Changes at Life

Changes at life? Easy, put a hundred dollar bill into a change machine, and you are going to get a ton of changes.  Haha, I love this idea of changes. But no, that's not real changes, at least not in a serious manner. Honestly, it's hard to change, because you are in one condition for such a long time and switching to another can be impossible to adapt. I used to be a all stressed out and complain-a-lot person because of school's workload and life's uneasiness. I know it's not right, and I want changes. But changes are hard to put in place and action. Through reading books, volunteering, starting my own club; changes take place. Even if I only have baby steps toward a big change, but it's okay, because at least I'm changing. It's important, friends, to step out your comfort zone sometimes. You never know what you are capable of until you've tried it!

Things You Should Know About Me

Hello all! I've been writing this blog for a long time and just realized that I haven't really told you guys much about myself, who I am, and what I do at life other than school. Maybe I lied about that last part, since my life is mostly surrounded by school. Anyhow, the list must go on, so here it is!

1.) A lot of kids love amusement parks, well, not me. I love ferris wheels and all other non-tummy-tingling stuff, NOT ROLLER-COASTER! It makes me feel dizzy every single time.
2.) Related to the first fact, possibly the reason of it, I'm afraid of height. And tons of other things, but I'm extremely afraid of height.
3.) I get super excited when I see cotton candy, and my favorite flavor is strawberry.
4.) Interesting as it sounds, I love to eat strawberry cotton candies, but I don't like to eat the real fruit; I just can't bear the sour taste.
5.) I am Chinese, born in Shanghai and lived there until 2006.
6.) My grades were horrible before moving to Hong Kong, by horrible, I mean never had a test score over C.
7.) I gained a lot of weight after moving to Hong Kong in third grade, particularly due to eating endless amount of dim sum everyday.
8.) Oregon became my home in 2008, well in 6th grade. When I first moved here, I always wondered why Oregon has way more green than buildings.
9.) Because of my moving experiences, I found my talent in language. I love the sound of syllables and the differences between every language. At school right now, I'm taking Japanese.
10.) Don't want to admit myself as self-centered, but after reading the first 9 facts again, I realized that I used the word "I" way too many times. See, I used it 4 more times on fact number 10.
11.) Maybe you would ask: "So, how old are you?" I am 15, sophomore at high school. My birthday is on Aug 29, the same day as Michael Jackson's; I only said because I thought pulling MJ into my blog would make me sound so much cooler.
12.) Literature always has an interesting relationship with me; it's my worst subject before 4th grade, then it became my favorite subject until 7th grade; yes, things flipped. In 8th grade, my favorite teacher was a Lit teacher, so it became my favorite subject again. But... things changed last year, and back to normal this year. So, that's confusing. Just remember, I love Lit and writing, and I'm not going to let the roller coaster swing affects me again.
13.) I don't like using present tense in writing, but formal essays pretty much always require students to do so. It's a problem, because I like to use -ed way beyond normal.
14.) My best friend and I met in 6th grade. When we first met, we hated each other because of huge misunderstandings. ( She said that I was constantly chasing her, and I thought her favorite thing to do was to ignore people). Don't worry, we don't think like that anymore. :)

So the list is going to stop here for now, I'll add more in the future. In order to give you the ultimate surprise, a picture of me is also attached. Also, Merry Christmas!! This is my present to you. Be nice and like it! Good night!!!

Am I the Only One That's Really Bad at Buying Presents?

Hello all! Since Christmas is around the corner, I think it's a good time to write a post that's dedicated to Christmas. Speaking of Christmas, we often think about trese, family, snow, and most importantly, presents. No offense,I love to receive presents, but I never know how to buy good presents. The things I buy are expensive, useless, and bad looking. For example, I'm trying to buy my friend a present today; my mom and I went to Target to search for the perfect gift. However, we walked and walked and wandered and wandered, saw fake santa clause, Sponge Bob, but didn't know what to buy! I got some Hershey chocolate at first, some wrap paper, and an angel ornament. The presents were fine, but we thought we were much better than that. So we repeated the process and walked and walked, fought over what else to buy, and ended up walking back to the original gift counter. I was so disappointed, but suddenly, mom saw the PERFECT gift! Let's not mention what it is, because it's just purely awesome. Friends, are you good or bad at picking presents?

What If the World Really Ends?

As the Mayans predicted, the world is ending on December 21st, the first day of Winter Break actually, if you live in the Portland area. First thing first, if the world actually ends on that day, I'll resent the Mayans even in tombs, because they absolutely ruined all my plans during the break and my hard work before the break. However, the critical question always come up; what if the world really ends? Should we spend all our money? Eat a bunch of McDonalds? So, like the last post, I'll list some of the things I'll do if the world is really going to end.

1.) Not do any of my homework, study, or anything that's related to school. Stress is gone.

2.) Eat A LOT of McDonald and NO vegetables. The unhealthy lifestyle makes me happy in a way.

3.) Spend all the money in my piggy bank on McDonalds.

4.) Throw away all the prep paper and booKs.

5.) Sleep so much that I don't even know the world is ending.

There, the list is done. If the world is not going to end, though, I'll hate the Mayans so much, because not only will I gain a ton of weight, I will also have bad grades, and lose all the money I've been saving in the last 4 years. Let's just wait and see!

The Wildest Thoughts I'll Ever Have- Part 1

Yesterday, I saw a post on a website; it's says that a college interviewer asked a candidate to tell him the wildest thought she has ever had. Of course, I'm guessing this is a common tactic to prove that the student isn't a pure dominant school child. The candidate said that she would drive a car with her feet so it would impressive colleges. I have to admit that it's crazy, wild, and funny as donkey riding on Shrek's head. After reading the post, I came up with some wild thoughts that I actually have, or at least something that I came up within the last 24 hours.

1.) Build a tree house in my backyard, live in there, have a bunch of pet frogs accompanying me, drinking hot cocoa while writing a book about a trip to Egypt on a typical Oregon morning.
2.) Write with my non dominant hand for a month, then write with that hand permanently.
3.) Learn to talk like Alvin in Alvin and the Chipmunks to all of my teachers, and ignore them while they are staring at me like "what on earth happened to her?".
4.) If I'm lucky enough to go to * university 2 years later, I'll jump up and down on the campus like an insane person while holding a cup of hot coffee to express my happiness. (This one doesn't work out well, because I stand a good chance to burn myself thoroughly before actually going to school, so...)
5.) Eat one kind of food for a year. This may be burrito, candies, chicken wings, yum. JUNK FOOD. My life will be completed.
6.) Bungee jump over and over and over again since I'm afraid of height. I'll do all other things that I'm afraid of, too. (The list is kind of long; I'll explain when it's necessary).
7.) Race with my friend on the speed to eat candy pops. The consequences may be severe, but this one is worth a try.
8.) Go to school by doing cartwheels.
9.) Only talk to Siri for the rest of my life.
10.) Be one of the first people to live on moon and plant lots of green there. :) oops, and also bringing my teddy bear. We'll experience the epic moment together.

The list is done. These are the things I probably won't do, but I'll seriously consider to complete some of them while I'm alive. I can actually go on and on, so friends, what's yours? Leave some in the comments so I can see. If you are patient enough to read till this line, just wanna give a hug to you because you are the awesomest!

See you until next time!!!

Stress Response of a High Schooler

Hello everyone! If you are not a student in Oregon area. Well, we basically had day- offs every week in the past month. This is the first full school days week since Halloween. After going to all the classes, doing all the assignments, and finishing up labs, I only have one word to say: tired! Life is getting more interesting; I'm currently researching on homelessness in the U.S and China and reading Winter Girls by Laurie Halse Anderson. I read Winter Girls; it's a little different from Speak, the assigned book that I read in Lit 3 months ago. Being overwhelmed by homework and stress is honesty no fun, but hopefully things will become better after this 3 day weekend! Yay!!! Christmas is coming up, what's everyone planning to do? I'll sure get a lot of sleep and not worry about anything school-related. Ha, I just lied. I have research projects to do over the break. But's it's okay, winter break is still going to be awesome as I foreshadowed. That's a weird wording, oh well.

Othello Review

In the last post, I said that I'd update how the story goes every other day. Well, I lied. Laziness has taken over me, so as a result, I never updated. But I'll do one today. Othello's first act started out with Roderigo and Iago's conversation, about how Roderigo was deceived by Iago for Desdemona and Othello's relationship. Othello was introduced as a loving, confident, trusting, calm, and noble character. To me, he has a great self confidence in a world which he is not supposed to fit in, Venice. Being an African Moor, Othello is always the different one. He appears to be very humble and clever; he never gets rattled or angry for minor reasons. The love relationship between him and Desdemona seems to be so epic that, at one point, I think it surpasses Romeo and Juliet on certain degrees. They constantly praise each other, say "I love you", kiss a lot, and do other cheesy things that made me feel a little uncomfortable. Things are going so great until Iago comes into the "play". Iago is an extremely devious, manipulative, and deceptive person. He lives in a world of jealousy, but he is extremely clever. Because Othello appoints his lieutenancy to Cassio, Iago is so angry and envious that he slowly starts to scheme a plan that will break down all the characters in an extremely painful way. He secretly starts to tell lies to Othello about how Desdemona is cheating on him with Cassio. He even finds a "proof" to Othello, the handkerchief. Iago is so good at manipulating people's weakness, and he always gets what he wants at the end. He uses Roderigo's foolishness, Cassio's bad drinking habit, Desdemona's innocence, Emilia's faithfulness, and most importantly, he uses Othello's lack of proper knowledge in life. Because of him, Othello becomes devastated, conflicted, jealous, insecure, and all the sides we won't want to expect from a competent man. Othello is starting to hit and yell at Desdemona. Poor Desdemona, she doesn't even know why Othello is so mad; the only thing she knows is that she has to be faithful to him. The epic tragic is about to happen, because Act 5 is where Othello will strangle Desdemona to death. Thanks to Iago.

Othello

I got the book Othello today in Lit. Honestly, I'm not a big fan of Shakespeare; because I'm constantly stuck with "thou" "thee" and bazillion other exotic 16th century words. Plus, most of them are tragedies, and to be honest, the characters themselves are mostly no brainers. ( ex: Romeo) Othello, however, really catches my attention. Different from all the plays or acts I've heard or read before, Othello's main character Othello (duh..) is African. I'm totally not being racist or stereotypical, but I'm very excited to see what a mixed race marriage will bring to the table. So, starting from next week, I'll hopefully blog about my perspective and opinions on the book and to keep all of you updated. HAZAH~~ :)

A Wonderful Saturday

I don't think I did much today since I wasted most of my time on internet. :) Being very honest here. Although I tried to stay on task with my math homework, I was constantly tempted by the Chinese version of Take Me Out; it's very interesting. Since mom went to Saturday Math School, I ate cookies and nuts for lunch as a result. I tried to outsmart myself and the whole world by dipping nuts into honey, but it turned out to be very disgusting. Yeah... I shouldn't have done that. One thing I did accomplish today was the "Law in the News" entries because they are usually my least favorite things to to do. But I gotta say one thing; doing 3 LINS in two days is no fun. Note to self: do one every day starting next week. Next week is one of the big weeks, and I know I'll have to do good on the Lit assessment and the Chapter 3 Test in Math. HAVE TO DO GOOD. Hopefully, with all my heart, Chem quiz will turn out better than I thought it would. No big greedy desires, but at least an A? YES. Well, it's been a tiring day, have a good night everyone!

Happiness

Happiness is a big word. It is undoubtedly the most important element that we are seeking for in life. Think of it this way. Why do we go to school? It is to get better grades. Why do we want to acquire good grades? It is because we want to go to a better college. A good college? It leads to a degree and a good career path. Why do we need a good job? Because we can buy a big house, own nice cars, and have spare money that will allow us to do the things that we desire and dream for. By doing all of this, ultimately, we want to be happy. But the big question always arises; does money really equals to happiness? Are we really going to be happy if we sit in a gigantic house surrounded by luxurious furniture but living a lonely life?  I want to describe a person's life, a non- true but very realistic story. For all  "Person A" 's live, he studies very hard at school, went to an Ivy League College, and got a so-called-perfect job. He is always focused and determined on what he is doing. However, he misses out a normal life because of this; he never goes to movies, smiles, have fun with friends, and do things other than school work . What happens? He has no real friends and no real emotions. In various ways, he is bounded solely by logic. It is very true that he owns every luxurious thing that we, the middle class people desire for, but he never knows what it is like to love someone, or to be loved. Is this really happiness? Probably not. How about the other way?
Story 2 ties us into "Person B" 's life. Person B got laid off. Because of this, he and his family are living in a small and raggedly house, eating food that can barely support them, and having absolutely no savings. Even though this may sound like an extremely depressing life to most of us, but surprisingly, Person B is happy. He is blessed to be with the family whom he loves and happy about the fact that he probably will never be robbed by bandits in his life. Yet beyond all of this, he misses out an important point; he never considers if his family is happy also. Do they want warm AC in an extremely cold winter? Yes. How about birthday presents on their birthdays? Probably yes. Does he wife wants a wedding ring and some fashionable clothes that's been shown in popular magazines? Maybe yes to that one also. Does his children want to go on vacation during summer just like their classmates? I would undoubtedly say yes to that. The reality hits hard, because they have no money to spend on those things. Can they really be happy that way? No. Whether you believe it or not, but a person can truly be happy if the people he loves are happy also. If they are not happy or satisfying with their life, then Person B isn't truly happy.
I've shown two extreme examples; they are almost like a feather and a rock lying on two opposite ends of a balancing scale. But examples like this do exist. Back to the point, if happiness isn't being solely rich or with the people one loves, so what is the REAL happiness? I think happiness is about having both. I don't think you need to live Person A's life, but one should at least have a standard life, meaning that their income can support their daily needs and if possible, have some savings. It is also important to have family, friends, and lovers to complete happiness. Of course in real world, you can never have a perfect 50-50 balance. If one has to be more in a person's life than the other, I would choose the latter without any hesitation. You can always make more money if you are determined, but as for the people you love, they are gone if they are gone. We should always cherish the people that's around us and be thankful for the things we own. I talked about the rich and the poor, and their lives seem to have flaws here and there. Does that mean middle class is actually considered the most happy out of the 3 choices? Maybe yes! Although middle class always complains about unfair taxes and other daily problems, but after reading this essay looking article, does it change your mind a little? Please leave a comment! Don't forget that happiness is not about extremeness, it's about finding the right balance. Good night everyone!!

An Update Update

Hi guys!!! I haven't blogged for like a year. How is everyone going?? I learned a major lesson in this past year. Looking back at my past posts, I seemed to overcome my worries and fears. We shouldn't worry and stress over things sometimes; let's just lay back and be optimistic. Even though it's a very hard thing to do, especially when killer tests and homework are saying hello to us, but it's an important thing to keep in mind. I still have no idea how I'm going to make through this year, but at the same time, I am also looking forward to see how things are going to turn out if I work hard and try my best. Being positive and showing gratitude are also the keys components toward success. We have to walk into classrooms with that "I'm-going-to -conquer-the-world-attitude" and appreciate our teachers in order to get our self reward. Hopefully, I'll be able to update the blog more often this year, it's a great way to express and relax. Have a good night everyone!!

AHAHAHAHAH.....UH YEA :()

Uh yeah, there is nothing really going on... EXCEPT for everything!!! Hahahaha, that doesn't even make sense. I WANT AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! Words can explain how much I love this prettyyyyyy letter. Oh and ah... Happy 2012 to whoever that's reading this right now! I think I am the only person who is ever going to read my blogs. But oh well, I love you! Yeah.... To myself ;P