mindfield

Feeling a lil bit like the song's title. Well, it's being played right now by the browsing centre's operator. But yeah, it fits the mood.

It's a holiday today in Indonesia and I didn't go to work (to all Buddhists all over the world, may this Waisak day benefits your relationship with the entire beings in the planet.)
I spent the day practically lolling around my bedroom and the living room. Watched some MTV and VH1 (hoorah to the latest TV repairmen, finally we've got MTV!!!)
Emo is big nowadays. Most of the songs I listened to were the anguish-laden kinds. I love those kind of songs!

But as always, holiday (and those emo songs) brought a dose of blue. There used to be a time where I'd be looking forward to holidays because holiday meant meeting him.
A friend had commended me on "having guts" to simply severe ties; eliminating any other chances of communication with him in the future but then, there were times when I wasn't so sure about it myself.

Whenever I thought about him, I had to wonder if it was sentimentality kicking in or there was something worth contemplating in those thoughts.
Hhhh.

Oh, well. I've got this FCE test coming up early next month, also I've got to make up my mind about where to move. Been looking around though not as many as it sounded just then. The total number of places I'd checked was 2 *cringe* I've got many other possibilities but have yet to visit each and every one.
Passing the FCE test (First Certificate of English - it's the British equivalent to US's TOEFL, I've been told) is a requirement I need to fulfill in order to get the Regular status. Am now a Junior 1.

I've gotten good score for the mock test we underwent during the training but then the mock test didn't include oral interview and, if I'm not mistaken, writing. I don't worry much about writing - any self-respecting aspiring writer would think nothing of it *wink* It's the oral interview part.

Dealing more with keyboard previous to the job placed my fluency a bit on the rusty side. It was only lately that I'd managed to train myself to orally determine between HOW MANY and HOW MUCH. It's no problem whatsoever with native speaker but I had that for some time and it simply killed me. A teacher and my tongue can't differenciate between that?!! Thus I drilled myself to always watch out for it.
And am happy to tell you that I'd managed it. Hah.

My motivator had been one of my students, Deni. He's my darling in my previous Inter 2 class, although I didn't think he realised that. He's got what I like to call English sense. Either he was exposed to English very early in life or he really likes English and uses just about any chance he's got to contemplate the language; it seems as though he would know instinctively when something is wrong and what's correct to say or write.

Anyway, this class had been lively, funny and bright. The only thing lacking is that they totally declined speaking English. Despite the intermediate level of English I used when I talked to them, they'd just automatically answer in Bahasa. What got to me was that they were able to understand everything, I repeat everything, I said in English, yet they stubbornly, albeit out of habit, used Bahasa.
The only English ever spoken in that class (by the students) were Haris admonishing a cell-phone ringing during a test, "Silent, please," and Deni asking How much? when I told him he needed to pay for a new Report Card after he'd lost his. A total of four words but if only they knew how encouraged I was after that! *laugh*

Changing the subject, I'd put off finding out about what Clay is doing for some time and finally got the time to do it today. Well, he's still thriving out there!!! Which is a bit surprising. I didn't doubt him but as everybody can tell you, the show business is not exactly a playground.
Found this amazing article which drives my point home. The "Idol" show throws you out there but who knows what happen afterward? Look what happen to Charles Grigsby, Carmen what's-her-name, Justin Guarini... D'you even remember what they look like?

Yet Clay managed to get past all that and build a career of his own. Yahoo, Clay! Go out there and sing, let me be the teacher.
Although yeah, I am not as patience as you were.

I saw this in a site I vistied earlier and decided that this is a good topic. I mean, well, Likes and Dislikes isn't exactly a mind-challenging theme of discussion but I like the absurd, mundane things I saw on those lists I read in the aforementioned site and thought I'd do the same.

I like the smell of crisp, fried onion. It's the best thing in the world. It makes every food even better, even gives satisfaction when you're only cooking - as opposed to not eating. Yet.

I like the colour orange on a T-shirt. Either stripes, bold blocking orange or pattern... orange is the best! Especially on velvet or best-quality corduroy. Mmm.

I dislike the font Times New Roman. It's the ugliest thing next to silicone-shaped breast. My own PC was set to use Trebuchet MS as a default font, sometimes Arial, lately Century Gothic. NEVER Times New Roman.

I dislike smoking people. I don't care if they want to kill themselves or whatever, just don't bring me along. The thing about cigarette smoking people is that they don't realise how much the smokes bother us, the non smoking community.

I like Chad Michael Murray. I don't think there's any explaination needed.

I like these traditional snacks people in Jakarta called lepet. In Ambon, we called it Nasi Pulut Bambu. It's basically rice cooked in coconut extract, peppered with red beans and then grilled inside a bamboo. Delicioso!

I dislike women who're whiny and like to hear their own voice. Last night I met one of them. I was wolfing down a dish of soto ayam when this terrible whining voice rose from right next to me, admonishing her boyfriend of the stupidest things imaginable. Like, her boyfriend was bantering with the soto ayam vendor guy and she was telling him off, "Darl, but you musn't do that. You've got to pay!"
Oh, come on. Like he was serious about not wanting to pay.

I like my bedroom at 5 AM where everything is cool and I'm in deep under the covers.. and don't have to wake up until three hours later.

I like grey T-shirt. You know, the heather colour. The one you see the army's wearing all the time. Don't ask me why. I just do.

I love pineapple!!!

I dislike instensely people who's desperate for other people to know that they're such a busy, important person that they talk extremely loudly on their cell phone. Especially when they add another desperate comments like, "I knew everything would gone wrong the minute I left!" Or such other moronic pathetic attempt to look super. When I heard of such going-ons, the tendency I'd got was to snatch the phone away, throw it out of the window and tell Mr All-Important to please be quiet. (After all, I'm a teacher. Need to show some good manners.)

I like flat, strappy sandals. Too bad I haven't found a pair that I like.

I like answering Qs circulated on Friendster's Bulletin Board.

... and I like blogging, of course.