To go or not to go to school...

In case there's a typhoon and you're not sure if classes are suspended, you can do one of two things:

1) Call the Ateneo trunkline at 4266001

2) Visit the Ateneo website for announcements.

From 100 to 99

A quiz almost every week. That's the standard my Chinese language teacher has set to ensure that we finish the course equipped with the skills to speak conversational Mandarin. The first time, I got a perfect score, 100/100. I had all the time in the world to study since grad school had not started yet. The second time, I got a 99/100. It was the time I was (well, still am) juggling time between studying for my MA and practicing my Mandarin. I will have a test again next week, and I really hope my test score won't follow a steady downward trend.

On a brighter note, there was a scene in "My Girl" last Friday where Jasmine (played by cutie pie Kim Chiu) went back to her old job as tour guide, after being fired by Julian (played by the gorgeous Gerald Anderson--but you know that already), and guess what--she was tour guide to a bus full of Chinese tourists! I was passively watching when Jasmine/Kim opened her mouth to speak the tourists' native language, and lo and behold, I understood most of it! Isn't that amazing? I can now understand some simple Mandarin! Congratulate me.

Because I prepared for class the night before

I missed an episode of "My Girl," you know, that Koreanovela turned Kim Chiu- and Gerald Anderson-starrer. I was supposed to stop reading the assigned materials for tomorrow's class at about 9-ish so that I could watch my guilty pleasure, but no, I lost track of time. I (shocker!) actually enjoyed the reading materials. Note that I studied for the supposedly boring class. But I admit that I was wrong. The class rocks!

When it rains in Ateneo…

1. Students have an excuse for coming to class late.

2. Umbrella sales at the A-Shop (located at Xavier Hall, near the ATM) soar.

3. Corollary to number 2, people walking around campus hold identical blue umbrellas with the Ateneo logo prominently displayed.

4. There’s a traffic jam at Katipunan from about 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. (approximately).

5. Some parts of Katipunan get flooded.

6. It’s an opportunity for people to show off their jackets.

7. It’s a great time to buy A-Shop’s sporty jackets…with the obligatory Ateneo logo, of course.

8. You crave for goto (or anything hot) either at AMPC or Blue and Gold.

9. Tricycle drivers refuse to take in passengers, citing traffic as an excuse.

10. If you’re a student and it rains heavily, you hope classes will get suspended. If you’re an employee and it rains heavily, you hope you’ll be dismissed early (usually at 3:00 p.m.)

*You're free to add to the list

Library guard is now fashion police, too

I tried to enter the library today to borrow a book I need for my class, but was promptly (but politely) turned away by the guard on account of my slipper-shod feet. Grrr. Elitista, elitista! (Elitist, elitist!)

Joke. Sort of.

First day of MA classes tomorrow

First day of my MA classes tomorrow. Of the two subjects I signed up for, the class tomorrow is the boring one. I figured taking one boring class and one exciting class every semester will balance things out and keep me sane.

However, I can't name the boring subject in my blog for fear of being found out. And to be fair, I won't name my exciting class either.

Half of me feels excited, while the other half feels anxious. My goal is to get the best grades possible. A very big part of me believes that this will be my ticket to my dreams, you know, to how I believe my life should be lived, according to God's terms.

A friend, who's studying to become a Jesuit, once said that like him, the Ateneo may be my own "novitiate." This might be the perfect place to realize my dreams. And maybe he's right. I'm learning a lot here: photography, Photoshop, Japanese, Chinese, Communication, film-making, video editing, respect, humility, conscientiousness, excellence, love.

My Basic Chinese 2 class, meanwhile, is giving me a headache. But in a good way. I am up to the challenge. Years from now, it MIGHT be THE lingua franca. And years from now, I will be thankful for the foresight that God's spirit has given me.

I don't feel so confident about my bad Mandarin anymore

I think I perfected the test yesterday. It was easy enough. Only 11 items. I finished the test in about one and a half minutes. I commend myself for taking the time to memorize my new Chinese words every morning. I'm just not sure if I could keep this up once I start my MA classes. I have two this semester.

I worry about my pronunciation. My new teacher has a very good ear. He can tell when we pronounce the wrong tones in Chinese words. You should know that in Chinese, pronouncing a word in the wrong tone means saying a totally different word. Should I just keep my mouth shut? Should I start using flash cards to communicate?

I thought I was good with accents. My teacher in Basic Chinese 1 said I can already go to China. Maybe not yet. Practice, practice.

Enrollment done in less than 3 hours!

So...I just finished enrolling for the first semester of school year 2008-2009. And I did it in less than 3 hours. How amazing is that?

When I was in college (about five years ago), each enrollment period lasted for 1 to 1 1/2 days. Eeek. But registration has gone a long way, I see. Now it's down to three hours--or less, if I didn't dilly-dally around EDSA Walk, wondering why the heck I'm finding some of those college volunteers cute. I'm way, way to old for these kids!

Ok, maybe not too old. But still, old enough to be their big sister or something.

So anyway, I still found those three hours tiring. The last step at enrollment was to have my ID picture taken. I thought of doing it the next day, when my face is all made up and fresh and my hair is brushed to a sheen. But no, practicality (or is it sloth?) got the better of me, so I decided to throw vanity to the wind and just go for it. The result: A digitally captured me sporting a shiny face and unkempt hair. Ewww. I didn't care about it at the time, but now that I'm a lot saner and well-rested, I do.

I'm saying this because I look good in my ID pic for work. I made an effort to look nice, so I don't mind showing it to people when needed. But my school ID...urgh.

But let us not get too vain here. People go to school to learn, not to be picture-perfect. I should bury my head in my books.

On a brighter note, enrollment was done in less than 3 hours! That's the thing.

First day of Basic Chinese 2 class

Basic Chinese 2 doesn't seem basic at all. Yesterday, at the start of my class, my head ached from the deluge of new words I had to learn. I will have to start going through my notes every morning so I'd remember them. My teacher said he'll test us regularly so we'll learn fast and be able to converse in decent Mandarin in no time. But despite the challenge looming before me, I must say I like my new words. Why? Because they're all about food, a topic that's close to my heart. And tongue. And tummy. So I must learn those words pronto because my teacher said something about taking the class to a Chinese restaurant to eat actual Chinese food in the future. Squee!!! Bring it on!!!