ode

how i miss our bed, and our room,
i miss tenderbob's and goldenspoon.
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scores

as promised, here are my my scores ....

reading: 8
no comment.

writing: 7
marilenn is able to write on both familiar and abstract topic. in her writing, she demonstrated an appropriate sense of audience. marilenn has very good control of simple structures and adequate control of complex grammar.

listening: 7
marilenn has no difficulty understanding questions or instructions. she was able to answer concrete and abstract questions regarding the listening. marilenn could pick out key words and phrases from the listening.

speaking: 7
marilenn speaks with confidence on familiar and abstract topics. she has very good control of grammar, and is able to use a wide variety of vocabulary. marilenn is able to make comparisons, give her opinion and provide supporting ideas.

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so why didn't i have a perfect score in writing where as their assessment stated that i wrote well, i have coherent ideas and that i know that i have a particular audience in mind? that my punctuations are okay and that i have a wide range of vocabulary?

well.... i have to write with correct capitalization. you see, since high school, my handwriting has always been ALL CAPS. all right, i know that when typing or texting, using ALL CAPS means shouting. and according to them, it goes with handwriting too. so now, i am trying to change my handwriting. and i am hating it.

i always take pride in my handwriting. i know i have very good handwriting, legible and with a sense of certainty. but all in capital letters. right now, writing in correct capitalization makes my handwriting a little bit awkward and unsure. i even had a hard time in spelling because i am so not used to writing in small letters. hayyy..

listening is what made me so anxious. i thought i would fail, because i really had a hard time "memorizing" all the sentences that i've heard, word for word. good thing that he noticed that i can grasp the keywords.

really, when i was listening, i was memorizing the sentences. but after i took off the headsets, there goes my sentences. hehehe .. maybe because i'm so used in jotting down notes if i have to remember anything.

in actual conversation, we also listen, right? but we can talk back immediately without having to memorize everything. in listening and then mimicking it, i found it hard.

what i did to somehow made the evaluator think that i am a good listener? i engaged him in lengthy conversation. heee .. when he asked me about something, i replied in lengthy answers with lots of side stories. hehehe that is the purpose of the evaluation, right, to see if i can communicate in the languate. i guess that paid off. i remember even telling him stories about the queen and the streets in london and the streets here in winnipeg (i was reading diana chronicles that time and the queen was in winnipeg for a visit!).

i don't know why i didn't get a perfect score in speaking??? hehe duh! of course i know. i am still not that confident in speaking in english. i still have that habit of constructing the sentences in my head before speaking. but having a score of 7 is not that bad. i am accepting it :)

after the evaluation, i told the evaluator i am interested in taking english classes. there is this intensive english program from the university of winnipeg, there is this eglish for technical purposes and enhances english skills for employment. i am particulary interested with the correct pronunciation, intonation, diction and accent.

but most specially, i just really want to practice speaking in english. plainly having someone to converse with in english without having to laugh at each other. it's hard to speak in english in the house, jason and both felt and sounded hilarious.

but i didn't enroll. maybe this fall. i can't afford to try and have the accent while aquim would be alone in the house. maybe this fall....

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english

two months ago or so, i've undergone an english proficiency test here in canada. they say it's not a requirement for work but it is required by some immigrant training facilities to have a specific score to let one in on any of their trainings, so i had to take the assessment.

there are 4 areas on which i was tested: reading, writing, speaking and listening. one would receive a score and accompanying narrative assessment for each area. the highest score for each is 8.

reading: it was just multiple choice. it started with easy ones like images of things of which you have to choose the correct "word" that identifies the image (like pencil, money, etc.). easy stuff. then comes reading stories with increasing number of paragraphs. no sweat. the answer is on the story itself. you really just have to read. the clinch is that it is timed, so you also have to read it fast.

writing: easy to hard again. first, i was asked to write what was already printed on the form. easy, eh? then the next ones are essay writing stuffs with a required number of words. i'm good. i can write anything. the topics are easy. let me say that writing means handwriting. and it also timed. this is quite hard because i've been so accustomed with computer where in there are the backspace and delete keys. building your thoughts and make it appear coherent while handwriting it is quite hard, for me.

speaking: i was interviewed by an assessor. no sweat. i'm used to talking with strangers. i was just worried if he would ask me about current events or anything related to canada, hehehe i was not prepared for that. but it was just a casual conversation. he asked questions and i answered. more often providing more information than what is expected.

listening: i was provided with headphones. the instructions was to listen to the taped series of monologues. after each one, i have to repeat what it has said as completely and identical the source. easy to hard again. first few ones were just a couple of sentences that i was able to repeat it word for word. but it was getting longer and i had a hard time repeating it identically.

my scores on my next post.
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balita!

nanay: uy ikakasal na yung dati mong crush ah.

moi: ah talaga?!

nanay: oo! invited ka nga eh!

moi: wow! kelan? sige sabihin mo attend kami. luluwas kami para diyan.... err... di pala. nasa canada nga pala kami akala ko nasa probinsiya lang...

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panaginip lang ....
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what i love here: library

time to rave.

the winnipeg millenium library

one of the things i like here is the library! yey for library, yey! books for aquim, books for me, for free! they have dvds, audio cd, cds for kids, magazines. we can borrow the actual books (hard cover!) or the ebook online. please take a look at their catalogue, click http://wpl.winnipeg.ca/library/ and http://elm.lib.overdrive.com/.

searching is easy, borrowing is easy. you can either search it online and reserve it online. choose where you would like to pick it up (there's a lot of libraries). if it's an audio book or ebook, you can check it out and read in instantly.

picking up is easy, just give your library card and voila, your books are ready. if you would like to borrow additional books, checking out is done thru a lib staff or you can do it all by yourselves using this computer.

of course there would be fines if you forget to return the items on time. returning is easy also, you can return it to any branch and you just have to put the books on the counter, that's it!

they also some have computers there and they have wi-fi. they have mini museum and they have this ascending terrace where one can actually read, surf or just ... stare. hehe i was not able to take a picture, but i'm sure it would be great just sitting there hehehe.

they have some paintings on display, like this one:

and this one:

and this one:

which is actually, this just big (or small?)

i'd like to do that in our house. hehehe .

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funny story...

last time, i asked jason to pick up some books that i borrowed, just 3 titles. when the lib staff gave him the books, he was shocked! what the.. they were giving him 12 books! he called me and asked "what are the books that you borrowed? they were giving me 12 books. they told me you borrowed the book club kit and it contains 10 books!"

me: hehehe! oh, i didn't realize that book club kit means there would be 10 books. i just thought it just comes with a special binding. because the actual book is checked out and i was like the 7th person on the wait list. and i saw that book club kits have several units left (3 actually). so i thought this is just a book binded differently. hehe i didn't know that it will be 10 books hehehe.

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i am spamming

after deliberately posting nothing, i am back into blogging. yes. i don't care if the posts will be too senti or full of rants. i want all of it to be here. i want something to make me remember when all of these has past.

so, just hang around.
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hello, stranger

i admire those OFWs really. i've already admired them when i used to watch wowowee and cried when they tell their stories. but now that i am here in another country, leaving my family behind, i can almost feel what the OFWs have to go through just to give their family a better chance in life.

i know my story is so much different from them and it is nothing compared to what they have to go through. but in terms of homesickeness, i guess we are on the same page.

even if i am with jason and aquim, i am still homesicked. i don't know. maybe i still need more time. how much more? afraid.

i really don't know if i want to cope. i don't want to not miss them. but i want to have a "new" happy and normal life here.

yes, i think of the philippines and my family back there every hour of the day, and it scares me that i am letting my day here go by without appreciating it, without even noticing it.

right now, i am missing one country while being a stranger in another. what scares me the most is, i'll end up being a stranger in both countries.
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namimiss mo ba ang philippines?

moi: namimiss mo ba ang philippines?

dad: ahhmmmm... hinde naman. lalo na ang weather. siguro yung mga tv shows pa. ikaw ba?

moi: ahhh... namimiss ko ang 9am sa philippines. namimiss ko ang 12pm. namimiss ko ang 3pm. namimiss ko ang 6pm. ang 7pm. namimiss ko ang 10pm at 11pm. yeah, na mimiss ko ang philippines.

yes. going on 3 months here and i'm still homesicked. everyday, everyhour, naiisip ko siguro ang philippines. kung 10am dito, naiisip ko ang feeling ko pag 10am sa philippines. or naiisip ko kung ano ang ginagawa nila ngayon 11pm sa philippines. pag sunset na dito around 9pm, naiisip ko ang 6pm atin or pag sunset na sa atin. namimiss ko ang tumambay sa terrace. namimiss ko ang hangin na medyo malansa at maalinsangan.

minsan nga namimiss ko rin ang traffic! hehehe.

kung ipapalista sa akin ang namimiss ko, everyday may maisusulat na ako dito sa blog ko. hayyy...
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