My oh my summer is already over a month in... and I'm still having trouble figuring out what I want to do.
The main thing that's been on my mind recently is part time work. I don't particularly want a part time job because it will definitely get in the way of my school work and gong fu. The first job off I got was to teach Taiji in Danville. I really wouldn't mind that job, as a matter of fact I'd probably enjoy it. Not only would I be getting paid, but I could learn through teaching others. Plus the area I would be teaching at has a brilliant park covered in large trees; perfect area. The only concern is the drive... which isn't far, but isn't close either.
Now the job I'm mostly uncertain about is working for BART... There are a few openings and my parents want me to apply, even thought I probably won't get hired. There are just too many applicants and it's difficult to get in. At first, my response was "no way." The schedule for rookies is always horrible, plus working those long hours in addition to gong fu would force me to become a part time student! I probably wouldn't graduate college until at least age 25. The only plus side of this is that I would be able to earn money to travel to Wudang Shan a lot faster.
The next thing perplexing me is what to actually do during the break. I already studied the basic eight palms of Cheng Shi Bagua... only to give up on it because I enjoy Taiji more. I suppose I'll spend more time studying Taiji then. Speaking of Taiji, I'm really excited to compete in Taiji later this July. I want to know exactly how good my Taiji is... and if I should even continue this pursuit. I remember speaking about my great passion for Taiji in my speech class last semester... and even winning first place in informative speaking when I spoke about Taiji silk winding energy. I just hope the scores I get during the competition will reflect my love for this art.
Beyond Taiji, I need to plan out the other things I want to learn this summer. Cleaning up my chain whip skills and exploring other styles is a must of course, but what else? I still need to study the Dao De Jin, as well as work on my long postponed graphic design project. Seeing as how my Summer vacation ends earlier than other people, I suppose I better hurry. However, lazy days like today don't get me very far. Morning Taiji training and up hill running fueled only by a small bowl of oatmeal really gets you tired...
Just got out of gym class and I was ready for a nice lunch to refuel my body for an evening of Kung Fu. As usual, I texted xxx and zzz to see if they wanted to go to Quickly's. Luckily xxx hadn't moved to Canada yet, but wasn't available for lunch, and zzz never replied. Once again, I'm on my own again to grab food. I felt tired of the Chinese food from the Crow's Nest at DVC and was bored of Subway... Quickly is great, but a little too much frying for me to want to go alone on a regular basis. In the end I went to Panda Express to try out a new place, but I wish I had gone to Quickly instead.
After a two semesters at DVC and trying numerous restaurants, here's a list of places followed by a small review.
• Crow's Nest This place is great, fast Chinese food like it should be: home style quality and not too heavy on the stomach. The price is great, but it's just so appetizing that the amount served in their little box is not enough for me. Also, I'm afraid of the quality of oil they use. According to my nutrition professor, who works right next to the Crow's Nest, they tend to reuse oil over the course of the week which is definitely not healthy. However, compared to any other Chinese eatery in the area, this place gets the gold. • Student Union and Cafeteria Don't like these places that much... The price is decent, but food quality is mediocre. If you want a snack or a drink, go for it. If you want a filling meal, go for it... if you don't care too much about you eat. • Quickly Excellent place for drinks, and the food isn't bad either. It's a very sociable place, and just a fun place to hang out for a while. I don't need to say much about drinks because it's pretty good, but the food will be fried no matter what. Rarely do you find food that is not deep fried at Quickly. However, the price is VERY reasonable and the serving size is great. • Subway Healthy stuff and for five dollars a foot long, there's nothing to not like. On the other hand, Subway is a fast food chain and the meat is processed. Also, because Subway serves almost exclusively sandwiches, it will get boring very fast. • Panda Express Nothing compared to Crow's Next or Quickly, just forget it. • Kevin's Pho House Great like many other Pho places. The price is alright, around six dollars for a regular sized bowl. I honestly haven't had Pho for lunch often, but I should. I just can't think of many cons. • Chef Choy I've eaten here a few times before when I was doing Kung Fu under the DVC library. Being a sit down restaurant, the price is a little bit more expensive, about seven dollars for lunch, but the serving size is nice and large. I haven't gone back to this place in a while, but I should. Get mongolian beef.
Where should I go next time for lunch... most likely Crow's Nest if I don't want to drive. Or Quickly. However I haven't visited Chef Choy for a long time so that might be my choice.
It's been another looonng break from xanga and I've been running around trying to find other digital ways of expressing myself. However, in the end I can only fully let out my feelings through xanga. I've tried other blogging sites and diary programs, but none of them have that same bonding feeling as xanga. I suppose it's because xanga was my first real blog... and may remain as my only real blog. I recently started using wordpress, although I'll most likely write about interests and hobbies on there rather than my inner feelings.
School's been tough recently. This semester's schedule is a lot different than what I am used to; getting to class before lunch time and coming home for dinner. The worst part is that I actually have to make it to school very early, around 8:30 am if I want to find parking. That means I'm spending around 9 hours at school, which isn't bad, but I'm just not used to coming home so late. It feels as if my entire day is gone and I just want to sleep. At least getting to school early and having free time means I can practice Tai Ji early under the trees. The natural meditative feeling is just what I need to start of the long day ahead of me.
Now something that really caught my attention today was the release of Epik High's Run music video. I've always loved Epik High for both their amazing beats and deep lyrics. Although I don't understand Korean as well as I wish I could, reading the translated lyrics is more than enough to make me think about life and its ups and downs. Their latest video seriously reflects upon the pains and struggles that I believe all young males and also females go through in life. The video is sad, yet reminds me that one of the most important things someone can have is spirit. The spirit to go on, the spirit to fight, and the spirit to achieve. No matter what ups and downs you may come across, just keep on fighting. 加油 everybody.
It feels weird as I sleepily type out my lost feelings... I've finally graduated high school, and I never thought I'd be so unhappy about it. I turn eighteen soon and I'm not celebrating it.
I feel as if I should change, as if I am being forced to change, when I just want to be myself.
Anyways, Graduation was alright. I had the chance to do something awkward to almost all of my friends one last time before we became adults and it seems that all the music and joyfulness finally made my mom realize that high school is about living life to the fullest rather than locking oneself up and studying. My mom's inability to comprehend the modern American lifestyle has always perplexed me. I always felt that maybe she just doesn't understand because she grew up during the communist take over in China and immigrated to the US. However, many other adults her age from China who immigrated to the US, including one of her best friends, are able to connect to the feeling of being young and in high school, living the "best four years of your life."
No, I finally realize that my mom never could, and probably still does not fully understand the modern American high school culture. When we drove to the Sleep Train Pavilion for the graduation ceremony, she made a little laugh and said "Ha! Look at these little girls, dressed so nicely. It's so strange." What's so strange about girls in dresses getting ready for graduation? Are young girls not meant to wear dresses? Was I not supposed to wear a tuxedo to Ball? It took some stern convincing to make her understand that I would need a tuxedo and look nice for Ball...
Unfortunately, I've grown tired of trying to convince her. If she wants something her way then it goes her way, unless I can get around myself behind her back and do what I want to do. The point is that I would have given in to her ruling and not gone to Ball had by step-father not expressed his own regret for not going to his Senior Ball.
My step-father grew up in tough times just like my mom, so why can't my mom understand anything I go through when he can? It's because my mom never went to high school, nor did she complete middle school. At a young age, she took the easy road through life and married my dad, a much older man, to in order to receive US citizenship. This lack of school at such a young age not only affected her education and intelligence, but also her understanding of social activities. Today, she regrets not going to school (or so I believe) and wants me to get the education which she never received, but there is no way I'll do so in the manner she wants me to... wtf am I ranting about I already got my diploma. This is what happens to you when you spend the whole day playing Zelda and try to make an intelligent blog post.
Well the reality is that I am about to become a legal adult and I do need to make a few tweaks in my own personality if I hope to stay out of jail trouble. I can truly turn back to my yearbook for some helpful advice: Don't do stupid things. I remember when you used to be normal.
I suppose those tips can't be that hard to follow.
Meanwhile, I'm spending a week home alone with nothing much to do around the house. I keep finding myself roaming around Kmart and Longs before realizing that I'm just wasting my life and decide to go home where I just play video games I suck at. I've tried to be a little bit productive... by not doing the Summer studying I should be doing and practicing standing meditation. It's pretty trippy when the qi starts rushing through you and you feel spasms... or maybe that's just my quads telling me I should sit down. Whatever.
Tomorrow morning I'm grabbing Steven and taking him to Pier 39 with Angela, Tabz, Christine, and a bunch of other kids. So excited.
After a week and a half of nearly no training and consistently applying herbal medicine, my wrist and back have gotten a lot better. Now I'm getting back into my kung fu training routine, but just in case I were to get injured again, I wanted to brew my own Dit Da Jow. By brewing my own Dit Da Jow, I would be able to control its strength and power, making it strong enough to cure injuries in a matter of days.
So I did my research and decided to use this recipe: • One bottle strong vodka or rice wine • Artemesia (Liu ji nu) - 5g • Borneol (Bingpian) - 1g • Carthamus (Honghua) - 5g • Catechu (Ercha) - 8g • Cinnabar (Zhusha) - 5g • Cirsium (DaJi) - 1g • Dragon's Blood (Xuejie) - 30g • Mastic (Ruxiang) - 5g • Musk (Shexiang) - 1g • Myrrh (Moyao) - 5g • Pinellia (ShengBanXia) - 5g
However, when I asked the cute girl working at the herb store for these items, she simply checked off each ingredient one by one saying "this is toxic... this is toxic too... these herbs are getting more and more poisonous as the list continues, what are you trying to do with this anyways?"
"Make... bruise/sprain medicine..."
"I see..."
She told me that even if she had some of the herbs, she wouldn't sell it to me. What she would sell me was an overpriced tube of herbal gel meant to cool injuries, break down scar tissue, and increase circulation, basically what I was trying to make but for ten times the price.
Um... that day semi-sucked.
Also, if you're into martial arts movies or historical dramas, check out "Ip Man," the latest biographical flick depicting the life of the first person to openly teach Wing Tsung and Bruce Lee's Sifu. The movie takes place before and during the Japanese-Sino war, at a time when Ip Man was still hesitant to teach.
Besides being ridiculously sad and nearly making me cry... it has some awesome fight scenes.
whoosh...
