In this page, you will get to explore the mind, events and feelings of a Chun Jui... ok, fine, judging from the past 22 years, my life is far from what you call "eventful" (in fact, "dull" might the be more appropriate adjective) but I'll try to keep my entries interesting!
Tuesday, December 31, 2002
The very last day of 2002! Would you say that you had a good year, an exciting year, a boring or unhappy year? As I look back at this year, I honestly can't think of anything really exciting that has happened to me. It wasn't a bad year either, just a little dull and uneventful. There were little bumps and wrinkles but luckily for me, those got resolved pretty smoothly. Essentially, 2002 was a safe, and stable year for me, which I really can't and shouldn't complain about. But, no one is ever really satisfied with what they have, so I kind of wish that 2002 was a little more exciting. Because honestly and without sounding whiny, the days that I was really, truly happy were very few... those who know me very well would probably know why that is. So, my New Year's Resolution and wish is that 2003 would bring me more happiness. At the very least, I really hope that I can find ways to make myself more happy. =/ Anyway, I must count my blessings too because 2002 brought me, my family, and my friends good health, and all those I love are still with me. Sorry for the corniness! =P
Last night, I finally met up with the HK gang after four, long months!! Last time I saw them was when we went to CNE in August! Anyway, our plans for skating at Nathan Phillip Square had to be cancelled/postponed because of the rain.. =( I was really looking forward to skating with my friends! But, we decided to meet up anyway for dinner at Marche's at BCE Place. It was a good and enjoyable evening. =) Tonight, we'll be seeing each other again at Caroline's for New Year's Eve celebrations-- I'm looking forward to that! Oh, by the way, I must send out another THANK YOU to Moaz who got Caroline to give me my very, very belated birthday present! hahaha... Thank you Moaz but honestly, you really didn't have to! It was very sweet of you though. =D Hope you're having a wonderful time with Courtney!
I made some chocolate truffles for tonight's party--- hope they turn out ok! Happy New Year, everyone!!
Thursday, December 26, 2002
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!! Did everyone have a good one? I had an ok celebration at Mika's house. It was a little awkward cuz I don't know the rest of her relatives but oh well, I was there for the food. hahaha... No, it was nice of them to invite me and I enjoyed watching a movie on their brand new, 46-inch TV! =D
Christmas Eve was spent at my uncle's and I had a great time there. My little cousin, Jeffrey, is absolutely adorable! Christmas morning was, of course, all about opening the presents under the tree. Now, I know this may come across as sounding very goody-goody but I think I liked the part when I gave my family their presents better than my own receiving of presents. I guess it's because I spent a lot of time and thought into buying their presents, and I just was really excited to see their reactions when they open them. Anyway, I DID get some really good gifts from my family, especially the portable MP3/WMA/CD Player from my brother, and a pair of earrings from my parents! I felt guilty though, cuz I know both of these presents cost a lot of money... =( THANK YOU!!
For some reason, Christmas this year seems different to me. I can't exactly put my finger on it but I don't know, it just doesn't seem as exciting or full of magic as it used to be for me. Maybe it has something to do with the aging process... =P. The only thing that I was really looking forward to was my giving my family their presents on Christmas morning. I wasn't even that excited about getting gifts. Actually, I didn't really care if I got any presents for some reason... I'm not depressed or anything, just indifferent. It's just that this year feels a lot more empty than before... I mean, I have plenty of plans with friends and family, so it's not that. It just doesn't feel as magical anymore-- I don't know how to explain it.
The one really fun thing that I did this week was KARAOKE with my brother on Monday night! =D Again, we went for 4 hours non-stop! hahaha... Apparently, everybody thinks that this is absolutely hilarious, and according to one friend, it's even "cute". Umm, no, not "cute", but I will admit that my brother and I are dorky! =) (Well, more so my brother than me, of course!)
Anyway, I still haven't heard from a few of you yet-- you know who you are-- so call me or email me soon!
Monday, December 23, 2002
Here is a very good quotation I found in my horoscope for today: "Loving the right person at the wrong time is the same as loving the wrong person." Very interesting... I think I agree. What do you think?
Hey everybody, I got an interview from York! =P It's on January 11, the first day back at Marilake (the school I teach grade 2 English at).... I was totally dreading having to ask the principal for a day off (she almost made every teacher sign a statement saying that they would never miss a day of work! How anal is that???) and I was totally prepared to put up a fight if she refused but she was surprisingly co-operative and even wished me good luck! Wow.... I was even ready for her to fire me because I personally don't really care anymore for that job anyway but, it wasn't that bad... Anyway, I'm very, very nervous about the interview--- I hope it goes well!!
A couple of thank-you's: Moaz, thanks for the e-card! I wish that you would still be in TO for our HK group get-together on the 30th.. I still need to give you that puzzle!! =P But, have a great time with Courtney! Jane, thanks for the cute McMug e-greeting!! =) I can't wait until I see that picture you took of the McMug store in HK! heehee... Thanks for taking a picture for me. I hope you're having a great time shopping in HK, and visiting all those places we went to last year! =)
Thursday, December 19, 2002
YAY! I got an A for that darned Linguistics paper I kept on complaining about!! =D So, my final mark for that course was an A too! =P I sure worked my butt of for it, though... =/
Anyway, on Tuesday, I finally saw Kathryn! The last time I saw her was in June, on my birthday. Anyway, we were going to watch "Maid in Manhattan" but we had too much Christmas shopping to do and didn't make it to the movie... oh well, I got the majority of the shopping done (I don't even want to know how much money I spent!! Let's just say my debit card got a lot of action! =P). I still need to get some toys for my little cousins, a present for my best friend, and that's it. Kathryn and I ended up spending 3 or 4 hours in a packed Eaton Centre... even my most comfortable boots didn't help--- my feet were killing me when I finally got home.
I finally attempted to clean out my room yesterday... can you believe I ended up clearing out four big, garbage bag fulls of old clothing?? My closet is a lot looser now and so are my drawers. It took forever but it felt very satisfying. No longer ashamed of my room, hahaha... =)
A shoutout: Kat, I hope your date with you-know-who goes very, very well tomorrow! YOu're gonna have to tell me everything, ok?? I'm so happy and excited for you!!
Monday, December 16, 2002
I think the past month's grind and gruel have fried enough of my brain cells for to me to seriously wonder if I'm losing it. On Saturday, I've forgotten and misplaced enough things enough times (including leaving my key in the front door when I came home from work, yet again). Sunday... Sunday... I can't even remember what kinds of stupid things I did on Sunday, that's how bad my memory is becoming! Today, when I was delivering a few Christmas presents, I accidentally dropped off the wrong present for the wrong person! How embarrassing is that?? Uh, sorry, but I can get your present back? I gave you the wrong one... Of course, it wasn't until I was halfway home before I realized that and I had turn around and go back. =/
I hope this not true but I have a feeling I'm getting sick. =( I felt it on Saturday: I was in the middle of teaching when all of a sudden, the floor seemed to slant downwards at an extreme angle. The room started to float around me but I caught myself by holding on to the edge of the desk before I fell down in front of my class. Now, my nose and my throat feel a little weird-- both always the first indicators of a cold or flu for me. =( No, no, no, no!! I can't get sick now when I get to chill out and do fun things!!!
Any of you drive today?? The traffic was insanely slow!!! After dropping off my dad at work at Major Mack and 404, it literally took triple the amount of time it usually takes for me to get to work! The traffic on southbound Warden was congested right up to Major Mack! It took me about half an hour to go from Hwy. 7 to 14th Ave.! I really did not need to step on the accelerator, I just simply released the brake everytime there was room for me to move up! In fact, the speedometer didn't even register my speed, I was going so slow! Yet, why do people still honk their horns? Do you NOT think I would go faster than less than 20 km/hour if I could??? Sheesh. Of course, I was late for work, just by 15 minutes, but oh well. Only four kids showed up anyway today for preschool.
Speaking of preschool, a former preschool student (now in JK), came to surprise me the other day! It was really sweet because she kept on bugging her parents to drive her to give me a Christmas present! She gave me many big bear hugs but just remained silent with a shy smile. =) Her parents told me that although the little girl was doing well in JK she just isn't opening up like she did when she was in my class at preschool. =) Another reminder why I love my job so much! =P
Tuesday, December 10, 2002
I'M DONE!!!!!! I'm offically done all schoolwork for 2002!!!!! AND, I survived! Boy, this past month, especially these past few weeks sure have been hellish. I finally handed in that linguistics paper yesterday! Gosh, I don't think I've ever worked so hard on a paper before! For three nights in row, I'd sleep at 5:30, nearly 6:00 am on it. Yet, I've only managed to fill up 18 out of an expected 20 pages... oh well, I don't care anymore--- I've done the best I could! Why did it take so long? Well, this paper wasn't of BS nature like some past papers I've done-- instead, this one was quantitative, meaning I had to calculate tons of stats! I don't ever want to count another number in my life again!!! Gosh, every time I counted a bunch of responses, I'd get a different number! I thought I was gonna go crazy... Even in my drems, when I finally did get some hours of sleep, I'd see numbers and I'd be trying to count them!! arghhh..... anyway, THAT'S over with now!
So, now that I'm officially on my holiday break (from school anyway-- I still have to work a few more days), what should I do with myself? Well, I'm planning to clean out my room (hahahaha!!!), bake a whole lot of cookies (finally gonna use the cookie press I bought LASt Christmas, and the Silpat mat I got for my birthday this year), watch some movies, read a bunch of (interesting) books, get a haircut (goodbye to my very long hair!!), perhaps get another hole pierced in each of my ears (still a "maybe")... and... I guess chill out, in general! Oh yeah, and meet up with my long-missed friends!! =) I should probably start on a New Year's Resolution too--- although I've never stuck with any of them in previous years.... Maybe I should come up with more realistic ones, instead of resolving that I would get a CGPA of 4.0!! =P (In my next life, maybe.)
Guess what I bought today??? =D A 2003 McDull calendar!!! It was really expensive but I ended up buying it anyway... =P I felt really guilty for spending that much money on a calendar but when I got home and looked at the pictures inside, I was so glad I bought it--- it's SOOOOO cute!!! =P The pictures are excellent and McDull looks really adorable in swimming trunks, a lifesaver, swim cap, and sunglasses, wading in a pool for the month of June!! =D The theme for the calendar is "If I Was Really Goodlooking, I Would..." heehee...
I also a bought a few novels from Chapters. I spent so much money today! I also bought a couple of rings too-- but one of them is for my mom, is that doesn't count! =P I guess I'm just too happy that I'm finally on holidays!!=)
Lastly, Sabrina, take good care of yourself while in Korea. Stay strong and have faith-- everything will be ok, eventually. Email me or text message my cellphone! Let me know when you get back and we will have a nice, long chat, okie?
Wednesday, December 4, 2002
I got the biggest scare last night that caused me to have bad dreams, and made me worried sick until early afternoon today. I've never experienced anything like it and boy, am I SOOOO glad that everything turned out ok. To everyone who I know and care about: PLEASE take good care of yourself! If you're every unhappy about ANYTHING, talk to someone about it-- I'm always someone you can talk to! *phew* Anyway, I hope to hear from YOU soon and maybe you can tell me what happened!
I have a 20 page research paper due on Monday, worth 2/3 of my credit, and I've only written one paragraph-- the introduction!! I'm soooo dead!!! I'm so exhausted, and I just wanna sleep.... I managed to waste precious time though by procrastinating and watching the two-hour long episode of "The Amazing Race"! Well, the show itself wasn't a waste of time but now I feel guilty for not have used that time to do more work on the paper... =( The show was really, really good though!! It was so exciting and it got me sitting on the edge of my chair. Boy, I don't think I'd ever be able to take part in something like that! The physical and emotional strength involved--- not just anyone can do it!
Jane, I hope you will use the Veeko coupon when you go to Hong Kong in a few weeks! Don't worry about getting me something with it, you just use it for yourself, okie? I don't mind at all!! =) Lucky you, you get to go back to HK--- have a great time and remember to visit and take pictures of Lee Hysan, RC Lee, the 7-Eleven, and HKU!! And, yes, it was the 40 M bus, ok? Don't remember any other buses though.... and good luck with the red top mini-vans too. hehehe
Monday, December 2, 2002
DECEMBER!! ALREADY!!! That means we only have 29 days left of 2002! And what have I done this past year? Uh, nothing much, it seems! Nothing INTERESTING, that is. =P God knows how boring my life is (so do you people who read this journal regularly!)... Maybe I shouldn't complain so much about my life. It's not that bad...just boring. It's a blessing, I guess to have such a stable and steady life but I feel old but young at the same time. Does that make sense? I feel old because I feel like I haven't done much stuff that young people my age does, yet I feel young because I know I've been too wrapped up in my own, safe little world for so long, and haven't seen the "real" world yet. Maybe that trip to Hong Kong could count as my first step in seeing the world? Because that trip meant so much to me personally. There's no need for me to rehash all the details here but those memories are still very much alive in my mind! Whether that is a blessing or not (my crystal clear memories, I mean), I still don't know. It's good that I remember so much so clearly because that means I still remember how much fun I had but it's also saddening too because it was so much more fun there than here!! =P Contradictions of a young woman....
Anyway, what have I been up to? Well, I've been going insane with all these papers and tests, not to mention teaching applications! Plus, work from my teaching job on Saturdays too! I'm not officially a teacher yet but I already know that I HATE marking!! It takes up so much time and it gets me annoyed when I see the same mistakes being made on each of the kid's homework (Don't you read the instructions?? You're supposed to CIRCLE the right answer, not underline!!! Circle the NOUNS, not the VERBS!!!, etc. )...hehehe. Why do profs give us so much work?? Why do they keep us so busy that we don't even have the time to enjoy what we're studying?? Or is that not their concern? Probably not. Anyway, I know I'm not the only one who's suffering from all this insanity, so GOOD LUCK to all of you who are going to write exams, papers, assignments, lab reports, etc., etc.
Now, on to a totally different subject: pressure for women to be thin. Why is the look of starvation/poverty/famine considered to be beautiful in this wealthy, conspicuously consuming part of the world? Now, I must admit, I am guilty of also wanting to be thin as well but it is not an obsession for me. When I see the millions of people dying of starvation in parts of this world and then I think about how so many women who starve themselves by choice just to look good, I get angry. It also makes me sad because Western culture is now so wealthy and people are either dying from obsesity or from excessive dieting. We think we are more advanced than Third World countries, yet we've only shown that we have actually regressed. We have money and education, yet choose to pursue such tragic "fads" and beliefs--- beliefs that lead us to mistreat our own bodies. If we do not know how to respect our bodies, of what use is all the money in the world and high levels of education to us? It seems to me that we're still stuck in the period before the Enlightenment, when superstitions and ridiculously stifling beliefs ruled the day. Believing that being underweight is beautiful is like believing the world is flat. We should be grateful that we have food to nourish us. We should not indulge ourselves in gluttony nor should we deny ourselves one of the most basic survival needs, food. I know someone who has an eating disorder and it breaks my heart to hear that person say that food is her worst enemy. I risk sounding like a cliche but I really, really mean this: You are beautiful and you don't need to be skinny in order to prove that you are. Please be good to yourself!
Anyway, it's 1:30am, and I need to go back to my studying. =( To those I haven't seen or heard from in a LONG time (no names mentioned! =P), contact me! A short email or a quick phone call is just fine because we're all busy but it would be really great to hear from all of you! I promise we'll all see each other once we hit the holidays, ok? Can't wait!!
I went to my very first Raptors game last night at the ACC! It certainly was very, very different from watching it on TV. Although definitely not a basketball expert, I thought that last night's game was very exciting to watch especially in the last part of it when the Raptors tied it up with the Lakers and went into overtime. Of course, the consensus among all the players and all the screaming Raptors fans was that it shouldn't have gone into overtime in the first place if the shot by Mo Pete was counted as a 3-pointer instead of a 2-pointer... but the Raptors made some very dumb mistakes too. Anyway, the important thing was, the Raptors scored over 100 points which meant that everybody got a free slice of pepperoni pizza from Pizza Pizza! hehehe...
Home