About Me
*NEW*
I know you pple must feel like kicking me for not updating for such a LONG LONG time... This time, I will use the word break... Presently, I am waiting for my R word... *gulps* my, my, re... res... results! There I said it! *chills run down up and down my spine* =P
I have been looking through what I had wrote, and decided to edit it a bit and I actually wanted to write in a new idea which maybe impossible to do so now in the story... which is the concept of the what they call it in mandarin "mei gui gao bai"... literally, it means, "Roses, Confess Feelings"... I think it sounds better in Mandarin, more succinct... don't worry the idea will be incorporated in the story and explained by hook or by crook as I am totally enchanted by the idea. I don't know if this "mei gui gao bai" is actually commonplace somewhere in the world out there, but I only came across the idea recently... You maybe wondering "WHAT THE HECK! RE-READING THE WHOLE FIC AGAIN!!" I do apologise for that, that is ANOTHER reason why I finish my fics before posting, that way, I can manipulate it to my heart's content. =P I am editing my fic so far, as it is quite disjointed in a way, as I write, bit by bit, not the whole thing at one go and I also try to leave a "..." cliffhanger at the end of each bit. I also realise to my mortification that I made STUPID ERRORS in my fic, like hoping between hawk and eagle, which are NOT the same. Reason is, first time round, I wrote about the eagle, but I decided that it would be a nice act of symbolism to put it as hawk. After all, drawing parallels to the real story, Daine got to know Numair because of a HAWK (albeit Numair the hawk) and in this fic, I hope that the hawk may some how bring them together, or drop Numair a *little* hint on Daine's identity... *evil me to give a teaser like that* However, I do hope it would become more interesting and readable...
Let me mutter on what I had been doing.
My university applications... I guess this may get a bit boring if you don't know or not interested about universities, just skip the next few paragraphs... starting from here ...
>> My crazy teacher in charge of my UK university applications sent it in late!! So I had spent most of my time chasing after him in the most uncomplimentary way, going "Mr ----!!! Have you sent in my application yet?!?!" really angry with him, as I spent the night before my Econs prelim paper doing my UK application and later, finding out he conveniently shifted the deadline later for other pple... Felt like strangling him! That was in Sep last year! And he didn't send in my application till this Jan!! IDIOT!! Yes, I am ranting! All his fault if there are no more vacancies for me in the UK... *TOUCH WOOD!* Not to worry US pple, I have also applied to US universities... which in itself is a huge trial! Firstly, it costs quite A LOT of money to apply with no gaurantee of admission and TONS of essays and forms to fill! *sweatdrop* Oh! Now UCAS seems like a dream! (UCAS is a centralised system of applying to the UK universities.. HOORRAAYYY!! )
Let me deviate slightly... for one application, it cost about 40 US dollars, converting to my country's currency and including postage, which comes up to about 62 dollars, then, you must also spend 105 dollars on taking the SAT II and about 80 dollars on SAT I. That is already comes up to about 150+ dollars! Then, let's not forget that you are definitely applying to more than one university, also add to the cost is "additional reports" sent by Collegeboard. Let me explain to non-US pple, it is unlike the O'levels or A'levels where you have the certificate and can send certified copies of it by your own by a couple of cents, the SAT, however, you only have this slip of paper to tell you your results, if you want the schools to get an official and RECOGNISED copy of your results, you must, *sigh* pay, pay, pay! (NOTE: Before anyone starts slamming me, I am just stating facts. Just a bit frustrated by the universities and collegeboard as I have already sent reports of my results and the University said it hasn't received it! there's nothing I can do, really.)
Of course, it must take about a month to send stuff to me from US by snail mail, so I had to camp out in my school library printing out the application booklet. THANK YOU INTERNET!! But, I wonder why schools must have a 80 page application booklet!?!?! Save the trees pple! But what I find wierd is that the US universities are not convinced that I can speak English, even though I got an A1 in English Language and English Literature for my GCE Ordinary levels (for definition, kindly look below). Fortunately, I scored rather high in my verbal SAT 1, hence, being spared the horror of taking the rather expensive TOEFL. (On a more balanced note, the US universities do have their advantages, in the area of a broad based education and stuff, i guess. It is just that their application is very tedious and backbreaking... =P) <<
UNIVERSITY MUTTERINGS FINISH, START READING FROM HERE...
On more trival matters, I was rather motified today that my younger brother, let's call him G, had taught my youngest brother, T, a new game, it went like this...
G : "Let's play who can slap T first!"
*T obligingly and gleefully slaps himself and yells* "I WIN!!"
Me : ...... *sweatdrop*
Moral of the story. Never underestimate the deviousness of younger brothers... =P
Yours sincerely,
an apologetic Sparrow who will soon get herself into gear...
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*PAST MUTTERTINGS*
Hello! I am back from a LONG (I won't say break, because cramming like mad for your GCE A' levels is not exactly a vacation) period of time. Some maybe asking what is the A'levels, ain't it GCSE NOT GCE? Let me, like I recently did in numerous applications to overseas universities, say it stands for General Certificate of Education, Advanced Levels. I am under an education system somewhat modeled after the British's, so there are similarities, but it is not completely the same. Like this year, I got almost completely, utterly decimated by "Thinking Questions".
I do apologise that I took so long to update and I feel that it is rather unfortunate that I happen to begin to write during the crucial periods of my life, first my O'levels on the first year, then A'levels the third year. I hope to do more writing soon, though have to find a job I think and learn to drive *sweatdrop*.
I thank all of you for your support, you know who you are, with your encouraging, sometimes threatening (but still welcomed) e-mails. Frankly, I may have given up on the fic quite some time back if it wasn't for the support. As I can keenly recall a few times when I felt like whacking the writer when he/she didn't finish the fic, I am keen to finish the fic. So look out for the updates. I still have a few story ideas I haven't incorporated into the fic yet, so I think it would go on for a few chapters yet... *sweatdrop*.
Yours sincerely,
the beleaguered Sparrow ^_^
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I guess I am a pretty ordinary person. I have two arms, two legs... ~_~ You get the picture. I am a seventeen year old girl who is known for frequently putting her foot in her mouth. Becoming a diplomat in the future is a big No No.
I am a bit thick-skinned at times, being trained from being oblivious to the parents' evil glares and queer looks when I go looking in the children's section for Tortallan books, wading through children who are knee-high and accidentally knocking down a few in my way. =P I always wondered if I would wrestle with a child if we both reached for the much wanted Lady Knight at the same time.
Fortunately, I have yet to meet a fellow Tammy fan here where I live.
Unfortunately for those who live in my area, I think I actually might do a tug-of-war with the book. ^_^
Well, that's all I have to say for now. I guess I will talk more about myself later, that is if I don't bore everyone.
Yours sincerely,
Sparrow