There's this song that goes something like "I left my heart in San Francisco" (which I guess I can understand, because I think San Francisco is a nice city, despite apparently having a history of being notorious place). And I thought it was suitable considering what I was thinking about earlier.

The common belief is that being homesick will make a vacation miserable for a person. But I don't think that's necessarily the case. It's true, during the first one or two days of Yosemite, I was trying hard not to burst into desperate sobs, because I was unaccustomed to the rush of Yosemite, the horrible-smelling bathtubs, the thin walls of the tent (meaning that you could hear any loud noise being made elsewhere), and the lack of sympathy from much of the other people (judging from their excited attitudes, since I try to avoid pouring out my heart and soul to people I do not know well).

As is the unusual case here, after a few days, I realized that I would be going home soon, and with this thought in my mind, I acquired a much more positive attitude toward the Yosemite trip. Isn't it funny how wanting to go home can become your motivation? I kind of figured that if I had fun the time would pass faster and I could go home and sleep in my nice old bed and get to take a warm shower (the showers were so cold, it was warmer when you weren't showering than when you were showering...). And in this way I was able to enjoy the trip after all, despite being very paranoid for much of the time. I was very fearful during the hiking when we had to clamber up rocks (how precarious! One false move and you would fall all the way to the valley floor) and also when exploring caves (you could slip and break your bones or bang your head on the ceiling! Or you would at least end up with really dirty pants and gloves). But at the same time feeling the adrenaline rush was a good thing since it made me feel adventurous. For much of my life I had been craving something exciting. This is very contradictory considering that I'm a person that likes normality and regular comforting rhythms in their life.

Just the other night, I closed my eyes. I began to imagine that I was back in Yosemite again. I could imagine the covers on my bed turning into the top of the sleeping bag, and the quiet of the room turning into the annoying dripping and banging of the heater... For some reason this gave me a kind of comfort while also making me feel very nostalgic. I wonder if perhaps the reason why I keep waking up really early, like 7:00 am, when I don't need to get up until 7:45, is that my mind thinks, "Oh no! I am so late for the breakfast at Yosemite!" but that's not the case at all.

My parents said that maybe some other time, like in 2011, we could go to Yosemite again. I'd like to go back to Yosemite, but I feel like if I went back there, I wouldn't want to leave. I'd like my days to pass in a national park, the way some people spend a lot of time in Yellowstone, watching the wolves with their binoculars. I'd like to be somewhere where I can see the stars as clear as day and where the trees make the air delightfully fresh. And as dear as home is to me, that place is not here.

Labels: adrenaline, adventure, breakfast, danger, excitement, homesick, late, memories, morning, national park, nostalgia, shower, sleeping bag, song, sounds, surprise, trip, yellowstone, yosemite

It feels strange being back after I was in another country so long...And I was so tired when I woke up. I did not sleep well due to my "mental problems". (Don't worry, I don't need to go to an asylum. Sorry if you are offended by this statement.) And I was woken up by my dad's alarm clock. He insists on keeping me company because he thinks I'd be too lonely by myself. (It is true, but he snores and moves and tries to take my Bloomingdales teddy bear.)

I ate some eggs in a nest for breakfast. (You know, bread with eggs in it.) I ate one and a half slices. (Which turned out to be too much for me. I almost threw up, so I decided not to eat anymore.) But then we made puffy pancakes in cooking class. It's sort of like pancakes but it is a little eggy-tasting...and true to the name, it is also puffy. Very puffy. And the edges of the puffy-stuff got a bit burnt in the oven.

Cooking Schedule: (I am not sure if this is the exact one, because I didn't memorize it well this time.)
Monday - Puffy Pancakes
Tuesday - Texas BBQ Flatbread
Wednesday - Measurement Test
Thursday - ??? (Muffins? I forget)
Friday - ??? (I forget again)
If you know the rest of the schedule, let me know!

My teachers and fellow classmates can be amusing sometimes...Like in Mr. Blair's history class. So there's a guy called Jeffrey who keeps complaining about how cold it is despite the heater being on in the room. He decides later to go to the bathroom. So we vote unanimously to play a prank on Jeffrey...
1. First, wait until Jeffrey is close to the room.
2. Student yells out, "It's cold in here! Can we close the door?"
3. Mr. Blair locks door just as Jeffrey attempts to get in.
4. Watch him bang on glass until Mr. Blair sends him to get a paper towel from the boys' bathroom.
5. Then Mr. Blair changes his mind and allows Jeffrey to come back in.
This was very distracting seeing as we were supposed to be doing the first round of a geography bee.

Oh, and in Mrs. Jackson's class...Mrs. Jackson started showing off her document camera. It's like a projector but you don't need a transparent paper and it can zoom in and out...And it even shows color, not just black and white. We oohed and aahed at it for a while.

In Mr. Brown's class, a kid called Anush always asks questions. For instance, he said, "Can humans tame wolves?" Mr. Brown replied, "Of course; dogs are tamed wolves." Anush went "Ohhhhh!" as it clicked in his mind.

I was going to talk about mushrooms and building construction but there's not much time for that. So see you next time!

Labels: breakfast, cooking, mischief, questions, school, sleep, time

One of my friends has a group (kind of like a club, basically) on a website, which she runs along with her sister. They want me to make graphics for the group, but I would have to make three "samples" every month. I like making graphics, but I don't have that much free time...But I don't want to make them upset by refusing because my schedule isn't free enough. So I don't know whether I should go for it, or just sacrifice some of what is important to me to do this. :(

Anyhow, I only wrote part of this last night, even though I was planning to write all of it. This is because I kicked something (one of the cords, maybe?) under the computer and then it all restarted! I was so mad because I lost all of what I wrote and I can't remember it...I should've saved a draft before I kicked it. Oh well.

Even though Wednesday is late start day, I still kept waking up on and off during the night...And then eventually it was 8:00 am and I couldn't sleep anymore. This just stinks...Well, at least I get some time in the morning to read manga online. I couldn't find it in the library, which is really frustrating. (It's much more convenient to carry a book around than a laptop around... And then you would need Internet access 24/7!)

Eating cheesecake for breakfast is nice, except the raspberry cheesecake is starting to taste odd. Then I drank some milk, which tastes really nasty with cheesecake! Don't try it unless you like weird flavors!

That kind of brings back a childhood memory... When I was younger, I didn't like going to restaurants, since I didn't like to eat back then, so I just made some concoctions. You know how you usually get a water glass at a restaurant? I would put all sorts of things. Sugar packets, vegetables, rice, and so on. I tried to get my parents to drink it, but they refused.

It's been raining a bit recently, so we end up watching a sports movie in the gym rather than doing a lot of exercise in PE. I don't really mind the movie except for the fact they always have to play things in slow motion a few times! And the volume was way too loud because I was sitting close to the TV. I think I've gotten deaf from it, so I just try to cover my ears to lessen the sound.

My mom found a big teddy bear stashed away somewhere. On the tag, it said it was a Little Brown Bear and the profits were being donated to some non-profit organization. Apparently it was from Bloomingdales so my parents suspect it costs a lot. My mom also found a Yves Saint Laurent bag someone gave her. She was planning to give it away because she didn't use it, but then she looked at some YSL stuff on the Internet and noticed it was really expensive! The bag was probably worth at least a couple hundred bucks! That was a disturbing find.

Labels: blah, breakfast, manga, money, restaurant, sleep, television

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