I'm Alive! (for now)

Thank you to Miss Couturable for urging me to comeback. I was losing my zeal to blog under that huge pile of SAT II World History notes and various clusters of homework.

Along with my zeal to blog, I'm losing my sanity, sleep, and mind as well. Bear with me as I ramble through what has happened in the past month.

1. I turned 17!!! Yes. I'm officially ONE-SEVEN! One more year till I'm legal! I'm actually not looking forward to it. I have my driving road test sometime between June 7th and June 29th. (In Vancouver you must wait one year after your written driving test before you could take the road test. I took my written test immediately after my birthday last year). After that, I'm a legal road-killer! (Not that any of you would want that, I'm sure). Anyhow, I've inquired about the driving laws in China, in hopes of me legally being able to drive in China this summer. I actually learnt to drive on the streets of Beijing, but I don't want to break that many laws in my beloved homecity. The legal driving age in China is actually 18, but if I get a Canadian liscence, I can trade for a temporary Beijing liscence as long as I exchange it back within 60 days. I don't think I'll be doing that though, simply because there will be a subway line opening near my apartment shortly (June 28th I think) which will enable me to get to every corner of Beijing at only 2RMB a trip (Beijing subway fare is a flat rate). No traffic on the subway, and of course, no parking woes. As much as I love Beijing, I must admit the parking there is horrible. Parking in downtown is as expensive as taking a taxi, so why bother?

2. I finally found a place in Beijing. Well, it's kind of a old-new place. I was hoping to get a permanent residence in Soho, but that didn't work out, since the real estate prices have gone crazy because of the Olympics. However, my dad has found me a place in the same residential area as where I stayed in the previous summers in Beijing. It's near downtown Beijing (only about a 15-20 minute subway ride away) and I'm quite familiar with the neighbourhood. The new subway line opening beside my place will enable me to get to all my relatives, the airport, downtown, and the train station with ease. This apartment was actually one of the apartments my dad purchased for his company about four years ago to house executives from other company branches who were on long-term business trips or transfers to the Beijing branch (since this residential area is only a ten-minute walk from my dad's office). It's on the 23rd floor (I think) and it's a three-bedroom apartment facing the China Mobile building and the Airport Expressway. Since the house has been empty for quite awhile, my dad decided to let me have it at least for the summer. After the summer, I could either let my dad sell it, or keep it if I think I'll want to live there should I go back to China for university.

3. This should be included in number 2 but number 2 was getting too long. I will be living alone in Beijing this summer! Apparently my dad is now involved in some investment project in the Yunnan Province of China, which is like... REALLY far from Beijing. So for the past few months and possibly for the next few months as well, he's dividing his time between Hong Kong and Yunnan. This is excellent, because a summer without parental supervision in Beijing is ALL a 17-year-old could ask for, right? My dad promised he'll fly back to Beijing to have dinner with me at least once a week, and I'm going to Hong Kong for two weeks at the end of July (that's when all the SALES are!) and my dad has promised to hang out with me in HK during those two weeks.

4. Xiu is going to be my roommate for the summer! The original plan was for both of us to stay at her mom's new place in this really pretentious residential area that houses many celebrities and other extremely rich people. But we both felt it was too pretentious for us, and not to mention it's like in the middle of nowhere (all elite residences in Beijing seem to be at the middle of nowhere) with no public transportation! What's worst? My ex lives in the same area! So yeah, Xiu decided to move in with in at my place, since her mom doesn't want her living alone. Xiu will be alone for a month before I go back since she goes to some weird international school in L.A. that breaks for summer in the beginning of June, whereas my last exam is on June 26th.

5. My dad said he'll get the apartment repainted and will ask Karen to order furniture for me. So far I've asked for white walls and Ikea furniture, because it's easy to transport and I like Ikea's simple yet highly useable style of furniture. My dad wanted to go classical European for classical Chinese, but I was like... WTF. Plus, my dad said I can have whatever is left of the furniture budget. Ikea, I love you and your affordable chic furniture!

6. I'm so excited! My dad will have internet connection activated next month, and my aunt will reactivate my Chinese cellphone account next month as well!

7. I'm so excited for my summer in China!

8. Okay, excitement aside, I have THREE major university entrance exams ahead of me and countless school exams... let's see:

- HSK Advanced Chinese Exam on May 18th (which I'm not quite ready for, since it's the equivalent of Gr. 11 Chinese in China.)

- SAT II World History Exam on June 7th (please see aforementioned statement about how I am buried under a plethora of notes)

- SAT II Literature Exam on June 7th (thank god I don't have to study for that!)

A lot of the guys are ditching two weeks of school for the AP Exams. I've ditched AP! It's not a requirement for university application, and I'll take them if I'm sure I'm staying for university in North America.

8. Results of the May 3rd SAT Reasoning will be out next Thursday. I'm nervous since it's my last chance to do well on my SATs. But since I'll be stuck with whatever I get, I might as well be happy that it's OVER!

I will be in Calgary attending my cousin's university graduation in the middle of the June since we have a week between the end of the school year and exam week. I'll be there for three or four days, shopping of course!!! Calgary has a way lower sales tax than Vancouver, so I can go crazy. Hahaha...

I think this post is long enough... I'll write about my birthday celebration(s) on the next post. It was one of the best birthdays I've ever had!