matthews. He has become the standard of my conscience, pushing me forward and watch me so that I don’t stray. With the time record on my phone, I can set a time limit for cell phone usage. When you give an object a name and a strict personality, you might find it easier to abide by the rules you set for yourself. I can see the bizarred looks on my classmates’ faces when I tell them about my naming a palm-sized notebook and treating it like it were a mentor, but I don’t care. As long as I get to concentrate on my studies for the remaining hundred days before the college entrance exam, I won’t care about the eccentricity.

Matthews and his rules for me to act upon

Family Gathering and a Sick and Cuddly Sophie

For some reasons, Sophie’s parents had invited half of the family members for dinner in a Taiwanese restaurant that serves traditional local cuisine. Arriving late at the table, I inquired them the whereabouts of Sophie and her mother. It turned out that they were both sick and lying in bed with a fever. Aiden was sitting next to my mother with his head hanging low, little thumbs swiping and tapping furiously as he was trying not to lose the game he was playing on his grandma’s cell phone. He was wearing a too formal for this occasion, though. A sky-blue suit with a miniature tie. His father told us that the five-year-old had picked the outfit on his own, mistakenly thinking that he was attending a wedding feast. 

Head up, Aiden. You'll break your neck.

Five minutes later, Aiden was requested to return the cell phone (Mom said he had only played on it for ten minutes), and without the games that had been occupying him, he became restless and twitchy, goofing around and poking the person sitting next to him — me.

He was basically sitting like this throughout dinner.

His antics could be very annoying, and I chose to ignore him as the dishes were served, hoping to bore him into behaving (which, ultimately, didn’t work at all.) With more than ten people around the roundtable, we still couldn’t finish all the dishes as they kept coming, each dish more exquisite than the next. I bet we all were looking at the plates with tantalization; we were too full to put more food in our stomachs but were silently considering if we should try.

I still had a lot of math equations to solve, and since they were due Sunday, I had to go back home soon to deal with them. I followed the family upstairs to Sophie’s house. She was awake. Awake with a burning forehead. She looked so weak; the smile was still there, and her eyes still shone with a mischievous glint, but her arms were lump and inactive. She got out of bed and walked around when she heard so many people filing into her house, and I just set her on the couch and just held onto her, feeling sorry for her little furnace of a child’s frame. Get well soon, Sophie!

I like kids. No, I LOVE kids. I can be very harsh and unrelenting with them, but at the same time, I can be almost everything they want me to be. I adore the idea of having kids in the future, but that was not technically possible for me… Maybe adoption?

End

The National Holiday of Taiwan is on Wednesday this year, and there will be a national day-off. For us high schoolers, though…

Out midterm takes place on the two consecutive days after the holiday, making the holiday a lot less it’s-holiday-let’s-spend-some-wonderful-quality-time-with-my-family but a lot more it’s-holiday-let-me-spend-more-time-burying-my-head-in-books-and-pray-that-I-don’t-flunk-my-geography-this-semester.

Extra: A sunny view from downstairs

Delightful.

Despite all, have a happy week, Tim!

Best of all wishes,

Hugo