Diary of an Asian Kid

15 Feb 2011

15 February 2011, Tuesday

Still had assembly this fine rainy morning. Part two of the anti-bullying campaign. I ended up in the first row, along with Ben, again. For some reason, he started calling me 'Snowball'. I suppose I should be relieved, as he and Alice both call each other "God of Bad Luck" (they were classmates sometime in primary. He's one of the boys who have told her he likes her. Seriously. I don't know if he still remembers it). It sounds much better in Chinese, as it has only two words (sui shen).

A woman, some supervisor for our district, Daan, came to give us a speech about bullying. Again. Do they think it doesn't sink in the first, I don't know, about a dozen times?

I only paid attention when there was a Q and A with presents if you get the correct answers. The rest of the time was spent daydreaming or talking with Ben.

The first question was, "What law does a person break when he demands 'protection money' out of other students?" We learned about law in 8th grade civics, so when I saw that no one was answering, I immediately raised my hand. I know, I have an addiction to answering questions during Q and As that have presents. Always have, ever since primary school in Singapore, that I remember, anyway. Probably always will.

The answer was "Intimidation and Extortion", which I answered correctly. I got a pair of cheap earphones, that I didn't really need, but I really like getting things.

Debbie saw that I got a present and started raising her hand too. Eventually, she got picked, but by then the only thing left was a mirror with the symbol of Taipei on it. Both of us love answering questions, actually.

There were only five presents in all, but most of them went to us 9th graders, probably because we were sitting closest to the stage. This is when I'm actually grateful for sitting so up in the front.

The first lesson when we got back was History. We were originally scheduled to take our class photos today, but it was canceled because of the rain. Consequently, the history teacher said we would have to take the quiz today, even though no one studied (our original information was that because of the photo shoot today, there's no quiz in History class). Protestations were useless. At least she gave us ample study time, and I got full marks. Phew.

Went to have lunch with Alice again. She still refused to come out, so I suppose this smuggling my lunch in thingy is going to become a practice. Yvonne showed up, too, which was quite unusual. Their class is on the fifth floor, after all.

First period in the afternoon was Counseling. We did a very interesting "Self-Evaluation" test, which I'll try to put on here:

Okay. You are a painter. Now, take a piece of paper and draw the following things:

1. A house

2. Rock(s)

3. Tree(s)

4. Snake(s)

5. Mountain(s)

6. A river

They represent the following things:

1. The house is your mind, and how guarded it is. If you have windows, doors, or a chimney, then good. Even if you don't talk about your innermost thoughts, you have ways of coping with your emotions.

2. Rocks are important people in your life (in a positive way). Look at how close they are to you.

3. Trees represent the complexity of your thoughts. The more tangled and twisted they are, the more convoluted your thoughts. A more interesting saying about the trees is that they represent how many boy/girl-friends you'll have. Note their proximity to the house as well.