Tuesday, October 13, 2015

Missed Opportunities

Just imagine, for a moment, that you are standing in a grocery store. You're wearing your favorite blue t-shirt that has the letters K-R-O-G-E-R embroidered on the short sleeve, and you're standing behind a cash register (Yes, you are a cashier, no it's not really important to the story.)

You are monotonously sliding things across the scanner while making idle conversation with the customer in front of you. It seems like a normal day.

Alex From Target walks by.

You make some more idle conversation with the customer. And finally they leave. (And of course they are extremely satisfied with their shopping experience because you are a wonderful cashier!)

"OMG OMG OMFFFGGGGG!!!! THAT WAS ALEX FROM TARGET! AlEx fROm tARGeT JUsT walKED By!!!!! DIDYOUSETHAT?!?!" (exclaims a courtesy clerk who has run all the way from the other end of the check out area)

The answer was no. You didn't. Because you were imagining you were me, and you were being a good cashier while you just missed the opportunity of a life time to get your best friend an autograph from a teenager who was on the Ellen Show because he got famous for BEING A CASHIER.


Moral of the story: Life is full of missed opportunities and sometimes you just gotta accept that you will be disappointed that you go to school a block away from the school that Alex From Target supposedly goes to, you even take a language arts class at said school, and you've been to that Target so many times because you just love Target so much, but you're never ever gonna meet the legendary Alex From Target.

Tuesday, June 23, 2015

Well that happened #7 : A Long Story

Well hello!
I should have a well thought out reason for my prolonged absence from this blog... but I don't. Basically I was busy until school ended, right after which we went to St. Louis for a couple of days. Then we came home, and I went straight to guard camp for a four days, packed for two days, then took off on a flight to Taiwan. There was definitely plenty of downtime for blog-writing, but, haha, that did not happen.

Normally, when I say "well it's kind of a long story" I usually actually mean "well I'm too lazy to explain it all so I'm going to say its a long story to avoid talking or texting." But, today is different. It really is a long story, so get comfortable and lets get started.

This the story of my travels from Dallas to Kaohsiung. 
On the day we were to leave, we all woke up at 3am to catch a taxi to the DFW airport. Emma and I were to take off at 6, so we had to be to the airport by 4am. Mom and Ben were on a different flight path that took off at around 9. I think.

Anyway, we got to the airport, and got in the great long line to check in. Only to find out that we were supposed to be in a different line. Yay us. So finally we got checked in and went to the security line which was even longer than the check in line. Emma and I were literally standing in the security line for like half an hour. Finally we got through and went to our gate. This is where the first of many mishaps happened.

We got to our gate, and as the ticket lady checked our passports and ticket, she told us that we needed a visa to get into shanghai, where we had a connecting flight. Firstly, we weren't even going to Shanghai on that flight. We were going to Toronto. Also we were never told that we needed a visa to take a connecting flight. Emma and I were a bit freaked out. I talked to the lady while Emma called mom, and in the end, the lady called someone higher up and found out that we really didn't need a visa.

So finally we get on the plane, and I realized: oh no, the lady took one of my boarding passes.
Naturally I kind of freaked out some more. I talked to a flight attendant who told me that I could print a new one as long I was checked in.

*HUGE SIGH OF RELIEF*

From there it was smooth sailing to Toronto. Yaaay. The connecting time in Toronto was really not bad. Emma and I played solitaire on the airport ipads, ate some snacks, and played other card games. We were there for about three hours, and then we boarded the plane for Shanghai. WHOO HOOO!!!

On that flight, things went relatively smoothly. We didn't crash and that's something. Normally I'd try to be optimistic about things, but since this is all about how rough this trip is, I have to inform you that the guy in front of us smelled like Asian farts. Good thing my sister was smart enough to bring scented wax cubes and we just waved them around, and it smelled like a mix of fruit and gummy bears. Then, we found old gum stuck to the underside of my arm rest. I was gripping the armrest to bend down and pick something up, and I felt it. Not really sticky anymore, but definitely squishy. I turned to Emma and asked "what should I dooo??? I don't want to wake HIM up" (we were the inner two seats, and there was a guy on the end of our row of seats. Finally I couldn't stand it anymore. My germaphobe self was dying of panic, so we woke up the guy from his sleep so I could go wash my hands. On my way to the bathroom, I informed this tall and rather round flight attendant about the gum, and he was so surprised. His solution was to get a plastic bag and tape it to the armrest to cover up the gum. I feel so bad, because while he was taping up the seat, all three of us in that row had to wait. I just feel bad for that one guy. I made him wake up, then made him stand for like 10 minutes while the flight attendant struggled to tape up the seat.
Overall it was just a looong flight. Normally a flight from North America to China goes over Canada, Alaska, then down through Russia, onto China. NOOOO. We had to fly all the way over the north pole, over Russia, down through Russia, THEN down to Shanghai. IT WAS THE ABSOLUTE LONGEST FLIGHT EVER!!!!!!

So finally we land in Shanghai right? It just so happens that my dad's flight back to the US from China was supposed to take off within the hour that Emma and I were supposed to land, so we figured we could go visit his gate and say hello. I haven't even seen him in like two weeks so we thought it'd be nice right? Wrong. We landed about 20 minutes later than scheduled (I blame that RIDICULOUS path we took), so we were already short on time. THEN we found out that we had to actually exit the airport, get our luggage, go through customs, then check back in to get to the leaving gates. I wanted to cry a little.
If you think that's rough, it doesn't end there. Firstly we had to get though the arrivals gates where the security guys make sure you have all the right documents. We had no Visa (remember?) so we had to explain to our guy that we were only there for a connecting flight. It took like 20 minutes of asking other officers and figuring things out, but we finally got a temporary pass to get out. Fortunately our officer police guy was really chill, and wasn't mean like some of the others.
We then head to the baggage claim. Back in Dallas, my mom had decided to check in the HEAVY luggage with us, because she didn't think she'd be able to haul it around with a sick Ben in tow for three hours. That left Emma and I to lug them around for two hours in the Pudong Airport. We went to find the check-in counter. We were then told that it wouldn't be open for another two hours. YAY US. In the end, we got checked in and got back though security.
We went to find our gate, which was gate 82. We sat there for a while, I looked around, and Emma took a nap. THEN if you'll believe it, they changed our gate. So we had to gather our stuff and pretty much zombie walk to the new gate which was on the lowest floor. I tried to stay awake, but I ended up falling asleep too. Finally we were called to board our plane, but to actually get to our plane, we had to get on this dinky bus then catch a ride to  the plane where we would get on some stairs to get into the actual plane. AND IT WAS RAINING. such is my life

We got on the flight, and I wanted to stay awake until we were up in the air, but I was so wiped out. I just crashed. I woke up some time later, and was really confused to find that we were STILL on the ground. As it turns out, our flight had been delayed for 40 minutes, but at least I'd woken up as we were about to take off. I have a thing about watching the ground when we take off. ITS JUST SO SATISFYING... (okay I'll stop being weird now lol)

Finally, we landed in Taiwan, and we had to get to the arrivals gate. We then were filling out an arrival card, and found out that we needed to know an address or a phone number, but Emma and I are Chinese illiterate, and we didn't know any phone numbers. In the end, I resigned myself to using the ever-expensive international data to give my mom a call. I dialed the number, hoping and praying it would work, because it was supposedly for US calls only, and my mom was supposed to be in Taiwan by then. AND WHAT IF SHE WAS STILL ON A FLIGHT?! I'd be stuck there for a while!!
So I called, and to my surprise, she actually picked up. I quickly said "Hey mom, I need a phone number real quick!!" She then said to me "I'm still in San Diego."
I just about died then. Of all things to go wrong and THAT happens. She gave me the phone number, said international calls were expensive (like I didn't know already) and said she'd explain when she finally arrived.

So finally we get out of the arrivals gate, get our luggage, and leave the airport with our grandma.

I later gathered from my relatives that they had misplaced Ben's passport, but they got it all figured out. She arrived the night after we did thank goodness.

almost 25 hours of travel time...
It was really eventful, but we're good now!!

My summer's been pretty full of excitement thus far, and it's been pretty fun. I hope y'all are having a good vacation!

~Alexis

Friday, May 29, 2015

Elinor Appreciation

Today is a very SPECIAL DAY. (Okay well, I mean now, it's a special night. . .)

My instinct at the moment is to declare that I do NOT do mushy, emotional, pieces of writing, but the truth is. . . I really do. (I mean, for heaven's sake, I spent 2 hours writing appreciation notes for everyone on my color guard team instead of doing homework)

But today is special because (drum roll please. . .) IT IS ELINOR'S BIRTHDAY!!!

Now you may be wondering: who is this person? This "Elinor" you speak of?
To answer that, I say: She is the kindest, most wonderful human being on earth. I am at a complete loss for how to put in to words just how much this girl means to me.

Five years ago, a new girl showed up at school, and was, by some coincidence, in nearly every single one of my classes. I normally kept to myself and didn't talk to people, but I was feeling especially daring one day. I just up and said "Okay, I'm going to make a new friend today."
Next thing I know, I'm telling this new girl to come see my choir show, and figuring out how we can hang out, and since then, things have gone farther. A LOT farther.

We've shared everything from muddy flag football to noodles coming out of noses, and somehow, it made for one of the greatest friendships on the planet earth.

This past year, I left my hometown, and some of the best friends a girl couldn't even dream of having. I will be honest: I cried. A lot (WHAT, don't judge, I'm a crier. . .) Normally, I cry in private. It's not something I like to share, and crying is like my way of venting. Some like punching pillows, others like yelling a lot. I like crying. Alone.

But when I really needed it, my best friend got on her Nokia brick (an ancient cell phone that is shaped like a brick, and is somehow just as tough. . .) and talked me through some of the hardest times I've ever had in my life, and I'm MOST grateful for what she's helped me through.

So.

Thank you, Elinor, for being you. For being my friend. For everything.

<3Achan

Tuesday, May 5, 2015

Well that Happened #6: Fancy Bed Shenanigans

What a day.

The AP Physics exam is tomorrow. Have I studied? No. Will I fail? Most likely. Do I care? Hard to say...

The thing about studying is that I don't know where to begin. For example today, I had "Late Arrival" to school, because there was a US History EOC test and a Biology EOC test, both of which I've already taken. So, I was allowed to stay at home until noon.

I woke up and my first thought was "WHYYYYYYY" (I forgot to turn off my 7:30 alarm)
My next thought was "I should get up and study. Mmmmm. I think I'll make cookies instead."

I spent the morning watching YouTube and making cookies. Very yay, much productive.

The day went actually quite smoothly. I went to the last two classes of my day, and we did nothing at all really... So I came home determined to put some effort into studying for Physics.

In reality, I came home and laid on my bed and thought about life for what I thought was 20 minutes. It was, in fact, actually 2 hours. I think stress does that to me. Time passes by way too quickly for my tastes... and before I know it, I'm sitting in a testing room wondering how I got there.

So then I ended up just eating dinner and then getting drawn into a long conversation with my sister and mom. Somehow, we migrated into my mom's bedroom. Here is where my night really takes a left turn.

My mom has a fancy bed. You can use a remote to change it's shape. You can elevate your head, your feet and get fancy bed massages. It's great. My siblings and I laid on the bed while messing around with said fancy bed, and then my mom joined us. It was a TON of fun and all thoughts of Physics completely evaporated from my brain.

Suddenly, the bed stopped working. It got stuck in a position where the head end was completely bent up and the foot end was also completely pushed up. Imagine a sandwich halfway folded up or a trampoline with an elephant in the middle. That's what it was like. We tried everything to fix it, but in the end I got on the floor to take a good look. I found the power cable and followed it to where it started, but I couldn't reach all the way, so I had to crawl under the bed.

I don't know if any of you have seen that vine where the cat completely buries itself into a couch by climbing in the teensiest hole ever. That is what it was like. I wriggled under the bed, got stuck and had to wait for my sister and mom to pull the bed away to free me. It was great.

After a lot of yanking at wires and such, we found that the power cable had been tightly wrapped around the part of the bed frame that expanded to lift up the head end. We untangled it- took forever- and in the end, realized that there was a cut in the wire. We think that because it was tangled and stretched so tight the metal frame tore a hole in the cable. I tried to put it back together and ended up blowing a fuse, so then we gave up. 

After fixing the fuse, we resigned ourselves and just said that dad could fix it next time he visits... My mom's bed is now stuck in that position, and she has to sleep in the guest bedroom. Also, no studying got done.

What a productive night, eh?

I'd better get to bed now, before I make anymore stupid decisions.

Goodnight,

<3 Alexis

Wednesday, April 29, 2015

A Series of Unfortunate Events

Dear Friend,

Today was one of those days where I just wanted to bang my head against a brick wall. 
This morning I woke up late. No later than I would have expected though, I usually wake up "late." I try to be up early enough to you know, properly pack my things and eat breakfast, but as per the norm, I ended up just shoving all papers in sight into my backpack and walking out the door with an apple croissant in my hand. (The ones from Sam's Club are DELISH). 

I arrived at school on time, thankfully, and my morning started off with out a hitch. In AP Lang, we did corrections for a multiple choice practice. To be honest, none of us really tried. I put in minimal effort into the corrections, and we suspect that the answer key is wrong in some places anyways. (But, as the teacher is pregnant, and has officially gone on maternity leave, we'll just forgive her.)
Midway through corrections, my nose spontaneously decided to erupt like the Mt. Vesuvius of Pompeii. That is to say, I had blood pouring out of my nose like nobody's business. So then naturally I kind of freaked out a little. All I had was the little wad of toilet paper from my purse to save me, and I just sat there like "I'm bleeding. I'm bleeding. I'm bleeding." Blood dripped on the table, on the chair, in my purse, on my sweater... everywhere. In the end, my classmate, Michelle, kindly walked me down to the nurses office. The nurse informed me that the proper way to stop a nosebleed is to pinch it and sit for a while. Good to find out I've been doing all wrong my whole life. Especially since that was literally the 4th nosebleed with in two days...

After that, I left the nurse's only to find that everyone was heading off to activity period, and I completely forgot where I was supposed to go. See, we have this thing called "Activity Period" where we go to a classroom or the library, cafeteria, or gym for like 30 minutes every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.
On the bright side, Michelle totally finished the last question of my corrections for me (she is my HERO). On the down side, I was completely dazed, and decided to just go to the library. I got there only to be told by my sister that I actually was supposed to be in the gym. But, meh, at that point I really didn't care.

Second period came and went, all was well... and then math class happened. Firstly, I got there and thought I'd lost my phone. Freaked out a little, but then got distracted by the fact that we had a test in front of us. I'm pretty sure I got NONE of those questions right. By lunch, I was completely drained. Not to mention, that we'd only taken PART 1 of the test. So after discovering that my phone was NOT where I thought it was. I just resigned my self to wallowing in my own despair. 
We returned to math class where I just completed the rest of the test without any enthusiasm.

Fourth period was okay. Which I guess meant that it was relatively awful, but by this time in the day, I JUST COULDN'T anymore. At least I found out that my phone was actually in my locker.

By the time I got home, I was ready to take a nap for two weeks, but NOOOOO. My water bottle spilled inside my purse. It was great. Then I had to quickly scarf down some macaroni, get dressed in nice clothes and go back to school for our school's NHS induction ceremony. 

From here, the story gets boring, because, well, as much as I complained about today, the Induction Ceremony was actually quite fun. I've already been inducted (last year) but I went in to help out. There was cake and friends, so, I'm okay now.

I think the greatest mistake of today has been deciding to write this post instead of doing homework, but my attitude today is just "Gah, screw this, Imma do what I want."

Great day eh?

<3 Alexis

Sunday, April 26, 2015

Well that Happened #5: Where ya at brah?

Wasting time is my expertise. I just spent a good hour watching YouTube.

I should probably get a move on, and finish filming a video for my band leadership application, but... I said I'd put this story out there, so here goes.

So a couple days ago, I came home after school pretty late (like around 7pm). I came home and just sat around in our front room eating a snack when my mom called to tell me to help her get stuff out of the car. "I'm home," she said.

I looked out onto the driveway and she wasn't there, so I said in to the phone "ummm what."
She just told me to "come out side and help!"

Just at this moment, a boy from school came walking down the street, but I didn't realize he was there, so I said very loudly into the phone "Yo, Motha! Wer ya at brah?!" (You know, cuz I'm thug like that)

This kid just gave me the weirdest look. Even worse, my mom pulled up around the driveway, so he stood there, awkwardly waiting for her to drive past. I just told him to go ahead.

Good thing too, because then my mom told me to ASK FOR HIS ADDRESS. She doesn't seem to understand that I am an awkward teenage girl. He is a teenage boy. One doesn't simply ASK FOR A BOY'S ADDRESS.

I mean if I had cookies and was a middle aged lady interested in meeting the neighbors... maybe. BUT I AM AN ANTI SOCIAL GIRL WHO'S ON THE INTERNET ALL DAY.

I hope that ya'll have a good day. And aren't pestered to ask for addresses by your mothers.

<3 Alexis

Saturday, April 11, 2015

Modern Parenting

(Disclaimer: I am not meaning to offend anyone, I was just in a mood to complain. thanks you much.)

Well well well. It's April. And I'm writing an overdue blogpost. yay.

I just realized that today was Prom for my old school. Much yay, but also much nay. Yay cuz my best friends got to go ( I mean they kind of had to, they were on Junior Prom Committee...). Nay cuz I had to miss all of my gorgeous besties in their gorgeous dresses...

*also, before I get too far into this post, I apologize for anything that doesn't make sense. I am running on minimal sleep and It's gotten to the point where I'm starting to slur my words together.

I think I'm going to make this post on modern parenting.

Today, I volunteered for this Celebration of Art event at some church preschool. I was assigned to run a station where the children were let loose to build whatever they wanted out of giant blue foam blocks. Easy yes? No.

The first few children to come in were rather timid and played around while I awkwardly stood to the side and watched. Then other children came in and it became a mad house. One child would not stop hitting other children with the foam rods and another child was throwing the little blue balls at an innocent little girl. It got to the point where one of the parents was just like OMG WHOSE CHILD IS THIS GET HIM OUT OF HERE. (In my defense I was trying my best to control the kid, but I swear he had this demonic gleam in his eyes).

I guess I just want to comment that its starting to become less and less of a priority to teach children manners and courtesy. Especially young ones because parents are just like He's only 4, he'll grow out of it.

Bro, when I was four, if I so much as cried in a restaurant, my dad would haul me out onto the car and spank me senseless. Now if I'd thrown balls at another child or was rude, who knows if I'd still be alive to tell the tales of my punishment.

*Side note: I love my dad to death he is the best, and he does not spank me anymore. That would be weird. Apparently I'm old enough to judge my own behavior and be mature enough to process my parent's scolding.

I guess the point of this post is to rant about children and parents who let their children run free and be insolent, crazy little rude nuggets.

Parents- please teach your child(ren) to be an adorable, polite, and sweet little nugget. Thank you.

~ Alexis

Friday, March 13, 2015

Watermelon Hysteria

So, I'm taking the SAT tomorrow, and far from studying or preparing or anything, I am doing what I excel at. I am wasting time.

I have a story, however, that I hope will not be a waste of your time. It is, to me, both a bit terrifying and extremely hilarious. I'll probably make it seem boring, but oh well.
So, grab yourself a cup of (insert favorite drink) and a bowl of (insert favorite snack), and without further ado, let's begin our story.

Firstly, I'd like to paint you a scene. (this isn't really of any importance: it's sole purpose is to make me seem sophisticated). It is a warm summers day (summer 2013), but definitely NOT sunny. The air is heavy and humid and somewhere in the distance, there is a slight rumble of thunder. All around are the sounds of cars, people, and the general sounds of a Chinese city. Yes, we are in China.

I am with my family. This includes Emma, Ben, my dad, my uncle and his fiancee, a great-aunt (I think), my grandpa, and some old family friends or something. I haven't actually met the friends until just this day in question. Maybe it's a Chinese thing, but every time we visit China, we meet hitherto unknown relatives as if my dad is pulling them out of a magicians hat. I swear we have an endless amount of relatives and close family friends!

We have just been at the friend's apartment. The adults have spent about two hours talking and catching up, while we (meaning my siblings and I) were offered a tub of Garrett's Caramel Popcorn. One of the family friends claims that it was from Singapore or something, but for some reason I doubt it. The last time I saw a tub of Garrett's Popcorn, we were in Chicago. NOT Singapore.

Anyways, it's almost dinner time when my one of the friends suggests that we go out to eat a fancy dinner, seeing as its almost time to eat. They decide on a place a couple blocks away, so we gather our things and head out. We walk in pairs, because the sidewalk is a bit narrow, and we arrive at this building. the first floor is a restaurant that looks quite fancy and sophisticated, though it looks slightly unprofessional, because the front door is open and large windows gives us a good view to the grimy and rather sad looking street outside.

A waiter in a fancy suit leads us to a table where we are given menus. I sit between my dad and sister. We let the adults decide what to order, because 1. we can't read Chinese very well, and 2. my dad knows best what we'll eat and what we'll avoid.

It's not until after we've ordered our food that things get interesting.

Without our notice, a grubby and poor looking man from outside has wandered in carrying a sack of watermelons. I'm guessing he's homeless. I'm sitting with my back to the front door, but I turn around just to take in the restaurant's style I guess. I notice him before the rest of our group does, but I don't pay much mind. I suppose he'll realize he's lost or something, and will wander out again. I turn back to the table, and begin a conversation with my sister.

A few minutes later, he sidles up to our table, directly behind my sister and I. He announces that he is here to SELL WATERMELONS, and asks if we'd like to buy one. I jump and turn to look at him. As my gaze slides away from his careworn figure to my dad's surprised face, I hear my great-aunt tell him politely that we aren't interested.

The man looks a little disappointed, but nods his head and walks away. Everyone else at the table turns back to their conversations, but I watch his progress around the room as the hobo walks to every table in the restaurant, offering to sell his watermelons to each of the people sitting there. Finally our food arrives, and I turn back to our table to take in the heaping dishes of Asian food.

We begin eating. The adults pile their plates with food, but I carefully choose from the dishes that smell and look the least offensive. I'm not a big fan of authentic Chinese food. I like fried rice and orange chicken. Not stewed octopus or whatever that jiggly, squishy thing is in the steaming pot. . .

Anyways, the Hobo man seems to have visited every table in the whole restaurant and hasn't managed to sell a single watermelon. He finally circles back to our table, this time determined to sell a watermelon. He asks again if we'd like to buy one, and again, my great-aunt says, "sorry, but no."

He won't take no for an answer.

In no time at all, he's on his knees BEGGING us to buy a watermelon. I feel bad for the poor guy, but frankly, he scares me a little. Upon closer inspection, he seems slightly insane. Our waiter walks over, and calmly tells the man to leave the restaurant, but he remains on his knees, still begging us to buy his watermelon.

Suddenly, he pops up again, and pulls out a watermelon from his sack. He begins pointing out the great qualities of his watermelon to my dad in an urgent, slightly hysterical tone. My dad nods as he talks, and a police man from outside is brought in by the manager of the restaurant. The policeman also politely asks the man to leave, but he ignores the police and talks even faster.

The police doesn't back down. Here is what happens next:

*police grabs hobo by the arm* "Please leave them and go back out side..."

*hobo wriggles free and continues to rave about his watermelon*

*police grabs hobo around the waist and lifts him away from my dad*

*hobo grabs the back of my dad's chair in protest*

My dad is nearly thrown from the chair as my extended family exclaim indignantly. I shrink back away from the flailing man. My dad takes pity on him and says that he'll buy the watermelon, but the poor man is beyond reason. He continues to scream about wanting to sell his watermelon. Besides, the rest of our group, the restaurant manager, AND the police are telling my dad that he doesn't need to and shouldn't buy the watermelon.

At this point most of the rest of the dining room has turned to watch the action. Finally, a back up policeman arrives. With the help of the waiter and the second police, the first policeman drags the man and his watermelons back out onto the street. The police kindly give him some money in exchange for the watermelon, and the man wobbles down the street in search of other customers.

The rest from here is rather anti-climactic. The restaurant manager apologized to my family for the interruption while my siblings and I struggled to hold in our laughter.
Unfortunately, I hadn't had enough sense to pull out my camera and get a video of the whole ordeal. I regret to this day that we don't have a record of this whole scene, as it would make for great home videos. I do have pictures from our group photos taken by the embarrassed and trembling waiter, but I look like a hot mess in them. I have no desire to show off my ugly hair-cut from that summer.

I know that was quite a long story, and hope that you aren't bored out of your mind. I apologize for my seriously lacking writing skill.

Anyways, I thought it was a great story. . .
And I'd better get back to actual work.

x Alexis

Tuesday, March 10, 2015

Button

 photo 1d1588cf-9e08-44a0-8cda-d352c64a4739_zps5hxzg80y.jpg

OMG I ACTUALLY SUCCEEDED.  I FEEL LIKE A TRUE COMPUTER PROGRAMMER'S DAUGHTER!! TAKE THAT HTML CODES!!

Thursday, March 5, 2015

On second thought, French Exams are also Trés Difficile

My last post, about essay writing skills and my lack of said skill. This post is about French-ing skills and my lack of this said skill.

In Missouri, it is optional to start a high school foreign language in middle school, therefore I opted to take that path. This meant that over 7th and 8th grade, I took what was equal to one year of high school French. By the time I reached freshman year, I was in French II. That means Junior year, I should be in French IV, yeah?

Plot twist: This summer, we moved unexpectedly. The day we registered for school, I arrived in Frisco after waking up at 7 am and driving four hours in order to make it in time for our registration appointment. Lets just say that I was feeling a bit out of sorts. Filling out all those enrollment forms absolutely fried my brain, and by the time I was actually supposed to tell the counselor what classes I wanted, I was just DONE.
After filling out a sheet where I wrote down what classes I'd like to take, I was told that one of the classes did not exist, two weren't required, and there were actually 2 other classes I should have taken before junior year. By the end of the discussion, I was thoroughly confused. I just agreed to anything and everything the counselor said with reckless abandon.

When it came time to decide on what level of French I should take, I decided I'd go out on a limb and take the AP level- French IV, because it was logical for me to take the next level of French. (It was definitely NOT a desire to seem super smart because I've got Asian standards to live up to ...)

The catch: In Missouri, the AP level French isn't until French V, so technically I needed another year of French to be at the AP level.

On the first day of school, I showed up in the class, and the teacher began spewing a slew of fluent French. The whole class nodded and acted on her instruction. I, on the other hand, realized I had made a GRAVE mistake. How on earth could I ever have possibly thought I could survive in a class full of smart people (three of which I was sure was fluent already anyway). I understood two statements the teacher made that day : Bonjour when I walked in and Au Revoir when I walked out.

I went home feeling rather dejected, but decided to persist with the class anyways. I am supposedly a respectable Asian who DOES NOT GIVE UP on any account! I muddled through a semester of the class and miraculously ended up with an "A" in the class by winter break.

Now standing on the other side of the New Year, the AP exam is hurtling towards me with the speed and force of stampeding cows. After several practice speaking exercises, reading and multiple choice exercises, and essays, I'm realizing that maybe I should have NOT taken AP French IV. Someone rescue me because this French IV life isn't working for me.

Thanks,

Alexis

Tuesday, March 3, 2015

College Essays are Trés Difficile

Goodness, time is just flying by. I swear yesterday was February 20 or something. But apparently today is not February 21, it is actually March 3. My mistake.

My kind and very considerate mother signed my sister and I up, the other day, for a seminar on how to write amazing college essays. I was rather reluctant to go, because, let's be honest, I got better things to do! But, I figured, it can't hurt to just show up. So, at 6 o'clock, I duly left the house, and drove to the seminar hall with Emma in tow.

As much as I'd like to be hip and scoff the idea of actually taking to heart what the speaker said ( I mean, what nerd ACTUALLY LISTENS to silly speeches like that?!), I was really quite impressed by the speaker. Yes, there was the usual load of waffle consisting of cliché statements like "You may think you're ordinary, but you're EXTRAordinary!!" But, on the other hand, she did really mention how admissions admins choose which applicants are suitable for acceptance.

To make a long story short, it was indeed a pretty good presentation.
My problem lies in the fact that sometimes my life is like...

Person: Anyone, even YOU can be extraordinary!
Other people: *tries very hard*
Person: See? I knew you could do it!
Me: *also tries pretty hard*
Person: . . . You gave it your best!

I guess, maybe I underestimate my self a little, but the whole time, I got so excited because I was actually being told what ideas to build off of and how to go about doing things, and then I remembered that I'm not good at essays.

x Alexis



Sunday, February 15, 2015

Dear Valentine's Day Haters...

Since yesterday was Valentine's day, I felt I needed to put in my own little bit of love to the internet.

I'm a bit socially awkward, so Valentine's day came and went almost like any other day. Normally for Valentine's day, I buy those candy Valentines from Target and hand them to all of my friends. Problem is, this year I am completely broke and I didn't have the time to stop by a store to buy any candy anyways. (I'm sorry friends! I promise I love you!!!)

I've also noticed that one thing has been running rampant on the internet. VALENTINE'S DAY HATIN'!! The claim is that "You shouldn't only love your significant other/ loved ones for only ONE day out of the whole year"

While I understand that love shouldn't be reserved for only ONE DAY, I personally think that it's a ready wrapped excuse to waste money on ridiculous amounts of sweets and to spoil other people with copious levels of happiness. Most people only have the time or money to do this once a year. On a normal day, you can "love" people. There's nothing stopping you. Valentine's is for extreme shows of affection.

Anyways. I was just getting tired of people hatin' on showing lots of love and Valentine's day.

I hope you had a wonderful February 14th and that you were surrounded by people you love and that you were extremely happy.

Alexis <3

Friday, January 23, 2015

Well that Happened #4:Hazards of Sleep

As much as high-schoolers like me complain about constantly lacking sleep, this method of rest has its dangers.

It all begins with a simple statement. "I am tired" is my constant mantra while I work away the days at school. Yesterday was particularly tough because I'd arrived early to school for an NHS meeting, then stayed after school until around 9 PM for a color guard rehearsal.

Anyways, I returned home late last night so I just ate dinner then headed off to bed. I fell asleep, a curled up bundle of coziness, in the fetal position, not knowing that danger was about to strike. While I slept, I dreamed about a post apocalyptic world in which I was explaining to a friend how it came to be "post-apocalyptic" in the first place. Right as I was about to show my friend something important, I woke up around 3:00 in the morning.

Feeling slightly uncomfortable, I tried to sit up only to find that I was stuck. Somehow, my right arm had ended up over the top of my head. (Kind of like when you're in class, and you raise your hand, but your teacher doesn't notice for FOREVER, and you rest your arm on top of your head.) My arm had probably been up there for at least an hour, and therefore all the blood had drained from my hands and arms and my circulation got cut off or something. Either way, I found that I had no way of moving my arm.

I then started hardcore panicking. Half asleep, still and desperate to save my limp arm from atop my head, I used my left hand to grab hold of my right upper arm. I pulled my arm out from behind my head and tried to move it. I then found that all my arm was capable of doing was flopping uselessly. I proceeded to panic and flop my arm around like a fish out of water, until finally I regained some feeling in my fingers. 

Slowly, I was able to bend my fingers, then my elbow, and finally my whole arm around. My arm and hand tingled very violently (like there were push pins being stuck into them). When the tingling ended, my arm just had a dull pulsing sore feeling.
Afterwards, I lay in bed for a good hour in which I worried that if I were to fall asleep again, I might loose my arm motion PERMANENTLY. Finally around four-ish in the morning, I fell asleep again.

Moral of the story, beware of the dangers while sleeping. After what I have dubbed the "Legend of the Floppy Arm," I warn you to be constantly on guard for such hazards!

In the words of the wise, and slightly crazy Mad Eye Moody:

"CONSTANT VIGILANCE!!!"

Alexis

Monday, January 19, 2015

Travel Tid-Bits

Right before winter break, I took the time and the effort to take pretty pictures of stuff so that I might write a blog post about it. Then I went and left my laptop at home.
(cue applause)

So, I've decided I'll do a post with those pictures since I already put in the effort anyway. Enjoy!

I have a slight obsession with nail polish. I like to change it up every couple of hours (no exaggeration there) So, naturally I brought about a gajillion bottles of the stuff with me to St.Louis. Not that you would really need this many bottles of nail polish to last you two weeks.

Here's another shot of my beautiful nail polishes. I told you I have an obsession. Notice also I added my remover here too because I realized that you'd need the remover so that you can change your mind as often as I do.

Here we have a makeup bag. I thought I would be sophisticated and bring along makeup to wear to fancy parties. Yeah I used it maybe once or twice the whole two weeks. But I still insist it was TOTALLY WORTH IT!!!!!!!

Ah, finally, a USEFUL thing. I actually used this almost every day! One can not live with out hand-sanitizers. I kept this one from Bath and Body Works on my key-chain. THIS STUFF SMELLS FREAKING AMAZING.

Alright, well that's all I really had pictures of. I figured a picture of every single thing I brought to Missouri would be extremely dull, so there you have it. The few most dullest things from my collection :D

<3 Alexis

Saturday, January 17, 2015

Spoiler Alert!!

How did Voldemort not realize that other people used the Room of Requirement if there was already loads of stuff in there? Especially if there was stuff from multiple centuries in there?

Friday, January 9, 2015

Well That Happened Episode 3 : Just Chillin'

Normally when I have a "Well That Happened" post, I've usually ended up in some catastrophe involving my inadequate life skills. Fortunately, this time I've done nothing wrong. Yay Me!

Instead, I'm bringing you an account of my AP Physics class. Sounds boring, I know, but just bear with me.

Since moving to Texas, I've noticed that the teachers and administration here are really quite chill. For example, one of my friends and I eat lunch on the floor by the front doors every other day, yet no one seems to care. To be fair, we ARE waiting to catch a bus to a different school for a class, but still! Everyone else eats in the cafeteria like they're supposed to. For example, today, we were just sitting there and the PRINCIPAL walked by and joked that he should get us a table and chairs, like it was NBD. Like I said. they are Chill.

But that all is besides the point. I'm here to discuss Physics.

Today, like every other A-day, I arrived late to physics due to the fact that I have the previous class at a different school. (they didn't offer AP French at my campus). I walked in and we began discussing our "Centripetal Forces" lab. Normal. The first half of class went rather smoothly.

Around 3:30, one of my classmates from math class walked in. He was supposed to be in Language Arts or something, but he just strolled in. Here's how it went

*Teacher* - Hey! Whatcha doin' here?
*Classmate* - Well see I needed to prove to HIM *points at another classmate* that I can get out of class.
*Teacher* - . . . What.

This classmate then launched into a long-winded explanation about how he used an old written pass to tell the teacher that he needed to leave class early. It was really quite entertaining.

And what did the teacher do? He played a game of chess with this classmate.

Chill. I know.

This is also why I like Fridays.

And in case you were wondering. The teacher won the chess game.

Tuesday, January 6, 2015

New year, New me?

I'm back. FINALLY REUNITED WITH MY PRECIOUS! (My Laptop)

Since being back with my lovely laptop, I have returned to my old habit of drowning myself in YouTube videos from my favorite creators. Surprise, surprise right?

That "NEW year, NEW me" mindset hasn't taken hold yet. I kid you not, I'm still the same procrastinator I was since sixteen years ago.

I've been kind of thinking this through (in that time of limbo between being awake and being asleep). 2014 was kind of a crappy year to be painfully honest. What was supposedly my "sweet sixteen" turned into a "lets put all efforts into packing so we can move to Texas!" type deal.
With this new 2k15, I'm hoping life will be more... well AWESOME.

I'll say I have BIG PLANS for this year, but that's what I said last year. Look where that got me.

Its like one of those "as seen on TV" ads. Where the TV announcer shows a person testing out a product that will "CHANGE YOUR LIFE FOREVER WITH JUST ONE USE!". You'd expect that you would see IMMEDIATE RESULTS, but more often than not, it's just a gimmick.
That's what New Year is like.

*December 31* Tomorrow! I start my diet tomorrow!
*January 1* It's only the first day of the year. I'll start my diet TOMORROW!
. . .
*June 30* Its almost July. Too late to start my diet. I'll do it NEXT YEAR!

But maybe this year will contain a pre-determined plot twist that will transform me in to the successful Asian I supposedly have the potential to be.

I hope you all have your lucky breaks as well. Good luck in 2015! (even though its already the night of the sixth...)

*Alexis