Words of Innocence and Experience

Although the summer vacation lasted for as long as two months, I had made good use of the long period, generally. In addition to having the mediocre experience of taking two part-time jobs, I also listened to music, read some books, constructed my website, and watched quite a few movies.

My job as a teaching assistant at cram school in July was not really pleasant, yet I did not regret having taken it. My was a lady layman who wanted to start her own business, and therefore she was frugal with everything being used in the office. We were not allowed to turn on the air-conditioner, and it is easy to remember how unbearably scorching it was when the sunshine ruthlessly spread its long tail into the room. Although it was my first time to work in a private institute, I was not taken aback from the heavy burden of work. As if having discovered an oasis in the desert, the boss assigned me to many missions, including editing the teaching materials, photocopying, helping less successful students with their homework, correcting students’ assignments, and tutoring three students who had trouble keeping up with the class. The ages of students ranged from first-grade elementary school to senior high school. Incidentally, I had to work for nine hours a day and it took me twenty minute to arrive at the office by bicycle from my home, so the exhaustion eventually drove me to leave the post.

Afterwards, I tutored a relative of mine English in August, which was a much relaxing task. I rode a bike to her house three times a week and prepared related vocabulary on certain occasions. When the materials were covered, I would converse with her English and sing English songs. As the working time was much shorter than that in July (with only two hours), I was able to engage in my hobbies, such as music, books, and the Internet, which would be stated below.

I have always been an avid music fan, yet no other artists other than Sting had intrigued me so. For further explanation, please visit http://debbytaiwan.tripod.com/recommend.html. I appreciated not only his distinctive voice and gorgeous songs but also his expertise in writing poetic lyrics, which reassured my interest in literature since he was able to use references brilliantly in the words. Strangely, I felt rather unwell if I did not listen to his music every day; even more eerie is that the addiction lasted until now.

Owing to the limitation of time, I only read several books along with most issues of TIME Magazine. The Sheltering Sky, a book I borrowed from the community library near my house, was a story based on American travelers between World War One and Two. Similar to most novels composed at the period, the book was somewhat depressing, and I did not like it very much. Interestingly, it was actually Sting who encouraged me to read the book since he wrote a song “Tea in Sahara” a song dedicated to a small story within the book. Besides, I also read The Tale of the Two Cities by the prominent Charles Dickens. Unfortunately, I did not finish the book because I was stuck in the middle by its confusing characters. As for TIME Magazines, one or issues would be sent to my home every two weeks, yet I was too busy to read them during the semester. I was happy to be still in frequent contact with English during the vacation.