a step from heaven

i've finished reading A Step from Heaven, the book that is nearly parallels Woman Warrior perfectly.. and it's REALLY alike woman warrior! just that it's much much more heartwarming because it's literally written in her own "voice", as in literally tracing her struggle through picking up the english language with her funny broken incomplete sentences. and it focused more on her abusive father and victimized but strong mom than on their difficulty transiting into the american society. but it was seriously a VERY good read. no regrets! hehe actually i read the ENTIRE book on tuesday(the day before my lit paper) hahah i was nuts la reading this book instead of my lit text. hee

here's the part of the book i like best!
During these months, the only act that gives me comfort is rinsing the evenign rice, my daily chore. i add the water to the pot of rice and push the hell of my hand against the rough grains. Push, swirl. Push, swirl. almost instantly a white cloud of starch rises up and turns the water opaque. Murky. The grains disapear. For a moment, it seems like all that stands in the pot is a confusion of dirty water. But if i reach underneath the cloud, feel around, there the are. Tiny seeds waiting to be rinsed and exposed like nuggets of pearls.

of course i dont draw emotional strength and comfort from washing rice the way she does but there's definately something therapeutic about washing rice! tt is why i like to cook rice. and i was so happy and amazed to realize that there is something more to the washing of rice than what it appears. i never thought any further about the rice i wash besides watching the water turn white so magically.

i'm so glad the bulk of the prelims exams is over! what a huge relief, im so glad He was there to drag me through :) i discovered i REALLY enjoy literature so much, especially when i'm studying the books that i like! namely all the ones that mr booth teaches.. i really like them!!! i cant tell you what i like about lit because i like everything about it! writing essays are seriously tiring but i really did enjoy myself even though i have realized some of what i wrote was totally out. im even considering taking literature in Uni though unlikely cos it's not a practical n wise choice. i dont look forward to teaching for the rest of my life. oh yea and lit is so easy to study, meaning it doesnt require as much effort as all the other subj, like GEOG. phoo. hee i was thinkin ya knoe God seperated us all and gave us all different languages and look at us we end up with so many conflicts among ourselves. BUT we were given the gift of so many beautiful languages! can you imagine our loss if we never knew english or chinese or french or korean? haha okay there are many others but those four are my most favourite:)

ya noe everyone's saying that us jc students look so bushed and bummed and tired and full of fatigue, which i really really am. i was on the brink of giving up my restrain from collapsing by friday evening at cell. but thenn riteeee.. when i think about it, i truly dont deserved to be comforted or praised for working so hard so that im so freakin tired. because the reason for my fatigue is because i've been lacking slp the whole week because i've been pushing my brains beyond its limit which was actually the result of me doing extra things that i shouldnt be doing! like reading a whole novel in the middle of prelims. or combing through the newspaper for hours falsely comforting myself that i am gaining knowledge that will give me an edge over others. like wasting A LOT of energy on the piano. which resulted in me burning a whole gallon of midnight oil. SO...hmm... yea

anw im glad the momentum's FINALLY going! my engine's all ready to go full blast!!
God bless everybody with the strength and wisdom to sustain us through the next couple of months :)