Monday, July 31, 2006

Arrived in NYC

After five hours of being stuck in the middle seat of the middle aisle, sandwiched by two ladies, w/o my own personal cable TV (unlike Jetblue), w/o a watch (so i had no clue how long i have been in the air or how long before we will land), had a can of gingerale, a cup of tea, cheeseburger from In&Out, bread from iheartcamels, read the bible, a book, all the magazines, wrote in my journal, listened to my MP3, and took a couple of short naps (i actually slept a bit this time). I finally arrived in NYC where my friend was still doing her laundry and didn't come to the airport to pick me up. But luckily for her, there was no traffic and i entertained myself in the airport while waiting for her. Ended up in Flushing where we had "midnight" snack of Cambodian Soup Noodle with a side vege in oyster sauce. Now i am sitting in front of her computer, sweating because it's really humid here and it's going to be record high tomorrow, and should get ready for bed. Time for a shower cuz AA really wasn't all that clean and i think i should stick with flying jetblue.

Friday, July 21, 2006

Update on CSET

I downloaded this software that supposed to help me study for the CSET. So, i finished with the section for subtest II. If anything, instead of having a better understanding of the concepts, I am left more confused and lost. The test is in two days, and i don't feel much confidence in passing, but oh well, have to take it anyway. At this point, i don't know what i should study nor how to study for it anymore. There are tons of formulas to memorize and figuring when to use what formula will be a challenge. Working tomorrow and housechurch, so don't think there is much time tomorrow to study. Tonight will be the last night and not feeling really motivated right now. Ai.

Thursday, July 20, 2006

Chinese Movie "Turn left, turn right"

Just finished watching a Chinese movie called "Turn left, turn right". It was based on a storybook, and it's an interesting story. I have wanted to watch this since a couple of years ago when I was in HK. Heard a bit about it, and wanted to see the movie, even though I don't like the main actress that much. The story was really intriguing, it talks about two people who met each other when they were young, and they met again as an adult. But due to different circumstances, they live next door to each other yet they never meet. The phone numbers they gave to each other were smudged from the rain, and the second part of the movie is about them looking for each other and waiting for the other person to call. The poem they recited during the movie talked about two people who are destined to be together but perhaps the timing is not right yet and they are not yet together. I really like this movie, it's touching and cute. The ending was okay, wished they would meet in some other way, but oh well. Overall, the concept is interesting, it's like two parallel lines that run along with each other but never meet.
Here is a review on the movie:
Movie Review
And here is the link to the first part of the movie on youtube:
Turn Left, Turn Right 1/10

Wednesday, July 19, 2006

Sleep/No Sleep

Do most people go to bed around the same time every night? I dread going to bed. Don't like the idea of sleeping, perhaps I am more afraid of slowing down and thinking too much. Allowing myself the time to think and process some things can be very scary to me. Occupying the mind with things to do and things to watch has been a great escape. Escaping into another world, with characters that are easy to understand, with simple objectives, where controdiction often don't appear. I like that world.
Then again, once i am asleep, i don't want to wake up to the cruel world of reality. I rather stay in my dream world where things are strange but unreal. Where at times, i can find the comfort i need and the hope that things are better than it seems.
He grants me hope that someday things will be better, where sins will not abound, there will be no more tears. Will i remember all that had happened? Will I mourn for those who won't share that joy with me? Probably.

CSET-Math

Having to work is not a bad thing, but getting a job really sucks. I have been looking for full time teaching position for the past year, and nothing. Now it's summer again and I am looking for a full time job again, still Nothing. People keep saying that there is a shortage of teachers, but apparently i am always looking at the wrong place. Anyhow, I am working on getting my Math CSET and possibly my secondary credential in Math so i can teach junior high and high school where the demands for math teachers are higher, much higher. So, studying again.
It hasn't been too bad studying for this test, maybe because i am not stressing over it cuz if i pass, then great, if not, oh well. Since my heart desires to teach lower grades more than teaching junior high and high school, but ultimately i just want to teach. I am registered to take subtest II (geometry, probability and statistics) this saturday's afternoon. Studied all day today (sorta, since i reward myself by watching kmovie in between my studying). I am ADD, i studied a section of the test and then i watched 10 minutes of kmovie, and somehow this just works for me. Anyhow, so i managed to watch two movies today. "The Beast and the Beauty" - remake of the disney one but as a korean movie, it's funny yet sad. It was good. Since BB is my all time favorite Disney's movie, i really enjoyed the korean version. It's really heart warming and sweet and FUNNY. I was laughing all by myself, but it's alright, they were funny scenes. The second one was "II Mare", "Lakehouse" was based on this k-movie. It was an interesting love story where they live in two different time period (two years apart) but in the same time zone. They were able to correspond by writing letters and dropping it off at the "mailbox". The ending was a bit weak, i wish they did a better job in explaining things or how it happened, but the story was still good. It's interesting how you can have a love story where the main characters didn't really interact and didn't meet face to face till the very end. It was a cute story. I really like how they showed them being lonely and how they did things by themselves...
All in all, no terminal diseases, no eyeball cancer, no one died, no family oppression, no childhood friends etc.. hahaha.. It was good.
So i finished the section on Geometry today. I still have two more section, Probability and Statistic. Hopefully I can get one section done each day and then work on friday and then take the test on saturday. I don't have that much confidence that i'll pass, but what the heck, have to take it anyway cuz i register for it already.

Wednesday, July 05, 2006

Fourth of July

My first decorated cake for an actual party!! I don't know how it tasted. I made a filling for it with can peaches and pineapples. The food coloring dyed my hands pink and some parts of my kitchen. It took me three hours to decorate this cake because squeezing the bag of icing is really tiring!!
For the fourth of July, i went to a friend's house to enjoy a good BBQ meal and the amazing fireworks. The fireworks were really really close to the house, we can feel the ashes falling on us. It was a great show. The only other time i remember seeing fireworks this close was at a park Upstate while i was in training as camp counselor. Someone asked me what i used to do for the fourth, and i couldn't remembered. Now i do, i think most of the time i will be at camp, either in training or training new counselors. I guess that's why i don't usually remember what i did cuz I am usually working on that day.


Sunday, July 02, 2006

Am i turning into an introvert or do i have a social disorder?

As I get older, I've been wondering if I am turning into an introvert. I used to hang out all the time and out every weekend. Now, my ideal way to spend my saturday is to sleep in, make myself a good brunch, watch some tv or a good movie or youtube, figure out what to make for dinner, cook dinner and watch some more tv (or read a book), and stay online and check my emails a millon times a day, and perhaps talk to a few friends back in NY. That's my idea of a good saturday. What happened to me!?!?
So I was at a wedding today. We got to the wedding ceremony half hour before it supposes to start. Those of you who knows me (like people from NY), knows that i am famous in arriving late, if anything, it's usually good that i actually arrived before the bride walks down the aisle. So, with the fact in mind, can't you imagine me being at a wedding that didn't even start yet? But the wedding ceremony was short and sweet and ONTIME. That was really good, and i am very grateful for that. Then we arrived to the reception 10 minutes early (i was carpooling with some friends). We went into reception hall, it was full of people and i wasn't sitting with the friends that i came in with. I felt lost. I just wanted to get out of the place and get some fresh air. As i was walking out, i wonder if i have a social disorder, like anti-socialist syndrome. I felt suffocated, as if i can't breath and i just needed a way out of it. it was a beautiful place, and the view was amazing. I did manage to get back into the reception half hour after it starts because i went to call my friend cuz i needed to talk to someone who knows me well. She just laughs cuz she knows that's how I am and we talked about social expectation and how you have to make small talks in these social gatherings. Frankly, i don't care to make small talks with people that I may never see again, and i really hate shallow conversation that goes "how's your day", "how you doing", "what do you do", "how you know the couple", "oh, that's nice", "very interesting" etc etc etc. So, am I just turning into an introvert or am i anti-social?