It dawned on me, and it came as a rather rude shock too, that I would actually be busy this week — I have to do one piece of bao4 zhang1 bao4 dao4 every day without fail by hook or by crook etc. for O level preparations (!), then my dad's birthday is tomorrow and I still haven't done up a nice card to go along with the v. cool thing I got him that came in a v. cool agnes b. paper bag (shh), and there's a chinese test tomorrow, followed by chemistry test, and then there's mock chinese paper 1 on thursday, and then on Friday I'm attending a concert, then on Saturday the juniors are having their 1st ever tournament, then I'm having physics "tuition" (why it's in scare quotes is a long and strange story), then there's yf, then I'm leading worship on Sunday, AND I'M MAKING MOTHERS' DAY DINNER AGHK and then when it's all over I'll be thankful that I've stepped down from my CCAs already.

And that was just one sentence.

The thought of doing one chinese newspaper article review per day is daunting and all I see is a corridor of emotional nullity stretching out in front of me, but for the sake of an A1, I shall deign to freakishly memorise su2 yu3 and spit them out like projectiles whenever the opportunity arises.

The EL common test today really took the cake for an entire day of boredom. The classroom was stuffy and had walls smeared with distracting colours, the table was shaky, I had a runny nose and a backache and a headache creeping up my spine, and the comprehension passages were, as usual, about mountain-climbing and visiting quaint groups of indigenous people who lead charming lives in little tents among the tall grasses, as well as other random bits and pieces of cultural trivia. There was also a Damien Hirst-esque conceptual art piece at the back of the class that paid homage to septic tanks and the physical impossibility of death in the minds of living individuals by the suspension of goldfish bodies ("emptiness"), and the opaque, green liquid filling the tank ("fulfillment"?). (I am being ironic here, Ha–Ha.)

Also, I had some time remaining, so I composed 2 poems in haiku form.


2 classroom haikus

I.
slouching on the chair
seeing four walls surround me
well, they cramp my style

II.
sated with ennui
a test paper completed
time for soi-disant zen


Time to switch to mandarin mode.

:(