Hello, Tim!
This has been yet another week passed in a blur. With a history report in the equation, I had quite a hard time juggling with all different things in my hand, hence making me think that I have everything unorganized.
Long Overdue: GSAT Scores
This is the one topic that I had promised, and since this week I had started writing my letter relatively earlier, I think talking about this comes to the first on my list.
The scores came out on February 25th. I woke up with a gasp, eyelids flinging open abruptly. I stumbled off my bed because I was fully aware of what was awaiting me. It is said that the scores will first come in in the form of text messages at around six in the morning. I consider this a very cruel arrangement, for won't even have time to at least have a peaceful breakfast. I snuck into my mom's bedroom to get her phone, whose phone number was designated the recipient of the message. Just as I walked into her bedroom, her phone blinked to life, which was a notification of an incoming message. With trepidation practically making my four limbs tremble, I picked up the phone. It indeed was the message from the examination center with the fearful note.
The full mark of every subject is 15. The light coming from the screen was blinding in the lightless room of my mother, but I squinted my eyes to adjust myself to it.
It read: Chinese, 12; English, 15; Social Studies, 13; Math, 13; Sciences, 7.
I remember talking about the criteria requested by Germany in order to be eligible to apply for a school in the country, which was having a total of 53 points. I was so nervous I had momentarily lost the ability to add numbers. I kept getting 53 when I added the five subjects but later I found out that I had gotten 63, which later turned out to be the second high score in the class. I was, however, not so pleased with my Chinese score, which was a lot lower than the scores I had gotten in mock tests.
Overall, the score I got was much better than the previous two mock tests, since I got incredibly lucky to have such high math scores.
Now, I want to direct the focus back to applying for college. Now that I have met the standard of the German college application, all I am supposed to do is to be more diligent in learning German. To be honest, learning German, albeit quite difficult, is actually more enjoyable than the everyday school-taught subjects.
Still, I also have to apply for a Taiwanese university. For what reason? After some fiery debate and several convincing words, my parents and I have agreed on also striving to get into the best college I am able to reach in Taiwan lest my application in Germany should not be successful (knock on wood) or I shouldn't be able to accommodate to the German lifestyle. My parents wanted me to have a place to come back to, even though initially I didn't think that necessary.
Now, with my score, what universities can I apply in Taiwan?
I wasn't given many choices, sadly. Even though I got second place in total in-class, my Chinese score was... unsatisfactory. I don't have to mind my sciences score because the majors I'm picking won't be asking for the score of that subject. But for one who drools about entering a course that is affluent in language-related studies, having a mere 12 on Chinese is unacceptable. Many of the prominent municipal schools in Taipei demands a Chinese score over 13, meaning that I am one regretful point under the requirements, hence blocking my path to apply for better French/German or English Literature majors in universities like Taipei University and Taiwan Normal University, along with the others. Note that how much a difference I can make with only one point.
After the application come the interviews, which would be the determining factor if you are to enter the schools or not. I ended up applying for two German majors in two private but also well-known universities, one French major, two education-related major in two municipal schools as well as a major in social work in Taipei University.
Whether I can go to their interviews is still unsure, but now I also have to prepare for the interviews and personal statements needed for these schools, adding a lot more work to my pile.
Having so many things stacked upon my figurative desk and not having nearly enough time is both pressuring and panicking. But as my parents say, this is what is necessary because we are looking ahead.
Long Haul Read: Kill the Farm Boy
I have been reading this book since February, but apparently, I was so busy that I barely had time to pick up my book. These days, my time reserved for free reading is now confined only to the scarcity of time when I am riding on the metro every Monday and Wednesday. I still have yet finished reading it but I am ready to talk about it. Kill a Farm Boy, written by Kevin Hearne and Deliah S. Dawson, is a parody-like fantasy that was supposed to borderline resemble a fairytale. This book hooked my attention the moment it went on the shelves of Taiwan's online bookstore. As a big fan of Kevin Hearne's The Iron Druid Chronicles, I follow him on social media to get first-hand information of his new books. He enjoys and is quite praised for his witty style of writing, mixing both sarcasm and wordplay in a well-structured universe of magic and folklore and so on in his urban fantasy saga, The Iron Druid Chronicles.
It was no doubt that I would immerse myself in this book I'm presenting, just the way like I did in his other books. Unlike some authors who have been writing solo for life in their careers, Kevin never shies away from collaborations. He has, along with other fantasy authors, published several books whose cover page was printed with five people's names. I haven't gotten the chance to have my hand on them, but they are already on my to-buy list.
Back to the book itself. Like I said, this is an unconventional fairytale which was brought to the world to turn the story upside down, like a child would to its toys in a box. It shakes it, tosses it until all the contents inside are ridiculously deformed but still in-shape enough for you to laugh a the morbidity of it. The book talks about a boy going on a journey with his talking goat. The boy thought himself the Chosen One, but was instantly crushed to death as a female muscly warrior fell from a tower. It started weird enough, but it gets way more eccentric. At some point in the story, we have a wide nuance of characters in its most random way possible: The mentioned talking goat who was believed to be the most perceptive in the team, the said female warrior who also happened to be a vegetarian with a blood-thirsty sword, a female bard who was turned into a half-rabbit because of a cursed rose given to a princess, a Dark Wizard with great dark ambitions who also wished to have a profuse-growing beard and can shoot bread from his fingers, a rogue/assassin who was clonked on the head and had a below-average intelligence, and a witch with a glass wand who was a fanatic of crabs and is possibly the on character that fits the most into the stereotype of the original portrayal of the character. They celebrate diversity like Dorothy and her friends and went on quests that, in essence, had no substantial purpose. While taking the route which normal fairytales do, the story often reminds how much closer to real life it is than a fairytale ever will be: Even people who call you bound-teammates can aim bloodlust towards you with even the slight influence; the ones you call friends might not even fell obligated to save you until every man's their own island; people just die sometimes without any actions that are even slightly dangerous, or even more ironically, surviving a big ordeal but losing life to a jar of poison with a label named coffee.
It's got pun, it's got sarcasm, romance, irony and lots of direct mocking aims at fairytales. What's not to love?
I can't wait to finish this one, and get my hands on the sequel that is said to come on shelves in April.
End
I think this concludes this week's letter. I found that I really like to talk about books and how they make me feel. Maybe I should read more so I can do this more often.
Sincerely,
Hugo
