Spring Break 1: Schedule-Packed and Busy

Hello, Tim!
This is the first week that I can call free for a considerable time span, and I don't know what has gotten into me, but I suddenly decided that I want my schedule to be as full and activity-packed as possible. I am, however sadly, unable to recall all the things I did in the past week on my own. It is lucky that I have cultivated the habit of keeping a diary since last October which saved me all the trouble of remembering. Here goes.

Graduation Book Making 

Both on Monday and Wednesday, I was at school for half a day to keep Candy and Cathy company. They took up the responsibility to make the section of 320 in our yearbook. I went there at the request of the two girls, who needed someone to remove the smothering silence. Having absolutely no sense of beauty and equipped with the toddler-level's capability of photo editing, I guessed that all I could do was to keep them entertained while taking up a big space at the computer desk provided at school. Every class was given only three days before the deadline came, so we -or you might as well credit Cathy for the whole ordeal- really had to speed up. It was way better than skulking in the corner of my house when Mom was as well away at work, as it turns out.

Cathy at work.

As for why I wasn't with them on Tuesday, it was because Mom took me out for a belated eighteen-year-old birthday meal. We decided on a rather costly Japanese restaurant we once visited as I took my mom out for a Mother's Day meal. My mother and I don't often have the chance to eat out in such a fancy place due to budget reasons, so we both held on to it while we could. The food was divine, given that it was not just seasoned with salt and soy sauce but also with 'family quality time' and 'I can't believe I'm counted as an adult now'.

Totally worth the money.

I still don't know how much this notion has affected me yet, much less changing the way I think, and I am not sure if I want anything to change.

Books

Whether it's just an observed tradition or body reflex I have no idea, but in the wake of every major test comes a rush of fever. A fever for books. One time after a stressful midterm in middle school, I managed to bring enough money to bring home a whole set of Warriors, a saga about personified cats; once the high school entrance test was over, I went online and ordered the first four books that caught my eyes, no questions asked. This behavior pattern was repeated, and now I already have four new books with me, two from online and two from my favorite bookstore, along with four still on their way. This sudden increase in cost took a tow on whatever money I have left with me. Also, I am almost out of ways to organize my bookshelf while still making it look as pleasing to the eye as possible. I always tell my friends, that when they are eyeing new shoes, clothes, or even earrings, decorative tape (this is aimed at Angela) or phone cases, I am always going to be looking for new books to get my hands on.

I call them 'new famly members'

Books have a lethal allure for me, one that most of my classmates fail to notice.
It's both pleasing and agonizing, to be honest. Not that I'm complaining; I love books.

Tendam Bike Ride

Long before the tests, Melody mentioned about wanting to go biking, but she couldn't do it on her own because she doesn't exactly know how to keep the balance while riding on a two-wheel vehicle. Right then, we two made an agreement that once the tests were over, we could go out together and ride a tandem bike, which is a cooperative kind of two-people bike. With me keeping the balance, she finally had the chance to experience the scenery while having wind ripping past her hair and her feet paddling to keep on moving.

Brrr it was cold.

Despite how moderate the wind sounded in the last sentence, it was, in fact, a day with high humidity and low temperature, which are the two sole elements that brought about this horrible cold weather. Once we stopped pedaling, the chills would reclaim its position in the brain, making it impossible to control the incessant shivering. With some forethoughts and foreplanning, we rode for a total of three hours and the map route on Google showed that we had ridden the tandem bike for almost 27 km/hr.

The Need to Start the Preparation

I think that it is finally the time that I snap out of the preposterous belief that I would be able to get enrolled in a school in Germany once I score well enough in my GSAT. This Saturday, I went with my cousin to a speech on the application to study abroad in Germany, and it seemed that the determining factor of whether I can go to Germany or not is my language skills. In recent years, the Germany agencies aren't known for giving out easy passes as you apply for a study visa. Normally, to study there, it would require at least an A2- B2 level of German proficiency. While I am still stuck at A1 as I was a year ago, I really have a lot of catch up to do. I am still not sure how far I can go in terms of learning a new language that I would supposedly be using in my future quotidian life, but all I can do now is try.


...

I was just helping my mother prepare the food for tomorrow, which would be the lunar new year. I think this is all for this week.

Sincerely,
Hugo