The Compass and the Anchor: Year Three, Almost Free 19: Friday Outing and Cell Phone Resolution

Hello, Tim!
The pressure is building up in the steamer called school. From a countdown starting at 100 days, we are now faced with 19 days left from the final exam.
But look on the bright side, if we make it through alright with a score acceptable, we will finally be able to relax.

Cell Phone

It’s basically a euphemism of devil. For me, at least. It has been a fact long-recognized that I am one with absolutely no self-control. You put a cell phone in my hand, and my fingers will automatically glide themselves, steering away from the websites that give me a reference for the subject I’m studying or any other justifiable reasons I am allowed to pick up my phone.
Tossing it away out of my reach seemed plausible, but more often than not, it would find its way back to me. I’m a cell phone addict, and it gives me more pressure than ever since the tests are so near. Here is a small resolution for me. I’ll be leaving my cell phone in my bedroom whenever I’m at home. I’ll bury it under the sheets so I won’t be tempted by the sight of it. Nineteen days are all I have left. It’s quite a long time and it isn’t. All logical reasoning points to the conclusion that I should be studying instead of reading through someone’s social media feed, and now all I need is the willpower to guide my attention back to my textbooks.

Friday Outing

On Friday, just one day after our in-school finals, our Chinese teacher organized a small outing for us and her homeroom class. The trip is planned to observe a students’ tradition: going to a temple and pray for good scores and luck on the upcoming test. Students will take with them either the pencil that will be used on the test or the papers of the test confirmation to the temple and pray to Wen-Chang, a god for academic studies. Roughly three years ago, I went with my friend of five years, but this year, I couldn’t enter the temple because of my grandfather. He passed away a while ago, and according to the traditions, I am not to be allowed in any temple for a year. I handed Angela my papers and waited outside the wooden doors of the entrance instead.

We then traveled to our teacher’s house, whose community comes with an impressive karaoke bar. The six of us sang at the top of our lungs, chasing away the stress that has been building up for a while. Then, we went for a walk along the rocky coastline of Danshuei, just a dozen minutes of walk from our teacher’s place.
Taking turns holding the leash of Ah-mei, the dog our teacher is keeping, we walked and talked and laughed. William always has a soft spot for animals and was very eager to hold the leash. You can say that merely five minutes of interaction with the dog got him more committed than he has ever been in his studies. The beach was thoroughly blanketed with round pebbles that probably came down with the river from the mountains. We took our time taking individual pictures. It was warmer than it had ever been in the whole week, so I didn’t even have a jacket with me!