Thank You, Friends

There is really nothing more better in the world than having good friends that really understand and accept you for who you are. I don't know why I am being so sentimental and reflective now, but it was just this feeling that I got after-school today. It was just as a simple thing as going out to buy for food, but the casual simplicity of it all somehow really touched me. See, in my past two years, I just didn't have any close friends. I'm not anti-social or anything, I had friends, but I didn't have anyone who I could just spill my heart out to. I didn't have a group of friends that made me feel like I belong or who when I was with them, I could just be my nerdy/crazy/hyper self. There are no secrets or complicated relationships, its just true friendship. I just love how I don't have to feel restrain myself or hide any part of my personality to be with them. Each person in our group of friends have strange little quirks, but this is what defines us and makes us come together. It is also what makes our lunch table filled with laughter. Thank you friends, you guys make my senior year in PAS memorable. :)

Facebook is so Stalker Friendly

Today, when I was looking through Facebook with Alyson, I found out that one of my friend from CTY camp is currently attending Harvard! She is a friend of Alyson's past school mate who is also currently attending Harvard, which is how we found her. (Yeah I know its confusing.) Anyways, I was really surprised and so I began stalking all my other friends from CTY. (Well, that's not exactly stalking right? Because they are technically my friends, we just hadn't connected for a while.) What I found out really surprised me. I am now officially Facebook friends with someone from Yale, Caltech, Dartmouth, and UPenn! All of those were people from my last CTY summer program! Okay, I did know that CTY is called "nerd camp" by many people, including those that attending it, but I didn't know so many were Ivy League material. Wow... just wow. I really wish that I could be one of those people. They all look so happy in their college lives. 

On Essay Writing.

I feel like doing a very short blog post today. Just because. Right now I feel like I'm lacking my writer's vibe (if that even makes sense). That isn't a good thing for a senior with tons of essays piled up to do. However, I do have to say, I think in the past three months, I've written more essays than I did for my whole junior year. I think that is one thing the school english department can improve on. From my experience, we don't get to write many essays until our senior year, but by that time, we are expected to be able to write good essays. How do we write good essays without practice? So, even though many students will disagree, as a senior, I suggests the school to increase the the number of essays students write before the senior year. I think the minimum should be three essays per semester.

DONE WITH MY UC APP!!

I finally have some progress in my college apps. I sent out my UC apps this saturday! Thats a big check from my college to-do list. That was the very first one though, which means I still have a long to-do list. One thing I definitely felt relieved about was that when we send out our scores, we don't have to send everything! :) I don't have to show the colleges my disastrously low score in my November test! I was jumping in joy when I found out. God bless SAT score choices.
Now that UCs are out, I'm going to be focusing on my common app schools. I have twelve common app schools, nine that need supplement essays. I've been researching some of them lately (most of them have why-school essays) and with each one, there are some really cool things. Some research projects, for example, really it my interests in bio and psych, so I'm pretty curious about them. Another thing about most of the colleges I've searched is that the buildings and the environment are so nice! I really love green and sunny places, it calms me down and puts me in a good mood. If I get into one of those pretty universities, one of the first thing I will do is study on the grass! I've always wanted to do that, but sadly, there isn't any big fields of grass where I live. I will wait one more year, and my dream will come true!

My Love-Hate Relationship with Coffee

For the whole day today, I feel like I am on some kind of stimulant. I am really jumpy and excited, but at the same time my body is extremely tired. My hands are shaky,my mind jumps from one subject to another, and I blurt out random thoughts. This is what happens when I drink coffee. My body cannot tolerate any kind of caffeine, it would just go out of control. I only drank about 25ml of coffee (not even one forth of the coffee in my bottle) and my body is already going bonkers. I am so jealous of those people that can drink coffee to keep them awake. For me, the tiredness does not get cancelled out, I only get over excited and waste all my energy. Even though I go though is every time I drink coffee, I would somehow convince myself to forget the distressful experience after a few weeks. I would think that my body can handle at least some caffeine and then go ahead a buy another bottle. The reason behind this over-optimism is that I just love the taste and smell of coffee. Every time I buy a coffee, I would only remember the smooth taste of coffee and forget the consequences. Of course, another reason why I am inclined to buy coffee is that so many use it to as a wake up drink that I feel like I can do the same. The should not share this feeling towards coffee, but too often I do.


This blog post is probably very messed up, redundant and make very little sense, but this is me under the wicked spell of caffeine. I would probably be this way for the rest of the day, so why not just write the blog post when I am still conscious enough to describe my feelings.

my iTouch is weird

A few days ago (more specifically Friday of last week), my iTouch  slipped to the floor when I had many books in my hand. At the time, I naively thought my iTouch would be alright. After all, my cell phone had suffered more serious injuries and it seemed to be fine. I have thought wrong. it first, it was just stuck. It was just a black screen. Then, I tried to restart the thing. This only resulted in a white screen. Later that day however, I thought it has fully recovered when I tries to restart the iTouch and it went back to normal. But now, my iTouch is getting really weird. Sometimes, it would just give me a blank white screen. I have to tap it several times until i gets back to normal. Sigh... I've only gotten it for two months and now its already broken. 

I FAILED MISERABILY

SAT scores are out today and all I can say is that I failed miserably. I got LOWER than I did last time. I really don't know how that could happen. I spend so much of my time, even postponed my test so I could extend my preparation time. ALL of those time were wasted. I really don't know what to say. 
Right now, I guess I'll just have to accept the truth and move on. Work on my essays so they can make up for my lower SAT score. Now i feel i've fallen away from my dream schools. Everything looked so hopeful, but now I really can't tell. 
Note to self in the future: I hope that when you come back to this blog after I don't know how many years, you would already have gotten into a good university (despite todays tragedy) and feel know that even though I did badly on this test, I was still able to get into the college I want to. PLEASE LET ME IN! I know I may sound extremely desperate right now, but its the truth. I am. I HAVE TO get into an acceptable university, or else... I really don't know or what, but I HAVE TO GET IN.

Jar of Hearts

"You're gonna catch a cold from the ice inside your soul."


For some reasons, this line of lyrics send chills down my spine every time I hear it. Its a line from the song "Jar of Hearts" by Christina Perri. I really love the song: the soft tune of the song matches the sorrowful mood of the lyrics. The chorus of the song is so vivid and very creative. I listen to both the original and the glee version. I really can't decided which one I prefer. Even though they sing the same song, there's a different feeling in each one. Christina Perri's sound makes the song sound distant and cold. The Glee version (sung by Rachel Berry) is more emotional and sad. This one great thing about Glee. Its reproductions give a different edge, a different point of view and personality to each song. I don't watch the TV show too often, but I sometimes listen to the songs they sing on youtube. Sometimes, the Glee version is better than the original!


Here are the lyrics and for the chorus and the link to the two different versions of the song... Enjoy :)


And who do you think you are?
Runnin' 'round leaving scars
Collecting your jar of hearts
And tearing love apart
You're gonna catch a cold
From the ice inside your soul
So don't come back for me
Who do you think you are?

Time to bring our winter coats down!

The weather is definitely getting chillier these few days. Right now, as I am typing the wind outside is howling its lungs out. Okay, it might be because of the little creaks from my window that is making the sound this loud, but the wind is definitely a sign that winter is here. I've gone upstairs (where all the clothes I had since I was a child is stored) and duh through clothes from various size until I finally fond the box that I brought up last May. Yup its time for them to see the lights (and the wind) again! 
There is this other thing that also come with the changing season. I think I am somehow allergic to changing temperatures. During the fall and spring months, my cheeks would get rough and course. I've gone to the skin doctors, but the things they gave me don't work very well. When I first had it a few years ago (its curious how I didn't have this allergy when I was younger), I thought it was going to last. Luckily it went away when the weather became more stable. 

Thank You Internet.

I am so extremely grateful that I live in a world with internet. Here are a few reasons why...


1. I GOT TO TALK TO MY FRIENDS WHO ARE IN SINGAPORE! I feel like a lonely duck (i don't know why i chose that animal), while all of them are in Singapore, drinking chocolate chip milkshakes and hanging out together. But thanks to the lovely and wonderful internet, I got to chat with them. I feel just a tiny bit better. At least I am updated with their stories.


2. FACEBOOK. I think i have to admit that I do spend more time on Facebook than I should, but its so addicting. You can connect with friends so easily. It is especially great for long-distance friendships. We can look at their pictures and events to get how they are doing in life. You can just write a wall post anytime without feeing awkward like you would in a letter or e-mail. 


3. ... which brings me to the third point: E-MAILS. It a super fast way to send letters. With just a snap, BOOM, your e-mail is sent halfway across the globe. What a fantastic feat. 


4. RESEARCH. It has become so much more easier to get information. I can't even imagine how I would write a research paper in the times when there wasn't internet. I don't think I have ever gone to a library and search up information that way, but I am sure it would be a lot slower. 


All in all, I have to thank those people that created the internet and made my life colorful and knowledgable. Without them, my life would be completely different.

Online Research verses First Person Opinions

I'll probably do a bit more college app related posts recently because there is exactly ONE month left till apps are due (in our school), and its starting to get in my head. (Plus I think this is a nice place for me to brainstorm ideas.) This isn't totally a bad thing, but I just hope things don't get repetitive and boring (because later on in my life, I just might look back to these blogs and read how I survived my senior year).

So college related stuff, here we go...

Yesterday, I was doing some online research on Duke to write their why-school essay. I found some facts about their various departments and student organizations. There were also some interesting study abroad programs. It all sounds pretty nice, but I just feel like I can't really get the gist of what being a Duke student is really like. I also can't really tell what are the negatives about going to Duke. They wouldn't tell you that on their website. Today, however, I got some really nice perspectives from a friend that I am extremely grateful of. He is now a freshmen in Duke and he loves it there. He says the weather is nice, but Durham, the city near Duke, is not that great (and I almost got fooled by the Duke and Durham video on their website). However, he also said that there is so much going on in the campus that there is not that much need to go out! Well that sounds nice! He also told me that the cafeteria food is just mediocre but from time to time there will be something good. Those are some pretty honest evaluations, but he did convince me that Duke is really nice. Now I only hope that my hard work can pay off - I want to get in!

Lonely Week

Today, my sister most of my friends from school hopped onto a plane and flew to Singapore, leaving poor little me in Hsinchu, Taiwan. I wanted to go with them but unfortunately for me, I've already been to ThiMUN Singapore twice. Due to the great increase of MUN delegates in our school, people don't get a third chance to go to ThiMUN. I will miss them so much and school without them, well, its just not as exciting. So I'll be counting down (three school days and a weekend) to see them again and hear about the stories. 

A funny thing is that two of my classes wouldn't be able to operate properly without all those that went to singapore. We wouldn't be having AP Chem class on Wednesday and Friday because more than half of the students are gone. In my Euro class, I'll be the ONLY student. I am not looking forward to it, because apparently, I still had to go to class. I've never taken a class just be myself before, so I guess this will be a new experience.

My Listing Book

I was rummaging though my bookshelf the other day and happened to dig up my Listing Book. In the very first page of the book, I promised that it would be the complete list of what I would ever need and ever think of. It is sort of like a dairy, but in list form. Apparently, my pledge did not exactly came through. There were only about ten pages of of lists. (The book is about palm-sized, so ten pages of it 'aint that much). Of course, it is impossible to list out all of my thoughts in just those puny ten pages, some of them not even half-filled. However, there were some interesting things in the book. First up is a list of my possible future careers. Among those, a few were actually pretty interesting. I put down "dolphin trainer" probably after I came back from an aquarium. Another one was to be in one of those food and entertainment shows where the person travels to different countries and eat different types of food. I mentally crossed that one off the list because I heard some of the food those people have to eat are that appetizing, for example, insects. A few pages later, there was a list of places I wanted to go. When I was young (and maybe I still do) I wanted to travel around the world. The top three places I wanted to go to were, one, Venice, two, Iceland and third, the dead sea. (Hmm I just realized that all of these places have something to do with water.) Lastly, the longest list by far was the list about things I wanted to complete before I go to college (most of them during the summer before it). I had some pretty ambitious goals, like trying to learn computer programming (which might be a disaster when I try). Another one is to try and learn Hakka, the language of all of my grandparents. I can understand Hakka, but never though out all those years, never brought myself up to actually speaking the language. I think I'll start up the Listing Book again, just for the sake of it. I might even bring it to college. I still have a think pile of paper to go through (probably around two-hundred pages), but I hope to fill out all the pages in the notebook and when I am old, I can look back to all my goals and dreams. I hope I'll be able to check them off by then and feel satisfied.

What would you do if...

you could do something with no risk of failing.
This is a brainstorm for my college essay writing. I thought this is a pretty interesting topic so I want to list a few ideas.


- (the first that came to mind) FLY!
- read people's mind
- invent something (i'm not sure what yet, but i'll know after i've invented it)
- learn ten languages and go to all the countries that speak the language
- open a stores that sells memories
- open a store that sells magic power pills that taste like candy
- live in a rainforest and learn to communicate with all the animals there
- train dolphins (not the one-day activity type, but actually train them)
- live in the ocean for 2 weeks
- watch a video of my life from beginning to what I am now (possibly a little of the future)


Okay these are some really odd and unattainable dreams, but it said ANYTHING without failing right? so these are the things I want to do....
Now I'll just have the choose one I want to do the most.

What's that movie called?

Today, out school made us watch a movie (that they did not tell us the name of) during club time. It was something pretty rare. I think it has something to do with some sort of school policy, but I'm not so sure what exactly. Then, we are to hand in our reflections on the movie next monday, so I'll be be doing that in this blog before I forget.
First up, I'd like to say I enjoyed the movie more than I expect I would have. It was about a Jewish boy from a normal/poor community getting a scholarship because of his football skills to an exclusive high school where many of the boys have family legacies of going to elite universities. I was surprised by how intense and how much pressure some of the boys had. One boy, McGregor (i think) had a family legacy of going to Princeton for 5 years. He didn't do great on a French speaking assignment and got a nervous breakdown. That part definitely shook me. I cannot imagine the amount of pressure these boys are under. Back to the main subject. The Jewish boy (I forgot his name already) had a great time in school until someone found out about his religious background and then everyone turned against him. It was shown early on that the boys had prejudice against Jews (when in fact many of them have never seen any!) For me, the moral of the movie is identity. Even though the Jewish boy lived in a community that hated his people so much, he had to be tough to live through it. His religion set him apart, however, he still cherished his belief.

Introducing The Llama Song and Reasons Why They Are Cool

It goes like this:
Happy Llama, Sad Llama,
Mentally Retarded Llama,
Super Lama, Drama Llama, 
Big Fat Mama Lama,
Moose! Camel! Fish!


It is a pretty random song, but its a cute with hand gestures.
I have to say that llamas are truly interesting creatures. Its uniqueness begins with their names. What other animal has double 'L's as the first two letters their names? What's more?Their names share the same pronunciation as lamas, as in spiritual leaders in Tibet. That in itself adds a certain holiness to llamas.
Also, llamas just LOOK different. They look like a combination of giraffes, sheep and camels. They have long necks like giraffes, wooly fur like sheep and legs that look like camels. I would definitely want to ride one because they look like a comfortable and fun ride. (I learned recently that the wool of an alpaca llama can be made into high quality clothing that is extremely soft and comfy.)
I think it is sad that they are one of the less widely known animals. I didn't know about them until a few years ago. They are almost never in any children's book, where young kids first learn about the wide variety of animals. If I were one of those children authors, I would devote one whole book JUST on llamas because they are worth it.

 

Alpaca Llamas of different color! (Don't they look soft and wooly and comfortable?)

and here is the llama song:

My Pet Monsters

Recently, I've been addicted to this game called the Monster Pet Shop in my iTouch. You get orders to buy certain types of pets and then you raise them until they have matured enough to be sold. Some of the monsters are truly adorable while others are just plain ugly. The monsters come from eggs which you buy and then incubate. After they hatch, you move them to either a mud, water or grass habitat to grow. You have to feed them, pet them, clean their habitat and play with them periodically. Each monster has its personality and preferences of food and toys. They also take different time to grow. One monster had been in the habitat for at least 4 days and it hasn't grown, but several others would mature in just one day.
My favorite part of the game is buying unknown species of monster eggs and hatching them to discover a new kind of monster. I also liked managing the store and getting new orders for pets. 
I've been raising those pets constantly for at least one week now, but today, I forgot to bring my iTouch to school, which meant my pets went hungry all day! I was so nervous that they would die. I was so very glad when I came home and found that they were still very much alive, only very hungry. Several of my friends thought my obsession over those virtual pet monsters was funny. Let them think what they want, but those tiny creature bring me pleasure, so I will continue obsessing over them.

Water Villas are so Amazing

This morning, all the seniors were called to the cafeteria and told that the graduation trip was mandatory. If we do not wish to join, we would have to write a formal letter to Pamela providing a good explanation of why we cannot join. The thing is, my family already planned a trip during the spring break. We planned on going to Malaysia and living in one of those water villas, a small hut-like constructions built in the ocean. You could just walk down the stairs of the villa and you are in the ocean. My sister and I though it was the coolest thing ever and were both super excited when we saw that somewhere in a magazine a few years ago. Since then, both of us had been wishing to have the experience. My parents finally agreed to look for one of those and bring us there during the spring break, but now, because of the mandatory graduation trip, we might not get to go. I am thinking of asking Ms. Pamela to let me off the hook, but from what I've seen so far, my chances are slim. Even if I do get it, I would probably be scolded for not participating in the event. 


here are a few pictures of the super-cool water villas:

You can just walk down the stairs to get to the ocean! 

Here is a view of several of them from the air.

I am so over you.

I am finally done with SATs! Even though I expected to feel total relief and jubilance, I am still kind of nervous. (I really really really hope my scores come out alright!) As I (finally) cleaned my room today and stacked all my SAT practice book to be put away, I felt a tinge of nostalgia. Sort of like saying good bye to something I've come to known so well, not exactly a friend, but not an enemy either. I guess I'll be passing all of those to my sister, who see it as an evil enemy as I use to in the beginning of the process. Although I do admit that the test was not of real english skills, I did learn from practicing it over and over again. 
After the test, it certainly felt like a large stone was taken off my back. I am completely done with SAT, for all of my life! I had a tiny celebration and allowed myself to dig though my bookshelf and pick a few books that I wanted to finish. I know I still have tons of essays to go through, but at the very least, this is a big red check mark on my college app list!


SAT vocab of the day:
(NONE!) WOOHOOO!

SATs This Saturday!!

I've been  avoiding this topic this whole week because I didn't want to be repetitive, but today is only TWO DAYS BEFORE MY FINAL SAT! After one more month of preparation (even though it was a lot less intensive), I am once again faced with the inevitable test. This time, I can't change my mind. There is no more time (and I don't want to drag in on any longer). Last month, one week before the test was Camp PAS for the rest of the school and college visits and basically more freedom and time to sleep for the seniors. Almost all the seniors took the October test, so the atmosphere was pretty intense. The suffocating pressure was in the air. People were ready for their battle of college exams. 
This time, one week before the SATs are midterms. Only a few of us are doing the test. Even though it is only two days before the test, I don't seem to feel the readiness and the intense pressure. Theres an awkward feeling in the pit of my stomach, but theres so much more thats going on in school and at home that everything seems to be distracting me from it. I guess I am still nervous for the test, but somehow, it just feels different.


Final SAT vocab of the day!!
euphoria: a feeling of great elation and happiness
I hope I would be euphoric when I see my SAT results.

Still Not Cleaned Up

Since fifth grade, I dreamed of having a room to myself. Most of my friends started to get separate rooms by that time, and it seemed as though I would never get the chance. My grandmother would live in our house for half of the year, so my sister and I had to share a room. Yet, I would still try to imagine having my own room. I would even try to draw it out: a purple room with a tiny sofa and bunk bed. I also promised myself that I would clean it up every week so that it would look nice.
Two years ago, my mom decided to remodel the house and fulfilled my childhood dreams. That summer, we bought purple paint and colored our rooms a light lavender. My sister and I looked for furnitures in excitement and delight. I, the more artsy of the two, made cute signs for our rooms. We were both completely overjoyed. Over the summer, we each made our beds every single day. However, as time went on, the excitement wore off. I still really like having my own room, but I don't take as much time fawning over every little detail. Finally, as senior year rolled around, the room got a little out of control. I have clothes flying everywhere and old pieces of paper and books stacked on the floor. I desk is probably the worst because I use it the most often. However, I have promised myself that after SAT (which is THIS SATURDAY!!!) I will clean up my room.


SAT word of the day: 
perfuctory: done in a cursory or careless manner; mechanical

Messy Worktable

My table is extremely messy messy messy and it is distracting me from work.
Here are just some random/ normal stationaries on my table:
1 cup
1 air condition remote control
1 eyeglass box
some books
10-ish hair bands or various colors
1 bottle to super glue
3 pencil boxes
tons of pencil, pen, highlighter, white out that I have to sort out
2 boxes of tissue (one of them is empty)
books
1 pile of post-its (green, blue, pink, yellow, and one with cute chicken picture)
1 and 1/2 pari of ear rings
some notebooks
2 calculators
1 iTouch
3 earphones (1 broken, 1 extremely tangled together, 1 new)
more books 
1 double sided tape
1 tea bag
a few folders
1 watch
...... and many more




I have to go sleep early today!
to be continued.