Rupert

I can still remember the scene: dark classroom filled with depression, and me alone. It has been a nightmare since I passed the first test of high-intermediate level of GEPT. However, I could not forget first day when that nightmare came to my dream.

I passed that test when I was fifteen, and was recognized as one of the English pros in our school. Being young and innocent, I was satisfied with the thought of becoming the best. Instead of staying humble all the time, I began to show off and have my ego inflated, thinking that nobody would be better than me. I started to teach others hard and unfamiliar words and gorgeous grammar to make them stunned. I grew to look down on others, and ignore how they feel. 

However, that nightmare in the middle of the night really sobered me up, I waking up with screaming, tears and sweat. 

There was me, sitting and still teaching classmates. Suddenly, our English teacher rushed into our classroom, talking breathlessly, and declared that half of our classmates passed the first test of high-intermediate level of GEPT, just like I was. At that moment, the whole classroom was roaring with joy. Before long they saw me standing there speechless. What happened at the very next day was that they all watched me with complicated and elusive expressions, telling me something I could not understand. I could not even read their faces when all of them turned away, walked out of the classroom and left me in the world falling black. Long I stood. Every part of my body shivered up and down. Every disc in my spine quivered with grief. There were faces beneath my skin whispering, "You're no longer a pro but a nobody with everyone ignoring you." Sounds echoed even when I screamed and woke up with fear. 

Maybe it was a blessing in disguise, and passing the test was a nightmare dressed like a daydream. I finally woke up and found that I should not be so proud of being such a pro. Arrogance would finally swallow me up if I kept falling. Now I know I should also be more friendly to classmates!

Lately I have been listening to rock and violent songs and can't get these rhythm out of my head. Undoubtly the loudest voices are from Muse, a popular band that probably won't feed any of my parents' appetite. The vocal of this band is known by his high pitched falsetto to express the songs. With strong sounds of drums and electric guitar, those songs are not so welcomed. 

Other voices are from a band mentioned before called Daughtry. I remember that you once asked me about the origin of the name, then I got the information that the vocal is named Chris Daughtry. It is self-evident to know he has a bit smokey voice from his songs. Truly, I enjoy listening to this kind of voices singing as they are shouting with their deep and low sounds. Well, maybe I was drenching myself in songs to run away from the pressure of the final exams.

lyric everyday:

I was writing this correspondence book when my mom asked me whether we need to do this in senior 3. She looked at my correspondence book, which is ragged and thicken by untidy papers, smiled with a sigh of awe and said to me that this must be a treasure for me. Then, she kept on talking about keeping it as a heirloom. Furthermore, she mentioned that type those reflection to turn them into a series of "Dear Diary" and contribute to the magazines.

Dear Diary? Come on! Those are just murmuring and grumbling over trivial daily events. Whether they are really worth reading remains a mystery. But I do like the feel of writing diaries in English and getting reaction from the dead book. Sometimes I really wonder how I had done these things that I regarded them impossible. Making this book a heirloom sounds good, but the idea of contributing to the magazines or newspaper seems a little bit too good for me.

lyric everyday:

Hearing the endless noise of plastic shattering, you could know for sure that I was studying HARD! Actually, I was searching for the appropriate verb to describe this deed of biting pens. Was that nibbling? Chewing? Gnawing? Maybe the combination of these words could partially explain it. Of course, I have been trying to break this habit by willingly controlled my move to kiss the pens. It lasted over one or two months and ended because I couldn't focus on both study and the will to refrain from biting.

I knew it could be explained by a psychological theory. Lots of friends talked to me about it with expressions of worry and anxiety. Don't try to ask my classmates to slap on my face when biting pens, which had been proven to be useless. I was looking for remedy as well as solutions. With this will in mind, I believed I could overcome it one day. Maybe twigs are good ideas! 

lyric everyday:

The Dragonboat Festival is around the corner, and the holidays are really fascinating. Yet there was one thing that really shocked all of us in the house -- well, actually only my mom was scared. That was the snake that made her frightened and us brothers thrilled since we didn't see snakes so often. My dad and one of the neighbors searched the places where the snake was seen and found it in a hidden place with the tail outside, they said.

I saw the neighbor pinching it on its tail as it had already died. That snake was more than a meter in length and three centimeters in diameter, with green back and white in abdomen. It seemed to be colubrid. Sadly when I wanted to take a picture of it, they had thrown it away. But it did leave us a long slough as a gift for Dragonboat Festival. I wonder if it was realgar wine(雄黃酒) that scared it off!

lyric everyday:

Before the night study started, one of the classmates and I were chatting about doing the workbook and the combo book later. He said he would spend all three classes finishing them. I unintentionally replied by saying that they could be done within half of his time needed. Suddenly, his eyes twinkled with curiosity and naughty, he asking me whether to take this challenge of finishing them in the limited time. I accidentally agreed but regreted as there were totally four lessons' amount of work.

The clock was ticking, the time was running out. When I eventually finished them, already two classes past, which meant I failed to reach the goal. However, I took this challenge only just to test the speed of answering questions since time was finite when writing test papers. Also, It was fun to put all my effort to finishing questions with excitement. Afterall, I finished my homework.

lyric everyday:

Today, I received my admission ticket to the high-intermediate level test of GEPT. I was so familiar with that form of card that I could recognize it instantly. I opened up and discovered three things: 

First, the exam room was in the school which I had been visiting for more than three times since the place never changed. 

Second, my registration number didn't disappear, which might mean the scores of the former test have lasted to this day. 

Third, the writing test would begin at 11:20 a.m. while the speaking test at 1:00 p.m. That would probably be rush for me to have lunch, even though I might be too anxious to have lunch. 

Hearing that lots of classmates are joining in, I felt relieved but also wondered how we should go there. Maybe after asking their places, we would come up with the solution.

Today, one of the classmates borrowed my correspondence book to read for fun. At first, I didn't mention, thinking that maybe hours he would give up and return it back to me since this book was so heavy and big that not many people could bear to read it. However, not until after school at 8:30 did he give it back, which made me surprised that there was one that likes it. 

He said to me that he tried to understand and translate what I had written but failed to render the meaning. He even claimed that this language I used was like characters in ancient history. I smiled because I knew he couldn't clearly unterstand those words, yet I was still glad to see someone who can appriciate those pieces of work by paying attention and spending time trying to decipher English I wrote. Just like writing a book, I hope I could improve my writing skills day by day.

lyric everyday:

This afternoon, as I was doing my homework, I heard my dad calling me for assistance. I found him standing in front of the air-conditioner that we used every day. "We need to wash that filters of the air-conditioner now." When we opened it up and took the filters out, they were completely covered with dust. Maybe "dust-immersed" was more appropriate for describing them. 

Also, my mom asked me to additionally wipe and clean the cabinet nearby, which remained unused for years. I could see dust being wiped out like a heavy cloak being undressed. I turned away my head to avoid inhaling dust as well as to ask her how long she hadn't used that cabinet. In my head, there was a word popping up that could describe this scene. That was "dust-coated" when dust wiped out was so thick that could be hardly recognized as dust!

lyric everyday:

In today's PE class, I made friends with a schoolmate in vocational department. We chatted about making friends online, and he asked me if I had any social network account to follow. I smiled and told him that I had deleted my Facebook and Line account and taunted myself that maybe I should get back to my cave to enjoy a primitive life. Without those social network things, I really enjoyed life as there were more things to enjoy.

However, one of the disadvantages was that when I needed to connect classmates for important things, I could merely use text which cost money. And sometimes my classmates wanted to find me but failed because they didn't have my cellphone number. In spite of the difficulty, I still wouldn't regret deleting them when my life now was more tranquil than ever. I could say that I was completely solitary!

lyric everyday:

Right after the graduation ceremony ended on Wednesday, the graduation memorial video was released almost throughtout the Internet. It seemed like everybody in the school was anticipating for the launch of the video. Surprisingly, the video lasted more than a quarter that I originally considered it boring. However, despite the length, I still broke away to watch those seniors' masterpiece and was amazed by some wonderful technique.

What made me marvelled was the linking between the separated scenes, which was a good concept by putting together familiar images into a serial motion. This kind of skill could make viewers feel as if they are circling and swirling. Yet some other parts of the video were not just as good as those of previous. Still, those seniors did a very good job, but we could do better than they did next year!

lyric everyday:

Lately, my mom and I were discussing about staying in the school dorm. Owing to my willingness to stay in school for more time to study, she agreed to let me do so. But here came the problem: Wha should I bring? What shouldn't I bring? How is the facility? Is it safe to bring electronic devices to dormitory? And the most important problem is: Are we able to ear snacks after long hard studying?

After asking a senior for advice, we got a long list of things to bring. He suggested not to bring cellphones as alarm clock. Also, he mentioned that doing the laundry at school is a waste of time, and that my mom can take it back to do it. However, what interested me the most was to bring pictures. He said that by seeing pictures when you feel lonely can relieve the nostalgia. I was surprised because I have never had the problem!

lyric everyday:

I was so glad to see my work of the composition competition posted on the school's "Star News." Until this time could I read my work completely and neutrally. After reading for the first time, I regarded this composition not so well for the contest to the topic was a cliche'. I put too much emphasis on realizing the word "Nightmare" into a real dream. If I could have thought out of the box from where I stayed, I could have written a better story instead of horrible dreams.

However, I was satisfied by these sentenses quoted from songs. "Bones in my back shivered up and down." "Every disc in my spine quivers with grief." These phrases originated from "Dementia" by Owl City. The idea of the phrase "There were faces beneath my skin," was from "Papercut" by Linkin Park. And the words I loved the the most, "A nightmare dressed like a daydream," were from "Blank Space" by Taylor Swift. Now I'm glad to recite those lyrics.

I believe that this Saturday was the most unforgettable day for me. I cherished it not for the classes of CPR, but for a strange and unusal experience -- to fix the toilet! 

We discovered the rising of the water resulted from the leaking of the water in the toilet. Nethertheless, we were working on the machinery in the water tank in which there were materials eroding and disintergrating. Because those materials lasted almost thirty years and were mostly decayed, we needed to buy a new set of machinery and install it in the old water tank. 

That was such a whole new and exciting experience for me as well as my father, who actually did most of the job. Through the process of installation, I could clearly see how the toilets work, where the water flows from the tank to the toilet, when the water stops and starts filling up the tank. I was sure that this would be a very unique experience for me.

Last Friday night, as I was working hard on my homework, my mom called me downstairs to watch a video talking about the activity I had joined in. As soon as I saw the views and those familiar places, I could barely have problems recognizing it was talking about the treking across Taiwan(中橫健走). The story of the video was about a student who firstly had no chance of participating in that activity had a chance to make unforgettable memories through the activity.

However, what interested me the most was the places that those actors and actress were in. I kept talking about those places where we had stayed to take a rest and those buildings where we had stayed to sleep. The longer I watched, the more memories sprang up. I could still recall that winding but breathtaking scenery along the road. I told my mom that one day she should have a chance to go with me again!

lyric everyday:

Hearing that more and more classmates were willing to join in the medical summer camp in Taichung, I thought to myself that I was glad to be the first one to enroll in this activity without hesitation. Sorry for joining in the first one in July rather than last one in August because I was afraid that if I choose the last one, then I will spend one whole month anticipating the activity. Also, I could spend a month after the activity to settle down my mind while others were still in the ecstacy. 

I could even say that we were vanguards spying for advantages for classmates participating in the last one. However, there was a problem for us, which was accommodation. If we can make sure how many classmates would be with us, maybe we can try to book rooms. And one of the classmates and I were planning that we arrived in Taichung on Sunday so that it wouldn't be too rush for checking in.

lyric everyday:

The titles of the songs in the memo are what classmates asked me to print lyrics of. The first two songs are sung by Eminem, who is a very talented rap singer. Of course, those two songs are full of rap. That classmate asked me to print the lyrics so that he can recite it without limitation. However, it makes me think about whether to recite rap songs or not. Sometimes these songs are just full of imformation and vocabulary that are ambiguous or undesirably "dirty." 

But after choosing for appropriate ones to enjoy, it is good to try to recite the lyrics and try to follow up the speed as much as possible.This way can help speaking with fluency and fastness. Sadly, I still can't rap as those singers does, hoping one day I will succeed. The last song is one of the Owl  City's work I had suggested this song to another classmate, and now she is asking for the meaning of the song.

lyric everyday:

I have been telling myself that my life in senior high is fantastic enough and that I shall keep all other extracurricular activities at bay after the graduation trip. It all goes well until I get the imformation of a two-day class held by a well-known hospital in Taitcung. However, we are now stuck in a problem of making "electronic signature." Even though the schedual is luring, we can't do anything without the electronic signature. 

Anyway, I discover that this two-day class involves a variety of departments commonly seen in hospitals, which make this learning more meaningful and interesting for me to join in. Yet the electronic signature is really annoying since we didn't use it so often. I don't even hear it before. Information regarding this issue are so disordered and some are even leading us to wrong ways. Therefore, I will try to figure it out as soon as possible.

lyric everyday:

Seeing those senior one students standing upright before us, I feel a bit discomfort in heart. These young but not little students will be the cadre members for the flag-raising ceremony, replacing the positions that we are now occupying. And this fact means that we will be senior 3 within months then face the General Scholastic Ability Test (GSAT) within half an year. Time really flies and it never says goodbye.

I can still remember days of training to be one of the cadre members, but now the juniors are right in front of us, which implies that they are going to take our positions, and that we are going to take the responsibilities that our seniors once had. I thought to myself that it is needed to train them and turn them into well-behaved cadre members that won't cause many troubles as we do. Then, we will be more concentrating on preparing the test, won't we?

lyric everyday: