Kaohsiung

Went for a one day trip today. It was nice to see my grandparents/aunt/uncle again. =] Played tourist for a bit too. Night market = yummy food. I'm really just going to gain like 20 pounds over the summer, it's going to be horrible. Ah well, at least I'll have fun while it happens. =P

Taiwan!

It was a pretty nice day today, only in the 80s most of the time. =] Made me happy. I also got to eat yummy food, though no night markets yet.

Got my hair cut! The guy there who cut my hair could have been out of a drama - he dressed just like one, and when he said "等我一下," I swear he sounded just like one too. Anyways, it was amusing, had some nice conversations with the hairstylists there. My hair feels so short now! It's still decently long though, so just goes to show how freaking long it was before. I cut off like 8-ish inches and it's still a length past my shoulders...

Anyways, going to Kaohsiung tomorrow! Probably not going to make it to a night market tomorrow, but soon! =]

Permit!

Passed my permit test today. xD Took about 5 minutes to take and didn't miss any! In any case, I'll be terrorizing the streets of California now... Though I really should have just taken the test after I got back from Taiwan because of the expiration date. Ah well.

Speaking of which, two hours until I head off to the airport! Here I come Taiwan! Night markets and yummy food. So excited!

I have no idea how to pick courses for college. Damn, this is going to be harder than I thought.

Fentons!

Had an awesome time filled with food yesterday. Visited the Fro in Oakland, went to get boba and Fentons! =] And saw his vicious chihuahua. But anyways, I didn't bring a camera so no pictures of delicious ice cream, but it was yummy.

Also had fun fighting for the perfect scoop, and splattering each other's hands with melted ice cream.

I can also now take a bus! =P Okay, that's an exaggeration. I'm perfectly fine on public transit if I know where they run/have a map of the routes. Speaking of which, I wonder if I still know how the buses in Taiwan run... Probably not - I only ever went with family before...

The BART seriously has interesting people... Girl in sequins, bras with leather jackets, fishnets, no pants, facepaint... And guys you don't know who stand outside an open BART train and tell you to come on. Weird.

Finally having that emotional rollercoaster - excitement, anxiety, sadness, worry, happiness, fear...

Turkeys in June

Bowled one today. First three frames. Closely following my statement to Courtney/Robyn/Bhumika that my average bowling score is in the 70s. xD It was pretty epic actually - why can't I do this normally?

Anyways, we chilled at the mall before bowling and got some food and browsed random stores. Candy!

It was a pretty fun day. I could talk more about it, but I'm sort of tired and don't want to think. =P Back to tetris/random games!

Oh, Summer Fun

Most my summer so far spent thinking about winter. But more on that later.

Went to visit my sister's apartment today - it's amazing. Lots of black and white and neutral tones. Pretty minimalistic, but very chic. I'd totally design my apartment like that. Well, either that, or an insane show of colors. But probably the former.

Back to the wintry awesomeness. It'll be cold at Princeton. =] Yay snow! I'm pretty sure I'd be fine with my puffy jackets and a long-sleeved T-shirt, but hey, NorthFace gear is comfy. =] Three jackets, three beanies, and two pairs of gloves. I'm totally splurging; this stuff costs a mini fortune. It's all so comfortable though! I just feel bad that I'm spending so much... And I still need to get some scarves and shoes, and just shop in general. My wardrobe needs to be updated - I haven't actually gone shopping since 9th grade in Taiwan at night markets (YES for cheap stuff!). Incidentally, I'm going to shop at night markets for more clothes this summer. =]

Apparently the beanies make me look younger. And according to the ever-knowledgeable Fro, will attract Princeton boys. You've got competition. =P

But then again, you don't really... I miss you more than you can imagine.

Summer!

I haven't been doing much, but then again, whatever. Just chilling is nice too. =] Went to see MiB3 with Stanley and Eric today, it was pretty fun. Venison and shish kabobs and all that. Going up to my sister's apartment tomorrow, bowling Thursday, maybe something Friday/over the weekend.

Nine more days til Taiwan! Super excited!

Already nervous for Princeton - all of these forms to fill out and stuff. Oh dear. And HUM apps. And summer reading if I get in... OA prep...

I should probably finish driver's ed. xP

And Fro's present. I WILL get it to you!

What I Learned In MY Classes

Idea stolen from Courtney. And some of the points too - we had so many classes together this year!

Mock Trial
~ Red is not blue. Green is not blue. Purple is not blue. Neither is yellow.
~ Real athletes wear suits.

Econ
~ Christmas is a deadweight loss.
~ Do your homework.
~ China beats us anyday.

Lit
~ Sheep are bloody stupid.
~ He gets paid whether we graduate or not.
~ Room 305 is where to go for life lessons and love advice.
~ DEATH AND SKULLS.

Gov
~ There aren't many better ways to start a class than yelling at your teacher.
~ Even teachers get excited over stickers and stamps.
~ Get on our level!

APES
~ When in doubt, the answer is carbon.
~ Naps and picnics help pave the path to happiness.

Psych
~ Sex is essential in marriage.
~ People spend their whole lives to discover the most interesting things!
~ Breaking social norms is funny.

Calc
~ Forever in the weird corner.
~ Even the smartest people can be stupid.

Graduation 2012

And so it ends. Yesterday was amazing, I can't even say. All of the awesome people I've met over the years, being able to celebrate the past few years of hard work... It's something that can't be put into words. It's just a feeling of community, of looking back but anticipating the future, of cherishing what might be a last moment together. It's a feeling to cheering for all of your friends as they walk up onto that stage, of sticking a sticker on Mr. Corti, of riding mechanical bulls and doing backflips. It's indescribable.

*****

But enough of the sap. Senior breakfast was okay, they had food, but nothing amazing. xD The practice was pretty boring, but aren't they all...

A big group of us went to Round Table afterward and ate pizza and played Publish or Perish, which is amazingly hard with 11 players... But it was fun, a nice time to get together with friends and just chill.

The actual ceremony went by really fast. The student speakers were pretty good, Mr. White was amazing as usual. Calling people up also went by pretty fast - it helps to hear a friend's name every now and then. Then it was my turn. I can't really say I remember the entire experience - it sort of comes in flashes. Never really thought high school graduation would be anything special, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't smile as I hugged Mr. White, shook Mr. Corti's hand, and took the long walk back to my seat. Then the processional, high-fiving friends and hugging others... And mass chaos as we tried to find everyone to take pictures. Pretty glad I told everyone to meet at the goalpost. xD Wandering around looking for more people, laughing, wondering what the Golden State Seal Merit Diploma sticker means, and having a great time...

And then grad night. Mechanical bulls, bounce houses and obstacle courses, jousting, sumo wrestling, zip lines... Delicious strawberry passion slushies and chocolate covered strawberries. Suspiciously bogus fortune tellers. Henna tattoos and caricatures. Dance Dance Revolution with a broken back arrow. Falling asleep in the bingo room and waking up with half an hour to go. Eating donuts and yogurt, then rushing the exit to get out. Getting back home at like 5, with no idea what was going on... It was amazing.

And I guess we made it. =]

Class of 2012!

Last day of school was today - I have to say it was a blast. Card games and food all day... Must make breakfast burritos in college, because those were super delish. Omnomnom.

I'm really going to miss everyone next year... It still hasn't sunk in that we're off to college so soon - and we'll probably never see most of the people we've known again, or at least for a few months... Insane.

Band banquet today was pretty awesome. Great last day with a lot of the MB people, even though I felt slightly awkward since I'm not actually in a band class...

Eric beat me on the final by 1%! -sighs- xD

I'm going to have so much crap on me tomorrow for graduation... Three tassels, four cords, a medal, and two stoles. just wow. I sort of want a lei but that'd just add more weight to my neck...

Tomorrow is going to be interesting... No more running from reality. Senior breakfast, grad practice, graduation, then grad night... One final day with everyone in the class of 2012, and all of the people I've grown with the past 4+ years in one place... Time for us to make stories of our own. =]

"Do not go where the path may lead; go instead where there is no path and leave a trail." ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Done! (More or Less)

Finished econ and lit today, so it's just partying for the last two days of school. =P A bit miffed about econ, but whatever, and we'll see how I did on lit...

I keep having horrible dreams.

Sometimes I just want someone to listen to me, even if I'm being unreasonable. And I guess you aren't that person, so I'll stop trying.

Final Few Finals!

Really just one... Econ project due tomorrow, and the lit final. Then a gov party, APES chilling, psych breakfast, and calc party. The econ presentation shouldn't be that bad. Just need to make it through the lit final... Oh dear. Ah well, this will be nothing compared to Princeton exams. xD

Happy

Life's been pretty good these past few days. Still getting bad dreams, but those will pass (hopefully). But I've been happy. =] One more week, then graduation and away from high school forever!

I Really Don't Know Anymore

I really think I have problems sometimes. Serious ones. Ones that don't pass on after a while. They come back and they hurt the people around me. I don't want to be like this. I'm afraid.

After Four Years...

I finally had to fall up the stairs today. It was painful, and I have like 7 bruises. xD Seriously, I couldn't have gotten through another week and a half without faceplanting on the stairs?! xD

Tattoos

You know, I've never really wanted one. Never really had anything against them either, just thought they were sort of meaningless unless they had a backstory. And oh-so-permanent... Always thought about future regrets, discrimination... But now I'm thinking that I sort of want a heart. Just a small black one. To remind me. But we'll see.

There's a difference between trying to be someone else, and trying to be a better self, isn't there?

Sometimes I Wonder...

But it's okay. I'll get better.

I can do this.

Today - AM Kidd

Been listening to this on repeat; I'm strangely attached to it. It just seems so perfect for reasons I don't even understand. Helps me feel better when I'm down, like there's something worth fighting for.

Amazingly Tired

It's actually been a pretty rough few days... Why did it happen all at once?

Econ is killing me... It's taking forever to come up with proposals... The gov one is pretty much done and can be finished in class though, and psych was presented today. the wordsearch worked out pretty well - more people than expected did it, presumably just for the candy, but hey, whatever works! xD

Boat races were today! Surprisingly, quite a few flipped... There were some really awesome ones too though. I really liked Tanya/Kathy/Domenic's. Sort of biased, but it really DID look absolutely boss.

We got yearbooks today! There's a huge picture of me on the guard page, oh dear. Our "In Twelve Years" circle comments made it on smoothly though! =] Bringing all sorts of colorful Sharpies to school for people to sign. Not as many as usual, but still a good collection. =D

Is it so wrong that I don't like people keeping things from me?

Mostly when they're things about me that annoy them? I've gone through a really nasty time in my life, partially caused by a close friend who didn't tell me about things I did annoyed her and decided to break off our friendship seemingly out of the blue. I'm still blocked on Facebook and I barely know why. Is it really that bad that I just want to know so that I can stop annoying you when you're around me, or be sure that it's not something really serious?

I really feel horrible sometimes.

What Do I Do Then?

I want to read it. It's better than not knowing. But what if it's absolutely horrible?

Project Pandemonium

Projects everywhere! D= Psych, gov, and two econ ones... Oh dear. -sighs- Psych has taken longer than expected too... Ross writes really slowly. =P Gov should be manageable, we get lots of class time to do it. Econ is going to be a harrowing experience though... Courtney and I haven't even started, it's due next week, and it's a pretty intense project.

Whyyyy?! It's two week before graduation - we seniors should be allowed to chill and not worry about projects. =[

In other news, because everyone is busy today and I don't like working on partner projects alone, lunch with Clarie and then off to watch Eric in the NCS finals at the Coliseum! =D