Three Words

DEBATE COMPETITION POSTPONED

S.O.S.

Okay, there's a debate on Saturday, 27th June. Only juniors can participate in it and so, the main debate team, by default has only one member to send. The rest are juniors or dormant members from my level. Because of all the competitions and exams, hardly any of them have had proper training. Furthermore, we have a new debate trainer because our previous one is continuing her studies on another continent.

We've got three themes, (its an impromptu debate, and THREE debates in one day. That's just preliminary round, the final round would mean a forth debate, mostly likely not meant for us) Medical Ethics, Law and Justice and India.

We had two motions today and a short Opposition side only debate. The first motion was This House Should allow voluntary Euthanasia. The second, This House would allow force feeding of Anorexics. Both of which I was first speaker for proposition. And the new trainer wants me as first, gulp. The third, where I was first Opposition, dang it, was This House would allow teenagers to be charged as adults for criminal offences.

And if you're wondering, yes, I did miserably because of all the time slipped by without a training. And yes, my tracking and handwriting was quite illegible, even to myself.

Okay, so my next few blog posts will discuss a motion or topic or something. I think I'll try doing an explanation of Law and Justice and about the whole concept of human rights and whats not.

Alternatively, my crochet hook is right in front of me.

......

Or there is Act 2,3,4 and 5 of King Lear which I have yet to do mindmaps for.
Ah well, at least I don't have to do mindmaps for Macbeth or Merchant of Venice. Thank all the teachers.

Literature Device Used - Emphasis

Today's sermon did just that. As it was Father's Day Sunday, we started service about ten to fifteen minutes late. No segment of worship or the sermon was cut short to ensure that we ended on time. To make things -in a way- worse, the sermon was given by a man from another church, so he was pretty oblivious to the fact that he overshot his sermon by a way lot. In the end, we ended twenty minutes late. A disaster, as I was having really bad cramps, so bad every month that I think that I have a malfunction in my body. It seems as though my appendix is on my left side of the body instead of the right and I was having a very bad case of appendix.

We were dealing with Isaiah chapters 20 to 27. Only the preacher took it one step further to include Isaiah 13 to 27. There was this whole thing going on, saying that to cover such a range would require a sermon 3 hours longer. I think that once I finish the four gospels I'll try reading Isaiah, it has some really profound imagery. That's why the title of today's message was "Apocalyptic Literature", language failed Isaiah, forcing him to use metaphorical language.

There were four key points, a lot was based on the grace of God and the fall of the kingdoms and human work. The preacher made a good point about nations, that superpowers today keep rising and falling. A few decades ago it was Russia, then America, now Asia. Same as in Isaiah, when there were prophesies of Egypt, Cush, Babylon, Edom, Arabia, Jerusalem, Tyre and the Earth.

• God is calling for our Trust
• Live our Lives under His Grace
• Real people have real problems
• Set your eyes on what is to come, remembering the past

Enough of that. About religion of all sorts now. Whenever my mother sees a person who is learned and critical, she wonders how they can trust so completely in other deities and idols. But what determines man's trust in something. It's like our own religion, my Buddhist friend wonders how I believe so much in God and I her.

Now I'm listening to tracks from The Fiddler on the Roof, I need to rent the movie soon. The first time I did, my player couldn't read it. It is about a Jewish village of sorts, a poor man, asking God about his lot in life, about the lack of honour in a poor man's life, thus the song "If I Were a Rich Man". But the Jews have a very strong faith, observing the Sabbath and always looking to God, their life long dreams being to sit in a synagogue to discuss the Holy Books. Then there are the Arab Christians, who are caught among the Israelites and their Muslim Arabs. You wonder how little your faith is compared to them. And if a person who worshipped idols had stronger faith than yours. Their devotion in things created by man so much stronger.

Enough of this. Lets work on the art piece for Youth Sunday. It's going to be A3 for mine, a church leader has commissioned me now.

Roots

I'm quite nervous and bent on taking the first bus that I can catch to the Botanic Gardens. I don't want to be here. Or else, in no less than 10 minutes, I will be forced out of the house, into the car and to the Chinese tuition centre, Busy Bees.

I've had a several year absence from this place. It was a good several years.

I see nothing to respect really in any effort to make me want to learn the language to get THE grade, which is basically why anyone forces you to learn a subject in this world. I don't feel inclined to learn the language so that I can read more novels or write my own. I don't feel obliged to know more than the set of conversational skills to talk to my relatives. I don't feel obliged to know it because there is pure Chinese blood in my veins.

Lets list the facts. China is a communist country, was once a monarchy, and has a religion that I don't believe in. I respect the culture, but beyond that, China is a sexist nation even in ancient times, women weren't thought more than playthings. And now people say Guanyin is a male.

What about that.

Okay, time to face my doom.

****************************

It wasn't too bad, other than the fact that the 5 months pregnant teacher is two kilograms lighter than me. We are about the same height, with her perhaps a few centimeters taller than me.

Also, the over-spoon-feeding Busy Bees still holds as their priority. And also the crazy score system and the hostile people which join the class. To other things I guess.

I'll try blogging about other things, or rather, get the heck on with my English holiday homework.

Eighteen Minutes

I'm more than half way through the course now. Only problem is... how to start expressing my own piece.

Alright, there's a course for dance or expression organised by my English teacher and conducted by Nirmala, a professional Classical Indian Dancer.

The theme is: If you had 18 minutes to live your life in, what would you do?

I want to show the love of conversation, of being with people, of eating, of falling in love with the person you are talking with and having them fall in love with you as well.

The few times I really enjoyed someone's conversation is with someone who enjoys reading and a bit of history, travel, enjoying life or something along those lines. That is with a Jewish grandmother who doesn't look as old as she is, although she has been suffering from lack of sleep, aches, the like. Ellen Maserati, like the car brand.

We talk about all sorts, art, books, Latin, her book club, our lives, travelling in New Zealand and going into a transparent helicopter above mountains and chasms (her experience), her not being able to drink coffee, the taste of the chocolate cake over the issue about dieting (which she quite does). But we always do that with my mother with us. But it's great, three generations... nearly.

Words that'll come out would be:

Laughter, Horrible, Latin, Tea, Poverty, America, France, War, God, Religion, History, Airplanes, Blackberries, New York, Movies, Libraries, Plays, Theatre, Drama, Music, Companionship, Family, Mussels, French Fries, Chocolate.

If I'm going to speak in gibberish though... for a short period of time, or to say a poem...

Blacclick bokugoo silata zeara, piroco