Year Three, Almost Free 22: Picking up and Carrying on

Hello, Tim! It feels like I have just gone through a very long week. It was the first week of school, and although the stress level hasn’t been as high as it used to be in the previous semester, the pressuring force has yet dissipated. Now comes different challenges for every student. We gave a round of applause to the last semester of our high school years. It has started.

New Round of Challenges

Before the GSAT I was pretty convinced that after the tests come the time for utter relaxation where we can kick back and relax, tear across the sunny plains with our bare feet with nets in our hands, and perhaps read a book under a shady tree until it’s lunchtime. Oh dear, where do we even start? Even before the tests, our teachers have been foreshadowing that we would have a lot more to do after the exams, and it is recommended that we start with our personal statements during the spring break. For us, it is even more difficult to write about ourselves than to write about the global climate or something equally academic. I never knew that writing a personal statement can be such an obstacle, but apparently, talking about one’s strengths and sharing past experiences are harder than I initially thought. I don’t know about others, but I’m curious about what others see when they look into a mirror. The longer I stare into the pair of eyes that sinks in the depth of the mirror, the less I recognize myself. I don’t think about what my gestures look like, in which manner do I talk to the others, or how I would react to the way I behave. I know myself well enough to react under different circumstances, but I don’t know myself well enough to put down who I am in words. And that is only the first challenge. Some people who are not very confident with their performance on the GSAT have already started with the preparation of the second test in July, even before the results are out. It is a sensible choice, for the more time you put into your study, the more likely you won’t fail the second chance you are given with. It is, however, a choice that requires a humongous amount of tenacity since you would have to keep a cool head while your other fellow classmates are perhaps already admitted to a university. As for me, I have a more language-related task to juggle along with schoolwork. To go to Germany, I have to put no stop to my learning German. There is no way I can simply cling onto the hope of attending language schools in Germany, not if I can’t even get the study visa. Don’t be mistaken, German is a fun language to learn, just like any other language, but it takes time, just like any other language.

The Renaissance of Daily Jogging Sessions

If you could still remember, about a year ago, I used to go jogging on the tracks of our school with Cathy. In the morning, we would jog a simple two laps before class starts. That kind of exercise was more refreshing than the jogging I now do after school with Allison and Melody. School ends at roughly four, and we would set the timer for fifteen minutes and start running. It sounded impossible at first, but once we started running, it wasn’t as bad as it sounded. The wind was breezy, and the sunbeams peeking from the crevices of the clouds rained light from afar. There were also students fro, the track and field team who were also training; students in the dance club figuring out some new poses while seemingly enjoying the time… The scenery was indeed nice.

Nice view.

But my legs wobbled and protested in the morning on the second day.

Taipei International Book Exhibition 2019

It is this time of year again. As a bookworm, there aren’t many book-related events one can look forward to, but this one is definitely one of them. One of the most important, even. I went to TIBE 2017 with Buzz, TIBE 2018 on my own, and for this year, I have found Jay as my company. We met up at the metro station right next to the exhibition center, and even though people over eighteen are supposed to pay for an entry, we were also told that a school ID card would be just fine to enter. With unending smirks, we ducked into the center to see shelves of book-lined neatly everywhere we see. There was a big objective for me this year: Get some German books. As mentioned above, I am in need of all sorts of German reading material I can get my hand on, and the German section of this event could really help me to complete this goal. Only that it didn’t. Several books caught my eye. There was a German version of Grimm’s fairy tales that was beautifully illustrated, and another children’s novel that was about a little monster that came to a kid’s front door via delivery. They were going to be costly, but I was ready to take the shock. Only that it didn’t come. As it turned out, from what the staff told me, the section from which I had these books chosen were purely for exhibition and was not available for sale. If I still wish to buy them, she was quick to add, I would have to contact the bookstore in charge of the books exhibited, wither through a phone call or email, and tell them that I would like to buy them. They would then check for all the shipping fees and the actual price of the books, and only then will I be able to decide if I still wanted to buy it or not. It sounded like a convoluted to have a couple of books purchased, but as long as it is worth it, I think I would take the route. And getting my hands on new books are never NOT worth it. Faced with an obstacle at the German section, I then headed for the French part of the center. I was luckier there. A foreigner was sitting at the entrance, silently chatting with one of the staffs. One clerk was out there trying to get the participants of this event to have a look inside the French section. In shouts, she told everyone that the author Eric Faye was holding his last book signing event for today (given that this was the last day of TIBE) so I went inside and checked out all of his books, with a prospect to perhaps talk to him with what little amount of French word I know. I picked out his award-winning book, Nagasaki, which was a story that tells how a woman was able to clandestinely live inside a cabinet of someone else’s house for over a year without the owner noticing. At the table of the author, I nervously opened my mouth. “Ah.. euh… je parle un peu français...” “Ah oui, tu peux.” “Je m’appelle Hugo.” I told him so he could write down my name on the book. “Comme l’ecrivain?” He asked for confirmation to see if the Hugo was spelled like Victor Hugo. “Ah oui!” A moment passed. “Es-ce que nous pouvons prendre une photo?” I asked just for the sake of saying more French. I held out my phone to the staff nearby, and we had our photo taken.

Avec l'ecrivain Éric Faye.

Keeping this forever.

This was my first time speaking to a native speaker who isn’t my French teacher! It was only simple things; given the time, I could have come up with more things to talk about, but I was already content. I should have gotten two of his books. That was the only regret. END After the book fair, Jay and I went to a café to work on our personal statement. I believe he was struggling as much as I am. William just texted me to see if I was still at the fair so that I could help him buy some books. It was the last fair after all. Unfortunately, the time he texted was three hours after I had left the fair. It was a pity for him.