Friday, September 10, 2010
Moving Day!
I had moving day on Monday for university, but this is moving day for this blog!
This is the new link: http://echappee.tumblr.com
Go Go Go!
I had moving day on Monday for university, but this is moving day for this blog!
This is the new link: http://echappee.tumblr.com
Go Go Go!
A HEADS-UP: I'm not sure why I wrote this but I just thought I should blog about it. There isn't really a point to this, and it's not well thought-out now that I'm reading it over.
Today is Saturday, and Saturday is grocery shopping day. Since we're Chinese, my mom and I always go to the Chinese supermarket. We were walking past while I heard a little boy screaming and crying as if he just found out his favourite batman toy wasn't being sold anymore. (FYI, I'd only cry like that if they stopped making Brie cheese.) His grandmother was holding him and said to him (in Chinese),
"Hush, do you see any other kids crying? Stop it."
Which I found amusing because that's exactly what my mom used to say to me when I cried in public, which I didn't do very often because, again, I'd only cry like that if they stopped making Brie cheese... or if I wasn't allowed to get a Barbie that I really wanted, but I digress.
I don't know if this only happens in the Asian culture, or if it's a worldwide phenomenon, but I feel like this kind of upbringing has contributed to the way I am now. I'm not what you'd call a rebel, and though I've become less shy since coming to Canada, I feel that my Chinese upbringing has basically told me to blend, not be noticed too much, and to not disappoint my parents. In fact, I can count on one hand the number of Asians I know who aren't going into engineering, commerce, or medicine.
What did your parents do when you cried in public as a child? Do you think this has affected your behaviour?
Behold, Western food that I made. By myself.
I'm filing this under Entertainment, because I found myself hilariously entertaining (because I'm awkward) while editing this.
Suggestions are always welcome!
Today, my mom came home looking extremely tired and sweaty, declaring that she needed ice cream at that instant. A freezer check reminded her that unfortunately, she had eaten up all of the Haagen-Dazs chocolate ice cream last night.
"Regina, we are going to get ice cream."
Okay. I'm cool with that.
So we went to the grocery store, and everything was great! We got ice cream, and went to pay for it. In front of us, was an old lady who was trying to open her grocery bag (but couldn't because it had no grip). After about 30 seconds, I decided that maybe she needed help.
"Would you like me to help you?"
Silence.
"Ma'am, would you like me to help you?"
Then she gave me the steeliest glare with her foggy eyes and said: "Not. At. All."
So I left her alone and proceeded to bag my own groceries, saying to myself, "don't take it personally," but I kind of felt like I was slapped in the face.
However, my point is that we're sometimes too proud to let others help us. I wasn't suggesting that she was old and feeble, although she may have taken it that way; I was merely offering my assistance if she needed it. I was, to be honest, a little stunned to receive that kind of reaction, but I digress. I sometimes have this problem of not letting others help me as well, and I've started to realize over the past 6 months or so that it's okay to admit that sometimes teamwork is better than working on projects alone.
So, was I a little miffed that I was treated so rudely?
Yes.
Will I stop offering my assistance?
Not. At. All.
Have you ever had this kind of experience? How did/would you deal with it?
This is basically my August update, except I thought calling it "August Update" would be boring, hence the title. This post is about - surprisingly - my job, piano, and university. I can't believe there's only one month left of summer! And here's what I'm doing in that one month:
Job
This August, I'm working at the place where my mom works because she really needs some help right now. Their company, which is a cork company, had a massive fire a few weeks ago, which burnt down most of the building. Obviously, this meant that they've had to relocate and basically start all over. My mom is their accountant, so I've just been helping with filing, sorting, and some of the more basic tasks (though I have not had to go and get coffee for anyone...yet).
It's sometimes quite hectic, and at other times, I have absolutely nothing to do. One can only file so many papers and lick so many envelopes! The pay isn't bad, and I work there 3 times a week. I suppose I could work more if I wanted to, but the next topic prevents me from doing that.
Piano aka Death
I have my piano ARCT exam coming up in 2 weeks (not going to pass regardless, but still) and I need to practice like crazy. There is no way I'm passing, but at least I can say that I tried.
University
University stuff has been keeping me busy as well. Lots of stuff to pay for and lots of stuff to buy (university is expensive, to state the obvious) so I'll probably need to go shopping a lot this month. Darn.
I also need to get a laptop, right now I'm thinking a Sony Vaio EB, but if anyone has any suggestions (except for Mac Books because they are bloody expensive) feel free to comment!
I will be in a suite-style dorm in a single room, so I'll get to cook! -- that's probably what I'm most excited for. I'm not sure if I have my priorities straight, but oh well! Eating healthily is important too, right? :P Goal : to avoid the freshman 15.
Anyways, that's my August summed up in a blog post! How about you? What are your plans?
I am (yes, you guessed it) back from Europe! It was a wonderful trip and I have taken lots and lots of photos... and I even brought a journal along, mostly to practice my cursive of course.
Picture quality isn't great since I couldn't take my Alpha 200 with me.
It was a tearful goodbye (on my mom's part) at the airport. Once we checked in, it finally hit us: WE'RE GOING TO EUROPE!
In 16 hours, I will be on a plane flying to Nice, France, via Montreal and Zurich.
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
Actually, I don't think it's fully hit me yet. I would not be surprised if tomorrow on the plane, I all of a sudden yell out "AHHHHH I'M GOING TO EUROPE!"
So, yes, Nick and I will be in Europe for the next month, with little time for updates and stuff, but I swear this blog will get massively picture-spammed when I get back!
Things I'm hoping for:
Although I have already caught a severe case of Senioritis, I still have the urge to work most days (okay, so I guess it's not as severe as what I've seen in most others...), which is why I haven't blogged in almost a month.
...right now I'm putting off studying for my chemistry exam. Damn you Senioritis.
In other news (what I actually wanted to write about), my dad is in Izmir, Turkey right now on a business trip, so it's just me and my mom at home everyday. We get emails from my dad everyday, and he - English not being his first language - makes a lot of typos and grammatical errors. Here are some of my favourite "dad moments" from him, which I think pretty much sum up his entire character:
My dad understands and cares about my mother: "If it become to 28 degree in toronto, you'd better stay in air condition, take shower , not go grocery store."
He makes friends with buildings and wonders why he sucks at socializing: "I like to walk with colleges and talk to each other during dinner, learn to socialize."
He feels bad for Australia: "I am watching the game right now, Germany beats Austrialia 4-0, what an shame!"
All in all, I love my dad. He won't be with us on Father's Day, which is sad, but he'll be enjoying his time in Turkey! I mean, how can you not when you're staying at a hotel that's 20 minutes away from the waterfront, which looks like this:
So since it is way too hot for me to be energetic right now, I'm going to make a list! Lists are great when you're a lazy bum like me.
Since I last updated, I...
My house has become an obstacle course. When I wake up in the morning, I ninja myself out of my room by crouching and jumping over a pile of wood... only to trip on a wooden block on the way to the bathroom because I'm chuckling at how stealthy I was.
When I come home from school, I need to literally dance around all the pieces of wood that are in between the front entrance and the snack cupboard. (One day there was a huge stack of wood in front of it, and I nearly had a fit. It was the bag of chips left out on the counter that saved me.)
I should probably explain why there's so much wood in the house. My parents decided that we were going to remove all the carpet in the house and replace it with either hardwood or cork flooring. So that means.. THE ENTIRE SECOND FLOOR, THE STAIRS, AND HALF OF THE MAIN FLOOR. There have been workers here every single day for the past week, and it's still not done.
And don't even talk to me about sawdust.
Having OCD tendencies, I HATE it when things are messy... so you can only imagine what I look like everyday when I come home from school. If you can't, here's an image:
It's been a while since I put up a new header and footer set, so ...
I decided to do that. [/anticlimax]
After bashing the way giraffes chew, I decided to make it up to them because giraffes are, you know, pretty awesome.
"Regina, your blog has had the same style for a gazillion years!"
I suck at coding in general, which is why I don't care mess with the layout of this too much. Also, Blogger scares me with their codes, because, again, I suck at coding. If there's anyone out there who absolutely can not stand the fact that I never change the coding, and would like to help, please help me :P
I also just noticed how massive the shoe in the footer is. Hehe, get it, it's a footer...? *BADUMCHHH*
Ahem.
In other news, school's the same and I still haven't heard from the program I want to go to yet. :( And just in case there are people wondering, "WHAT HAPPENED TO HER BLOG LIST IN THE SIDE BAR?" It's on a different page... which you can go to via the side bar! I love sidebars.
Anyways, let me know what you think of the giraffe! I'm in a really random mood today.
Yesterday I was at home with a stomach bug of some sort and not at school, where I should have been. I'm pretty sure it was from the Brie cheese I had the night before, which makes me very sad because I love Brie cheese... and it betrayed me. But anyways, after reading Clem's post about things that bugged her, I remembered that I have wanted to do a post like this for a long time! So since I had some free time...
Chewing in circular motion:
For some reason I absolutely cannot stand this. Most of you probably don't know what I'm talking about, so I'll provide this picture as a reference:
No worries, I wasn't butthurt as a result of internet dramaz. My butt was, however, quite sore from falling so much last week.
But Regina, why would you choose to fall when you can NOT fall?
Well, because I was trying to ski. And I was ultimate FAILSAUCE.
Nick's family graciously invited me to go skiing with them last weekend, and it was really fun! (Except for the falling bit, obviously). Last Saturday was also Earth Hour day, so we ended up sitting around the kitchen table playing Apples To Apples, which is a really fun game.
Here are some pictures. Fortunately, there aren't any embarrassing ones of me in skiing gear.