Oh so random..

I want to crawl back into bed.. It's tuesday, it's early and I'm freezing.

Yay my first midterm yesterday went pretty well. It was kinda disappointing at first, not because I did really badly but because I felt like I kinda over-studied for it -_-" lol Initially I was like aww man, I could have spent those precious hours to check out the cherry blossoms rather than be cooped up studying. Then rethinking it over, the characters are sticking in my brain so its for my own benefit that I used this time to catch up. Next time I need to fu-xi on a weekly basis rather than freak out during the last 2-3 days trying to mass cram 200+ characters for one particular class. Lesson learned.

So last weeks relentless craving for crepes with dark chocolate has finally gone. To replace it I would really appreciate a soy milk latte from Starbucks and a toasted chocolate muffin or blueberry scone. mmm..I was going to say cinnamon buns but it would be impossible for me to get hold of one so will stick to something more attainable in China. Should I head over there this afternoon? The thought of it sounds oh sooooo tempting...

Countdown: 3 more days until Zhang Jia Jie. Looking forward to doing some hiking and is it stupid if I'm actually a lil excited for the train ride too? Never been on a long distance train before in China.. For the most part we'll be exposed for an extended period of time to smelly feet and garlic-y goodness. =P I learned the other day that at some restaurants, they serve raw garlic cloves as condiments for people to munch on. Golly, NO WONDER. hehe Anyhoo hope the trip is fun =)

brrr...im frozing

..I miss building heaters that creates toasty warm rooms..the type that will dry your wet clothes in approximately 2 hrs.

This is actually kinda ridiculous. I don't understand why the gov't has the right to control all building heaters. Since April 1st we haven't had any heat in our rooms which would have been understandable if the temperature was ranging over 15 degrees but this morning it was 3 degrees. Do you know how hard that is for a 8am class? Sigh.. I seriously think the temperature inside my room is the same as outside, if not colder because I'm not facing the sun. I need to get out but I think I've got the sniffles/cold brewing so every lazy bone in my body is calling.. I really don't want to get sick. T___T

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Do you base your expectations on the emotions you feel, the things you see/experience or just go with the flow and set low expectations?

'We're afraid to care too much for fear that the other person doesn't care at all.'
- E. Roosevelt.

Sweetness maximo

Sent my parents a long email to update them on my brief trip this past weekend and I was sort of expecting my dad to say..great photos, glad you had fun on your trip but it's time to focus/buckle up and study ok? On the contrary he responded by saying..

"You should also make the benefit of studying in China, try to explore different provinces and experience their cultures as much as possible. You don't have to worry about the money. You have plenty of time to earn money and meanwhile, you are welcome to get help from me or Mom money wise. We will always fully support you."

This little paragraph might not signify much to other people but for me...I was so gan dong when I read it. I don't intend to use their money to travel or make my life more comfortable unless there was some really unfortunate circumstance but reading the last bit makes me love my parents so much more. We don't tend to be very expressive or even display affection with one another but from 4 simple sentences I feel so blessed that they've always been supportive of me. I was kinda worried because my purpose here is to study right..not necessarily to 'travel and sight-see'. Then I read a lil further in the email and I guess my parents have always encouraged me to do the things that they weren't able to when they were young.. so I'm pretty lucky. I used to think my parents were really really really strict. Maybe not so much now :)

On a side note, it got me thinking back to our conversation a few weeks back when Noel brought up the topic of the '5 love languages'. Words of affirmation, quality time, receiving gifts, acts of service and physical touch. Is it possible to prefer giving and receiving different means of the above?? hmm... and which one is my primary love language.

Things we take for granted

Number one on my list:

1. Hot water.

Stupid pipe leakage in Building 21. At first my school life kinda revolved around the specified hot water supply (3 periods throughout the day) but both yesterday, today annnd tomorrow, there's no hot water and in order to take a nice shower we have to go to Building 23. Even though it's a mere 5 minutes walk away, I don't like the thought of communal showers so I guess I'll just tough it up and give coldness a go. It's probably a good opportunity to treat this as my lil wilderness training for our 3 day camp-like QingMing excursion (if you'd like to call it that). hehe Yeah, it'll be an interesting short trip to the Inner Mongolia's with 12 other friends..I expect complaints. *chuckles.. Anyways despite the expected cold weather + fairly barren landscape, I'm sure it'll be a fun experience because of the people we go with. hehee I look forward to eating my kimchi fang bian mian, riding camels, parachuting if I have the guts to, sleeping in stinky yurts with 5 other stinky friends, using nasty bathrooms and checking out a 3 star hotel with 4 star views. =)

One ought to start low and work their way up in order to appreciate whatever they have at present. Next on my list: really want to visit Xi'an.