Illusion of Words

Christmas/Birthday

See, the bad thing about having a birthday so close to Christmas is that you usually get one present from your parents (”Do we really have to give you a separate present?”). But of course, it isn’t all about presents.

It’s about family and love and giving, so the world says.

They reinforce that belief and at the same time, encourage people to buy more (”Giving is better than receiving”). They show ‘holiday’ movies all over the tv. About somebody finding the ‘true meaning of Christmas’, yadda yadda. Which in their case is being generous and being with family. But of course, we know it’s about Christ, and the omnipotent God coming in the form of a human baby.

It’s crazy. Absolutely insane. But it’s the greatest love ever.

Still, there’s the family and home part of Christmas. To Westerners, Christmas is the family reunion time. I watched Judy Garland’s 1939 Wizard of Oz on tv. Silly, perhaps, looking at the funny costumes that definitely belong to that ancient, long-gone age. But it remains a classic till now. I think the reason lies in the lines. I would say nearly every line is quotable. The silly-ish songs are fantastic - lyrics-wise.

Dorothy (in the Wizard of Oz) closed her eyes, clicked her heels thrice, and meditated on the fact that “there’s no place like home”. And she appears in Kansas. If only it were that simple. You didn’t have to spend days in planes and airports just to get home. And not to mention the cost of it all.

In the end, though, having a place to stay with family (even if not immediate) and friends, is a gift from God. And not to forget that greatest gift - Jesus himself.

= On a lighter (less confusing, I suppose) note, I’ve been watching too many movies recently. That comes with having a lot of free time and cable tv. I’ve never been a movie person, and even now I don’t watch more than one movie a day, if I can help it. And I’m really picky about the things I watched. I tried watching “Sleepless in Seattle”. Okay, so that was just to see a certain actor (not Tom Hanks). But when that actor didn’t appear for a long time again, and the movie was getting boring, I googled the movie’s script, discovered that there was still one scene with that actor, and waited till that scene was over, and switched off the tv without second thought. Phew. I did not see what was so brilliant about the movie. It was tiring. Definitely not my type of movie.

Although I suppose my watching the entire movie of “Fallen Angel” was crazier. It was a boring movie, but then there was Gary Sinise (from CSI:NY). So I suffered through it. It wasn’t that bad, since I was surprised by a few revelations in the plot. Although the ending was totally predictable. But like I said, it had a few good turns in the plot.

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Car Trip

It’s not very pleasant, having to sit in a plane for over 15 hours. And it is just as unpleasant sitting in a car for over 12 hours, literally unmoving. I didn’t mind so much though, for some reason. I think it’s because I was riding on people’s generosity in taking me along.

But still, having feet stuck to the ground without being able to move more than a quarter of an inch to each side is crazy. Add to that not much space to move my arms, with my bags pressing on me. And yes, that picture above is off my legs, literally in the same position for the entire trip because there was no way i could move my feet. And trying to put my feet up wasn’t much better.

Arrived well past midnight, having lost one hour due to time difference. And slept on the couch in the family’s house. Can’t be more grateful to them. And thankful that I arrived safely. God knows how dangerous highways can be, especially with the rainy weather, slick roads, and an SUV that had the trunk piled to the ceiling - driver could not use the rearview mirror.

Passing view of a certain city. Must go there one day. Someday.

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Finals Week/ Ice storm

It’s the finals week. Which means school will be over by the end of the week. The first day, I didn’t have any exams, just one paper to turn in, so I was pretty glad to be able to sleep in - not that I ever sleep in that much (my record is 10.45 am). Then my cellphone buzzed. A message, from a strange number. It said something like: “Campus will be closed at 1.30pm due to ice storm warning.”

I was baffled, at first. Then I looked out the window. Rain. Could it actually turn into an ice storm? I reached for my laptop and checked the weather forecast. Sure enough, it stated ice storm warning for this area. And it was to remain till noon the next day. Hm. Interesting.

The rains stopped soon enough. But the day remained cloudy and very wet. And I saw no ice. Perhaps the night will bring ice-covered roads, because the temperature is currently below 0.

Of course, the trouble in all that is the some people’s finals in the afternoon have to be rescheduled. Me? I just have to find a way to make up two hours’ work time. Somehow.

The funny thing is that, looking at the week’s forecast, tomorrow will be rainy too, so will Wednesday, reaching highs of 14 degrees Celsius, but on Thursday the temperature jumps to a high of 24 degrees Celsius. Which I don’t think I’ve seen since November or something.

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Closing in

Time does pass pretty quickly, doesn’t it? In a blink of an eye, I’m nearing the end of my first semester in USA. And I can’t be more grateful for all that God has done for me.

So many decisions and problems, especially when you don’t have a proper place to go during breaks. Like an uprooted tree or something, easily blown away.

Today was a dreary day. Raining constantly, the skies dark as if it were evening. I woke up, looked at the clock with disbelief. It couldn’t be 7am, could it? It was dark as it could be. Umbrellas in rainy weather is always a gamble, for I feel that it is much windier here than back home, and the wind threatens to snatch the umbrella out of your hand, or worse, break it. Which so far, has not happened to me. Most people pull their hoods over their heads and brave the rain, but I’m not so fond of that. Well, partly because I don’t have a proper rain jacket, I suppose.

Finals next week - only have 2. And I suppose it marks the end of the first semester, and potentially the easiest semester I will ever have again. I hope I get do get a 4.0 GPA - it irks me how straight A’s have been avoiding me since the beginning of my school life. And it irks me further that this semester, I have always missed one question in my history exams. Dang. Just that close to a perfect score.

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