Welcome to my rarely updated journal...

Vermont and Montreal

2007-08-11T05:47:18Z

My sister Agnes and I took a vacation this week to Vermont and Montreal. Why Vermont, you ask? You'll see! I'm lazy to type in too much detail, so I'll try to do this with pictures:

We left Jersey City on Monday morning and drove through Connecticut, Massachusetts, and most of Vermont. After looking for two hours for lunch, we stopped at Montpelier, the capital of Vermont, for lunch. We weren't picky, but there's NOTHING along the highway that's lunch food in Vermont! We went back on the road after a quick bite and in half an hour, arrived at our first stop:

Waterbury, VT, home of the BEN & JERRY'S Factory! We toured the factory, shopped in the gift shop, visited the Flavor Graveyard, and of course, ate at the scoop shop.

After our tour, we drove about half an hour to Burlington, VT. We checked-in to our B&B, which was right in downtown. It was kinda Gilmore Girls like, but smaller - it only had four rooms. We walked to the waterfront before dinner and looked out at Lake Champlain.

We then ate at Church street, a pedestrian only street filled with restaurants and little shops. We finally called it a night and headed back to the B&B.

The next morning, we drove about two hours to Montréal, Quebec Canada! After we checked into the Delta Montreal Hotel, we headed over to Chinatown for lunch. Nothing really cool there, just a quick lunch since we were hungry. After lunch, we walked to Vieux-Montreal, Old Montréal. This is my favorite part of the city. It has several narrow, European-like streets with old buildings and cobblestones.

Here is, in order, a street in Old Montréal, Notre-Dame Basilica, and City Hall.

We also walked around the Vieux Port, the Old Port right by Old Montreal. It has a a lot of bikers, skaters, and people just chilling out. Really nice area, but i don't have a picture of it. We walked back to the hotel to officially check in and rested for a bit. We then picked a restaurant in the Plateau district and walked over to that neighborhood. The area has a lot of restaurants and shops, very city like. We ate at L'Academie, which was delicious!! My sister got mussels and fries, and i got a veal dish. We also had an appetizer called Coquille St. Jacques, which is a shell with scallops and shrimp with a cream sauce and topped with cheese. Very good. Here is a picture of the restaurant (we sat on the third floor by the corner window!) and from Google, a coquille:

After dinner, we walked to a nearby park and had some gelato. YUMMY! Finally, we went back to the hotel and called it a night.

The next day, we took the Metro to Biodome de Montréal, a museum with animals from four different ecosystems - Tropical Forest, Laurentian Forest, Marine, and Polar World.

My two favorite animals there are:

and

The penguin all the way to the left was sleeping!!!

After the Biodome, we took the subway to the Plateau for some lunch. Lunch today was trying two different things: poutine, which is french fries, cheese, and gravy, a common snack in Montreal, and a smoked meat sandwich from Schwartz's. Schwartz's is famous, and the line to the place ran to the end of the block! Both were good, but the sandwich was sooooo good. I would go back right now to have another one. Here are pics of poutine and the sandwich thanks to Google, and Schwartz's which I took:

After our stomachs were fulfilled, we walked through the Plateau district back to the hotel to rest up for a bit. We headed out a little later to the Latin Quarter, which i think we missed, cause we didn't seem to see anything special there. We walked from there to Old Montreal for a French dinner at one of their many restaurants. I had this shrimp with rice dish that was super yummy. We walked around Old Montreal after dinner where i took some night time pics:

We finally walked back to the hotel for the night.

The next morning, we grabbed a quick breakfast and drove out to Parc la Fontaine for some tennis! Cause there has to be some tennis when you go on vacation with my sister. We played for an hour in beautiful weather, amazed at how the courts were full at 11am on a Thursday. It was fun. We drove back to the hotel for a shower and headed out to brunch. Afterwards, we walked to McGill University. We walked through its hilly campus as we headed towards Mount Royal. We walked up the mountain, slowly, cause i was tired and lazy. We got to the top where we saw a nice view of Montreal. Nice, but not awesome. The view of HK from the top of their mountain is much much better. But here we are, at the top:

Afterwards, we walked down the mountain to the Underground City. The Underground City is basically a handful or so of malls connected that is, like it's name says, underground. The locals like to go there during the cold cold winter days and the super hot summer days (btw, it was not hot or humid when we were there - the weather was awesome!). We walked through there, just to check out the malls, not really to shop. It was pretty cool, but it reminded me of some of the HK malls so I wasn't awestruck or anything.

We then took the subway to the Plateau District where we had a second meal at L'Academie. I forgot to mention it earlier, but this place was cheap considering we had mussels and veal. We had something a little different this time, but we kept the mussels. They were THAT good. We walked back to the hotel after dinner, one last time through the streets of the Plateau District.

We looked up directions to a recommended ice cream shop in Outremont. Again, what's a vacation with my sister w/o ice cream?? We drove out there, because this part of town was farther and less walkable. We were looking for parking as we got close and found a spot - directly in front of the store!! Seriously, we looked so cool getting out of the car and getting right into the line that stretched out the door. It was awesome luck. We ordered sorbets - i had strawberry, and my sister had citron. It was very very goooood. I wish i knew enough French to know what the other flavors were. But it's ok, bc strawberry is my all-time favorite flavor, and i like to try it at different places. I was happy enough. Here is a blurry picture of the ice cream shop:

With the sorbet sitting nicely in our stomachs, we drove back to the hotel for the night.

The next morning (today), we had breakfast at the hotel and drove alllll day home. I'm tired of driving, and i'm actually sore from it. I'm glad to be home, but it definitely was a great trip. More pics will be up soon.

short kindergarten update

2006-12-02T06:28:50Z

3 months of Kindergarten has passed. A third of the school year. Yikes!

This week, I got the horrible feeling that i'm not teaching well or teaching the correct things in the correct way in the correct order. I felt my kids weren't really learning much, were bored, and no longer excited for school. So what did i do? i decided to rearrange my hallway. (remember, my "classroom" is in the hallway.) With the help of Shawna, the Get Set teacher, i rearranged things to create more open space while finding tons of space for classroom materials. The kids seem to really like the new change, and are excited to find so many things in the room they never knew about before. I also put up my word wall, since the rearrangement freed up a whole empty wall for display. So, freak out about being a horrible teacher is temporarily over. But i still feel slightly uneasy about what I'm teaching.

However, the Owner and Director does not provide any feedback or guides to help my lessons. I basically make up EVERYTHING, from the order i do certain things, to what things to teach. It makes me feel disorganized, and that i'm not allowing my students to develop academically the way they may in a public school. I get good job's on my lesson plans all the time, but i don't feel it's that great. This is my first ever teaching job, so i honestly don't know where to begin and when to begin what things. But, given the lack of support from the director and the lack of a classroom, this is the best i can do. I expected a little more guidance and feedback from my boss. So i will keep teaching and doing what i think is right, and hope my kids absorb some of what i say. When they actually remember something, i always find myself amazed. Maybe my expectations for my kids are too low. But, i will try my best and hope for a better job next year. I do want to finish out the year at Goddard.

My kids are getting a lot better, behavior wise. I've implemented the traffic light system to monitor their behaviors. Green lights are good, and 3 or more in a week gets you a prize, 2 if you get all green for the week. Red lights means i have to talk to mom and dad. It works amazingly well for one of my kids. He gets scared at the mention of yellow light, and basically frightened if on red. He does everything imaginable to get himself back to green, from pushing in all the chairs to saying, "Miss Betty, you have pretty hair." I have to say, it also helps when parents reinforce the desired behaviors at home too. For some happy (but makes me look horrible as a teacher) news, my most annoying kid is going on vacation for TWO weeks!! She's not a bad kid, but she's just annoying, and always has a smirk on her face after i say something to her. She'll be back for two days and then i'm leaving for HK. I'm super duper excited about that. :-D

Thinking ahead to next year, i'm revisiting the idea of teaching English in Hong Kong. The pay is almost double of what i'm making now, I'd be in HK, and teaching English! It will be less politics for the English teachers than for the regular classroom teachers, which is also nice. AND, I will have students from K-6. I like the Kinders, but sometimes, i wish i had some older students who understand things i say. I find it hard, but fun sometimes, to explain everything in the simplest form. HK would give me a mix of all the ages. I've also always considered getting an ESL certificate, so a year teaching English in HK would actually be good experience for that and to see if i really like ESL. And the opportunity is there, and i don't have to go to some foreign country all by my lonesome. HK is familiar to me; it's my second home.

This will all depend on if i get a job here in the public schools. If i do, i'm staying. But if i can't find one, do i want to get a new job teaching K in a daycare, or do i want to spend a year in HK teaching English? Luckily, I have some time.

Ok, this was supposed to be short, and now i'm findiing myself thinking all over the place and rambling so i'm just going to stop here. A busy and fun-filled weekend of lunch with the HS group, some christmas shopping, Friends Scene-It, QT with my sister, and a Sixers game to see Randy Foye. Have a great weekend! :)

Oh Kindergarten...

2006-10-18T03:00:45Z

Walking down the stairs at school today:

Me: Rachel, walk a little faster please. Try and stay in line with the class.
Rachel: OK, Miss Betty.
David, at the front of the line, completely serious, and not trying to be rude at all: Rachel always walks slow poke, Miss Betty.
Me: Yeah...
David: I always walk fast poke.

:)

Why i LOVE the teaching part of my job

2006-10-13T00:51:53Z

So the theme at school this week is "Construction Site." Today, we had a visit from a construction worker who brought a backhoe digger, the machine that has a big scooper thing in the front and a digging arm thing in the back. This afternoon, i was feeling pretty lazy and not at all creative so for art, i asked my students to draw a construction scene with different machines and buildings. So they're drawing, and one kid, James, decides to draw a series of pictures. He walks over to me and tells me he wrote a story. So i had him dictate it to me, as I wrote the story out on each page of his story. "Once upon a time, a backhoe digger was digging up dirt. Then the cement truck puts cement on the ground." He continues, giving me a sentence for each page. Soon, all my kids decide they want to write stories (draw, really).

A few minutes later, Rachel walks over and shows me her story. She's dictating each page to me, and on one of her pages, she has a backhoe digger with a purple scribble on it. She tells me, "The backhoe digger got a badge (the purple scribble) because he did a good job digging up dirt."

Comments: I am amazed as to how James, only 5 yrs old, turned my somewhat boring art activity into such an awesome project that all my kids eventually took part in. What i thought would take a measly 10 min ended up being an hour long. I loved it. Rachel's story is exactly why I love teaching and playing with little kids. I love how little kids think inanimate objects are just like people, and how they can also get badges or stickers or special treats when they do a good job. Did i used to think like that when i was little? 'Cause that is just too darn cute. If you really think about it, why not? It DID, after all, dig up all that dirt. Ofcourse he deserves a badge.

Anyways, i'll leave you with a funny story. James, mentioned above, likes to give everyone his phone number. All the girls AND the boys. Even me. I think he's just showing off that he knows how to write his phone number. Last week, he gave his number to Katie, a teacher who often covers my break. When i came back from my break today, she told me about James and his habit of giving out his number:

"Miss Katie, did i ever give you my phone number?"
"Yes, you gave it to me last week when I covered for Miss Betty."
"Then why didn't you ever call me?"

:-D

I would like all my friends to have a seat criss-cross apple sauce on the magic carpet please!

2006-09-30T03:48:16Z

So I've been meaning to update this - really, i have. Teaching has just been keeping me super duper busy.

Quick update on life outside of teaching:
* On Labor Day, I went to the US Open with my sisters and my mom. I think this is the 3rd year we've gone, and it was great. There were lots of rain delays in the first week of the tourney, so on the day we went, we actually got to see the big names like roddick, nadal, davenport, sharapova, navratilova, and more. Weather was also excellent! not super hot, not cold. (actually, i managed to get a little sunburned!)
*I rearranged my room, thanks to mom, so now i have my double bed back! And i got a new bed frame from IKEA (where else?)! :-D
*My sister helen moved out of center city, which i think kinda sucks (for my own selfish reasons :P). however, her new place is kinda home-y, and there are six tennis courts in her back yard. i'm not totally into the NFL (i only watch the eagles, mostly), but she has all the games in the league on tv. most of my sundays will be spent there. (see? selfish reasons exist for liking the new place too :P).
*Mom went to HK today. Means i have to start cooking and doing my laundry again. got really used to not having to do that the last 5 months. :) but i'm seriously considering going to HK this christmas, so i'm excited! :)
*Most of my shows are back (LOST premieres next week!), and boy do i need them. The kids just wear me out. I also picked up a few new ones too. Probably not the best idea, but oh well. After work, i eat dinner, watch tv, then sleep. That's my schedule.

Ok, now the teaching update:
*I've been there 7 weeks (has it been that long??), 4 of which were teaching. the first three weeks were fine - i was basically babysitting the kindergartener's who were going to 1st grade starting sept. Those three weeks, i was prepping for the year - decorating my classroom (hallway, really - more on that later), meeting with the parent's i'll have this year, and general planning. I was nervous those three weeks, trying to make a good impression for the director and owner, but because the kids i had were about to go into 1st grade, there wasn't much i did with them. they just wanted to enjoy the last few weeks of summer. so i constantly felt i wasn't doing what i was supposed to be doing and constantly felt like the new kid in school.
*My classroom: It's actually really a hallway, not a classroom. It's definitely one of the bad parts about the job, not having my own space and privacy. Basically, the owner of the school can hear me all day if she sitting in her office down the hallway. Other teachers and parents can walk through my "class" at any time, though most have tried to not walk through during my teaching. But two yr olds down't know that, so i do get random toddlers visiting throughout the day. Despite the lack of a class, i do have two tables, a chalkboard, a computer, shelves for supplies and games and such, and a carpet area for circle time. So it works.
*My kids: I have 8 of them. 7 from 9-11:30. the 8th comes for the afternoon, bc he goes to public school kindergarten in the morning. i have 4 boys and4 girls, though one is a tomboy, so it's basically 3 and 5. The four boys are the true definition of boys - loves legos, video games, wrestling, and tackle football inside the school. so without the actual classroom, it often looks like i can't control my kids. but i blame the lack of a classroom, not my kids. the four boys have actually been at the school since like toddlers or even younger, so they know each other really really well. which is why they wrestle every minute of every day. the girls - two are your typical girls. likes to color, play in the kitchen, play house. the other two however, are, well, strange. one is half chinese, mom being chinese. however, dad is a chinese professor at lehigh, so i thought she'd be really cool. oh was i wrong. she called me miss billy for the first week of school, and all the other kids would just yell at her, "it's miss BETTY!". haha....she stares at the preschool teachers when their door is opened. she draws on the table, even when she's told not to. she scribbles when i ask her to draw a specific picture. and she hits. a lot. even after my constant reminders to her about not hitting. just soo strange. she complains no one wants to play with her, but half the time, i think, why would they want to? the other girl is sweet when she's in a good mood. but that mood can change in the blink of an eye. if i ask her to do something in the slightest negative connotation, she's pissed at me and the rest of the world. i actually had to send her to the office one day because during one of her fits, she started hitting my other kids and then threw her pencil at me. she was in the office for more than 30 min. she's one that wants attention and positive reinforcement. she cannot handle anything negative, even if i say, "i like your letter, but make sure that line is straighter." almost everyday, something happens to her where she'll be pissed. most of the time, i've just ignored her, and slowly she joins the class again. she's gonna be tough to handle. So though i only have 8, they're a tough bunch. It would help to have an actual room. Oh well.
*The teaching: This is the part I LOVE. we do morning circle time, singing our weather song and days of the week song when we do calendar and weather. we've done some letters and numbers (no letter people, Liz! i wish i had them, cause i loved them too!), learned about our 5 senses and Fall. Done some gym activites and even taught some spanish! :) Yesterday, as a class, we wrote an acrostic poem for FALL. Surprisingly, they did great with it! i even got compliments from the director! I had to help rephrase some things, but it was cute:
    Falling leaves
    Apple picking time
    Leap into leaf piles
    Leave house for trick or treating
*Miscellaneous:
    Lesson plans are not fun to do.
    Goddard has too many little guidelines to follow.
    I love the end of the day when the classes mix. i get to play with the preschoolers. one girl, for example, does not talk all day at school. I'm told she talks at home a lot. she's super cute, so i made it my misson to get her to talk to me. i started chasing her and tickling her outside on the playground. she laughs and giggles, and i pretend to not run fast enough to catch her. after a few weeks of this, yesterday, she finally started talking to me. "you can't catch me!" as she's running right in front of me, trying to get me to chase her. i love her! :)
    I'm also the only teacher in the school that doesn't have an assistant teacher. for most of the day, i don't really need one. but it's annoying to have to ask another teacher if i can go to the bathroom or step out of my "class" for a second so my kids are not unsupervised. i have to waste time doing things like getting lunch ready or cleaning the tables while in other classes, one teacher is teaching/interacting with the kids, while the other is cleaning tables or getting lunch ready. it's probably just me, but i always think when the director is around checking the classes, my kids are always just playing, bc i have to be doing things i can't do when i'm interacting with the kids. oh well.

So to sum up:
*I love the teaching.
*I love little kids.
*My kids are tough, and some are strange.
*I don't like my classroom situation, but i can't do much about it.
*I don't really like my hrs (8:30 - 5:30) - I don't get home till after 6!
*Work makes me super lazy and super tired.

I think that's about it. It's almost bed time. (Yes, it's 11:45 on a Friday night, but i'm exhausted!) Thanks for reading! G'night!

"Did I just impart knowledge?" -- Chandler on FRIENDS

2006-08-10T01:02:45Z

So i never update unless i have news so.....get ready for this......

....I HAVE A JOB! :)

Starting next Tuesday, August 15th, I will be a Kindergarten Teacher at The Goddard School in Doylestown!!! The Goddard School, if you don't know, is an excellent childcare and pre-school center. One of the best early childhood centers around! The center serves children ages 6 months to 6 years, Infants to Kindergarten. I will be teaching the Kindergarten! I will have a small class, about 10 students, but they're my students! And i'll have my own area; remember, preschools don't really have classrooms, more like open areas. It's pretty nice, actually, and it'll work just as well as a classroom. There is still a chalkboard and everything. :)

All summer, I haven't really heard much from school districts or private schools. I went on interviews, but i guess they didn't work out so well. So we enter August, and I still don't know what i'm doing in the fall. The only thing I knew for certain was that I did not want to sub. Getting a phone call at 5:30 am, telling me to go to some school and watch a class anywhere from Kindergarten to 6th grade? Nope, not me. So, i guess you can say i was getting desperate, so i decided to look in the paper for any teaching related jobs. I saw a lot for childcare centers, such as a teacher for the 3 yr old room. That's when i realized i could teach kindergarten, since my certification is technically K-6, in one of these centers. So i went online and looked in papers and found several places hiring Kindergarten Teachers in the preschool/daycare setting. I called two, one being Goddard. The first one was Mulberry, which is a pretty good center. However, the lady that interviewed me just asked me questions and wrote down my answers - without looking up at me. So i would have to wait until she was done writing before asking the next question....it was awkward.

I called Goddard and set up an interview with them for this Monday morning. I went in and filled out a pretty detailed application, including a statement of teaching philosophy and complete the sentences, which i thought was a lot of fun! (ex: All children are ______.) I thought it was such a clever way of getting to know the applicant. Anyways, afterwards, I spoke with the school's owner. She was awesome - sooo friendly and welcoming. She didn't ask me interview questions, but just talked. In the end, she found out what other interviewers would without asking me any typical interview quesetions. She told me about the other applicants and basically why she didn't want to hire them. She also wanted me to meet with the current Kindergarten teacher, so we can talk more about curriculum and teacher stuff. So i set up a meeting for the next morning at 7:30am! I met with the teacher, and she showed me lesson plans, curriculum stuff, and other small things. After that meeting, I was pretty sure I had a job. They even gave me a health form to fill out! BUT, nothing was confirmed yet, so i didn't want to get my hopes up. They told me they were making the decision that day, so i'll hear from them in the afternoon. All day at work, i was waiting. and waiting. Finally, she called and offered me the position, as long as i commited to her and not leave if a SD wants me. I told her i was totally committed, and today, after work, i went to pick up the employment papers! :)

So, it's not a 3rd grade class in Pennsbury SD and a trillion dollar salary, but i think it's a good start. Small school, small class, small kids, and even though it's a very low salary, i get to TEACH kindergarten!! :) I'm nervous and scared about having my own students and teaching, but right now, i'm just excited and happy that i don't have to sub. I can't wait to start on Tuesday! :)

Tennis camp!

2006-06-22T22:20:10Z

I got back from the Nike Adult Tennis Camp in Amherst on Tuesday night. It was soooooo much fun!! The days were simple: food, tennis, rest, food, tennis rest, food, tennis, dessert, sleep. Six hours of tennis a day! We stayed in the Amherst dorms, which weren't anything spectacular, but it was fine. We ate at the Amherst dining hall, which was 'Nova-like. For dinners, we walked into the town of Amherst. It's only a few blocks, but it was cute. And they have an icecream shop. That's all i really need. :)

As for the camp itself, it's run by this guy who's been doing it for years. It is VERY organized and well run. Most of the pros are college players who just finished their first year of college. One of them just finished her first year at 'Nova. The pro that gave me my private lessons is GOING to be a high school senior!! I couldn't believe how young they all were! But they're very good, both at playing tennis and teaching tennis. And they're very professional but also enthusiastic. They're all able to see the small things in your stroke and help correct them. At the end of camp, my private instructor even game me a written evaluation of my strokes and some general things i should work on. And he's in high school!!! Each session, we mostly drilled - forehands, backhands, volleys, serves, overheads, approach shots, singles and doubles strategy, and even serve and volley! I think my volleys improved the most, and if you know anythng about my tennis, that is definitely good news. Oh, I even aced one of the pros when we were playing doubles!! I didn't even know i could do that!

All that tennis, however, made me super tired and sore. Actually, i was tired after the first session. My legs felt like they were going to give out any minute, but that didn't stop me from playing. I also got several blisters on my hand, but it's all good. What's tennis w/o a blister? (and in my case, a blood blister....ewwww!).

Anyways, i'm back now. Got a tan (a BIG sock tan), but surprisingly, not burned! And the tiredness/soreness is almost all gone. Which is sad, cause that means it's allll over. I feel like i haven't played tennis in such a long time now, after all the tennis the last few days. I wanna go back. I can't wait to go back next year.

Next week, i start camp - as a counselor. :) I'm ready to start....tennis camp got me alll excited!

hmmm....

2006-06-07T04:36:13Z

there's nothing on tv right now, so how about a short update? let's see...

I moved back home for good last week and set up my room. It's still in the process of being organized (because i'm a) sooo lazy, and b) as one person calls me, a bum), but i like my room. It's nice and cozy. Only bad thing is my stuffed friends fall off the bed a lot in the middle of the night because i don't have the bed against a wall anymore.

I got my first sunburn of the season at....SNEAKER DAY! For those who don't know, which i think is most of you, Sneaker Day is more commonly known as field day, but Belmont, my old elem. school, gives it it's own name. I went originally to watch my cousins participate in the Red and White fun, but my old gym teacher invited me down the field to help out. I ended up staying there the whole day, and got burned on my shoulders and backs of my knees. Yeah, i'm good with getting burn at weird spots. Ears, backs of knees....Good thing i own gallons of aloe vera gel. It's ok though - i love sneaker day! and white won!

I had my first camp meeting. I was told that the 5 yr old head counselor couldn't come back last minute, and since the 5 yr old numbers were low, i'm now head counselor of the 5s and 6s! :) We got into our age groups, and my fellow 5/6 counselors and i came up with themes and started ordering materials. I like the group of counselors i'm working with....i'm just not used to being the head counselor. we also have a lot of the same kids from the 5/6 group last year, so there will be some familiar faces! :) more meetings to come this week!

i got new tennis shoes! and they were free! and i'm excited for tennis camp! weeeee!

i saw over the hedge. hehe....i liked it! not great like Neeeemo, but still good. now do i want to see cars when that comes out this weekend? it's pixar, but it's cars.....i'll have to think about it...

i've been watching lots of French Open, which probably adds in the excitement for tennis camp. i'm all for Nadal winning this again, and for the women's, i pick clijsters.

ok, i think that's all the updates for now....g'night!:)

This and that...

2006-05-15T05:00:03Z

Haven't updated in a long time. Guess there's no excuse now since COLLEGE is OVER! :)

This semester was fun. I had a nice schedule - four classes, no Fridays, and nothing earlier than 11:30. Finally. Classes were not bad either: Music (which was the easy A class, but I secretely liked it), Cognitive Psych (Diego for the second time around made me a little nervous, but i have to admit, he was much much better this year), Foundations (extremely boring class, can't say i learned too much, except for the fact that my professor has something against Hungarians, but he's a nice guy who obviously knows a lot), and Social Psych (my favorite class by far - glad i saved a fun psych class for my last semester). Turns out senior year was my best year of college, which is probably not the norm. Don't get me wrong, i still got senioritis and managed to watch all my tv.... Also cheered on the basketball team all the way to the Elite Eight, but lost the NCAA pool against my sister and now i have to pay for her icecream everytime we go out for icecream until October :).

Right now, i'm just waiting for graduation. That's kinda scary. I'm happy that school is over (at least for now), but i'm not quite ready to go into the "real world." The teacher job fair this spring was very overwhelming, and i can't believe i have to really work now (that is if i find a job). Anyway, back to the present. I just spent a weekend at home, after my last final ever on Thursday afternoon. For the first time in a very long time, I actually came home to both my parents! I didn't have to turn on the water or anything! Mom AND dad are home for graduation, so this past weekend was a very family weekend. Both sisters also came home on Friday night, and Saturday was shopping at the New Hope and Flemington outlets. That's what my dad likes to do - shopping. My mom and my sisters and I usually wait for him to come out of the store, which is not what you usually see at most malls. It's pretty amusing. Today, we had a nice BBQ with the extended family at my cousin's house, our old house. I miss our old house. It's pretty.

This week is Senior week. I'll be attending a few of the Senior events, and going out all over the place with Liz. Most of the things we want to do involves food. Funny how that is. :) It's gonna be a nice, fun, relaxing week. Saturday, we'll be having the traditional graduation dinner with the extended family in Chinatown. Also, my dad can see all the extended family in one shot. :) There should be like 2 or 3 big tables = lots of people! Finally, Sunday, the big day!! 10am commencement, noonish Psych department ceremony (that's where i offically get my diploma and get to hear "Betty Ho Ying Cheung"). We'll head back home after all that and have an awsome dinner at home, to avoid the Mainline crowds.

After that, my summer can start. Nothing crazy planned for the summer, but i'm sure it'll be fun and relaxing. I'm going to NIKE tennis camp (!) with my sisters and cousins in mid-June!! Four days of tennis in Amherst. I'm finally gonna learn how to volley. We also get free tennis shoes! :) I'm soooo excitied - i've never been to camp before (as a camper)! A week or so after I come back, I'll be starting work at camp. I'm going back to the Falls Township summer camp, but this year, I'll be a head counselor!! YAY! I get the 6 year old group, which is exactly what I wanted! And $12/hr too! :) I'm very excited for camp, probably too excited. :) Hopefully, i'll find a job this summer too. (Notice how i haven't really mentioned my job search so far...) I've applied to several districts and the Independent School Consortium, but haven't heard much back yet. I've been told it's still too early for SD to post jobs, so hopefully that is the case. After graduation, i'll spend a LOT of time applying and job hunting.

Other good things: graduation presents (new flat panel monitor from my AWSOME sisters, earrings and tennis camp from my parents, earrings and graduation Monkichi [stuffed animal monkey} from my aunt), spring weather, sleeping in, having nothing to do! :)

All in all, life is pretty good!

I'm updating cause I don't want to do homework...what else is new...:)

2006-01-26T00:19:19Z

So I haven't updated in a looooong time. Oops. It just shows how lazy I am. I apologize now for how long this may be.

So since last time I updated....

Student Teaching is over. :( I absolutely LOVED it, and would wake up every day at 6:30 in the morning instead of taking classes. I loved my school, loved my coop, love my students. I can't wait to go back to visit, and I can't wait to be a teacher. On my last day at Cynwyd, we had a pizza party. Many students gave me small gifts or cards, and I, in return, gave each student a personalized bookmark and the following story:

Once upon a time, there lived a girl in a land far, far away. She often left her home, without permission from her parents, and wandered around town. On one particular day in the middle of August, she found herself in an unfamiliar part of town. When she noticed she was lost, she tried her best to find her way back home. She crossed rivers, walked through towns, and saw many amazing things along her way. However, with every turn she made, it was the wrong turn. She walked into French caves, climbed the Great Wall, and even watched as people prayed in Jerusalem. She had a map in her pocket, but she soon found it was of no use. This was because the map was only of Antarctica, one of the seven continents of the world. But imagine what she would have seen there! (Polar bears and flamingos, perhaps?)
   She continued walking, although now it was more like running, because all she wanted was to go home. Go home to her family and some moon cakes (no waterslides, though). Soon, the girl was not paying any attention to where she was running and fell into a deep hole. She waited and waited to land at the bottom of the hole, but she just kept falling. As she was falling, she noticed that it was getting hotter and hotter. Soon it was just too hot. A rumbling and moving began around her, and before she knew it, she shot out like a canyon from a fiery volcano. As the lava flowed down the mountain, she found she had landed in an extremely unfamiliar place. Not knowing where she should go next, she decided to just keep walking straight.
   She soon got very tired from walking so she decided to take a small nap under a tree. She dreamed of many other magical places, like the caves in Australia, the animal carvings in India, and even the Seventh Sister. In the middle of her dream about the communities around the world, she was wakened by a fairly odd man. Startled, the girl thought to herself, “This man looks absolutely MAD!” While she was still rubbing her eyes, the man spoke. “Hello there, my friend! My name is Minute. The folks around here call me Mad Minute. I can’t say for sure I know why though… What’s your name?”
   The girl quickly told him his name, and told him she must be going. Before she left, the man handed her a small brown ball. “Eat it, for you look lost. This will show the Earth.” As strange as this was, the girl took a bite right down the middle and saw what he meant. She thanked the man and continued on her way. She continued to see incredible things along the way, but suddenly, after a few days, she arrived at a very tall, but very nice building. Tired and cold (she was always cold), the girl walked into the building. She walked around, seeing a library and a lunch room. She saw a gym and a big stair case. She followed the stairs up and up, and continued to wander the halls of the building. She looked into the rooms around her, and in the first room on the left was something she was so happy to see. She walked in and 17 smiling faces were busy at work. She greeted the nice lady at the front of the room and the lady introduced her to the 17 smiling children.
Soon enough, the girl began telling the children all the things she saw on her way here. She told about the long fall into a hole, the volcano she shot out of, the many different places she visited, and even the strange man named Mad Minute. They loved her stories (at least she thinks they did), and the children asked questions about her fabulous experiences. This lasted for many weeks.
At last, however, after 15 weeks with the seventeen always smiling children, the girl told them she must leave. She had found a map during her stay with the lady and the children, and she had finally found a way to return home. After a long goodbye, the girl left the room, left the hallway, and left the building. She was incredibly sad to leave the children, for they were the first group of children she had ever told her stories to. Using the map, the girl walked home, thinking how she will never ever forget this wonderful, intelligent, unique, and special group of children who all together was called 3B.

After many semesters of night classes and the craziness that is Rosemont, I'm all done with Education. I can't believe it. I've passed all my classes, created an electronic portfolio, and passed my LAST set of Praxis. Eeeshk!

I finished student teaching on a Friday, and the following Monday, I was on a plane to Hong Kong! Saw my parents, grandparents, Violie, aunts, uncles, and tall cousins. Three of my four HK cousins are either my height or taller than me. Including the one that is 12 years old. :) HK was warm, very warm. Mid 60s each day. I love winter in HK. I shopped a lot, and by a lot I mean I brought back the BIGGEST suitcase my dad had, and i still couldn't bring everything back. ( Good thing mom will be back in March!) I also ate a LOT. My favorite lunch meal is fishball noodles with iced lemon tea. Favorite dinner food? That's hard, but since i had it three time, it must be hot pot. I would put a picture of hot pot here, but it never works. Just trust me, it's soooooo good. My favorite midnight snack? HK version French Toast. Favorite breakfast? Violie's eggs. :) I spent Christmas and New Year's in HK. Nothing too special on Christmas - we opened presents at midnight. Mom got me earrings, dad got me a Puma schoolbag (that i picked out!) On New Year's, my parents and I went downstairs to the pavillion outside our mall (our apartment building is connected to a mall) for the countdown. Only there were A LOT of people there, so they closed off all the exits to the pavillion except the farthest one. We went out the exit and around the mall until we saw the HUGE crowd. When we got there, the count was down to 5.....4....3....2.....1.....HAPPY NEW YEAR! Glad we JUST made it! We took a few pictures and then walked back upstairs. It was really fun! :)

Back in the US, i had a week to do unpack and repack for school (aka do absolutely nothing and sit on the couch the entire day!). Classes started last week. Last semester at 'Nova. I'm ready for school to be over. I want to teach! :) Anyways, this semester, i'm taking four classes, my earliest class is at 11:30, and NO FRIDAYS! Doesn't meant he classes are good though. Charm of Music is ok, seems easy, but boring. We do listen to various musical clips that I do strangely enjoy. Then there's Cognitive, with Diego. Physio with Diego was hell, but it seems he's a little better in Cognitive. Still a lot of work though. Worst class of the semester would have to be Foundations. Prof is weird - he wore a suit on the first day of class. By suit, i mean power tie, nice material, cuff links, and shiny shoes. Maybe he had a wedding to go to. :) He voice is really scratchy, and he doesn't speak loud enough. AND, the history of Psychology begins with the Neanderthals. Did you know that? Best class of the semester is probably Social Psych. Professor is really nice, although she lectures the whole class. She gives good examples though, and the stuff is interesting.

In other news, I have slowly started knitting, although it's just rectangles cause i don't know what i want to make. It's all Helen, Liz, and Kristin's fault. I'm also really excited for this weekend. It's Chinese New Year, and Liz and I are going up to my sister's for Hot Pot! More food! There'll be a fairly big group, so it should be fun (and YUMMY!) . And lastly, random news, Brian Dawkins is going to the Pro Bowl!

Ok, now you're updated.

Student Teaching, Night classes, etc....

2005-10-11T02:41:12Z

For those of you who still check my lj, here's a short update on the past month or so. I have started student teaching at a wonderful school, Cynwyd Elementary in Bala Cynwyd. It is just outside the city, and is a 30 minute drive in the morning from King of Prussia (even with back roads). I am in a 3rd grade class of 17 students, all of whom are fun and unique and interesting in their own way. During my first week, i felt a little out of place because i was unsure what was expected of me by my cooperating teacher. Now, 5 weeks into student teaching, I am very comfortable with my teacher, the class, the other teachers and staff in the building and the school. I had my first observation from Sister Claire and it went very well. She gave me good comments, and good suggestions for the future.

I started teaching the Science curriculum about two weeks ago, beginning with a study of the inside of the Earth. The class did a lot of coloring and looking at models of the Earth. One day, I even made edible Earths out of cherries, marshmallows, chocolate, and rice crispies. The class LOVED it, and the teacher thought it was great also. About a week ago, we moved onto studying volcanoes. The students are extremely interested in this topic, which makes it fun and easy to teach. We have done several volcano activities and are continuing on with them in the next few days.

Besides Science, I have been helping the teacher during other content areas by taking smaller groups of students to work with me. Sometimes, these are students who are slightly above level and other times, they are students who need a little more one-on-one or small group attention. I really enjoy working with both of these groups of students as it allows me to see how they think through their answers which help me figure out how to teach them to think and learn in the proper way.

There are a lot more wonderful things to say about the class and about students teaching that i could never write all of it here. Overall, I'm in a good class with an excellent teacher. (Only complaint I have so far about student teaching is the early mornings....after 5 weeks, i'm still not used to waking up at 6:30am!).

For the last 5 weeks, after student teaching, i had night classes back at Rosemont. I had Teaching PE, Teaching Music, Teaching Art, and Student Teaching Seminar. Seminar did not require any homework of any kind. The others, however, had hw. Gym was a lesson a week and included Health and Character Development as well as regular PE. Art basically consisted of making various arts crafts and Music was more like talking about music. I did have to do a storytelling (music and art combined) for the last class. Overall, I don't think i learned anything from any of these classes. The Art and Music class seemed very obvious as it was basically about how i could incorporate them into my everyday lessons. Gym was completely pointless because I don't for see myself every being a phys ed teacher. However, Gym was the best class of the three. Each night, we just played games as each of us presented our lessons. I am very glad these classes are finally over, and I can now focus on teaching.

In other news, Liz and Kristin are both gone for the week (Navajo Reservation and Guatemala, respectively) for Fall break, which I do not have, so i have the apartment all to myself. It's very very quiet in here right now, except for the Monday Night Football i have on in the background. And speaking of football, Eagles need to start playing a little better. Dawkins needs an interception. :-D Oh, I've finally set a date to visit those busy girls up in PSU - November 18th! :) And as busy as I am with teaching and night classes, i've still been able to keep up with all my TV. LOST is AWESOME this season! :)

I think that is all....early to bed tonight for an early morning faculty meeting. :(

Lots to recap...

2005-09-02T19:48:39Z

So the last two months...

* Finished working at Falls Camp.....It was sooo much fun, and i was sad to see it end. but there's always next year! :)
* Worked on my crazy summer hw for my Teaching Math class - The monkey game was fun, but the "Kindness Journal" was not. I wrote all of it in about 2 days. Including the night before it was due until 3am.
* Met up with Gayle, Becky, Manju, etc for dessert and bowling.
* Went to BROOKLYN for Kristin's 21st - Day 1 was Spumoni Garden's for very very yummy pizza and spumoni. Day 2, we went to the beach and rides at Coney Island (home of Stephan Marbury). Also has an original Nathan's hot dog and visited the Brighton Beach area, which Liz was extremely excited about. At night, we went to dinner at Sancho's, a very nice, very yummy Spanish restaurant. Mmmmm paella and sangria. :)
* Had pink eye for almost two weeks...enough said.
* Shopped for back to school, new apartment - Got a new bed, dresser, and shelf for my room, all from IKEA. Brought my desk from home, along with my big chair. Love the new apartment. Haven't really enjoyed it yet, but i'm sure i will soon.
* Recieved a new nickname - Picky Betty. :)
* Moved in to said new apartment.
* Went to my two two-week classes. Teaching Math and Teaching Language Arts II. There was 5 of us in each of the classes, which made it kinda fun. More discussions. Math was as expected - discussions about our summer homework, and then taught two lessons using two formats. LA was a surprise, also expected. This teacher makes us assignments as she goes, causing me to stay up till 3 for 3 nights in the last two weeks. Not bad you think, but not when i have to get up at around 7 the next morning. Which leads to the next complaint about the two weeks - the schedule. 9-12 class, break from 12-4:40, class 4:30-7:30, If i'm lucky, home by 8. Not always the case. Dinner wasn't very real, as i just snacked thoughout the night. Not a lot of time for the crazy assignments my profs were assigning. Was doing lesson plans every day, sometimes two in a day. But it's finally over. (Except for the big portfolio due in December, and 2 papers due in November.
* Found out my Student Teaching Assignment - 3rd Grade at Cynwyd Elementary in Lower Merion School District. Teacher seems very cool, class has only 17 students, which is WONDERFUL, school is soooooooooo nice, except for the lack of AC. Hopefully it won't be too hot for too much longer. I start next Wednesday!
* Went to Jersey City/NY for more paella. Just went for the day. :)
* FINALLY got DSL....it was tough living w/o internet for two weeks...

Right now, I'm enjoying Day 1 of my 4.5 Day weekend. Both my math and LA profs gave us the day off. This weekend, my sisters will be home and we will go to my cousins for Labor Day barbecue. Tonight, i'll be back in KOP for some midnight bowling with Thundercats. Will return home tomorrow afternoon, after i get up at at least noon. :)

And immediately right now, i'm going shopping for some student teaching clothes.

Happy weekend! :)

I love Snoopy! :)

2005-09-02T18:44:18Z

Joe Normal
21 % Nerd, 21% Geek, 34% Dork

For The Record:

A Nerd is someone who is passionate about learning/being smart/academia.
A Geek is someone who is passionate about some particular area or subject, often an obscure or difficult one.
A Dork is someone who has difficulty with common social expectations/interactions.
You scored less than half in all three, earning you the title of: Joe Normal.

This is not to say that you don't have some Nerd, Geek or Dork inside of you--we all do, and you can see the percentages you have right above. This is just to say that none of those qualities stand out so much as to define you. Sure, you enjoy an episode of Star Trek now and again, and yeah, you kinda enjoyed a few classes back in the day. And, once in a while, you stumble while walking down the street even though there was nothing there to cause you to trip. But, for the most part, you look and act fairly typically, and aren't much of an outcast.

I'd say there's a fair chance someone asked you to take this test. In any event, fairly normal.

Congratulations!

If you enjoyed this test, I would love the feedback!

Also, you might want to check out some of my other tests if you're interested in any of the following:

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Professional Wrestling

Love & Sexuality

America/Politics

Thanks Again! -- THE NERD? GEEK? OR DORK? TEST

My test tracked 3 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:

You scored higher than 4% on nerdiness

You scored higher than 21% on geekosity

You scored higher than 54% on dork points

Link: The Nerd? Geek? or Dork? Test written by donathos on Ok Cupid

Birthday Pictures! :)

2005-07-13T02:24:03Z

Just a few birthday pics...:)

http://www.kodakgallery.com/BrowsePhotos.jsp?&collid=810900451106&page=1&sort_order=0

Happy Birthday to ME! :)

2005-07-12T02:51:49Z

This past weekend was my 21st birtdhday! The weekend started on Friday after work. I had to go pick up mom at the airport in Philly and relaxed at home for the night. On Saturday, Liz arrived at around 12:30 to join in the birthday festivities. We went to Chili's for lunch and then headed to Target to look around. We bought a shower curtain for our apartment next year. Hopefully Kristin will like it.:) Afterwards, we went to the mall for some shopping. I bought a dress and a tank:) Hey, it's my birthday!

After the mall, we headed home so i can pack to spend the evening with my sister in the city. Before we went down though, Liz and I went to Dunkin' Donuts for some iced coffee type things. I had a Cappuccino Blast from Baskin Robbins, right next Dunkin' Donuts. It was soooo yummy. We headed into the city and met up with my sister at her apt. The three of us walked to UPenn for dinner. We met up with Farrah, my sister's friend, at Mad4Mex, a restaurant with drinks. :) I had a very very yummy shrimp, mushroom, spinach quesadilla and a margarita. A strong one, from what my sister and Liz told me. Oh, i also got carded! But the guy didn't recognize it was my b-day! :( Anyways, after a very yummy dinner and drink, we headed to New Deck, this restaurant/bar place also at Penn. I got carded there too, and this time, the guy noticed it was my birthday. :) I ordered a Strong Bow cider, recommended by my sister. It was very good....alcoholic apple juice, as i like to call it. We went home after that, and just chilled and played cards. :) At the end of the night, i wasn't drunk, was a little tipsy (kinda like i just got off the plane), and didn't turn red at all, which is supposed to be an asian thing. I don't know. That Advil and Gatorade that my sister gave me wasn't needed at all. :)

The next morning, we had brunch in the city and then drove back home. Liz and I played some tennis in the heat, and shortly after she went home. My mom and I later went back down to the city, to Chinatown to be exact, for dinner with my sister. Then it was back home to get ready for another week of camp with the kids. :)

Thanks again to those who called me, IMed me, and e-carded me to wish me happy birthday! Thanks to my sister Helen, Farrah, and Liz for coming out and celebrating with me! It was a fun 21st birthday! :)

It's been a while...:)

2005-07-01T01:56:20Z

So i've been back in the States for almost two weeks now, so I guess it's time for me to update this thing. I got back two Saturdays ago, and on that following Monday, I started work. For those of you who don't know, I'm working at the Falls Township Summer Camp. The first week was all training, which basically meant setting up our classrooms. On the first day, I was told that i would be working with the 5/6 year olds. I was elated! I always wanted to work with the little ones, but i didn't think i would get a choice. And I didn't. But i guess the Camp director remembered me saying at the interview that I like the little ones. :) I also met the 5 other counselors I'd be working with. They are all great. All of them are STILL in highschool, except for Liz, who is the director's wife and a teacher of 25 years. There is this one girl i work with, who is really anooying and doesn't really do anything at all. BUT, because she's worked there before, she can tell US, the new guys, what to do. Argh! Anyways, we headed over to Eleanor Roosevelt Elem. School after a brief meeting at the township building to set up our classrooms. The school is only 10 min from my house, which is also great. We began cleaning the room, setting up the desks, and setting up the room for BUG WEEK!

On Tuesday, we had a 6 hr Child and Adult CPR and First Aid Training. I can now put on three kinds of splints, bandage you up, give you CPR, help you if you're choking, and even use an Automated External Defribilator. Hopefully i won't have to do any of this to you or the little kiddies.

On Wednesday, we went back to the school to continue setting up our rooms. Then i got the wonderful job of creating the bulletin boards in the hallway. Good thing Sister had us do that project, cause the other counselors loved my ideas. Thursday - you could call this a day off. We only had to go to a Parent-Meet-the-Staff Meeting at the township building at night. The director talked about the Camp with the parents and gave them a chance to ask the Staff any questions they had. Ofcourse, most of the questions came from the parents of my kids. Crazy, specific questions about itty bitty things. For example, a parent was worried about her child and sunscreen. We told her we could not put it on her, so she said she would come in every two hours to re-apply it for her child. We said that's totally fine. But she has waaayy too much time.

On Friday, we finished our classroom! Everything was out and ready for the first day! Also on Friday, i met up with Becky for a movie and dessert. We saw "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants," which was a great movie. I even cried! If you know me at all, I NEVER cry at movies. I don't know why, and for a while, i thought something was wrong with me.:) We then went to Rita's for dessert. Last weekend, I attempted to clean the house. I also had dinner with my sister in the city and dessert at Scoop De Ville. Sunday was more cleaning and mentally preparing for the first day of camp.

On Monday, I was at work at 8:30am. SOOOOOO early. The kids came at 9 and met in the gym. They all met Mr. Reese, the head of the camp. Then we went into our classrooms and started on some Arts and Crafts. And Camp was underway!

I have the cutest bunch of kids. They are all soo different but together, the class is awsome. There is little Jack, who goes to the bathroom every hour. He also never eats his lunch at lunch time and instead eats it when we come back into the classroom in the afternoon. There's also Colin, who never stops talking, but in the very cute way. And then there's Christian, who broke his arm just last week. He's really quiet and shy, but a very sweet boy. On the girls side, there's Victoria, that never talks to you if you ask her a question. Then there's Molly, who always has something to say. Jess, who never stays in her seat, and Larisa and Aida, the sweetest girls of the class. There are also a set of twin girls in the class, who has ADD. And on Tuesday, they didn't take their Ritalin. Sweeeet. Overall, this is 36 of the best 5/6 year olds. They love to play Freeze Dance, go out on the new playground, hunt for bugs, and color. I didn't think kids like to color anymore, but boy was I wrong. We had to get new sheets for them to color with!

Yesterday, in the AM, the Zoo came to camp! I actually was all excited for this, only to watch a guy show us an owl, a ferret, an oppossum, and a snake. He also didn't really know how to talk to kids. Today, however, a mad scientist came and performed a bunch of cool experiments. The kids LOVED it. Tomorrow afternoon, we're going to the pool. :)

All of this allows me to say that I love my job. The kids are great, the staff is great, the camp is great. Only bad thing is I have to get upat at 7:30am. Boooo!

Aside from camp, i've been extremely lazy. The kids wear me out everyday, and when i get home, I'm just exhausted. I go to bed at 11, which is soo early for me. This weekend, I will be going to the Live 8 concert on the Parkway with my sisters. On Sunday, I will play some tennis (!) and then go to my cousin's for a July 4th bbq. Monday is off day, and then back to work on Tuesday! NEXT weekend is my 21st b-day! I have plans to go out with my sister on Saturday and possibly a midnight drink on Friday night. It's about time i turn 21 - almost everyone i know is already 21!

That's the update for now! Hope everyone have a wonderful and safe July 4 holiday! :)

Mini HK update

2005-06-10T16:48:38Z

Quick update of the events of the past week:

Monday - Went shopping with mom in Mong Kok. Ladie's Market and Fa Yuen Street, both places that are like flea markets. Went home for dinner. Driving range after dinner. I sucked. :)

Tuesday - Went shopping in Tsim Sha Tsui. Was going to play tennis at night, but was moved to Weds instead. So, for dinner, since we didn't prepare, we went to "Biella." It's a really really yummy Italian restaurant. I had an octopus appetizer, soup, veal parm, and tiramisu for dessert. Yummmmm!

Wednesday - Went to Sha Tin for lunch with Ahyee, Yee Cheung, Ling Yee, and Yau Uncle. Mom and I then went to Fanling with Ahyee to watch my cousin Hok Yin's ping pong lesson. Damn he's good! We came back to town and got ready for Wednesday night tennis and food.:)

Thursday - Met up with Ryan for the day. Went to Victoria Peak, where you can look down from the mountain and see the harbour. Just like the postcard. We even spotted my apartment complex! It rained soon after we got there, so we came back down (on the Tram!!) early. Went to Olympic Mall (where I live) for lunch and then relaxed at home. Later at night, he came with us to the driving range and dinner. Dad was jealous of his swing, cause he told us he's only played five times! He was hitting the ball over the fence! We had a late dinner nearby and showed him to the MTR station.

Friday - Woke up at 1pm. :-D Went to Mong Kok for some shopping, where i bought a book and some random things. Then went to pick up pants i had bought previously and then went to my dad's office. We had dinner with some family friends at the aforementioned Italian restaurant. Tonight, i had the beef tenderloin. Also very yummy!

Tomorrow - Driving range in the afternoon, dinner with family friends at night.

Sunday - Don't know about the afternoon, but dinner with the extended family.

Some countdowns:
1 month until my 21st!
1 week before I leave for HOME!
10 days before the start of work!

Some things to do before I leave:
Food: "Da Laang" (If you wanna know what this is, ask. It's a little hard to explain.), Thai food, maybe Japanese food, Grandpa's B-day dinner, HK-style French toast, HK-style Iced Tea, Fish Ball noodles, yum cha, some "dan tats" (egg tarts), probably more.

Shopping: Not too much here, maybe some khakis for student teaching next year, but i haven't been too lucky so far.

Stuff: Give blood, maybe a haircut?, more driving range, Wednesday night tennis, probably more.

Guess that's it for now. Have a great weekend! :)

Contacts, stupidity, and randomness....

2005-06-03T14:46:52Z

First of all, i got contacts! I'll only wear them when i play tennis and what not, cause i don't even need glasses most of the time. When i play tennis however, it's extremely uncomfortable and annoying to be wearing glasses. This morning, i went to pick them up and learn how to put them on and take them off. It didn't take that long, but i sure blinked a lot! :) I just need some practice.

I also did two very stupid things today:
a.) Stubbed my toe - Was walking up a non moving escalator, missed a step, and triped. Didn't hurt at all, was just horribbly embarassed cause I was in a very busy subway station. About 20 secs later, i felt that my flip-flop was kinda wet. I looked down, and I was bleeding, a lot. Apparently, my big toe hit one of those escalator grooves. Had to find a bathroom to clean it up. Only bathrooms in HK are hard to find...so after all of this, i came home with a cut that's one inch long, vertically, on the top of my toe. It kinda hurts now, but it should be ok. the band aid is in a very awkward position right now...hee hee....oh, i also managed to trip AGAIn later in the day on an escalator....not as big of a trip as the first time, but it happened cause i was being TOO careful....i'm such a klutz....

b.) Lost an earring - After my shower tonight, I looked in the mirror and noticed i lost my left earring. They're very very cheap earrings, but it still sucks. I looked in my room, in the towel, in the laundry basket, in the bathroom. Nothing. I took a flashlight and looked down the bathtub drain. Still nothing. Dammit. I asked Violie if she's seen it and she said no. She started looking for it with me. Nothing. Looked for about 15 min. Finally, i gave up. I stood in the living room, frustrated. As i was standing there, i placed my hands in my shorts pocket. What do i find? My left earring!! Apparently, at some point after my shower when i was changing, i decided to take off my earring and put it in my pocket. Violie thought I tricked her...she didn't believe me until i shower her both of them, on my ears. I had no idea i did that....i'm sooo dumb.....

Anyways, not too much is going on here. Went to the driving range (I can hit 100 yds!) the last two nights with my parents. Ate some really good food. Shopped not as much, but still shopped. Tonight is a chill night. Was supposed to have dinner with Ryan and his cousin, who is in HK for the day, but they got tired of shopping this afternoon, so we all just headed home. I then did not want to venture out to Chai Wan by myself for dinner with them, so i had pasta and chicken wings at home. It was yummy! :)

Tomorrow is the weekend! I have NO idea what we're gonna do....maybe i'll let you know next week!

HK!

2005-05-26T11:30:36Z

Good morning to everyone on the other side of the world! It's 7:15 pm here, which means most of you are still snoring away in bed at home! (Except Liz, who's in Russia...)

I arrived in Hong Kong on Tuesday night, HK time. Lost two days of this week because of the stupid 16 hr flight. Where i sat next to some weird guy from China on the plane. Who wouldn't stop talking to me or the girl on the other side of him. argh! I couldn't sleep much on the plane, plus my eye was hurting. Sooo glad it's over though.

As for my first full day in HK, I woke up at 8am (semi-jet lag) and had dim sum with my grandmother and aunt. Lots and lots of yummy food and congee! And grandma was sooo happy to have soo many people eat breakfast with her. After breakfast, mom and I went to Fa Yuen street to buy some fruits and look at some cheap stuff. Saw some really shady guy in one of the stores, fiddling with a security camera. Ahh, back in HK! Afterwards, we went home to relax for a little bit. Then my aunt came to join us for the afternoon. After she left in the afternoon, mom and I went to the supermarket to buy some daan tats (egg tarts) and some salmon sashimi. YUMMY! Then, we waite till my dad got home from work before we went to play two hours of tennis. Including us, there were only 5 people there, as oppossed to the usual 12 people. That meant more tennis for everyone. I played almost the entire time. It was so much fun! After tennis, food! :) We had some eggplant, some noodle stuff, steamed fish and some beef thing. Mmmmm, i'm gonna def gain some weight in the next three weeks. We got home after midnight, and watched some French Open and i was sooo tired i crashed. I slept till almost 1pm today, which meant i no longer had ANY jet lag. :)

Today, met up with my aunt again for lunch and then shopped a little with her. I'm about to go eat again, dinner at home tonight. So my first thoughts of HK? It's really really hot, and people really really smell.

What do i miss from home? My bed, my car, good smelling people, and the LOST finale. :)

Hope everyone started summer off well! :)

Summer time...:-D

2005-05-17T03:40:27Z

Mmmmm....summer!

Finals week was extremely crazy. I only had 2 finals, but Physio being one of them was not cool. Kristin and I studied for two straight days, but luckily it paid off! And between studying, I was packing up my room and the apartment. :( It's kinda sad and scary that junior year is over and I am now officially a senior. Even scarier is that I will be student teaching in about 3 months! Eeeep! But before then, summer!

My last final was last Wednesday, and immediately, my sister came to help me move out. I had packed everything into boxes and what not, so we were gone in an hour! After unloading everything at home, we went out for some dinner. Thanks for all the help! After dinner, it was my time to relax. :)

On Thursday morning, I played tennis with my mom's tennis league and finally won my first match of the season! :) I had a dentist appointment on Thursday afternoon and then ran some general errands. Thursday night, I met up with Gayle for dinner at Fridays! :) Then I came back for Thursday night TV. :)

On Friday morning, at 8:30am, I had to go to my physical and drug test for camp this summer. I'm now 5'2" (with shoes on)! I then came back and went back to bed. IN the afternoon, I drove up to Jersey City to visit my sister before she left for Spain the next day. We had dinner (Vietnamese because no crabs) and met up with my cousin for dessert. Then we went back to her apartment for the night.

Saturday, my sister and I went out to brunch (yummy french toast!) and then i took her to the airport. I came home for a few hours and then drove down to the city to meet up with my sister Helen for dinner. We were both really tired so we went home and went to bed early.

On Sunday, I got up at 7am(!!) to get ready for my sisters graduation! We got to the Mariott at 8:30, and had some breakfast. At 10, the ceremony started, bagpipes and all. After two hours, it was over and my sister officially has a Masters! Congrats! Yuu kicked azz! After graduation, we went to Upper Darby for her friend's engagement party. We got back into the city at around 4ish, relaxed, watched the Office (Thanks, Farrah!), and then I went came home. Cleaned (sorta) my room, and then went to bed.

Today, I got a haircut, ran a few errands, and then washed my car. It got really dirty from all the pollen and stuff sticking to my car. Afterwards, I showered, made dinner, and then watched some tv and did a whole lot of nothing! I love summer.

The next few days, i MUST finish unpacking and moving all the CRAP i brought back from school out of the living room. I also need to write up my last 30 hours of observation - the last thing i have to do before i student teach in the fall!

So what am I doing this summer? Well next Monday, I'm boarding a plane headed for Hong Kong for three weeks! Seeing my parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins, food, and shopping! I'm soo excited! Then I'm back on the 18th to start working at Falls Township summer camp on the 20th. I also have to go to jury duty for a day, and do some hw (blah blah ewwww) for my Math, and probably Reading class next semester. Yeah, summer hw. Wtf? Besides that, it shouldbe a pretty nice and relaxing summer. I can't wait for student teaching in the fall, but i CAN wait for another crazy semester. One should be enough.

I got all my grades back, and while it's definitely not my best semester, I can't be too upset about it, considering i took 7 classes. Seriously, i'm crazy. Oh yeah, Diego and his class didn't help either. But at least I'm done with Physio forever.

Anyways, time for some observation journals, room cleaning, or relaxing.....yeah, i think relaxing easily won that one. :)

Yes, i DO have a final tomorrow.....oops!

2005-05-03T22:48:35Z

You scored as Democrat. <'Imunimaginative's Deviantart Page'>

</td>

Democrat

100%

Anarchism

83%

Green

58%

Communism

50%

Socialist

50%

Fascism

17%

Republican

Nazi

What Political Party Do Your Beliefs Put You In?
created with QuizFarm.com

Randomness

2005-04-28T04:57:50Z

So instead of writing a book, doing some crazy assignments for my LA class, writing up a couple more tutoring journals, and basically studying for finals, I have now decided to update! :) Only 14 days until i'm free!! Then 12 days after that, i'll be on my way to Hong Kong for three weeks!! YAY! Can't wait until this semester is over.....I took waaaay too many classes.....people, don't tak 7 classes...trust me, it's not a good idea.

Today was our last O&A and Math class. I had to present my abacus lesson in Math, which turned out well. It got a little confusing in the middle of the lesson, but it was nicely worked out. I also did something that made me really proud of myself today. I won't get into what specifically happened, but thanks to all who gave me advice this past week. It was one of the hardest, most moral decisions I have ever made in my life....maybe. I will stop there on this story....it just made this a happy day.

Another happy thing happenned today just before dinner, but i can't get into it on here. I'm probably overrreacting, cause I always do on this topic....But it just makes me even more excited for the summer! Anyways, after a few meetings this afternoon/tonight, I am home!! Just for the night. I'm playing tennis tomorrow morning in my mom's tennis league, filling in for her while she's in HK. Yes, it's lame, i'm playing tennis with people a lot older than me, but hey, it's tennis! And it's actually a lot of fun.....:) I'll be back at school tomorrow afternoon to wrap up this crazy semester......only several days left! Soo excited!

This weekend, i have LOTS to do, including Sunshine Day and possibly tennis match.....and then crazy amounts of hw....grrrr....but almost doneeeeee!! :-D Sorry for the short update, and for the shady-ness of the happy events.....it really has been a good day though!:)

I'm a copy-cat....:)

2005-04-24T06:38:32Z

Your Linguistic Profile:

60% General American English

25% Yankee

10% Dixie

0% Midwestern

0% Upper Midwestern

What Kind of American English Do You Speak?

Bulletin Board pic...again!

2005-04-12T16:22:43Z

I have no idea why the picture is not showing up for anyone, but it's showing up on my computer. Hopefully this site will work:

http://www.kodakgallery.com/PhotoView.jsp?&collid=49550444906&photoid=39550444906

I meant to put a picture of my bulletin board!

2005-04-07T17:30:06Z

Here is what the bulletin board looked like when it was finished: