Even I couldn't believe it

6

FREAKING

HOURS

That's how long my US History test took me on Friday to complete. my prof told us to give ourselves 3 hours- I thought that was ridiculous when i first heard it. But, no, this is ridiculous. Even JC exam papers were NOT this long.

You don't believe it. I can't believe it.
But it's true!
I don't even know how I did it. I could scarcely believe it myself when I read the clock afterwards.
2 essays- that's all! I have my theories as to why it took so long:
1) The time period and subjects- one essay required me to discuss the race issue in US History from 1945 to 1968. Hmmm... starting from the Civil Rights Movement under all 4 presidents to Martin Luther King Jr to Paul Robeson to Malcolm X to Little Rock 9 to the Greensboro sit-ins to the Cold War to the media to... Cram all that info. into an hour long essay? Uh-uh *shake head*

2) The other question asked me to pick the 2 MOST SIGNIFICANT a. Supreme Court decisions, b. TV shows, c. people and d. events from 1945-1968. HELLO? HOW TO PICK AND CHOOSE??? I mean, ok, I can pick a. and b. quite easily (one of the TV shows obviously had to be I LOVE LUCY because my prof. loves that show and showed it in class) but c. and d.? WAH SAY! Had to think hard! There were SO MANY significant people and events during that time period. Choosing the people and events took FOREVER! I kept changing people and switching events.

3) And not just pick and list it out and forget it- I also had to explain my choices and argue why I picked this over other choices. *fainz* By the time I got to part c. I was ready to throw up. My handwriting on the test got bigger and messier, and my brain was just on auto-mode. I was throwing every thought that came into my mind, and trying to frame it all into a convincing argument.

4) I just take a long time to process things and write them down. My outlines took forever to write down because I wrote down every single detail, afraid that I might forget them later. And then my arguments had to be reated on the spot and that was hard too. Writing the question on the race issue was massively harder to argue about because it wasn't a straight-forward argumentative essay. And in general I just take longer than average to complete ANY test for ANY subject because I want to be as careful as possible.

I better get an A. If I don't, I think I just might CRY. Really.

My room-mates asked me- "How did you even have 6 hours worth of stuff stored in your brain to write about?!" Well, when you're really scared of this class and study really hard and pray A LOT for divine help, you can. But dang! It has been a blessing hasn't it?!

I think my final for this test is timed. So just 2 words- NEVER AGAIN. But seriously, don't be so stupid like me.

By the way, in case you are wondering, my choices were
a. Brown vs. Board of Education & NY Times vs. Sulliven
b. I Love Lucy & Howdy Doody
c. Elvis Presley & Martin Luther King, Jr
d. The publication of Kennan's "X Article" & The Red Scare

Living vicariously through movies...

Ah romance romance... how I love a good ol' romance! And my room-mates are part of the problem because they LOVE Romantic movies (probably even mroe than me!) and have introduced quite a few to me.

I'm ADDICTED to this show. It is SO ROMANTIC. And what I really love about it is that it isn't just about romance, but is set within a revolutionary historical context- the Industrial Revolution in England. To see the complexities of the issues dealt with in that era played out was eye-opening: strikes, industrial pollution, poverty, upper vs. middle class, life in the mills, mill owners vs. mill workers.

It is a sweet Christmas movie- recommended. Who doesn't love a man in a uniform?!

I've been searching for this movie for the longest time, and was thrilled to discover that I had two room-mates with this movie. Oh this is just a lovely movie, which I've already watched 2x this semester.

Oh there are a few more, but I think I'll just put these 3 up first. *swoon*

Juat Haven't Met You Yet

Michael Buble - what a perfect song!

I'm not surprised
Not everything lasts
I've broken my heart so many times,
I stop keeping track.
Talk myself in
I talk myself out
I get all worked up
And then I let myself down.

I tried so very hard not to loose tt
I came up with a million excuses
I thought I thought of every possibility

And I know someday that it'll all turn out
You'll make me work so we can work to work it out
And I promise you kid that I'll give so much more than I get

I just haven't met you yet

Mmmmm ....

I Might Have To Wait
I'll Never Give Up
I Guess It's Half Timing
And The Other Half's Luck
Wherever You Are
Whenever It's Right
You Come Out Of Nowhere And Into My Life

And I Know That We Can Be So Amazing
And Baby Your Love Is Gonna Change Me
And Now I Can See Every Possibility

Mmmmm ......

And Somehow I Know That It Will All Turn Out
And You'll Make Me Work So We Can Work To Work It Out
And I Promise You Kid I'll Give So Much More Than I Get
I Just Haven't Met You Yet

They Say All's Fair
And In Love And War
But I Won't Need To Fight It
We'll Get It Right
And We'll Be United

And I Know That We Can Be So Amazing
And Being In Your Life Is Gonna Change Me
And Now I Can See Every Single Possibility

Mmmm .....

And Someday I Know It'll All Turn Out
And I'll Work To Work It Out
Promise You Kid I'll Give More Than I Get
Than I Get Than I Get Than I Get

Oh You Know It'll All Turn Out
And You'll Make Me Work So We Can Work To Work It Out
And I Promise You Kid To Give So Much More Than I Get
Yeah I Just Haven't Met You Yet

I Just Haven't Met You Yet
Oh Promise You Kid
To Give So Much More Than I Get

I Said Love Love Love Love Love Love Love .....
I Just Haven't Met You Yet
Love Love Love .....
I Just Haven't Met You Yet

Don't Ask... Just Learn

TA: Do you have your notes?
Student: Nope, I do have the PowerPoint slides printed out though, and the text book.
TA: You need your notes though, because most of the test is going to come from the notes which you take down during class
Student: Umm...
TA: Do you go to class?

Student: No.
TA: What?! Where do you go then?
Student: (muttering something that I couldn't hear)
TA (looks at him): WHAT?! Don't you think class is more important?


Lesson 1: GO TO CLASS


TA: Okay, let's go through the Law of Demand

For non-AH lor Econ learners, law of demand = price higher, consumer demand lower; price lower, consumer demand higher. Logical right? That's why SHOPPING SALES work most times.

TA: Law of demand states that blah blah blah. Okay, let's say we are buying a pair of sunglasses, and this pair of sunglasses costs $1000. Would you buy it?
Student: Er, yes.
TA (and Me are stunned): WHAT?! You would buy a pair of $1000 sunglasses?
Student: Yeah... if it is a good pair.

Lesson 2: *pianz* nothing to say. sad to say, the cliche is true- a few rich kids really do have an attitude problem.

TA: Let's look at this problem. A school principal believes that if you teach students the school rules, they will automatically behave themselves. Which one of the following illustrates this example? A. Classical Republicanism; B. Autocracy; C. Liberalism; d. (not important, cannot remember)
Student: What is "autocracy"? (Boy, you really need to go for class. Even I know that's not the answer)
After a short discussion in which she gave the definition for each one, "classical republicanism" being about having been taught the law and governing ourselves..."
Student: Is it... C? Liberalism?

*Ouch* painful painful
Lesson 3: LOAD UP ON PATIENCE if you ever want to be a TA (or teacher)

Last night, our apartment had another apartment group date, and we had fun making caramel apples, except that we forgot to read the instructions and... when we went to eat our caramel apples, they were AS HARD AS A ROCK!!! HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA! It was super funny lah! The instructions said to add in 1 tablespoon of water to the melting caramel candy (probably to break the bonds or something), and... we didn't.
So basically all we had done was simply smear on melted caramel CANDY that would harden afterwards and become
well
this layer of caramel candy, non-modified, that was so hard it could be CHISELLED.

It sure makes a great future "date" story I must say.
Lesson 4: READ THE INSTRUCTIONS before making anything.
Lesson 5: Pick a good date- I invited my home teacher and he was THE NICEST guy I have met so far. And he's so cool- he went to Indonesia to build houses after the tsunami and visited Singapore and Malaysia as well. It felt so good to be able to have a guy actually understand where I was coming from.

Hmm, guess I'm getting an education more than I paid for :)