Prom was already a week ago. It's hard to imagine that time passes by so fast. I can't believe I forgot to write about this topic until now. Prom was an experience I would never forget. It was cool riding in a limo and seeing everyone all dressed up. That was only my second time riding in a limo, the other time was for my cousin's wedding. I was amazed with all of the people there, I was surprised to see that there were actually a lot of juniors there too. A lot of pictures were taken, however, none of the pictures were taken by my camera. I idioticly forgot my camera at home, when I was rushing down the stairs when my date rang the doorbell. Because I only knew I was going to prom last minute, I therefore scheduled my make-up appointments last minute. Obviously with so many proms on the 28th of April, everywhere was booked. The only time I could get was at 3:15. I was only done at 4:15, which was nerve wrecking because my date told me he was going to pick me up at 5. Next year, I know that I have to get everything planned out and ready far in advance, in order to get rid of all of the chaos that happened before the prom.
Getting the dress for prom was really stressful. I had to go to five different stores to find the perfect dress, that was actually my size. What made it harder was that my date already bought his tux, so I had to match with a royal blue. I would have thought that this is an easy color to find, but I was wrong. It took me three different days of looking just finding the right one. Even after I found it, I had to get it altered since I was way to short for the dress. Even after it was altered, it was still too long. Thoughout the night, I had everyone stepping on it. I started to get a little paranoid, worried that someone would step on it while I was walking, unexpectedly ripping it or something. That would have cost a lot of money for that dress in addition to the humiliation I would have went through. Now I know that next year i can't buy a dress that touches the floor.
The theme for prom was red carpet or something like that. I loved all of the centerpieces placed in the middle of the table, and the delicious food. At prom, I actually ran into my long lost friend, who I was friends with since preschool. She said that her date was boring and said that he thought she had cooties, so we actually got to spend the whole night together. We had a great time even without her date. We caught up with old stories, danced, and just enjoyed each other's company along with my date. It was surprising to know that...
I didn't get to go to an after-party because of the commmunity service project I had to do the next day at 8:00 in the morning. However, I do hope to stay overnight at a hotel next year. I just hope we get to planning the after party in advance.
Now that I know what is expected, and what needs to be done for prom, I will be prepared for next year. I just hope I have as much fun as I did this year.
Friday, May 4, 2007
community service
I just realized I have to turn in my community service sheet for next year. Sadly, I don't have a car, so my options of community serivce projects are somewhat limited. I'm not sure what I want to sign up for yet. There are just so many options to choose from, and they all sound good. I like old people and kids so I guess I don't really mind what to do. Right now I'm thinking of the Adult care at Central Union, the Nursery Care at Central Union, Shriners, ESL, Headstart Preschool, and Palama Settlement. I think there are other I want to choose from, but I'm not too sure yet. I'm pretty sure I want the Palama Settlement to be my first choice because I would enjoy teaching kids sports. I like coaching gymnastics, but the only thing is, is that I'm not very good at the 'normal' sports that were listed on the sheet, such as basketball, baseball, and volleyball. I chose the community service projects that were at Central Union because I could just walk there, and I am somewhat familiar with the campus since I attended Central Union when I was in preschool. I remember loving the teachers, and all of the fun activities we could do, so I think I would enjoy working there. I know I enjoyed that preschool when I was only 5 years old, but I think I would still love it because of all the nice teachers and cute kids. I'm thinking of Shriners because it seems like a very different experience, for I have never helped disadvantaged kids before. In addition to that, this location is also very convenient. I'm thinking of ESL because I think that it would be a good way of practicing my Japanese skills, while being able to interact with kids at the same time. I don't know what to chose, but I think I should decide soon because the paper is due in an hour...
'Trip'ped
Today I had to make up a kaiwa no hi (conversation day) for Japanese class. I went to my sensei's office and we talked about my most memorable trip. I told her my favorite trip was my trip to Whistler last year, where my family went up to go skiing for the first time. I didn't realize this until I talked about this that that trip was actually a place when a lot of injuries occured. But yet, it was my most memorable trip, maybe it was because of the many injuries, I don't know.
Because my mom was the only one who skiied before, we had to take lessons. The first time I put those ski boots on, I felt like I was some kind of robot for Halloween or something because it was so heavy as if it was a space boot. It felt so weird walking in them; however, it wasn't as weird as those skis. When I first put those on, it felt as if I was learning how to walk again. I was wearing shoes that were as tall as me, sliding around uncontrolably. I didn't feel too bad though, because my mom, dad, and sister looked awkward too. Our instructor came, gliding so smoothly towards us. She was apparently a national champion. She taught us how to climb up the hill, and take our first 'steady' steps, glides, or whatever you call them. It turned out that I wasn't half bad and could actually run down those 'massive' bunny slopes.
However, this is when all the injuries started to occur. When my dad was trying to glide down to the bottom of the bunny slopes for the first time, this really fast skier ran right into him. It was scary, but funny in the same time, for it looked like my dad was flying for a short period before he landed straight onto his back. It turned out that he tore some ligament in his knee and had to sit out for the rest of the trip.
Next was my mom. There I was shivering in the snow, it was the first time I was ever in such cold weather. It was then when I truly realized I dispised the cold. Every half an hour or so, I had to take a trip to the heated bathroom, where I would run my sore numb hands under the hot water. (I know, pretty pathetic.) Anyway, while I was shivering in the cold, my mom was really hot. In fact, she was so hot that she took off her ski jacket and her layers of clothes until all she had left was one long sleeve jacket. She told me that she was still hot. When we got home, it turned out that my mom had hyper-thyroidism(?). Her thyroid gland was out of control that rapidly increased her metabolism, and increased her temperature. After the diagnosis, she had to go through a special treatment to get rid of it.
After my mom's incident, my sister got hurt. We were both skiing down the next level of bunny slopes, when I suddenly saw her yelling 30 feet away from me, "Nikki Help Me!" It turns out to be that she couldn't stop. Of course I couldn't do anything because I couldn't ski well. I didn't know what to do except for just ski downhill. I turned around and she was still skiing when I saw her fall face flat in a pile of snow. She wasn't hurt that badly, which was a good thing because all I could do was laugh. I would have gone up to help her but I didn't know how to ski uphill. I saw her head pop up from the snow; she stood up, and looked at me and said, "Nikki!" She had a big pile of snow still on her head when she skiing down to meet me. I had to laugh some more when she got mad at me for not helping her.
Luckily, I didn't get injured (except for my numb hands) like the rest of my family. And I really think that it's because of luck, since I am a clumsy person. Even though we had a couple of injuries on this trip I think that it was the most memorable because we were able to spend a lot of time together as a family. (Usually my dad is at his business meetings.)
Because my mom was the only one who skiied before, we had to take lessons. The first time I put those ski boots on, I felt like I was some kind of robot for Halloween or something because it was so heavy as if it was a space boot. It felt so weird walking in them; however, it wasn't as weird as those skis. When I first put those on, it felt as if I was learning how to walk again. I was wearing shoes that were as tall as me, sliding around uncontrolably. I didn't feel too bad though, because my mom, dad, and sister looked awkward too. Our instructor came, gliding so smoothly towards us. She was apparently a national champion. She taught us how to climb up the hill, and take our first 'steady' steps, glides, or whatever you call them. It turned out that I wasn't half bad and could actually run down those 'massive' bunny slopes.
However, this is when all the injuries started to occur. When my dad was trying to glide down to the bottom of the bunny slopes for the first time, this really fast skier ran right into him. It was scary, but funny in the same time, for it looked like my dad was flying for a short period before he landed straight onto his back. It turned out that he tore some ligament in his knee and had to sit out for the rest of the trip.
Next was my mom. There I was shivering in the snow, it was the first time I was ever in such cold weather. It was then when I truly realized I dispised the cold. Every half an hour or so, I had to take a trip to the heated bathroom, where I would run my sore numb hands under the hot water. (I know, pretty pathetic.) Anyway, while I was shivering in the cold, my mom was really hot. In fact, she was so hot that she took off her ski jacket and her layers of clothes until all she had left was one long sleeve jacket. She told me that she was still hot. When we got home, it turned out that my mom had hyper-thyroidism(?). Her thyroid gland was out of control that rapidly increased her metabolism, and increased her temperature. After the diagnosis, she had to go through a special treatment to get rid of it.
After my mom's incident, my sister got hurt. We were both skiing down the next level of bunny slopes, when I suddenly saw her yelling 30 feet away from me, "Nikki Help Me!" It turns out to be that she couldn't stop. Of course I couldn't do anything because I couldn't ski well. I didn't know what to do except for just ski downhill. I turned around and she was still skiing when I saw her fall face flat in a pile of snow. She wasn't hurt that badly, which was a good thing because all I could do was laugh. I would have gone up to help her but I didn't know how to ski uphill. I saw her head pop up from the snow; she stood up, and looked at me and said, "Nikki!" She had a big pile of snow still on her head when she skiing down to meet me. I had to laugh some more when she got mad at me for not helping her.
Luckily, I didn't get injured (except for my numb hands) like the rest of my family. And I really think that it's because of luck, since I am a clumsy person. Even though we had a couple of injuries on this trip I think that it was the most memorable because we were able to spend a lot of time together as a family. (Usually my dad is at his business meetings.)
Done
Yay, our last ilh team competition is over! Only one more week till ILH championships and then it's over for good! (Too bad I still have a bunch of finals to study for...) Gymnastics only goes up to ILH championships instead of states because there just isn't enough teams to have a state competition. I think it's just hard for many schools to get access to a gym, especially because it is so costly due to the fact that there is a limited amount of gyms in the first place. I know Pac 5 has to pay something like $700 to practice at Mojo Gymnastics.
I love how ILH gymnastics is so much more laid back than regular gymnastics. In ILH gymnastics, I have the freedom to actually have my butt on the floor without getting yelled at, we don't have to condition (although I miss that), and we can practice without someone crying everyday.
Gymnastics is right next to the judo/wresting area, where constantly hear the wrestlers practicing hard. We can hear loud thuds of bodies slamming onto the floor in unison, while the coach yells the counts, "One, two, three! (whack)". While all of this is happening, I look around and find that my teammates are often just standing around. It's a great place to get away from the stressful gymnastics. I skipped gymnastics practice because of my homework load yesterday, and Chel, one of my teammates told me about the interesting practice story. She said that her sister was giving out those sugary strawberry belts at practice, and for the whole workout people were running around chasing the girl with the strawberry belt. Amazingly, this story didn't surprise me, for such events occur quite often. One day, our coach considered playing games for the whole practice without working out. However, we couldn't find dodgeballs, so the workout turned out into an open workout, where you pretty much do whatever you want.
Even competitions are very unstressful. In regular gym, the gymnasts compete individually, while in ILH gymnastics, we compete as a team (all the individual scores add up to a team score). Also, there are only three teams, so there isn't that much competition, especially in varsity. In varsity, Punahou has 6 gymnasts while Pac 5 and Kamehameha only have one. So everyone can fall twenty times and it wouldn't matter because we would win. I find these types of meets a lot less stressful because there isn't any pressure to be perfect and beat everyone. As my teammate's mom said, "It's much nicer to see the girls laugh when they fall off beam, rather than cry." Even though I have never cried because of a mess-up, it goes to show how much pressure meets can be.
I love how ILH gymnastics is so much more laid back than regular gymnastics. In ILH gymnastics, I have the freedom to actually have my butt on the floor without getting yelled at, we don't have to condition (although I miss that), and we can practice without someone crying everyday.
Gymnastics is right next to the judo/wresting area, where constantly hear the wrestlers practicing hard. We can hear loud thuds of bodies slamming onto the floor in unison, while the coach yells the counts, "One, two, three! (whack)". While all of this is happening, I look around and find that my teammates are often just standing around. It's a great place to get away from the stressful gymnastics. I skipped gymnastics practice because of my homework load yesterday, and Chel, one of my teammates told me about the interesting practice story. She said that her sister was giving out those sugary strawberry belts at practice, and for the whole workout people were running around chasing the girl with the strawberry belt. Amazingly, this story didn't surprise me, for such events occur quite often. One day, our coach considered playing games for the whole practice without working out. However, we couldn't find dodgeballs, so the workout turned out into an open workout, where you pretty much do whatever you want.
Even competitions are very unstressful. In regular gym, the gymnasts compete individually, while in ILH gymnastics, we compete as a team (all the individual scores add up to a team score). Also, there are only three teams, so there isn't that much competition, especially in varsity. In varsity, Punahou has 6 gymnasts while Pac 5 and Kamehameha only have one. So everyone can fall twenty times and it wouldn't matter because we would win. I find these types of meets a lot less stressful because there isn't any pressure to be perfect and beat everyone. As my teammate's mom said, "It's much nicer to see the girls laugh when they fall off beam, rather than cry." Even though I have never cried because of a mess-up, it goes to show how much pressure meets can be.
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Two Fishies
In US history Mr. Seidenstein was talking to us about college, and how he loved to research when he was a student. He said it was because he was a Virgo, and Virgo's apparently love to be obsessive about those things or something like that.
I was a definite skeptic about the whole concept of astrology, and told my coach about it when we were on that topic before. I didn't how the sun, the planets, and what not make up who we are as people. It didn't seem to make any sense because it didn't seem that those topics could be in any way related. In response to when I said this, she seemed a little upset. She told me she used to study astrology, and that I can't be a skeptic without putting some effort into researching about it. She made a good point, despite how ridiculous the whole astrology concept seemed to me. So today, I decided to look up my sign or whatever you call it. I am born on Feburary 21, which means I'm a pieces, the two little fishies. I didn't understand how someone came up with this sign as the sign for people born on Feb 20-Mar 20. I don't know how they came up with those exact dates either. What if you're born on Feb 19 11:59 in Hawaii, and then you fly over to the mainland where Feb 19 11:59 is actually Feb 20 3:59, does that make you a pieces or the sign that comes before it?
Anyway, I wanted to find out the traditional traits of a pieces to see whether those traits match my personality. According to this website, the 'astrology insight' I am supposed to be imaginitive, sensitive, compassionate, kind, selfless, unworldly, intuitive, sympathetic, an escapist, idealistic, secretive, vague, weak-willed, and easily led. Wow, that's a lot of words to descricbe me. Hm...let's see...I'm pretty sure I'm not imaginitive or intuitive, although I think I can be a little sensitive, compassionate, kind, selfless, sympathetic, and I'm definitely unworldly...Hah, I'm pretty sure I'm the most naive out of everyone I know. I'm pretty sure I'm not an escapist, even though I'm not quite sure what the exact definition is...I think I'm idealistic, or I was anyway. I am very sercretive according to my parents...Wow, and I'm definitely vague. My friends used to make fun of me because of that. In fact, someone gave me a keychain that says...'I used to be indecisive but now I'm not too sure.' Oh, and I'm pretty sure I'm weak-willed and definitely easily led because of my 'vagueness.' Hm...this profile was not 100% accurate, but it was pretty close. The accuracy could have been coincidence, but I can't conclude that unless I have a better data. Maybe one day when I have time, I'll figure out how many people 's astrology profile matches what kind of person they are.
But even though these astrology profiles happen to be accurate, I think I'll continue to be a skeptic because I don't understand how someone could come up with all of these profiles by just looking at space. But maybe I will understand the reasoning behind astrology if I do enough research...I don't know...(Ah...vagueness again...)
I was a definite skeptic about the whole concept of astrology, and told my coach about it when we were on that topic before. I didn't how the sun, the planets, and what not make up who we are as people. It didn't seem to make any sense because it didn't seem that those topics could be in any way related. In response to when I said this, she seemed a little upset. She told me she used to study astrology, and that I can't be a skeptic without putting some effort into researching about it. She made a good point, despite how ridiculous the whole astrology concept seemed to me. So today, I decided to look up my sign or whatever you call it. I am born on Feburary 21, which means I'm a pieces, the two little fishies. I didn't understand how someone came up with this sign as the sign for people born on Feb 20-Mar 20. I don't know how they came up with those exact dates either. What if you're born on Feb 19 11:59 in Hawaii, and then you fly over to the mainland where Feb 19 11:59 is actually Feb 20 3:59, does that make you a pieces or the sign that comes before it?
Anyway, I wanted to find out the traditional traits of a pieces to see whether those traits match my personality. According to this website, the 'astrology insight' I am supposed to be imaginitive, sensitive, compassionate, kind, selfless, unworldly, intuitive, sympathetic, an escapist, idealistic, secretive, vague, weak-willed, and easily led. Wow, that's a lot of words to descricbe me. Hm...let's see...I'm pretty sure I'm not imaginitive or intuitive, although I think I can be a little sensitive, compassionate, kind, selfless, sympathetic, and I'm definitely unworldly...Hah, I'm pretty sure I'm the most naive out of everyone I know. I'm pretty sure I'm not an escapist, even though I'm not quite sure what the exact definition is...I think I'm idealistic, or I was anyway. I am very sercretive according to my parents...Wow, and I'm definitely vague. My friends used to make fun of me because of that. In fact, someone gave me a keychain that says...'I used to be indecisive but now I'm not too sure.' Oh, and I'm pretty sure I'm weak-willed and definitely easily led because of my 'vagueness.' Hm...this profile was not 100% accurate, but it was pretty close. The accuracy could have been coincidence, but I can't conclude that unless I have a better data. Maybe one day when I have time, I'll figure out how many people 's astrology profile matches what kind of person they are.
But even though these astrology profiles happen to be accurate, I think I'll continue to be a skeptic because I don't understand how someone could come up with all of these profiles by just looking at space. But maybe I will understand the reasoning behind astrology if I do enough research...I don't know...(Ah...vagueness again...)
Sustainability Fair
Surprisingly, the Sustainability Fair was a big hit last week Friday. Apparently, there were so many classes that wanted to come, that the Luke aunties, the ones who organized the fair, had to turn many teachers down. In Japanese class, our sensei wanted us to become involved in this event. She required us to make posters in order to promote the idea of conservation, and write a reflection about it. (Oh, that reminds me, I have to turn that in after this...) I think that it was a good idea that she required us to be involved with an event, especially since the Japanese value this idea so greatly. From the various different booths in the fair, we were able to attain information that we wouldn't have otherwise known. Like most people, I don't read newsletters and articles in the mail about the importance of sustainabilty, nor do I come across television shows where this is mentioned. I think this was a convenient, crowd attracting event that brought a lot of people together to learn about an important cause we had no idea of before.
I didn't get to look around much since I was working at a booth the whole time I was there, although I did get to see some of the booths around me. I was working at the computer booth where I was supposed to show people the many different environmentally educational websites. There was a website where you can click once a day, and sponsors would donate to help save 11 feet of rainforest, there was a website that allowed you to calculate the harmful effects you cause daily, and there were many other websites with fun games that taught you ways you can become more environmentally friendly.
One of the booths next to my station was a physics project, that showed the enormous amounts of waste that are being released when putting your computer to sleep rather than shutting it down. There was a booth that gave out free bags to use at the grocery store so that we don't have to use unecessary plastic bags, there was a booth that showed you how to recycle magazines, and there was a booth that showed us worm bins. These worms eat anything. Instead of throwing your leftover food away, you can put it in a worm bin, so that we can limit the amount of trash that is being dumped to our overfilled landfills.
Even though all of those booths were interesting, I felt as though the movie shown at the end was the highlight of the whole fair. The movie was called, 'The Inconvenient Truth,' a documenary done by the 'once next president,' Al Gore. This film was a big eye-opener to me, for I had never heard about how much harmful things America contributes to daily, and what the effects might be in the future. According to him, the Earth as we now know it won't be the same in the future. The melting icecaps will flood many lands, temperatures will rise, and many species of animals will die out. In fact, global warming could be the cause of the end of the world, which is really scary to think about. I just find it weird that I never heard about all of these statistics before until a week ago, especially since this has been known for many years. Maybe I'm very ignorant about world issues...I don't know...
I didn't get to look around much since I was working at a booth the whole time I was there, although I did get to see some of the booths around me. I was working at the computer booth where I was supposed to show people the many different environmentally educational websites. There was a website where you can click once a day, and sponsors would donate to help save 11 feet of rainforest, there was a website that allowed you to calculate the harmful effects you cause daily, and there were many other websites with fun games that taught you ways you can become more environmentally friendly.
One of the booths next to my station was a physics project, that showed the enormous amounts of waste that are being released when putting your computer to sleep rather than shutting it down. There was a booth that gave out free bags to use at the grocery store so that we don't have to use unecessary plastic bags, there was a booth that showed you how to recycle magazines, and there was a booth that showed us worm bins. These worms eat anything. Instead of throwing your leftover food away, you can put it in a worm bin, so that we can limit the amount of trash that is being dumped to our overfilled landfills.
Even though all of those booths were interesting, I felt as though the movie shown at the end was the highlight of the whole fair. The movie was called, 'The Inconvenient Truth,' a documenary done by the 'once next president,' Al Gore. This film was a big eye-opener to me, for I had never heard about how much harmful things America contributes to daily, and what the effects might be in the future. According to him, the Earth as we now know it won't be the same in the future. The melting icecaps will flood many lands, temperatures will rise, and many species of animals will die out. In fact, global warming could be the cause of the end of the world, which is really scary to think about. I just find it weird that I never heard about all of these statistics before until a week ago, especially since this has been known for many years. Maybe I'm very ignorant about world issues...I don't know...
School, Not Quite Over
Wow, there's only a month before my junior year is over. However, I don't think that the time will pass by quickly one bit. There is just so many tests to take, events to go to, projects to do, and things to be done. For the last few weeks, I have been staying up till at least 11:00 every night. Ok, I know most people don't think that 11:00 is very late, but for me it is. Especially since I have been going to sleep at 10 in the beginning of the school year. Last night alone, I had two papers to do and a test to study for. Ya, not very fun. Lately, I have been finding myself in the library more often, trying to finish my mountain load of homework. I would stay up late if I could, but I fall asleep in class whenever I do. And that of course, isn't good because then I won't be able to pay attention and my grades will drop even more. And to add more to my stress, I have competitions every Wednesday, right smack in the middle of every school week.
Most people are looking at the last month of school to be exciting, for they will soon be free of all the pain-staking work that is required. But as for me, I am not particularly excited for time to pass by faster, since there is so much stuff to be done.
My schedule is pretty much full till the end of next school year. This week is prom, the week after that is my SAT physics subject test, a week after that my big US paper is due, a week after that is my AP physics test, two weeks after that are finals, a week after that is the SAT reasoning test, the week after that is my ACTs, the week after that, summer school (Euro...), driver's ed, and diving season starts again, and probably by the end of that school will start once again. In the midst of all this, people are expecting me to be looking at colleges, having some 'friend time', starting to write my college essays, and finishing my required seven hours of community service for Japanese. Gosh, it seems as though I don't even have time to breathe. Although it is my fault that I made my schedule this way, and hopefully at the end, I won't regret all the work I've put into, as I would expect to happen.
Most people are looking at the last month of school to be exciting, for they will soon be free of all the pain-staking work that is required. But as for me, I am not particularly excited for time to pass by faster, since there is so much stuff to be done.
My schedule is pretty much full till the end of next school year. This week is prom, the week after that is my SAT physics subject test, a week after that my big US paper is due, a week after that is my AP physics test, two weeks after that are finals, a week after that is the SAT reasoning test, the week after that is my ACTs, the week after that, summer school (Euro...), driver's ed, and diving season starts again, and probably by the end of that school will start once again. In the midst of all this, people are expecting me to be looking at colleges, having some 'friend time', starting to write my college essays, and finishing my required seven hours of community service for Japanese. Gosh, it seems as though I don't even have time to breathe. Although it is my fault that I made my schedule this way, and hopefully at the end, I won't regret all the work I've put into, as I would expect to happen.
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