footsteps in my daily life
I was supposed to go to STL today, but the plan was messed up by some trouble with my car: I couldn't start the engine although I tried over and over again...(I could drive my car yesterday though...) There seems to be something wrong with the battery... How could this happen again... I've got to bring my car to an auto-workshop soon... I hope this is not a major problem...
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While I was struggling to start the engine, a staff at the dorm, noticing I was facing some trouble, came over to me and tried to help me out. What a nice of him! It's a pity that my car didn't work despite his help...
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I planned to attend the Mass in STL at the Cathedral Basilica of STL, but I ended up attending the Mass at the Newman Center in C'dale... Today, a baby was baptized! I really like to attend the Mass where the rite of baptism takes place since it takes me back to the very day when I was baptised. Whenever I witness the rite of baptism, I feel that my faith is also renewed, and am reminded of my original intention...
The 3rd of March is the Doll's Festival (or Girl's Festival) Day in Japan. In a family where there is a young girl, the parents usually display small dolls in traditional court dress to wish for the girl's growth, health and happiness. By the way, the Boy's Festival (or Children's Day) is on the 5th of May...
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In today's class on Teaching Reading in a Second Language, we discussed cultural influence on reading and writing on the basis of the article: "Cross-cultural perspecitves on task representation in reading to write". According to the article, Asian students were more likely to show orientation toward "text" itself, whereas Latino and Alaskan native students had tendency to orient themselves toward "topic" and "task" respectively when they were asked to read a text for the purpose of writing about it. These differences might be due to the differences of students L1, educational system or social-cultural framework they were exposed to, or different levels of language proficiency among students...
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Since my car was not available because of some mechanical problem, I walked to everywhere I had to go. I found it very inconvenient not to have a car only after I got my car unavailable...
I went to the rec-center with J-san to work out. Today, we concnetrated on biceps, triceps and shoulders. We pushed ourselves a bit more than usual today bearing the follwoing saying in our mind: All greatness is achieved while performing outside your comfort zone..(^^ Both of us agreed that we had a sense of fullfilment in today's exercise.
Today is Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. So, I went to a Church to attend the Mass for Ash Wednesday. The Church was filled with crowds of people. What surprised me was a great number of college students present there: I saw more college students today than on Sundays!! What a great!! All of us left there after receiving the sign of the cross made by ashes on the forehead.
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Today is "Star Trek" Wednesday too..(^^ So, I went to J-san's house to watch the Star Trek Enterprise!!
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Later on, I pulled my car to a garage with the help of A-san: he took all his trouble to tow my car for me. Since there is little traffic at night, we decided to do so although it was already after midnight... I cannot thank him enough for his great and friendly help.
This morning, I went to the garage where I left my car last night to meet the mechanic there. He said that he would be able to fix my car by tomorrow. Hopefully, I can get my car back tomorrow...
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I went to a Mexican restaurant for lunch with H-san and C-san. Since two of them are going back to Korea this Saturday after completing their two month English program at the language institute affiliated with SIUC, we had planned to get together for lunch or dinner since a couple of days ago. They gave me a souvenir from Chicago along with a message card as a token of our friendship... What a nice of them! I was so touched by their heartwarming messages... It was really great to make friends with them! I truly wish that they can make full use of their experience they had and friendships they cultivated here in C'dale in the future back in Korea.
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Later on, I went to the rec-center to work out. Today's focus was on chest and back...
I moved about the town from one shop to another looking for souvenirs for Korean friends of mine, who would go back to Korea tomorrow early in the morning.
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I went to a Chinese restaurant for dinner with J-san, M-san and others. We had a pleasant conversation over delicious foods.
It was windy today (was that so-called the first gale of spring?), but unusually warm...even warmer than it was in my hometown in Japan...: the highest temperature went up into 70s!!! Spring seems to be just around the corner...finally (^^)
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On my way home from the Church, while I was riding my bike, I ran into K-san by chance, and we went to a Chinese restaurant for dinner together.
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Later, I talked to C-san over the phone.