For the Mr. Kites

So the last two weeks have been REALLY REALLY ridiculous....I managed to escape some chaos at home with my pre-planned trip to the east coast, but I guess the crazy followed me harhar. As did the sun! So I suppose that makes up for it :) I hope all the east-coasters are appreciating the tiny bit of sun after a month of straight rain...I KNOW I AM hehe.

Okay so my trip has been ridiculous amounts of fun....It's been a LOT of fun seeing everybody in Boston, since so many people stayed behind for work and class. It's kind of weird, I didn't realize how much I'd missed everybody :) I guess I'm slowly starting to learn how to reconcile my different lives on the two coasts. I also met up with B & T, which was nice since we haven't talked or caught up in awhile. The area around Harvard is super nice and cute! I'm really jealous that most colleges have a type of plaza or student area for the kids to hang out at...BC is severely lacking in that area unfortunately :/ The rest of my nights in Boston were just the usual, and of course beer pong :)

So an unexpected turn of events led me to the New Jersey/New York area a couple days ahead of schedule, but it's been really fun so far :) Visited the Museum of Sex which was very interesting, and been eating at exciting fun (and somewhat famous) places. ALSO, I took two hip hop classes, BOTH of which I enjoyed VERY MUCH. I really love to dance, I can't believe I let myself not dance for a year when I went off to Boston....RIDICULOUS!! The first class was just a normal hip hop class with pretty fun choreography, but the second workshop I took was AMAZINGGGG. If you guys have not heard of/seen Kyle Hanagami and Ellen Kim dance, you guys are SERIOUSLY missing out. They are two amazing dancers/choreographers from SF who started their own group called The Lost Kids, and basically yeah I love them. Kyle Hanagami taught us a piece to Adele-Hometown Glory, and even though I usually REALLY dislike this new lyrical hip-hop trend, his choreo was fantastic. I realized that the reason I don't like lyrical hip hop is because unless it's done really well, it just looks bizarre and the moves don't match the music. However, in the right hands....it brings a whole new meaning to dance.

Anyway, here's a clip of one of my favorite dances that Ellen and Kyle did together...when footage of the dance I learned from Kyle is uploaded, I'll post that up too :)




Also EXCITING NEWS! I basically got like almost a foot of hair chopped off my head. This was something that popped into my head the week before I left for the east coast and yeah...I am actually really really glad that I decided to go through with it. After everything that's happened, I was definitely ready for a change. I am really really pleased with the results and yeah...HEHE.



Ummm yeah that's about all that's exciting that's happened in my life :) After my stay in New York I might be heading back to Boston for a couple of days to see L who just got back from China, and then to Providence to visit my sister...YAY! FUN TIMES FULL STEAM AHEAD!!

I am sorry my lovelies, I am long past overdue for an update. It's been a hectice 21 days since I last posted, so please bear with me as I recount my adventures :) Those that I can remember, that is. Hmmm just so I don't forget, here's a list of things I want to write about this time.

1. Finals/Academics
2. Senior Week/Graduation
3. Being a kid
4. Coming home

Hmm..on second thought I don't know if I'm going to finish this in one sitting. Heheh...may be to be continued :)

So first of all, I pretty much got owned by all my classes this semester. 2 classes that I thought I was doing okay in (as in, could get an A-) were informally curved, and I ended up with a B in both classes. Fail. I also definitely should've gone to class more and studied more...but now I know right?? On the bright side, I'm really glad I am currently majoring in psychology...I'm already a step ahead of a lot of my friends who picked premed or business or econ and are finding out that they absolutely hate the stuff and are now considering psychology and etc. Yay for me :) And I really do find the material super interesting and reading the textbooks goes a lot more quickly than say, history. I hate history. On another bright side I am done with history and math FOREVERR....minus having to take stats for psych next year. But that's a different story :)

So I decided to stay for senior week and graduation, so although my last final was on the 11th, I didn't land in SFO until the 19th. I'm really glad I stayed-I became really close to quite a few of the seniors, and I'm glad I got to spend as much time as possible with them before they disappear forever into the real world (harhar). I went to my friend's art show, watched STAR TREK (which is amazing by the way...watching it again with my family soon ^____^), had dinner with a very interesting professor (???), got lots of food, played lots of pong. Below is my favorite painting from the show, my friend's painting of me, and another painting he did that I love :)







So basically second semester, I pretty much decided to just say FUCK IT to everything, and for once I acted completely my age. I started drinking and partying a lot, and looking back now I know it got a bit (maybe more than a bit) out of hand. My academics suffered, my body suffered (sorry body!!) and I'm lucky that I never did anything really stupid that I couldn't fix or that I really regretted. I got written up on basically the last day of school (THAT WOULD HAPPEN TO ME -_______-) and I've promised my mom that I wouldn't drink hard A since....not that I'm not down for beer pong though :) However, I have to say it felt good just not giving a crap and not having to be the responsible one, for once. 2nd semester was a good release, but I don't think I'll be repeating it anytime soon. My liver needs to recover anyway :)

So I got really attached to Boston in the last 2 or 3 weeks of being there, and I did really miss it the first couple days I was back. I'm lucky though, since a lot of my friends are also in semester schools or still around, so I still have people to hang out with. I'm eagerly awaiting the return of my quarter-system friends though...I'm excited to see everybody! I'm going to be around Cupertino for most of summer, minus from June 30th to July 20th when I'm heading to the East Coast (Boston, New York, Providence!), going back to work at Froyo? :) So let's hang out!!!


A more introspective post to come...I have a lot of things on my mind lately, unfortunately. Summer should be carefree!!! At the very least, it is fun :)

So spring break was pretty much amazing, despite all the time I spent travelling instead of chilling with my friends haha. Even though nobody else was home, I still had plenty to do in cute little Cupertino...bowling, shopping, the obligatory verde run, lots of eating :) I also got my lip pierced!!! Pictures on my facebook, don't think it'd be a good idea to put a picture of me on a public blog, hehe. To answer the usual questions, it actually didn't hurt that much to get it pierced...A really uncomfortable pinch haha and then my body kind of numbed the area in defense. The healing process actually sucked more, especially since I ate spicy food once or twice so I swelled like crazy and it was just really sore and uncomfortable for a really long time haha. However, a week and 2 days later it is healing rather well, minus the itchy scab stage haha.

So anyway, after spending a couple days in norcal I began my tour of socal in an effort to see as many people as possible haha. Started off flying down to San Diego, staying with A & L, which was very fun :) The beach is amazing, La Jolla Shores is absolutely gorgeous. Will upload pictures soon hehe. Then took Amtrak to UCLA to stay with N, whom I miss dearly <3 Then off to USC to see A & G. First off, it's so interesting to think about how we all think we know what college life is like...but in reality, each campus is so different that honestly, we have no idea how it is at every other school.

First off, socal campuses are GORGEOUS. There are actually people wandering around and hanging outdoors on campus and such..it's amazing that it's actually warm enough to consider such a thing haha. The palm trees are nice, and the weather is fantastic too. And I just realized how FREAKING SMALL the dorm rooms at Boston College are!!! I'm actually kind of bitter, I'm not gonna lie haha. The forced triples at UCSD are as big as the regular triples here...So sad haha. Also, frat row on USC is pretty impressive....I guess it's a pretty definining characteristic of the school, but I'm still kind of glad BC doesn't have a greek system haha. I'd have a lot less friends ahha.

Also, cabs suck. I spent almost $200 on cab fares this week and travel just fails in general. I pre-ordered a shuttle on sunday morning from USC to the airport, and it never showed...so after half an hour of waiting and then being put on hold for like 20 minutes after which they tell me my driver isn't picking up, I order a cab from a second company, which is then sent to COURTLAND street, instead of PORTLAND street. I hate my life. And there was only one security line at the airport so it was ridiculously slow, and I was legit the last one onto my flight. I ran onto my flight at 11:30, it was scheduled to leave at 11:30. They were closing the doors as I was running for it, and I got all the dirty looks from the airline staff and all the other passengers as I shamefully made my way down the aisle as that "last person" on the plane. SIGH.


I feel really all over the place, life since coming back to BC has been pretty...interesting to say the least haha. I have no cohesive thoughtful insights to share with you all...or rather I do, but none that I an form at the moment. Probably something to do with me being dizzy and sick...will update when I feel better haha.

So I'm back in beautiful Boston after a good flight (half the plane seemed to be Boston College kids, 5 of which I knew :D), which has been covered with a glistening blanket of snow in my absence. It's gorgeous here any time of year really, quite enjoyable if I must say. I'm not quite used to that giant snowbank right outside of my window yet; I still keep thinking that when I look out it'll just be fields of dead grass haha. It's not that cold here so far, but it's supposed to plunge down to 0 degrees sometime this week...apparently it hasn't been this cold since 2005, so my Boston friends inform me. This is such a huge jump from the 60s (now 70s, so my California friends inform me) from the bay area or the ridiculous 80s of Long Beach during my connecting flight. I like the snow, for now at least. You can ask me again in a month. I will include a picture once I find my camera charger, or until the new one I bought arrives.

So since Boston College is Jesuit-Catholic, the week of Easter we get Thursday-Monday off. Because of this extra break, my spring break is earlier than every other school's, happening the first week of March. My spring break is in a month!!! Isn't that ridiculous? I land in San Jose on the 28th of February...LOLZ. But yeah, since nobody else (besides the furious) is going to be in Cupertino, I'm flying down to SD & LA for the 2nd half of the week to see friends :) I'm so excited!!!

UMMM...School starts tomorrow. I'm really not doing anything besides online shopping to waste time...Something I shouldn't be doing anyway since I spent probably around $500 in December on presents and clothes, but that's okay!! Chinese New Years is soon >:] hehehe. I guess being back at school is kind of nice, and my roommate cleaned her room for the first time since summer so my room feels more spacious than ever. I will also have to get used to not having a TV again...It feels like my break was either out with friends or in front of the TV with my laptop and some snacks haha. I've never watched that much tv before in my life.

Unfortunately, along with Boston came the news that one of my extremely good friends here, let's call her S, is transferring to Cornell next year :( She got in along with Boston College, but opted for the one further away from home (she lives in New York). However, BC is just too expensive for her parents and many of my other friends. The college she's transferring into in Cornell is associated with some state school, and she will also be getting much more financial aid so she'd be paying a state school tuition for an Ivy League education. This makes me incredibly sad- While I now know a lot of people here, there are not that many whom I hope I will stay close to for the next 4 years. For a lot of people, they still seem stuck in that high school mode; lots of drama, shit talking, and inconsideration. I'm almost scared to make friends; another cool person I know is supposedly transferring to Columbia next year as well. However, Boston College is what it is, and a $50,000 price tag is a bit much, especially since they are quite stingy with financial aid. I will miss S greatly :(

So ummm, a summary of break. Well as previously stated, tv and friends, and lots of sleep. I started going to the Verde in Castro after the one by quiznos closed down :( I realized that it simply is not worth it for me to spend $3 on a drink that I don't even really like that much, and that the drive to Castro is not that long and completely worth a hot steaming cup of verde :D. Went tipsy to a guard competition, lots of beer pong and other things. I think I have ascertained my poison of choice...Maybe that's not a good thing but it's nice to know I guess haha. I'm at my limit anyway, no more experimenting with new sunstances. But anyway, my BC friends tell me I got skinnier and paler, both of which make no sense.

Also, I don't remember if I mentioned it before, but my friend asked me to choreograph a dance for the annual CSA/KSA Culture Show, which I agreed to do. So I'll be doing the chinese fan dance. I sat at my computer for a couple hours today browsing youtube videos of traditional chinese dances looking for inspiration and a good song, both of which I found. I also used GarageBand for the first time today to edit the song!! Which was very fun and satisfying haha. But I digress. I miss dance. A LOT. I miss chinese dance, I miss modern, lyrical, maybe even ballet. I miss my daily dose of endorphins, I miss being flexible, I miss losing myself in movement and music.

I guess, I miss the opportunities to do whatever I love without having to be a superstar. I want to sing and dance, and do volunteer work, all without having to beat out 100 other hopefuls for maybe 2-3 spots. As a result of this yearning and asking around, I resolve to make use of the empty studio on main campus to dance my heart out whenever I want, and also the soundproof piano-equipped booths in the music building to belt at the top of my lungs without feeling self conscious (dorms have very thin walls, I have learned). I refuse to lose the things that make me happy.

There are a lot of other things I wanted to blog over the last couple of weeks...I was just too lazy to write a legit post instead of just a paragraph about one thing, but now that I've forgotten all of them and this has become a monster post, maybe I should start doing that..hahah.

SO I am back under the beautiful California sun, and I fucking love it. My flight back was okay, JetBlue has personal TVs which is super cool and I slept through half o the flight. A little kid sat behind me though...not too good. Being at home is really weird though-It feels like college didn't happen at all and that it was all a dream. Everything else seems so far away? I know I missed a bunch of stuff this weekend (parties, events, etc.) but oh well. I don't know why, but everything seemed shorter too when I first got back. I thought I grew taller, but everybody else just laughed at me so I guess not :(. But yeah, being home is good. Drivers are not crazy, the sun is actually warm, the toilet paper is softer, my bed is more comfortable. It's weird using a PC again, and I also don't have a problem with falling asleep anymore! Something that plagued me terribly in Boston.

Home is pretty quiet right now since most people don't get back for a few more days, but that's okay. The love and the furious are both still around, so there's always something to do. Verde closed down, depressingly, but that's okay. ALSO, I gained no weight in college and then I came home and gained a few pounds. WHAT? Also, I have this great urge to go shopping and buy shitloads of things...namely cute winter jackets and the like :) We shall see how effective my self control is over the next few days. I'm definitely avoiding the crowds on Black Friday though.

I have a sty in my eyes and it fucking hurts...ONE IN EACH EYE TOO. It's really uncomfortable and I don't know why, but my eyes are super watery and stuff lately too, which makes me rub them which then leads to the sties (really weird plural word). ARGH it hurts to blink!! :(


I have jetlag. I am very tired.

People are leaving. People have been leaving. I am leaving. One of my really good friends moved to San Francisco today...when he pulled up onto my driveway with all his stuff in tow, jumped out of his car and gave me a hug, I really wanted to cry. He has been a colossal component of my past 4 years, and the first person I interact with on a regular basis to leave this tiny town. It's really starting to hit me now, that I will be leaving in approximately 34 hours and also, that I am still helplessly unpacked. Okay, so I procrastinate. Whoops. I didn't get to see a lot of people I wanted to, but this summer I was strangely okay with that. Even from the beginning of senior year, everybody pretty much started drifting in their own random directions, and it's about time too. Life goes on.

(On a separate note, if anybody would like to see a copy of my packing list feel free to ask!)


So with life comes changes right..?

I know, all in all, that I like being in a relationship. Monogamy suits me, for some strange reason. I love having somebody to spoil, I love working hard to make things work, and even though obviously fights are miserable, I like working through it. I can't help it! I guess, despite the cliche or what not, i really love being in love. Maybe that's why it's so hard for me to let go? I am not the type that wants to play around and have drunken hookups...I like having somebody to come home to. However, I am also in an extremely transitional period of my life...I am after all only 17 (I know, being young blows.) and who knows what type of person I will be in 4 years, or even in 2 and a half months? Cross my fingers and hope for the best, but forcing something is a bad idea. Going with the flow, letting things go, taking things more lightly. Big picture! I try to remind myself.

If things go well, hopefully I'll come back a really trendy East Coaster that laughs in the face of these little California rains having the time of my life and doing the things I love with the people I love. This includes but is not limited to; joining/making an acapella group, dancing more, deciding on a major, a sweet schedule that means that I don't have class on Friday nor do I have to wake up before 7, new friends AND old friends, and basically just lots and lots of fun. I really hope I make an acapella group.

It's almost goodbye!

So as of today, I have 1 week and 3 days left here. People are already starting to leave, which is CRAZY, and my sister left last week to go backpacking for Europe for 3 weeks. Since she isn't getting back until the weekend before both of our schools start, that means I won't be seeing her again until after we're both at college...STRANGE. I really admire what she's doing though. Despite some initial problems, she is finally backpacking through Europe, something that she has wanted to do for who knows how long. And her backpack is relatively light too...she showed me yesterday and I can't believe that there are literally 3 weeks of stuff in there. So yeah, I hope she has fun with her new very straight teeth and partying it up in Amsterdam and pretty much every other European country.

I wish I knew what I was doing....hahah darn. It's time to start packing and buying things, and I feel like there's so much left to do before I leave. But then again, I think about whether or not I would rather have an entire extra MONTH of summer, and I wouldn't particularly enjoy that either...or would I? Hm...CURIOUS. Oh how those little decisions and words back in October made such a big difference. Although if I had to pick between leaving first and leaving last, in the end I would still want first. ALSO, I finished AlcoholEdu today, which was mostly ridiculous but I guess kind of interesting....not really.

On another topic...anger is so fickle. It's strange how little it takes to set me (or anybody for that matter) off, and despite the fact that even in the moment I know that I am overreacting or being unreasonable, I can't stop my face from burning or my throat from choking. Even much later on, when I have long since gotten over it, when I remember the situation I can still so clearly remember how furious I had been...or even in some cases relive it. I'm not sure which is better, to be honest. Would I rather have unwarranted crazes that when I look back on, I shake my head at myself, ashamed at how violently angry I had been? Or would i rather take what i have now, a constant understanding of how I had felt at any given moment...which while means that I have never gone absolutely batshit insane, I constantly carry those emotions and memories with me, ready at any time to rise up and take over my current mood. It's hard! While this empathy with myself obviously helps me to better understand myself, it's also hard to deal with things that I know no longer matter yet I can't get rid of.

On another note, with everybody leaving so soon, I feel like all the silly high school drama which gripped people's lives is so far behind me, or us. While there were obviously people that I avoided or disliked, in all honesty that itself was just something to do. My annoyance fades quickly with time, and just because I do not want to spend excess time with them does not mean that I need(ed) to be cruel. Oftentimes, it was and is gossip that creates rivalry. It's hard when people ridicule others and look at you as if you agree, and even when you don't they will tell others that you hate the topic of discussion. How hard is it to get along with people? It's so unfortunate that humans feed off negativity and therefore create it so they can satisfy their own inadequate lives, but that's something we are all prone too. Whatever though, I suppose. It doesn't matter anymore! And it's time to better ourselves and pick better friends from a bigger range of people, ha-ha.



Oh gosh, in a week and a half I will never have curfew again. I've been waiting so long for this...hahahhaa. Oh me.

In 6 hours, I will be heading for the airport and therefore heading home. This is my last time visiting Taiwan in who knows how long, since growing up means having my own agenda (Actually, I could be lying...apparently we might be taking a Taiwan/Japan trip with the family next May..haha). When I get back, it will be August 2nd, which means I will be finding out my roommate and rooming (I hope I get good ones!), and that I will be leaving for Boston in 23 days. That's a scary thought, considering I still have no idea what the heck I am doing, or what I need to buy here or over there and what I need to be prepared and what specific classes I want or....yeah. I'm excited but nervous, and also not ready to go...There are definitely still things left in Cupertino that I need to accomplish, wrap up, or figure out.

With that said, as I slowly say goodbye to Taiwan, some interesting notes:
-My mom protected me from a lecherous (drunk?) old man on the bus the other day. Even though he was holding on to the pole on the other side of the bus, he was standing so ridiculously close to me (I was on the other side of the bus) that I couldn't turn around...ALSO, SORRY OLD MAN but it's kind of apparent that despite your midget height you are looking down...that is definitely NOT your eye level.
-Taiwan is really beautiful, in it's own tropical way. Typhoon or burning sunshine, the jungle and the mountains and even the nightlife and the city lights are beautiful, and I will miss it despite the extreme weather.
-I got on a bus yesterday and heard John Mayer :). Similarly, somewhat, I was at this asian version of Costco the other day and the CD section was blasting hyphy music.
-The McDonalds here is open 24/7 and delivers to your door at any hour. Now, if this was available in America, potheads across the nation would rejoice, having finally found the cure for their munchies at 2 AM as they cry against the just-closed drive-through of Jack-in-the-Box.
-George, my cousin, and all of their friends have been really nice to me and taking care of me here...since my mother treats me like a fussy toddler who needs to be taken everywhere hand-in-hand. But, regardless...THANKS :)

I am excited to go home. :)