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.

Spring Break 2: Ended Before it Started and Outing with Grandma

Hello, Tim!
These days have been another kind of challenge. I needed to try to tamp down my lazy spirit and spur my productive one on. It's difficult. However, this week has not a day of mediocrity.

Spring Break is Ending?
Yes! I am also very shocked! We barely had two weeks of rest, and school is to start tomorrow? That was a shoe I wasn't expecting to drop, this big shoe that nearly scared me.
I didn't know what I was hoping for. Maybe that our GSAT is finally over, we get to have extra break time? Unfortunately, that's not going to happen. I just checked our schedule, and I was a bit pacified when I saw that for this semester, we no longer need the extra classes for revision of all subjects, allowing us to finish school an hour earlier than last semester.

Wednesday Outing with Grandma
Since my grandfather passed away, my grandmother has been spending a lot of time alone in a vacant house with no company. Right then, I was still strangled by the upcoming tests, but now I have the time. I stayed at my Grandma's place on Tuesday, and the next day in the morning, I went with her to a nearby manor that once belonged to a Lin family. The people from the family passed away, and their successor decided to make it a tourist attraction. It was strange, given that the manor was literally within walking distance, but my grandmother had never thought of visiting it.
The entrance was rather thin, so I was greatly impressed when we were introduced to an expansive (and expensive as well) view of different traditional houses. There were ponds occupied by a duck or two, moving in the water with peaceful paddles so slight that Grandma thought that they were just some very realistic plastic ducks. Stone-made chairs are set throughout the whole land, and some are even set upon little slopes so that the person taking the seat can look over the whole manor. Boulders are made hollow and into tunnels instead of being moved away. Some hallways were so low that even a petite lady like my grandmother would have to duck a bit to avoid a collision with the low-hanging ceiling.
Walking around the manor set me wondering how long it would take to fetch all the people in the household for meals.

End
It is now ten in the evening, and though there are also things like meeting up with my elementary school classmate who already was agreed with an entry to a university in Kaohsiung, and also about sci-fi movie I was dragged to watch but actually enjoyed, and also my current method of German learning, I still have things undone (i.e. chores) so I am afraid the details would have to be left out.
School starts tomorrow.

Sincerely,
Hugo

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

Half Way Out Here, from Senior High: The End of the Tests and a Day of Nothing Better to Do

Breathing out a sigh of relief, I put my pencil and eraser back into my pencil case. I glanced at my watch on my wrist, then at my test papers on natural sciences, and mentally stuck my tongue out at them. There’s only that much I can do about the subject I am never good at. I grabbed all my belongings, pushed my chair back with my legs. I stood up and handed the invigilator my sheets and headed out. Being the last subject of the second day of GSAT, walking out the classroom meaning one thing.
It’s over. For good or for bad, it’s over.

Hello, Tim!
The GSAT is finally over! Good, I’m already running out of ways to describe the test like a vicious beast.
The test results will be out after the Chinese New Year, but the examination center has already given answers to all subjects. I think I did a decent job, considering that the tests were thought to be rather difficult. I didn’t dare to make any guesses since it would be such a disappointment if the results come out worse than my prediction.
Anyhow, the exams are finally over, and we are finally given the freedom we had been hoping for!
I didn’t know what to do.
It is so clichéd! You made so many plans for the future, but when you finally have to chance to do them, you either didn't know from which you should start with, or you aren't under right place for the plan. On the day the test was finished, I went straight with several of my fellow classmates to a barbeque party. We indulged ourselves in conversations relating to the test and our plans for the coming days. After the stomach-filling dinner, I went over to my Grandma's place, where my parents, my aunt, and my uncle were in a game of Mahjong when I arrived.
It was already a tiring day, so I retired to my bed rather early.
The second day was the panicking one. I went for a long stroll on the streets in the morning since I got nothing better to do, but after coming back for lunch, I had nothing else to do other than slouching on the sofa and staring mindlessly at my cell phone screen. There was nothing else to do! I had done the dishes, wiped the tables, and even tried a twenty-minute session of Japanese sitting, which was prompted by a program on TV - needless to say, my feet were so numb I could hardly move properly afterward for more than five minutes. Other than that, I had no other ideas. I have a whole house of chores to do back home, but being there at Grandma's place, staring into the void is the most you can ever do.
This letter is uploaded a bit too late, but it will back on track by the end of the next week.
Sincerely,
Hugo

Year Three, Almost Free 21: Last Week and Growing Tension

Hello Tim!
Six days left!
It’s both... good and bad.
Good because the whole grotesque ordeal is about to be over, and that will be when we can truly breathe out a sigh of relief and perhaps, start doing the things that we didn’t have the chance to when we were dragged down under by the pressure from the tests; bad because of we don’t do well in this GSAT there is another road you can walk down, a sidewalk paved with yellow bricks you can and very likely will have to trace, just to save your horrible scores：another test. It’s actually quite different from the one we are about to take, since it will be a test for specific subjects and will be a lot more difficult. To make it more foreboding, it’s still more than a hundred days away, meaning that we will have to go through all that one more time.
Well I don’t want that.
Need to go, back to studying.
It will all be over soon.
Sincerely,
Hugo

Year Three, Almost Free 20: Almost There and Struggling

Hello, Tim!
Another fleeting week had passed, right in front of our eyes. We have sixteen pairs of hands in EHP, all with desperate grips trying to hold back Time, only forlorn and shook that It showed no signs of stopping; one more weekend and we'll have to fight face-on with the monsters in the Colosseum. If you trip, you're most likely going to fall, face-down with a mouthful of dust and given no time to rise to your knees, you'll be mauled by the proverbial beast and it will be GAME OVER. People have been arguing that a single test cannot accurately show your aptitude, and we should all be looking beyond the scores, but for now, in this generation, score still takes up a depressing proportion of one's abilities.
During the little breaks we take between studies, we would talk about what we would like to do after the test. William will be traveling to Korea with his friends, which will be his first time visiting the pop-culture-flourishing country; some would probably just stay at home for the whole day watching drama, trying to make up for the recreation-deprived lives we still are living in. As for me, I have a lot of thoughts flying in my head here and there so none of the plans are definite yet, but one thing can be sure, and that is a lot of walking and trekking around will be involved.
Yesterday the twelfth was Cathy's birthday, and we have agreed to move the celebration until after the GSAT.
It's time for sleep now.
This is all for this week.

Sincerely,
Hugo

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!

Photobombing!

Alas, fun time never goes without an end. We are back in reality. Time to study.
This is all for this week.
Sincerely,
Hugo