And the Break is When?

My day started bright and early at 6:00. You would think that I, being the bright and happy morning person that I am (not) would be bored of getting up so early. But because I am instead loaded down with enough homework to last me a lifetime, I get the minimum sleep needed to get through the day, grab my daily carb intake, and race out the door. My life is turning into a never ending race against time and the inevitability of an F.

When I got to school this morning at 6:30, there was no one there, which was a first. I was the only person at school so early in the morning, which is not the normal case. (Most days, there seem to be at least 10 people there before me, all trying to finish their homework as well. Really, we are quite a sight to see, practicing Chinese as the sun rises, basically. You should be so proud of our dedication.) This morning's impossible task included trying to finish my Chinese workbook homework, study for my vocab quiz in English, edit my English paper, and read 15 pages for Chinese history. Needless to say, it did not all get done. What didn't help was the fact that I started TaiChi this morning, at 7:15. I was wearing skinny jeans, because I didn't have my track pants yet, so that was really comfortable. When that finished, I had 5 minutes to finish my Chinese homework. I flew up the first 4 flights of stairs in record time (I ran straight up) and then arrived panting and sweating just in time to scrawl some answers and turn in the homework.

Even with that Herculean effort, my day would only get harder. I had a short 30 minute break after Chinese, during which I continued to try to get a grasp on my ever increasing homework load. English flew by, and then came study period. Or what should have been study period. Instead, I had my Chinese tutorial today (of course, it would be the one day that I actually need the study period. That seems to be the way my life works.) Tutorial was hard, and I could feel my negative energy catching up to me as two other students and I struggled to understand what the teacher was saying.

Lunch was no easier. Every Thursday we have to sit with a Chinese teacher during lunch and only talk Chinese. I dutifully sat there and braved the ever deepening waters, before deciding that I needed a little bit of comfort in the form of chocolate coated vanilla ice cream (ie an ice cream bar.) But I had even gotten to the school gates before I was roped into practicing our jump rope thing again (however, it was determined that I am good at jump rope, and I was strategically placed at the end of the line, for some reason.) and proceeded to work up yet another sweat before demanding to be set free to buy an ice cream. (Seriously, all I do here is sweat. No wonder I am so thirsty all the time.)

Calculus followed lunch, and Chinese history after that. I received the rest of my uniform during the passing period between the two classes, and proceeded to walk around the hallways and to my class with 2 pairs of pants, 2 sweatshirts, and 2 textbooks (in my hands) until I could get to my locker. That was really fun. Since I hadn't done my homework for history, I just bluffed my way through it. I don't think she noticed though. (Excellent...)

You would think that after this crazy day I would get a break. But that would be too good to be true. After school was the first class of martial arts, so I dragged myself and my 50 lbs of books down to the track field, where I spent the next hour punching air (that damn pollution...) and thinking about all the homework that I had yet to do. When my short (but springy) teacher declared class over, I walked my bike to the nearest drink shop, bought a milk tea, and pedalled my way home to start homework.

4 hours later, and I am still not done. And I won't get it done tonight. Looks like I am in for another early morning tomorrow. My paper is just about as good as it is going to get (considering that the freakin' prompt doesn't make any sense what so ever.) If only I could write my paper like I write my blogs; then maybe I wouldn't struggle so much.

With my homework toppling around me, I bid you good night. Oh, and a passing note. I have finally gotten a photo bucket account for pictures. I'll put the link in next time, when I have more time. As we say here in China, 晚安! (good night!)