Thursday Tidbits: Final Exam Blues

Thursday Tidbits puts meaning into life's littlest issues.

Another school year is about to end!  Perhaps some of you have plans for the upcoming summer vacation already and are now excited for it.  But before enjoying the carefree summerrific life, you have to undergo tedious final exams first.

For some students who had performed well since the beginning of the school year, they have little worries for the finals.  But for the others who hadn’t given their best yet, finals is their only chance in order for them to pass their subjects.  It is a time to catch up wherein projects are also given to make up for ailing but not yet failing grades.

With all the busyness, students cram for final exams.  They do overnight group studies and try to insert all lessons taught to them in their already panicked minds.  They just memorize without understanding and just study without learning.  At the end, they go “mental blocked” (as what they termed it) during the exams.  Then cramming would be proven inefficient.

So how should we study efficiently?  How is it done without sacrificing and exerting too much effort?  Years of experience in diligent studying had enabled me to come up with the following STUDY TIPS:

1.    Listen to your teachers well.  All teachers mean well.  They feed you with lessons as best as they can.  Everything is being discussed in class and all you’ve got to do is just listen.  Through listening properly, your self-study time would be lessened.

2.    Manage your time better.  Allot an hour or two of your time each day to study the lessons your class had covered for the day.  In this way, you will gain better understanding of your lessons one at a time.  Advance studying aids you not to cram.

3.    Participate in group studies.  No man is an island.  Two heads are better than one.  In this way, you may help others while the others may help you too.  It is also a chance to socialize a bit so you won’t be fed up with too much studying.

4.   Avoid taking medications for the brain.  This would only give psychological effect.  Better save your liver and turn to the natural ones instead like peanuts and chocolates.

5.    Relax and do not overstudy.  A relaxed mind can focus and function well.  Study wisely by getting the gist of all subject matters and connecting them with each other.  Always take note of key words that you can easily remember.  Do not try to absorb everything.  Just keep it simple and keep your cool.

If you’ll follow the above tips my dear student readers, you’ll surely pass all your subjects with flying colors.  Fight final exam blues by preparing ahead of time! 

Just a reminder: NEVER RESOLVE INTO CHEATING.  Your teachers know very well who among you does it.  Some teachers may confront and humiliate you in public, some may report you to the guidance counselor for sanctions, and some may just choose to be silent.  And being silent means greater vengeance.  Do bear in mind that you are only at the tip of your teachers’ ballpoint pen.

So, help yourself by sweating a bit.  For what you sow is what you reap.  Enjoy studying and good luck in your final exams!   
  

Photos Grabbed from Fatima Jumadil

 

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He's Still Watching Me

Months had passed and I’m still thinking of him.  I missed him yesterday, I miss him today, and maybe I will also miss him tomorrow.  Just until when will I miss him?! 

Months had passed and there’s still no “next please”.  Nobody had ever approached aside from him.  Just how long will I sit here waiting?  This current state is just so pathetic!

-        Mary Rosalie T. Olandesca

      July 29, 2011

I super missed him!  I missed our talks, our laughs, our nonsense!  And now, I don’t have a textmate and a phonepal anymore.  I don't have somebody to occupy my mind.  Worst, I don’t have somebody who has the power to make me smile anymore…:(

Twice of seeing and talking with him after we parted ways showed no spark in his eyes at all.  It was so unlike before that it was only me he was seeing and it was only him I was seeing.  Unlike the times when we got to ignore the people around us.

As I looked into his eyes during those two brief and stolen moments, I asked myself “What happened to us?”  But I quickly shook the thought off from my head and acted normally casual.  Anyway, I’m just glad that he still comes to see me.

Then I knew it!  Eventhough without words, I felt it.  It must had been love!  Love was there.  Love not the boyfriend-girlfriend type.  Love not just a friend but more than a friend.  Love not to a sister from a brother or vice versa.  But love unexplainable!  A very special kind of love, a rare love, a precious one!

I don’t have a heavy heart anymore.  I’m glad that we had managed to save what we had.  I’m still special to him and will always be as what he is to me.  I just lift everything to the Lord God Almighty who created this special bond between us.

Then there was once this Chinese song about the moon that says “the moon represents my heart”.  Like the moon, he will always be there.  Like the moon, he’s still watching me.  A certain movie also says that time is meaningless when you are in love.  But there ain’t no guarantee that I can wait.  So as February ends, allow me to also end this love story for the meantime.  There were already plenty of blah blah blahs and my message to him is just so simple:

“This I promise you – if in another lifetime we’ll meet again, I’ll never let you go…..”

Photo From Web

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When Smiles Fade

If that song had been out by the time our magandang pagtitinginan was about to end, I would not have shed buckets of tears!  If only I had listened to my other “conscience”, I would not have gone deeper.  If only I ignored, I would not have been so affected.

Because the love story ended.  Love stories that seldom happen to me.  It was just so bad because we were left without a choice.  I pitied him, I pitied me, I pitied us!  It was so hard accepting the truth of us parting. 

Sad to say, my reason to smile had become my reason to cry.  I hated myself for allowing him to let me fall for him!  I was so so so bitter!  I was sour-gripping!  I was stupid!  I didn’t have any outlet to shout out loud my madness at that instant.  My only friends were Snickers, siomai, and tequila (see My Notes at www.facebook.com/maryrosalieo).

Acceptance, letting go, and moving on – 3 difficult phases that I had to undergo all by myself.  It pained me a lot because it was so unfair!  That for the first time in my life, I had loved somebody who loved me but it just couldn’t be.

Then again, I came to ask.  What if he turned out to be a totally different person while I also turned out to be another totally different person in a different lifetime, would our fate have changed?  But we cannot choose the person we fall in love with ‘coz it just happens!

However, I didn’t have any regrets because falling for him was still something beautiful.

Something Beautiful

Something beautiful happened to me!  I fell in love!  Though it left me, it’s still beautiful.  Yes, I’ve cried.  And though I’ve cried, it’s still beautiful.  It made me feel human!  It made me feel alive!  It was unexpected and made me realize not to be afraid to fall. 

So now, I’m excited for the “next please…”.  Maybe this time, it will stay not for a while but for a long time…  But I’m not wishing for forever since I’m not yet ready for the real thing.  Love love love!  Come love!  Come magic!  Come beauty!  Come and make your surprises!

-        Mary Rosalie T. Olandesca

               April 11, 2010

His mission in my life had been accomplished!  Next in line please…

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Roses are Red, Violets are Blue

Love Comes Unexpectedly

Love comes unexpectedly.  It comes at the least expected time, from the least expected person, and through the least expected way.  You’ll just be surprised by the sudden turn of events.

 

It comes regardless of status, regardless of age, regardless of beliefs, regardless of other circumstances thereof!  It comes, may stay for a while, may stay for a long time, or may stay forever.  May it stay or leave.  May it bring laughters or tears.  The important thing is, you’ve loved!

You are human!  You’re entitled to be crazy over love!  No matter what your love story is at the moment, it is perfectly made just for you!  So, savor it as long as it is there – as long as it lasts.  Maybe it will last for a lifetime. 

May love come, may love go.  Just always open your heart to it then you’ll end up amazed by the magic it does!  Embrace love, welcome love, and stay alive!  For what is living without loving after all…

-        Mary Rosalie T. Olandesca

      April 2, 2010  

At the realization of being in love with him, I had written that.  Indeed, my life turned around that it was like living in a teenage dream.  I admit, every single moment I had with him were my firsts.

One look at each other’s eyes, there was understanding.  Subtle moves, waiting for each other, and secret whispers.  Goosebumps, fast heartbeats, and butterflies in the stomach.  Then it came to the point when I realized that sometimes something beautiful happens in this world, you don’t know how to express yourself so you just gotta smile!:)  Damn, I often caught myself smiling!  Contented smiles but sometimes, the eyes show wanting for more….

I didn’t expect our friendship to come that far.  We didn’t expect and try to make a “relationship” out from it for we both know our limitations.  “We” couldn’t be.  It was just enough for us to know that I was his reason to smile and he was also my reason to smile.  Though there were a lot of things left unspoken, it was OK.  We understood our situation and we understood each other.  It was the meeting of the minds, a silent agreement, a sweet attachment!  We were contented with what we had and we cherished all our moments together.

But the love just stayed for a while.  We chose not to bring it to the next level.  We chose to stop from there.  The following song best describes my reasons for not pursuing him:

And the laughters became tears.  While the rose he gave me withered, so as the love faded.  From being blissfully happy, I turned miserably blue. 

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With One Hello

When I was little, my parents constantly warned me never to talk to strangers.  So I tend to be snobbish to people I newly met.  Much more, my mom always told me to choose my friends.  So I never made the first moves to win a friend.  But with my good-natured personality, I attracted real good friends.  I am so lucky that by far, all of them are of good influence to me.  All of them are righteous and all of them love me as I am.

But those friends were mostly girls and gays.  I never initiated to be friendly with boys so I won’t be misunderstood as flirty.  Well, I do have some boy friends but my relationships with them are just limited to “hi”, “hello”, and “how are you?”  Until came such a time that one “hello” from a boy had got me big time!

It was summer of 2009 when I first met him.  It was just an ordinary sunny afternoon when somebody introduced me to him.  I was at the brink of letting go some big dreams at that time and I considered my future uncertain.  To be exact, I was at the crossroads of my life.

Recalling that first moment of meeting him, it was just zilch!  I didn’t look forward to seeing nor meeting him again.  It never crossed my mind that that one afternoon would lead to more sunny days in my once gloomy life.

Then we met again.  I was not friendly to him and he was not friendly to me.  Our meetings were just casual – just merely professional.  He snobbed, I snobbed.  He ignored, I ignored.  I didn’t even get to notice him among the crowd!  One day, something terrible happened.  I didn’t know what got into him that he empathized me.  And that was the start of him befriending me. 

Despite of my ill-temperament towards him, he was persistent.  Though I drove him away, he stayed.  So I got to know him.  He was such a hilarious person!  He’s got plenty of weird stuffs in his head that he ought to tell.  Eventually, I listened.  Oh, why did I even bother?!  It was all because he was so kulit!  So kulit whom you couldn’t resist to entertain. 

So I entertained him because I was confident that he was harmless.  And for the first time in my life, I had a textmate and a phonepal.  Corny as this may, but I was flattered.  Flattered to have someone making me smile for the very first time.  Then the stranger became my friend.  From his simple “hello” to sweet smiles, I felt alive.  Because somewhere between all our laughs, long talks, stupid little fights, and all our jokes, I fell in love!

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Officially, Love Month!

As if I have a story to tell.  Do I have the right to talk about love?  I’ll just be laughed at.  Because until now, I’m NBSB (see Home – My 12 Days of Christmas)!  I’m the only one left for the love trip.  All my friends had gone out and found their one true love already.  Who could be mine?

But being an NBSB doesn’t mean that I hadn’t loved at all.  Maybe I have a little something to share.  Maybe I have a love story to contribute.  As what I did in my September 2011 blog posts, yes I did have a love story!  It may just sound childishly pathetic but it was for real. 

And if you had read ‘em, you may think not to read these February blog posts anymore.  But who knows, you’ll be surprised!  Who knows, you’re gonna get to ponder.  Because this time, it is amazingly different!  As everybody is watching out for my upcoming love story, have this for the meantime.  For falling and being in love doesn’t have to be official…..

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Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year is here!  Let us all officially welcome the year of the Blue Water Dragon 2012!  Chinese New Year is the most important traditional Chinese holiday.  In China, it is known as Spring Festival since the spring season marks the beginning of the Chinese lunar calendar.  The festival begins on the first day of the first Chinese lunar month and ends with the Lantern Festival, the fifteenth day of the same month.  Therefore, the festivities last for half a month!  Though I'm not a Chinese, I was fortunate enough to celebrate Chinese New Year for two consecutive years with real Chinese people (thanks to MUHS)!  I had learned some Chinese culture and tradition and got acquainted with some Chinese trinkets.   

So let me introduce to you My Top Four  Favorite Chinese Things:

1.  Cheongsam (Qipao) - a high-necked dress with distinctive Chinese features.  It is buttoned on the right side, with a loose chest, a fitting waist, and slits up from the sides, all of which combine to enhance the beauty of the female shape.  It is the most typical, traditional costumes of Chinese women worn during formal or semi-formal occasions.  It creates an impression of simple and quiet charm, elegance and neatness.  I had the once-in-a-lifetime privilege to ramp a Cheongsam during our cultural nights last February 12, 2010 in Ozamiz and February 14, 2010 in Oroquieta to welcome the year of the Metal Tiger.

2.   Red Lantern (Hong Denglong) - a basic symbol of the Chinese culture.  It symbolizes brightness, happiness, and reunion.  It is closely linked with the lives of Chinese people, as you can find it everywhere in any China town all over the world, especially during festivals and holidays.  In Lantern Festival, the preferred warm red of traditional lanterns creates a convivial atmosphere during family reunions as well as lights up the hope for the New Year.  We decorated the stage with a number of red lanterns for our cultural night last February 3, 2011 in Ozamiz City Hall to welcome the year of the Metal Rabbit.

3.  Lion Dance (wushi) - performed at business establishments during Chinese New Year's celebrations for the lion brings prosperity and good luck to the business for the upcoming year.  The lion, a symbol of power, wisdom, and good fortune chases away evil spirits and brings happiness and longevity!  The MUHS Lion Dance Crew are highly applausable for their sacrifices in lion dancing!

4.  Red Envelope (hong bao) - handy-sized paper envelope stuffed with money that is often decorated with gold Chinese characters.  The elders give the youngsters hong bao for prosperity the whole year through!  I had a fair share of hong bao's before.

Festivities are a great thing to jumpstart a New Year!  Let us all be merry filled with all the good vibes and positivities for the year of the Blue Water Dragon!  So allow me to greet you  Gong Xi Fa Cai, Hong Bao Na Lai!  which in English means, "Wish you a prosperous New Year.  Give me a red envelope!" 

ONE LUCKY BLOG READER WILL GET A CHINESE LUCKY CHARM!

1.  Click LIKE on the Facebook button and TWEET on the Twitter button below this post.

2.  Send name and address to maryrosalieo@yahoo.com on or before January 31, 2012 with the subject "Chinese New Year".

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Gold Leaf Gilding and Japanese Calligraphy Workshops

Japan is a country rich in arts and crafts.  Among the famous Japanese arts are:

Bonsai – the art of cultivating miniature trees

Ikebana – the art of flower arrangement

Origami – the art of paper folding

Haiku – the art of Japanese poetry

Gilding – the art of decorating objects with gold in leaf or powder form; and

Calligraphy – the art of writing Japanese characters beautifully

I was first introduced to one of Japanese art forms when I was in preschool.  Of course, we had the never-ending paper folding!  Me and my classmates made paper airplanes, paper balls, paper flowers, etc.  We were fond of making them that when we turned elementary, our teacher required us to have it as a project for the whole year.  And that time, she taught us advanced Origami.  Then it became very hard for us that we had to purchase Origami manuals.  Each object from the manual was so challenging to make  that once we did, we considered it as our trophy!

When high school came, we studied Japanese literature.  Our Japan-inclination leveled up that our teacher made us write 100 Haikus!  Those were more than enough compositions!  But we did the project diligently and take note, we didn’t have Mr. Google during those years so we didn’t have any means to cheat.  We did our compositions all by ourselves and I enjoyed it for I always love writing.  Some of my classmates even asked for some Haikus from me.

Then years in engineering and sciences deprived me of my artistic penchant until last summer when I attended the 2011 JCI Asia-Pacific Conference in Manila.  Our brothers from JCI Japan offered to give us free Gold Leaf Gilding and Japanese Calligraphy Workshops.

Since the 16^th century, the tradition of creating art using gold leaf has been preserved and continued in Japan.  Gold leaf has been used to enhance the beauty of many traditional Japanese arts and has been used in castles, shrines, temples, and on Buddhist altars.  It is also used in lacquerware, porcelain and folding screens.

While gilding gold on a mini plate

The thickness of the gold leaf is 0.1 micrometer.  When taking out the gold leaf, be careful.  Pick it up with a toothpick and slowly put it into your object.  Then a certain chemical is used to let the gold adhere into it permanently.

Successfully gilded a gold rabbit.  Thanks to my sensei (teacher)! 

99% of Japan’s gold leaf comes from Kanazawa, the capital city of Ishikawa Prefecture.  The name for Kanazawa in Japanese is formed by two Chinese characters Kane meaning “gold” and sawa meaning “marsh”.  According to a legend, this name is derived from a marsh from which gold appeared.

You can try out gold leafing by visiting Kanazawa which is a United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) designated city of crafts and folk art!    Just for stopping by at Kanazawa, you’ll get a piece of Kanazawa gold leaf and a yummy gold leaf candy for that taste of luxurious gold!

Arigatou gozaimasu, JCI Kanazawa!:)

On the other hand, Japanese Calligraphy is an artistic writing of the Japanese language.  It is called shodou, or “the way of writing”. Though it shares its roots with the Chinese calligraphy, it has its own styles intrinsic to Japan.

There are three basic writing styles namely:

Kaisho – literally means “correct writing”.  Each stroke is made in a deliberate and clear way.  Below you can see the character for “dream” in kaisho style:

Gyousho – literally means “traveling writing”.  This is the semi-cursive style.  It is more flowing and artistic.  The same character is written in gyousho below: 

Sousho – literally means “grass writing”.  This is the flowing cursive style.  It supersedes readability as the artist rarely allows his/her brush to leave the paper, resulting in graceful, swooping shapes.  It is a more stylized work of art than a vehicle for conveying information.  The same character is written in sousho below:

My calligraphy sensei told me that I write good in Japanese calligraphy that he included my name on my mulberry paper for the Japanese character of love.  Maybe he must see my English penmanship too.  Hehe…

Trying out to spell L-O-V-E

My sensei writing my name in Japanese characters

With my experiences, I can say that Japanese arts are indeed traditional and unique.  Japanese had perfected a myriad collection of art forms that reflect Japan’s rich culture.  So I encourage you to try one of their arts and get that trance of artistic "Japanesa" in you!

Arigatou gozaimasu for sharing your arts with us, JCI Japan!:)

For more information about Kanazawa, visit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanazawa,_Ishikawa.

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New Year, New Beginnings

As another year unfolds, it’s inevitable for us not to review the past.  We look back and recollect our achievements and failures, happiness and sadness, as well as the kindness and mischief we did.  We ponder on lessons learned and tend to list down things we must keep up, must improve, and must change.  Then unknowingly, we had created a New Year’s Resolution.

Wikipedia defines New Year’s Resolution as a commitment that a person makes to one or more personal goals, projects, or the reforming of a habit.  It is made in anticipation of the New Year and new beginnings.  People committing themselves to a New Year’s resolution generally plan to do so for the whole following year.       

As I asked some blog readers of what their New Year’s Resolutions are, Edz Gutierrez answered, “After I graduated from college, the New Year’s Resolutions stopped.  Why?  I just stopped preparing them.  Maybe because a lot of them go unfulfilled anyway, so I no longer wanted to pressure myself into making a list and then breaking what I wrote in that list.”

I strongly agree with her in that aspect for many of us make very long lists of resolutions but at the end, they remain words in those lists.  A lot of times, we’re being hypocrites to our own selves that we say, “there’s still another year to come so save it for the next New Year”.  We’re just fooling ourselves that’s why some people do not believe in New Year’s Resolutions at all.

However, changes for the better are good so as Edz continued, “But for this hub, I decided to make another New Year’s Resolution list.  Since the New Year is a great time to review my past and plan for my future, but for any real change to occur there has to be a long term commitment.  It needs to be a CONSTANT LIVING RESOLUTION that I am committed to achieving.  This living resolution does not fade after January finishes, because it is alive and takes much more than a yearly review to survive.  I want to be UNUSUAL this year and make my New Year’s Resolution a LIVING RESOLUTION that remains a part of my life!”

Indeed, she’s correct!  That is why I’m sharing this to you, my dear blog readers – don’t lose heart in making New Year’s Resolutions.  A New Year is like a book with blank pages to be written with words.  A New Year is like a blank canvass to be painted with colors.  Let’s just see to it that the words we write are good and the colors we paint are bright.  Let us all have a positive outlook in life not just at the start of a New Year but the whole year through!

My Blog Correspondents New Year’s Resolutions:

Edz Gutierrez  “I’d like to continue sharing blessings to people who need help and give more time in community service.”

Vian Sila  “Baby!!!  Diet J”

Stephanie Laurete  “To sleep early…”

Jemimah Garcia  “To loose weight!!! and patience...”

Cheryl Singuran  “Not to be late in appointments anymore…”

Charelle Joy Macalisang  “Diet!  I will only eat Chinese lumpia and no lunch!”

Marie Celle Mosqueda  “DIET!  DIET!”

And for the blogger's New Year's Resolution, 

"I will find a boyfriend this year so it would be my turn this 12-12-12!:)"

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Welcoming New Years

New years are new beginnings!  They must be welcomed with positivity and good vibes!  There must be noise, coins, and foods!  Papa is in charged with the noise by clanging frying pans, mama is in charged with the coins by viva, throwing coins all over the house, while I'm the boss in the kitchen.  Everybody in the compound is invited to have media noche in our house, may they be immediate family, boarders, transients, or long-time tenants.    

New Year 2004 (My Gpa's Last New Year Picture with Us) 

But people come and people go.  If one left, another one arrives.  The important thing is, we are one in celebrating the new year!  

New Year 2006

But being one is sometimes unattainable for communal living because we are different as individuals.  Sometimes, some of us raise voices at each other for disagreements on things but we do resolve conflicts easily.

New Year 2007

And mind you, there were never wars between all of us because we are all peace-loving citizens.  

Plus, we have God as the center of our family that binds us altogether in one love.

Eventhough that now, some had gone out of the country, we still celebrate new year together through Skype or Ovoo.

New Year 2010

For it is always a great thing to be in oneness as we welcome every coming year of our lives.

Moreover, great things start from great beginnings!  Let us all start afresh with more love, peace, and harmony!    

Thank you, Year 2011 and welcome Year 2012!:)

Click LIKE below if you are in one of the pictures.  Looking forward to welcome more new years with you!:)

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