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, January 28, 2003
It's been nearly a week since I've last updated, and unfortunately, there's not much that's new and exciting that I have to share with you. I've got lots of whining and complaining that I can unload here but I'll keep to a minimum in this entry today. I'll choose the Top 3 complaints to write about. =P
*sigh* After all that complaining, I'd like to share with everybody the latest novel that I have finished reading. How I found the time to finish all 700-ish pages of the novel despite all the work that I have to do and just complained about (see Complaint #2 above), is beyond me, though I suspect procrastination played an important role. =P Anyway, back to the novel: I just finished The Robber Bride by Margaret Atwood. It was a wonderful book that kept me turning the pages. It's about three women who knew each other from their days at McClung Hall, a fictitious residence hall at University of Toronto. That was twenty years ago and they still keep in touch because of one common thread-- a disastrous and destructive friendship that they all had with a woman named Zenia. The book starts with the three women's monthly lunch meeting and they each see Zenia at the restaurant-- even though Zenia was supposed to have been dead for ten years. The three women had attended her funeral. So, the novel tells the experiences of each of these very different women that they've had with Zenia. It's also a bit of a thriller because the reader is dying to know why Zenia manipulated these women and why she is still alive.
Wednesday, January 22, 2003
I took my grad photos today. I can't believe I'm graduating in June!! Four years is a long time but they really have just flown by me. I've learned so much, though not necessarily academics-related-- I've learned how to BS my way through some papers, if that counts as academic learning!! hahaha... =P No, but seriously, I think I've acquired a lot more knowledge about myself during these four years than in any other time period of my life. I've met so many different people, made so many new friends. experienced so many happy AND disappointing moments, and gained so many new perspectives on various issues...
Four years ago, I was 18 going on 19. Now, I'm only a few months away from my 23rd birthday, and I'm starting to feel the so-called "quarter life crisis". So much attention has been focused on the "mid-life crisis" but I argue, and I know a lot of you will agree, that 20-something year-olds also experience a personal identity crisis. In general, I think that quarter life crises occur because we wanna avoid mid-life crises, don't you think? I mean, as most of us graduate from university and college, a lot of us seriously wonder what we want to do next. Should we continue avoiding the "real world", and further our education or should we start working? And both choices bring on even more questions and choices. If we choose the former, the question of "In what field should I continue to pursue my studies?" comes up. In a way, it's like graduating from high school all over again because we're again torn between choosing what really interests us but won't get us good jobs or choosing to study something that is really boring but will get us comfortable jobs. I mean, if I were to pursue a Master's degree in Sociology, I can guarantee that most of you will ask me, "Well, what would you do with a M.A. in Sociology?" If I choose the latter option of working after graduation, then I will have to be careful in choosing the right career/job, so that twenty, thirty years later, I won't have to face the mid-life crisis of "Is this really what I want to be doing with my life?" And trust me, being a female makes all of this even more complicated! =P
Sunday, January 19, 2003
What would you do if you caught one of your students in your grade 2 English class cheating on an exam? I caught one of my students doing just that yesterday. She had her binder open on her lap under the desk, and was flipping through the notes when I caught her. She obviously knew that what she was doing was wrong because she had a sheepish look on her face when she looked up and saw me standing right next to her. I did not want to create a scene (I teach 6-8 year olds, remember-- they all still snicker at the mention of the word "washroom"), so I just discreetly took the binder away from her. At the end of the exam, I confronted her and told her that I was going to have to tell her parents. She looked like she was gonna cry when I said that... oh well, she should have known better. Anyway, I didn't know how to mark her paper or whether to mark it all. My co-workers all gave me different advice, some saying that I should just give her a zero, make her write the exam again, and tell her parents, while some say that I should take a huge portion of the marks off but let her off and not tell her parents since she's still young. But the stricter colleagues argued that precisely because the student is still young, she should get punished or else she won't learn... ahhhh! I didn't know whose advice I should have listened to but in the end, I just gave her zero on the pages of the exam that she cheated on but gave her marks for the work that she did on her own. She ended up failing, of course but I think I should still call her parents because I told her that I would... I HATE calling parents!!
Speaking about parents and work, I found out through gossip =P that my anal, bitchy boss (the principal of the school at which I teach grade 2 English) has a 12 year-old son! That's gossip-worthy news because she is probably 60 years-old, and has five daughters and of which the youngest one is in her early thirties! Can you imagine?? Her husband is the nicest man but she's such a domineering, arrogant, bitch, and they have SIX kids??? And don't try to convince me that the 12 year-old was a planned pregnancy! Oh, ewwwwwwwwwwwww!!!! =P Yes, I AM mature enough to be a teacher. heehee...
I went to see "Chicago" last night! (Tammy,too bad our plans to go watch a movie together last night fell through--- blame it on your friend Raymond!! Why am I not surprised that he suggested "Kangeroo Jack"?? =P) We went to see it at the Alliance Atlantis Cinema at Bayview Village-- very posh! =P Anyway, I loved the movie and all the music-- even though I fell asleep for a little bit of it, heehee, whoops. =P It wasn't because of the movie at all, just that we went to see it pretty late (10:20 pm show),I had work all day, and my contacts were in my eyes for more than 12 hours. Go see it, if you haven't it already!
Friday, January 17, 2003
I finally got around to baking that green tea cake recipe today! All was going well due to the very ordinary ingredients and the very basic baking skills that the recipe calls for. The only thing that was kinda of bugging me was that the recipe didn't say specifically how long the cake should bake for in the oven but I thought that I would be able to control the baking time by keeping an eye on it. The recipe just said to bake until the edges of the cake turn a golden brown. But, (you knew there was a "but" coming up, didn't you?) 20 minutes later in the oven, my mom asked, "Uh, don't you think that the cake is done by now? The edges aren't the only areas where it has turned brown--- the whole cake has!" =( So, I rescued my precious, once beautiful green tea cake from the oven, did the toothpick test (duh, was there any need for that? The cake has turned BROWN! ), and let it cool. How did it taste, you ask? Well, after waiting anxiously for the cake to cool down enough for me to cut it, I tasted it and I must say that it was a disappointment. =( The cake was too dry... although you can still taste the green tea. Oh well, I'll master it the next time I make it!
Here's my little rant of the day: Why do some people insist on waiting for a parking spot in rows that are the closest to the entrance to the building or mall, when all they have to do is just whip back a couple of rows, where they will find PLENTY of spots?? I am referring to Chinese malls in particular. I've always wondered about that. I went to Market Village today, and as usual, it was busy but there were still many parking spots available. Knowing from past experience that it would be a waste of time to go to the rows closest to the mall entrance, I just went straight to the further rows (not that far though), and promptly found a space. As I was walking towards the entrance to the mall, a gazillion cars were waiting for spots. I watched with half-amusement and half-disgust as these car drivers waited in vain for a spot, and then followed any person that seemed to be walking towards his/her car. Honestly, people, do you think you're saving more time by waiting and waiting for a spot close to the entrance than just going a little further back and promptly finding a spot though not as close to the entrance?? Sheesh. When I was walking towards my car later when I was leaving, I must have drove a whole bunch of those drivers crazy because I couldn't remember where I parked, and I kept on walking further and further back. heehee... there were so many spots in the row that I parked but all of the drivers were competing with each other to find spots close to the mall entrance! They'd rather fight with each other for parking spaces and cause traffic congestion....I will never understand these people.
Speaking of Market Village, have any of you gone to that new store that has opened where the Chinese movie theatre used to be? It's huge!! It's got lots of nice, pretty, and expensive fobby things! I fell in love with all the Japanese tableware, as well as their selection of Japanese origami paper. They had beautiful rice paper too, and for a few crazy seconds, I actually considered buying a package of origami rice paper that had real gold and silver flakes in it, that was selling for $10!! The most expensive origami paper that I've ever bought was for $2.99! =P The stuff in there was mad expensive---would you buy a plain, mesh pencil bag for 9 bucks? Would you buy a Winnie-the-Pooh bath mat for thirty-something dollars?? The store kinda reminded me of those department stores in HK...
My latest addiction is the mint hot chocolate mix I bought yesterday. =) It's soooo good! Perfect for warming yourself up when coming in from the crazy cold outdoors!
Saw James the other day at school--- long time no see/chat! Yes, we have known each other for a long time now, haven't we? Thanks for the ride to Eatons Centre!
Sunday, January 12, 2003
Well, I had my interview yesterday, and I am happy to say that it went well! =) The professor who interviewed me was really nice, and he made it clear right from the beginning that he was going to recommend admission to everyone he interviews that afternoon! In all fairness, I must say that my actual performance wasn't that impressive (I was too nervous and couldn't really come up with smart answers to every question he asked) but he was really nice, and even offered the "model" answers to the questions and asked if that was what I meant. =P I, of course, readily agreed with everything he said! Anyway, the worst part of the whole thing was the waiting in the room with the rest of the nervous candidates. I was early too, so the wait seemed like forever. Luckily though, the rest of the candidates were very friendly, so everybody was talking to everybody else, and so the room wasn't filled with a nervous silence.
Later in the day, a very strange and scary thing happened at home. At around 6 in the evening, I was in the basement, engrossed in "The Lovely Bones" (I mentioned this book before), my dad was out getting take-out, and my mom was in the shower. The front door wasn't locked because I was expecting my dad to be home soon. So, when I heard the front door open, and footsteps on the first floor, I thought that it was my dad. I even heard footsteps down the basement stairs because I thought that my dad was curious as to why the lights were on. I didn't say anything though because I was so caught up in my book. Then, I heard the front door open again and I thought that my dad had to go back out again. Not long after that, my phone rang and it was my next door neighbour. Laughing, she asked me if I didn't lock the front door because her friend, who meant to visit her, recognized the wrong house (our houses are nearly identical, and many a times, people have knocked on our door, looking for our next door neighbour), and came in!!! Isn't that scary?? A complete stranger had entered our house and wandered around!! Apparently, the friend thought that my neighbour was playing a trick on him, and was hiding! When he called my neighbour's number on his cell phone, he finally figured that he was in the wrong house because the phones in the house didn't ring!! The only thing I don't understand is, why didn't he ring the doorbell?? Do my neighbour's friends just enter and exit freely, just like the people on Friends?? And the scary part is, the book that I was so caught up in is about a girl who was murdered by someone who lived in her neighbourhood!! Gosh, that was scary and strange...
Anyway, moving right along, I went for my very first facial today. It was at someone's house, and I went with my mom. Do you know how long we were there for??? We got there at around 11am and didn't get home until nearly 4!! Both my mom and I were having the treatments, which is why it took so long but still...=/ I like looking good (who doesn't?) but seriously, if it takes so long to look good, I'd rather not care about it! =P I'm lazy in that way, I guess. Anyway, it got kinda uncomfortable after a while because I was lying on the cot thing for so long and I couldn't shift my body into different positions because of all the gunk on my face. Halfway into it, it got even more uncomfortable because I had to go to the bathroom so badly! =) Well, for the amount of time and different treatments she did on each of us, the fee for the whole facial wasn't really that expensive, I guess.
Oh, and I finished "The Lovely Bones" by Alice Sebold today. I highly recommend this book! It's a bit haunting (the story is narrated by a girl who had been murdered, and is telling the story from her point of view in heaven) but very moving and touching. The murdered girl watches the pain and grief her family goes through, and the different effects her murder has had on each of her family members. It is even funny too, at times. The girl also watches her killer on Earth, and learns of the sad, lonely, and extremely twisted life he leads. There is even a love story too, and that itself is very touching. Anyway, "The Lovely Bones" is definitely one of my favourite books now, so read it if you have the time! =)
Friday, January 10, 2003
I HATE SHOVELLING THE SNOW!!! argghh,... Why is there so much snow?? Why? WHY?? If any of you live in a house that's on corner, you'll understand my pain! The sidewalk along the side of my house seems to be as long as the Great Wall of China when there is 15 to 20cm of packed snow to clear! I hate our driveway too-- oh, why did we expand it to a double driveway?? The only pleasure I get from shovelling is seeing my neighbours suffer along with me-- I know, very sadistic... but, I'm back to my lonely misery when they all finish shovelling before I do, even though I was the first one out! Damn the sidewalk. =P
I'm nervous and edgy about my York interview tomorrow (for admission into the Faculty of Education, Connie, not for a job there.. =P), and subsequently, I'm in my baking mood. Yes, I'm weird, I get into a baking mood when I'm stressed... Anyway,I'm just dying to try out that Green Tea Cake recipe I found, as well as a Chinese steamed sponge cake recipe. I just need to get the green tea powder, some more cream of tartar, and confectioner's sugar, and I'm ready. =) I'm kinda feeling like coffee cake too (the not too sweet kind)... hmmm... I wonder if you can bake green tea cookies... =P
I'm in the process of reading Alice Sebold's "The Lovely Bones". Very haunting but very moving as well. I'll write more about it when I'm done reading it.
Tuesday, January 7, 2003
Well, here we are, back at the grind. =( All good times must come to an end, I guess... I must say, I really did have a good holiday, although I didn't do much exciting stuff. I got the rest and relaxation that I desperately needed, plus I got to do stuff that I wanted to do (i.e. read books that I actually WANT to read--- I read four! I know, I'm a geek... I didn't bake at all though!! My cookie press has been sitting in my cupboard for a year now, and I still haven't used it yet!! =P), and met up with my friends. I'm satisfied with that. =)
So, it was back to preschool yesterday, and I was bracing myself for another screaming, hysterical episode with the new preschool kids but... NOBODY cried!!! Even in today's class (usually the class with the most crying kids), only ONE kid cried! And nobody threw up!!! Yay! A good start to the New Year, I must say! hehehe... However, one of my preschool classes are cancelled because it wasn't advertised in the Toronto Parks and Rec book--- go figure. =/ That's ok, I'll just go in and work for an hour, I guess!
One of the novels that I read over the holidays is the latest by Maeve Binchy, called "Quentins". It was my first time reading her stuff, and while it's ok, she isn't my favourite author. It is about a young woman who, while trying to deal with a major heartbreak, decides to shoot a documentary about the legendary restaurant "Quentins" in Dublin. As she's putting together the documentary, she hears some very remarkable stories that each of the patrons at "Quentins" have. My most favourite one is the story about a woman who falls in love with a man, and follows him to Italy when he moves there. He loves her too but... he's married and has children. This woman continues to love him for twenty years, and doesn't demand anything from him. Despite her family and friends' disapproval (they think that she's disgraceful and foolish), she continues to love this man, who she considers as the love her life, without any regrets. This is so inspiring because she doesn't blame anyone and is truly happy just by being able to live close to this married man. She is the happiest person and considers herself to be lucky because she's found the man that she'll love for the rest of her life. When she moves back to Ireland to take care of her aging mother, she continues to live happily and without regrets, even though she can only find a job peeling and chopping vegetables in the Quentins kitchen. She is truly one happy woman. She later falls in love with another man-- another married man. Again, she doesn't demand anything from the man but he divorces his wife, and marries her. Although a little cheesy, I find this fictional character so inspiring. She manages to find happiness in her life even when other people are pointing fingers at her. She doesn't hold any grudges against these people who have shunned her,even though these people are her brothers and sisters. She is just happy and hasn't hurt anyone to achieve that happiness. What a good example for the rest of us!
The fourth book that I read and worth mentioning is Mary Lawson's "Crow Lake". It is a really wonderful book, and is very touching. It is about a beautiful relationship between a brother and sister. The younger sister idolizes her much older brother but a certain tragedy/event occurs that changes both of their lives. The sister can't forgive her brother for not becoming the person he had the chance to become, and her own struggles to forgive herself for achieving what she thought only her brother could have achieved. It's too complicated to describe exactly what happens in the novel but read it, if you're looking for something good and fairly short to read. As for the other two books I read, they were kinda cheesy so I won't bother writing about them here. =P
Sunday, January 5, 2003
The first snowstorm of the year! Though the roads were slippery, visibility was poor, that didn't stop me from going out with my SOC girls Friday night! =P Where did we go? Well, of course, karaoke! Hey, THEY were the ones who were dying to go karaoke, NOT (just) me, ok?? =P Driving that night was an adventure and a challenge itself, let me tell you! Nothing bad happened to me when I was driving but we witnessed a couple of scary accidents on the 404, including cars stuck in snowbanks. It was quite interesting though driving on a very snowy day--- can't tell if you're driving with the lanes. Thank goodness Cindy was sitting next to me, reminding me if I was driving within the lanes! I just thought that it was hilarious that even a snowstorm didn't stop us from going to karaoke! heehee... Actually, there were quite a lot of people at Take One... =) I did take pictures, so as soon as I'm done the film, I'll post them up!
After karaoke (in a room that seemed more like a broom closet! arggh...), we once again ventured outdoors and drove back to Fairview Mall to have dinner at Moxie's. By the time we got there, we were all starving but thank goodness Golnaz gave me and Cindy those Godiva chocolates! By the way Gol, sorry for not being able to drive you all the way back to Etobicoke, and having to make you come all the way to the Don Mills station... =(
I don't think I've ever driven so much and gone out as much I did on Friday in a snowstorm before...Before going to karaoke and dinner that night, I was woken up by my mom, informing me that we had to go to dim sum. My cousin Claire, her husband Brian, and their son Jordan surprised us by visiting us from Sweden! So, obviously, we had to go out to eat (so "Chinese" of us! hehe), so despite a snowstorm, I had to drive to First Markham Place for dim sum. I've never had a better parking experience there as I did that day--- nobody was as crazy as us, going out to dim sum amidst a snowstorm! hahaha... Anyway, I must visit Sweden soon before Claire and her family move back to Canada. Wouldn't it be great if I could travel to Europe and East Asia one summer?? =P
Back to school and work!! sniff sniff... Right now, I'm stressing over the York interview that's on the 11th-- just 6 days away! I need to prepare one "event or experience and elaborate on how this has been signficant in (my) decision to apply to a Faculty of Education". For some reason, I just cannot come up with what I can say even though I just submitted 6 applications that all asked me to write about that! My brother also came up with some possibile questions that they may ask me during the interview, so I'm also stressing over how to answer those questions... *sigh* What can't they just accept me without interviewing me?? I actually don't even wanna go there!
In attempt to calm my nerves, I took the time to take a long bath today (using the "Bath Bombs" from Lush that Moaz got me as my belated, belated birthday presents). However, I think I got a slight cold from it because instead of feeling relaxed and mellowed out, I felt slightly nauseous, light-headed, dizzy, and cold... arghh.... I hope it's nothing.
P.S. Happy Belated Birthday Miranda!! I hope you took the time to celebrate, and gave yourself a break from studying for that darned physio licensing exam. I wish we could have seen each other when you were home before you went back to McGill. =( Anyway, hope to talk to you soon!
Thursday, January 2, 2003
Happy New Year!! Welcome to 2003, a year that I hope will be kind to everyone! =) What did some of you do to celebrate the arrival of 2003? Some of us from the HK group went to Caroline's for her New Year's Eve party along with her other non-Arts & Sci friends (it was pretty scary--- about 95% of them are all engineers! heehee), and her family. Caroline, I had a great time, and the Twister game has got to be the highlight of the whole evening! Although I didn't submit myself to becoming a human pretzel in front of everyone, I had just as much fun watching Benny and those guys play! hahahaha... I laughed so hard, my voice went all hoarse and I couldn't sing karaoke afterwards. =D It's not that I didn't want to-- I just couldn't. Next time, I will sing for sure, ok? =P
I again proved my superiority in the Chinese children's game "Fei Hung Kay" at the party! (It's a board game where each of the opponents have to fly their airplanes (the chess pieces) around the board safely. The winner is, of course, the one who can finish the game first. It actually is a dumb game but hey, why not? =P) Apparently, I had played the same game at Caroline's New Year's Eve party last year and one of her friends who I played with remembers me because I had beat him... hehehe. So, this year, he vowed he'd take revenge but, alas, my superior skills were too much for him to handle! Anyway, all in all, it was a wonderful evening/night/early morning-- thanks again Caroline! By the way, have you guys finished all the leftover food yet?? =)
After coming home at around 4 am (thanks for the ride, Benny!), I didn't sleep until 5, and woke up at around 12 pm. It's been a long time since I've slept in so late, so my whole day was a little off kilter. Nonetheless, that didn't stop me from breaking out the karaoke mikes! heehee... My mom and I sang and sang until my uncle's family came over. A little while later, we all went out to hot pot. Gosh, between the dinner at Marche's, dinner at Caroline's party, and last night's hot pot dinner, I must have gained about 10 pounds!! =) Oh well, stuffing your faces is the best part of the holidays, isn't it? heehee...
By the way, what do you all think about the above picture of McDull? It's the picture for the month of January from my (expensive--ouch!) McDull calendar! =) Wait until June rolls around-- that's the best picture!!
Lastly, THANK YOU Vivian, for the Christmas card! I got it today but what you wrote inside the card was so sweet, it doesn't matter that Christmas was last week! =P Your sweet words mean a lot, so thank you! How was Christmas and New Year's in Japan? Hope to hear from you soon!
Complaint #1: I HATE the principal at the school I teach on Saturdays! That's hardly news but really, I've got to emphasize my bitterness towards this woman. On Saturday, she notified all the teachers that the next test has to be made up and in the office in TWO weeks! The kids aren't writing the test until March 22, so why the hell do we have to have it made up by February 8?? I haven't even seen the homework for the lessons that the kids will be tested on,so how am I supposed make up the questions for the test?? The kids just wrote their mid-term exam just two weeks ago (the first day back after the holidays!! I didn't plan it that way--- the psycho principal did!)!! Gosh, does she think that the teachers have nothing else to do with their lives except to work on Marilake (the school) stuff?? argghhhh....!!! I've got so much school work to do too (see Complaint #2 that follows)!! Not that she would care nor would she be sympathetic.
Complaint #2: The piles of papers, and readings to do, preparations for seminars and presentations, and the amount of studying to do for tests is CRAZY!!! Plus, I have to learn a whole different statistical package for my linguistics class--- computers and numbers are a lethal combination for this Chun Jui, man!! I'll have to master it in time though, so I can present my 20% seminar in two weeks, along with a corresponding mid-term research report (30% of my mark).
Complaint #3: Why is this winter so cold? After that oddly warm winter last year (when the flowers were starting to bloom and some poor confused birds were still here and not in the south), I'm just not used to the good, ol' Canadian winters anymore! I'm not used to having to wear at least two sweaters under a down-filled coat with the collar turned up, scarf wrapped around my neck and pulled up to cover my nose, and my winter hat yanked down as far is it will go so cover my ears. I am not used to my hair getting stuck to my face when I take off my coat inside a building with the heat jacked all the way up nor am I used to getting shocked everytime I make the slightest contact with any human being (when the preschool kids peck me on the cheek for a goodbye kiss, I get shocked--and it ain't due to electrifying passion!). I am not used to seeing our once silver car in a whitish grey shade nor am I used to having to spray and wipe the windshield every two seconds when I'm driving (never drive alongside or behind a Mack truck, a bus, or any large vehicle--- you'll run out of washer fluid even before you reach your destination!). =/
Home