School's back on Monday

13th October 2007
Saturday

What a random evening. I have my previous tuition teacher suddenly calling me and asking if I am at Xinmin for some Alumni stuff. Then after a little bit of chatting, I found out that she was also from Xinmin! Such a small world. But it is kind of weird that it took me more than 3 years to find out.

Well, Xinmin has a long history. And with hundreds of students graduating each year, I find it hard to walk on the streets without bumping into someone who has either graduated from there or knows someone from there. And as always, I am proud of being from there.

Well, this blog post is long overdue. Time to write something which might interest you I hope. I guess this post will be one long summary of the entire holiday.

To start things off, here is something to entertain you. Watch the video and then continue reading.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fS9--cmJUmI

Cool?

Right. Back to my post.

School is starting on monday. After a 2 months break. Wow! Two months! Are you guys envious or what? But speaking truthfully, a long holiday is a bad thing. Firstly, you lose out on the few scraps of new knowledge that you know you will not be using. Secondly, you lose out on that cute girl which you always meet on the bus. Thirdly, you have one less reason to stick out your hand and ask for pocket money. Last on the negative list is the upset of balance within the body. Notice how day turns to night and night turns to day during holidays?

Sounds bad? Nevertheless, holidays are good opportunities to work and learn new stuff and make new friends. Holidays are good for clearing all the dramas and animes that you have downloaded but do not have the time to watch them. (One thing to take note of though, the dramas and anime will never get cleared completely. As you finish watching one title, another title is in your download list. The cycle keeps going on and on. And soon, your PC will be running out of space.)


My dive buddy is back from China! Now we can look at more diving trips, and hopefully a dive at the Singapore Underwater World with the sharks or dugong. I heard its a hell lot of fun there. But it is expensive as well. Sheesh. Why does my interests always have to be so taxing on my wallet?

I seriously can't get enough of the sea, so now I am into fishing as well! Maybe I will stick on with this new hobby, or maybe it will die out. I have no idea about how it will turn out. But fishing is fun! Even when nothing bites, it still is a great way to hang out with buddies with a pack of cold beer to go along.



During the holidays, I have become some sort of a counsellor to a few of my friends. It was okay in the beginning, but as time went by, my positiveness (which friends would know I have quite a small quantity of it) seem to have been drained by all the gloomy stuff I heard. Now I understand how frustrating it was for my friends to see me with a constant negative value for mood. No matter how much sunshine you pour into them, it just gets sucked in like a black hole. And the black hole just keep on sucking more out of you.


Well, over the past few days, I have made a realisation that whatever happened in the past happened in the past. And if we allow the past to be brought into the present, then we would be living in the past. Not the present. So in order to be living in the present, we have to let go of our past. But that is again in conflict with what we were taught. 饮水思源. It means that you remember the sources of the water as you drink it. (In other words, being thankful for your past.) Conflict?

Holidays are ending soon. I still cannot get that statement out of my head. If there is a hot chick in my class, I would be more than willing to get back to school. Problem is, there isn't any. No, I am not complaining about the girls in my class here. They are wonderful people. But not my type.

Oh, did I mention that I went to the library twice this month? No, not to pay fines. To borrow books. And I managed to grab hold of a copy of "Tuesdays with Morrie." Really interesting book. It totally lived up to my expectations after hearing so much about it. So, here's my recommended book of the week.

Tuesdays with Morrie
Morrie's are the most basic lessons, but in a world full of cynicism, consumerism, and disenfranchised people, they need to be given again and again: Take time to stare out the window instead of at your computer screen. Laugh. It's natural to die. Love is how you stay alive. The lessons he give are simple. Yet many of us do not realise the importance of it.

Taken from a CNN book review:

"Tuesdays with Morrie" (TWM) is more than just a dying man's last words. It is an inspirational recount of a man's life -- a man whose passion for the human spirit has continued to live long after his last breath.

Some of Morrie's greatest insights are his views on how our culture plays into our lives. He spent his life creating his own culture, listening to his heart and doing what was right for him, versus what was right by society's standards. One problem he sees is that we tend to see each other as dissimilar rather than alike. We are taught to be independent and unique, but in reality we all have the same needs. He emphasizes investment in people, not things. When all is said and done, we will be
remembered not by our bank accounts or stock portfolios, but by the time we
spent listening to a friend or helping a family member.

Take a look around you and breathe in deep. You live only for the moment.

Oh, and quit staring at the computer screen. You have a life to get on with.