The term ended yesterday, and I have one week before next term starts. There was no joy in class for the last three weeks of this term. The three hours of class each day became three hours to dread each day.
I think it started when we divided into groups for our final project. I was sitting next to a woman I've grown a little attached to this term, and I should have turned to her right away and proposed we form a group. Selfish. Instead, I thought it should be done democratically with everyone choosing their groups at once.
I ended up with the two annoying people that no one else wanted to be in a group with. Which translated into meaning I was an annoying person that no one else wanted to be in a group with. Interesting, or not, all the people in our group are leaving the class for next term, while everyone else is continuing with the same teacher in an intensive class.
On top of that, we started in on more difficult chapters and I got quickly lost. When I switch to a regular class next term, I get to choose which chapter to start on, and I plan on going back and doing those chapters again.
Truth to tell, I wasn't doing that badly. It turns out other people (of the four staying with the class/teacher), were also lost. And I ended up doing reasonably well on the final exam. Still, the grade doesn't matter to me. What matters is that I can't comfortably form the most basic of complex sentences. And I don't like the feeling in class that I have no idea what's going on and have no idea what's coming out of the teachers mouth. Ergo, switch to regular class.
I'm glad it's over. The visualization that got me through the last few days was being in a car, sliding on a huge sheet of ice, no worries, nothing I can do about it. Time is what would get me through the final exam and final project. Just do the best in the moment and not worry about what I wasn't fitting in, because there was no way I could possibly fit everything in. I told this to classmates and it turned into a helpful joke, I think. Just sliding on the ice.
End of semester shots (everyone looks so relaxed):
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| May 19, 5:21 p.m. - me and Hyun Ae chilling after class. Mystery: It looks like I'm holding my Sony Cybershot P9, with it's distinct rounded edge on one side, at the bottom left. So whose camera took this picture?!!! |
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| 5:22 p.m. - classmates. Not the woman in blue. I think she was French, maybe a friend of the Canadian guy. |
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| 7:24 p.m. - Ice Monster, Yongkang St. Hyun Ae just catching me pointing a camera at her. |
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| 7:26-7:27 p.m. - sharing shaved ice. |
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| May 22, 11:05 a.m. - Da'an Park bus station right in front of my apartment. Because it looks aesthetic? |
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| May 24, 4:29-4:30 p.m. - final day of class. French, Canadian, Japanese, Korean, British, U.S. (me), Taiwanese (teacher), Japanese. Just missing the other Taiwanese American who left early. |
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| 9:04 p.m. - why should I care if I have to cut my hair? |
1. One of These Days (I'm Going To Cut You Into Little Pieces) (Pink Floyd)
2. I Can't Imagine the World Without Me (Echobelly)
3. The Book I Read (live) (Talking Heads)
4. Symphony No. 5, I. Allegro Con Brio (Beethoven)
5. One of the Survivors (The Kinks)
6. A Bit of Earth ("Secret Garden")
7. I'm Lying (764-HERO)
8. Kono Koi wa Hard-Boiled (Dreams Come True)
9. Shave (Enon)
10. Concerto for Horn and Hardart (P.D.Q. Bach)
