Another year...

Okay, some people complain that i don't update my blog. Well, that's because i think my life is pretty boring and calm (recently anyway), that i don't think it's all that interesting to blog about. But seeing that it's almost the end of another year. Thought i should at least post:
Merry Christmas, and Happy New Year!!
It's already the sixth day of my winter break (time goes by really fast when you don't have to work and get to sleep in). I still have another 1.5 weeks before having to return back to work. So I am sure I'll find time to blog about this year.

Roadtrip 2007

It has been a week since i got back from my Roadtrip 2007. It was a fun two weeks on the road, and we saw so many things. I don't even know where to begin. I just started to download the pictures, probably will post some here. But we got tons of beautiful pictures from Utah and Colorado. I would definitely visit those states again, and next time, i am hiking up those mountains. Probably will need to go at a cooler month, but the weather was great during our trip.
Where do i begin, i'll just highlight all the places we stopped to visited, especially the places we stopped overnight.
Day 1/2 Washington DC - Visited couple of the museums, it was really hot and humid walking around town. We took the Metro to get us around, visited Georgetown, really small university.
Day 3 Breezewood, PA (visited my friends from Grad School, she just gave birth to her second son, he was almost two wks old when we visited) - Close to Cleveland, OH - Tiger Woods was in town, almost had to sleep in the car cuz we can't find a motel room.
Day 4 Chicago, IL - a weekend long concert, called almost every hotels in Chicago, finally found a place south of downtown Chicago. Very busy at night, pretty fountain, too bad we didn't really have time to sightsee.
Day 5 Omaha, NE - Drove most of the day through IL, Iowa. Had steaks for dinner, it was good. Visited Old Market, Omaha is much prettier than i thought, I bought my 2x the Ugle doll here.
Day 6 Denver, CO - Drove most of the day through NE, arrived in Denver and the weather is just weird. Mountain weather, it was cloudy on one end of the sky, and sunny on the other end. Had our most expensive meal on the road, ate seafood in downtown. It was very good tho.
Day 7 Colorado Springs - It is BEAUTIFUL here. We woke up dizzy, didn't realized how high we are in Denver, took us half the day before we adjusted to the change in elevation. We drove up to Pikes Peak, which is 14,110 ft in elevation. It was so high, we passed by clouds on the way up the mountain. It was a crazy drive, i was pretty scare driving along the cliffs. It was so cold up at the summit. On our way down the mountain, it started to hail. Then we drove to the Garden of Gods, too bad we didn't have that much time, we saw half the park, and didn't see any rock climbers
Day 8 Mesa Verde National Park - Arrived at Mesa Verde really late at night, had dinner at an Asian Fusion place in Durango. We got to star-gazed in Mesa Verde, saw probably around 10 shooting stars between Wilson and I. It was very pretty. It's worth staying in the lodges inside the National Park, since it took us close to an hour to drive from the entrance to the lodges.
Day 9 Arches National Park, UT - Spent the day sight seeing Mesa Verde, and then the long scenic drive from Mesa Verde to Arches. We arrived in Arches around sunset time. It was so so pretty around sunset time. We got some of the best pictures here, but my camera ran out of battery that day. I have to get the pictures from Wilson. We stayed overnight at Moab, this place is worth visiting again. We stay on the trail to star-gazed till 9:30 and hike back to our car in the dark. Our car was the only one left in the lot. Kinda scary.
Day 10 Bryce Canyon National Park - Our third National Park, at this point, i was getting tired, but the rocks are just amazing. I almost feel like i can't take it all in anymore. We attended a geology class at Bryce at night, but i have to say, it was a long one hour, and boring. We did get to see Jupiter with a telescope. We stayed overnight at Tropic.
Day 11 Zion National Park & Flagstaff, AZ - Spent the day in Zion, I think this was the first park where I felt like I am a tourist. Cars are not permitted inside parts of the park, so we had to parked our car and take the shuttle. I thought that was a great idea, cuz that way, i don't feel pressure to leave and get on the road since i am not driving! We got cheeseburger at the lodge and at on the lawn with the Zion mountains as a backdrop, can't get better than this. Then we took a short hike up the Emerald Pool and down to the Grotto, it was probably a 1.5 mile hike. Then we took the shuttle and sight saw the Zion inside the shuttle. Then we drove to Flagstaff to spend the night, got some great food at a place called Brandy's Place.
Day 12 Grand Canyon National Park - Spent the day in Grand Canyon, it was really hot there, so we only hike along the rim for maybe a mile. We took the shuttle, and stop at different overlook, the views were pretty much the same along the rim. We saw Colorado River, which was nice. We stayed at a place called Valle south of the Grand Canyong cuz there was a meteor shower that night. We probably saw 30-40 shooting stars that night with 2 hours. We got tired, and i couldn't keep my eyes open to stare at the dark sky anymore, so finally have to give up and go to bed.
Day 13 Las Vegas, NV - Visited Hoover Dam (after watching Transformers, i understood why we had to stop at the Dam). Spent the day with my friend's parents and visited the Strip for two hours. It was sooooo hot, i don't know how people can walk around Vegas all day. It was crowded and smoky, and crowded.
Day 14 Fullerton, CA - Went to the outlet mall for three hours, bought some stuff, and then went to Hesperia to have dinner with friends. It was good seeing them again. Finally arrived back to FULLERTON after being away for a month. It was nice to sleep in my own bed again. Although the apt was a bit dusty after a month, but it is still good to sleep in my own bed, and take a shower in my own bath tub. Somehow I just feel cleaner.
Pictures will come soon...

Is it wrong?

Some people have an amazing recovery rate from breakup (at least to me it's amazing). How does someone break their attachment to a person, a soul, a living thing and then move on to another person in months. Okay. I know a lot of you out there are probably like that, but seriously, how do you do it? How do you go from thinking about Person A day in and day out to thinking about Person B in a couple of months.
I always think breaking up is like detoxing yourself from that person. It's a process and it takes time. It's like a mourning process. You go from thinking about that person all the time, to just some of the time to maybe once in a while. Maybe other people are more flexible in their emotions or attachment than me. The amazing part isn't just getting over the person, but to move on and be willing to risk again and go out with another soul. How?!
Certain things bother me more than other. Well, i know, a lot of things bother me and bug me. But really, seeing people dating people who are either wrong for them or knowing that it won't work out and someone end up getting hurt. Maybe it's my intense desire to stay away from hurt and pain. I think pain in an inevitable part of life, but there are some pains that you are just asking for it. To me, that's STUPID. Well, there are some pains you want to endure because the end results is a positive one (like drawing blood, which to me is still one of the most terrifying things to do). Then there are pains that you can avoid but you don't. Actually, i am thinking more inflicting pains on others rather than yourself.
This is the part about relationships that bugs me. People date people, people date the wrong people, people let themselves fall in love with the wrong people, people allowing the other person to fall in love with them and then leaving them. Some scars last for life and it may make you a better person, but really, does that dismiss the fault of the person who inflicted the pain in the first place? Okay, this has nothing to do with me, but it just bugs me. It bugs me that people think having pure intention in the first place implies no guilt. Why can't people think before they act, well, i guess if people do that, we can probably save ourselves from a lot of mistakes. Ai. I am just picky. But really, what's a little more thinking ahead, and a little less regretting. Some mistakes are not reversible. You can always learn from your mistakes, but some, if not all of us had paid for mistakes that we wished we didn't make. Especially those that involve hurting another person's feelings. Okay, enough venting for the night.
P.S. this is not a personal issue at all, but just an issue that bugs me. I think if anything, i think a little too hard before i do anything, thus one of the many reasons why i am still single, and probably will stay as one.

NYC

In another two hours, it would be exactly one week since I landed in NYC. It's only been a week?! What the heck. It feels a lot longer than a week at this point. Yet I have been "doing" things here and there for this whole week. Ate good at times, and other times, i just skip meals. In my friend's words, I don't wake up early enough for meals. Which is not entirely true, since i refused to eat anything at my aunt's house. I'll spare you the details.
I had NY pizza twice for lunch already, it's the best deal really. $2 for a slice of NY pizza and a drink. Can't beat NY pizza. Two Italian meals, one at Carmine, huge portion, and the other one at my favorite Italian place in the village. Carmine was good, but really expensive this time. My friend wanted the special, which is this huge prime steak, a pasta dish, and a fish dish. Three dishes were enough to feed 7 of us. But the prime steak didn't come with a cheap price tag, $70 for the dish. It was good though. My favorite place in the village is still better, seafood dish, with mussels, clams, lobster tails, and a shrimp pasta dish with mushroom an cream sauce. Total comes to under $40, which is much better deal than Carmine. Oh, and i had my Eileen's cheesecake two nights in a row. Not too bad...
Enough about food. NY is an interesting place, you can love it or hate it. Either way, you feel something towards it. On any given day, you can hear more than 5 different languages just standing at the train station. Then of course, you get the crazy NYer, like today, who started singing in the middle of the train. No one bothers to tell him to stop, h was singing pretty good, but still. Keep it to yourself man. I realized i get so irriated here because you see some many people every second and there is no such thing as personal space. Seriously, some people need to wear more deodorant or just don't lift up your arms!!! Especially in a hot summer, humid day in NY.
Yet i discovered a gem in the city the other day. Googled Borders in the city, there is one on 57th and Park. I went there to pick up a traveling journal for my roadtrip (at this point, i wish i am leaving tomorrow), and not expecting to find a whole lot at the store. But this borders turns out to be huge! It is three stories, with plenty of seatings, i was there for close to two hours, and i didn't want to leave. I found what i was looking for, and i end up reading a great book which Sandee showed me the other day. It was a great story, but i can't remember the name of the book. Seriously, why can't i remember these things.
Believe it or not, i still manage to watch K-drama in NY. My mom took me to the video store to see what we can watch. I have been telling her about k-drama for years, but for some reasons, she is really biased toward k-drama. She thinks they are all sad and overly dramatic, and depressing. But i assured her that this one was really good and funny. So we end up renting "My name is Kim Sam Soon", even though I have seen it before, i didn't mind watching it again. It didn't take long before my mom realized why I liked it so much. She thinks the main character acts just like me, crazy and wrack. At least she is true to herself and honest.
Obviously i am really bored to be blogging. It is really sad that i don't feel like there is a place for me to stay when i come "home". I am staying over at a friend's house for the next couple of nights. She is really busy with summer school tho, so i have to stay out of her way. I am thinking next time I come home, i should just find a short term place to lease for a couple of weeks, and that will be better. A place in the city or something.
I told myself that this time i will go to the museums and see a broadway shows, but at this point, i don't see myself doing any of those things. I still have 1.5 weeks, and will spend the rest of this week up in Albany with my cousin.
I am ready to come back to LA though. I missed my apt. I think my bensai will be dead by the time i get back to LA, since i didn't tell anyone to go water it. Oh well.
Enough venting. Let me find another way to amuse myself.

Spookiest night

Sunday's night, and i am trying to go to bed at my normal hour (10ish) to start my another long week of teaching. For reasons unknown to me, I can't fall asleep. These sleepless nights happen to me once every now and then. I would lay in bed for hours and not be able to fall asleep, and at some point, i am just frustrated cuz i am laying there wide awake and my brain won't stop thinking. Along with those random thoughts would be, "i can be doing something now rather than laying here and not sleeping", at which point, i would just get out of bed and find something to do.
That's what happen tonight. I went to bed around 10:30, couldn't sleep, got up at 11ish... went to the bathroom, tried to go back to sleep again.. then finally gave up and went into the kitchen to put away my dishes. Then i remember how i wrote a blog entry about how i can't sleep. I remembered that i titled it "sleepless night". So i log on, and decided to find that entry. After a couple of clicks through my old entries, i finally found the "sleepless night" entry, and guess WHAT!!! It happened to be the same date as today!!!!! Okay, just how spooky is thaT?!?!?!?!? I am soooooo freaked out right now, how can that be?!?!?! Okay, you have to read it:
http://fifistorm.blogspot.com/2006_05_01_archive.html and tell me if it's not spooky!!

I am back ONLINE

Some cableman came and installed high speed for me today. So I am back ONLINE!! It was quite a production, first two guys came, then they call in another two or three guys to help them. Apparently the person/people who lived here before me didn't have cable installed. The owner have done the cable work, but it was not connected. So the cableman had to call backup to have the wire the cable line from the big tall pole from the back.. took them close to three hours to get everything done. But i am not complaining cuz i can go online now!!! Well, i can complain about how slow the computer is, but then again, it's not even my computer, so i really shouldn't complain since i have a computer to use. Althought i have to say that i am really tempted to go out and buy the macbook.. it's soooo very tempting...cuz i can't play settler on this computer.. everytime i played, the computer would crash.. I feel bad for the other ppl who waited for me to play with me.. anyway.
So I am back online.. just thought cyberspace would want to know... time for bed.. more preping for testing.. my students don't care that they will do poorly on the test.. what happens to the days when you actually care about your grade?!?! I really should let it go, yet it's soo hard to let them fail.

Untitled

It has been awhile since I last updated my site. I feel like i always start my post with the same line.
Since my last post, life has definitely change a great deal. First off, congrat to myself because after being unemployed for 16 months, I finally received a full-time job as a sixth grade teacher in Middle School teaching four periods of Math, and one period of Language Arts. The situation couldn't get any better (except it's middle school). I am working along side with a friend of mine from church, her teammate (whom i subbed for last school year), teaching Math (my favorite subject in school), close commute (although this won't last very long), great principal (super supportive) and the teacher union just got a raise (which means i came in a good time cuz i am getting a higher salary). It all sounds good and it is, but of course life isn't a smooth ride. My life can sure testify to that fact. It has been a stressful five weeks of school. I started in the middle of the school year, a bunch of sixth graders who are pushing and testing boundary and limits every single minute, they loved the long term sub whom worked with them for six weeks... the list can go on and on. Yet there are many blessing too, my principal is awesome, my team is great and supportive, the staff are great. I feel like i can be a first year teacher and fail, and it's okay. There is room to grow and i can be human. All in all, things are good. Yet, of course there is a yet, cuz otherwise i won't be writing this cuz i need to vent!!!
I don't even know whether i want to write about this or not, cuz i am not sure whether i have processed it all yet. The painful part about teaching isn't the kids, and it isn't the curriculum, and this time, it's not even the administration. It's the PARENT!! Yes, the PARENTS! I had a parent who basically thought i depraved her son his edudcation the third week i was in school. She came into the parent conference basically yelling at me saying what a horrible teacher i am. How i am mean to the students, and how unfair i am, and how all the names are written on the board (name on board serves as a warning, then they receive a check, each check is worth 15 minutes of detention). Anyhow, all in all, it was bad. Well, it got worst.
Yesterday I found out that a student started a partition to get me fired. Turns out to be the same student (which i am grateful for, cuz i was afraid it's a different student), whom mom has decided that i have been ignoring her son after he got transfer out of my class for Language Arts but remained in my Math's class. She claims that he said he had his hand raised for 30 minutes and i ignored it even though i wasn't doing anything at the moment. Can you imagine any teacher standing around for even one minute and not have to do anything? Well, anyhow, my team met up with principal yesterday and today a parent/teacher/admin meeting was called and i came face to face with the parent again. It was an emotionally draining meeting, and i am sooo beat up right now. I am actually in house church right now but in hiding. Ai, like my friend said, this too will past. It will past, but i have to say, I am very grateful that i have a very supportive principal, and administration, and i have very supportive friends who are around me to assure me that this will past.