When I visited the Grand Canyon, the most startling thing to me was the snow. There was snow on both sides of the road, surrounding the trees... I didn't expect to see snow. The Grand Canyon is in Arizona, and so I always expected it to be a really hot place, so snow was quite the surprise. But I suppose the Grand Canyon is at a high altitude and that's what causes it to snow.

The snow on the actual canyons had already melted, but the canyons were stunning nevertheless. We were only able to see the South Rim (there is a North Rim and South Rim) because the North Rim doesn't open until the warmer months.

I find it interesting that although California is considered to be a pretty warm state, Nevada and Arizona felt a lot warmer (even the Grand Canyon wasn't all that cold). When I got back home, I was pretty surprised by it. I guess that means Arizona and Nevada are really hot in the summertime, though. And I've heard that old people like to move to Arizona since it's a warm place. It helps with arthritis. (I've visited the Winchester House, which is pretty close to where I live, and I heard that Sarah Winchester had lots of heaters since she had arthritis.)

While I was on vacation, I would watch the Olympics at nighttime. I always hoped to see the skating, which I was interested in. The problem is, the skating didn't go on until late at night, so I'd be really tired by the time it was on TV.

I was watching the Pair Skating, and there was a pair from Russia, Yuko Kavaguti and Aleksandr Smirnov. Yuko Kavaguti is actually from Japan, but gave up her Japanese citizenship and moved to Russia to pursue her Olympic dream. I don't think I saw any Japanese pair skaters. I had heard on television that some people considered her a traitor for leaving Japan for Russia. But you know, making a decision like that couldn't have been easy. Sometimes you have to make sacrifices to make other dreams come true.

I also watched some snowboarding. It seems like having longish hair is a common thing for male snowboarder, though Shaun White, one of the USA snowboarders, had especially long hair... My parents think snowboarding is a risky sport and all. Really, a lot of the Winter Olympic sports seem pretty dangerous. I also watched some of the women's alpine skiing. It was pretty scary seeing athletes get into crashes. It sure is dangerous to do these sports. No wonder when I was watching the skiing, a person commented, "It's like she's afraid of the speed." Wouldn't you be, if you had just nearly gotten yourself killed? Hockey also seemed to be quite the violent sport.

I kind of wonder why people still go into sports despite that they could really injure themselves badly. Do they try not to think about that? Do they feel it is worth the risk? I guess there is a kind of thrill in doing something dangerous, too.

I was really freaked out when I was standing near to the edge of the Grand Canyon, even though there are railings and all. There was a sign saying people have died by falling into the Grand Canyon. My dad said sometimes being by the edge gives him the urge to actually go and jump in. I often feel like I'm going to fall in or drop my camera or something like that, and sometimes I'm really scared of falling in, but at other times I think it will be really thrilling.

My imagination tends to go wild a lot, and I think of myself doing all sorts of amazing things that I would probably never be able to do. When I was younger, I thought of myself with magic powers, being able to control things like a rainbow swirling sort of thing. That was inspired by the old Fishtime Club I was a part of back in elementary school. In first grade, one of my friends decided he wanted to a form a club. We started out with just him, me, and his sister, and we would spend time digging up rocks and walking around the YMCA daycare at my elementary school. But then we met more people, and there were some really fun and happy times. Later on, though it kind of split up, as my friend and his sister stopped going to the YMCA, and eventually I think they must have moved away (I haven't seen them at my middle school). They might still live in this area. I saw someone who looked a whole lot like him at Target once. I don't know if he still remembers me or if my old friends still remember those fun times. (A lot of the people who I spent time with were a year younger than I was. I guess I get along better with younger people because I've always wondered what it's like to have siblings. I like to spend time with my friends' younger sisters, too.) I'd be really happy if they still have those memories.

Labels: alpine, arizona, arthritis, danger, fishtime club, grand canyon, japan, memory, nevada, olympics, pairs, russia, shaun white, ski, snow, snowboarding, sports, temperature, winchester, yuko kavaguti

That is what the city of Vancouver was described as. Last night was the opening ceremony of the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Vancouver is apparently one of the most populated places that far north. I have visited Vancouver once in the past, years back, when my family was visiting my dad's friend's family. I can't remember that much about it anymore. I guess I was too young back then to appreciate the beauty of Canada anyways. I'd like to visit Canada again, but I'm not sure when I'll get a good opportunity.

My memories of that time are really quite hazy because I thought I had visited a tower in Vancouver. However, that had happened in Seattle, not Vancouver. I remember that my family was going to eat lunch in the restaurant of the tower (Space Needle, I believe it was called) but there was too long of a waiting time so instead we went to a small shop where I bought a bagel. It was a good bagel, I recall.

Well, I should probably get back to the subject of the Olympics before I lose my thought process. I watched the people representing each country walk in. Everything was announced in French first, then English, which I was pleased by. There aren't a lot of countries interested in the Winter Olympics compared to the Summer Olympics, but I'm still excited by it.

I noticed that some countries seemed to have a lot of people, like Russia, Germany, the USA, Japan, Canada (but of course, they're the hosts!), and so on. On the other hand, some countries only had one or two athletes. And India, despite having such a huge population, still had very few athletes (though there was a decent crowd for China). Is India not that good at sports or something? D: I do hear that they play cricket, though. But that's not really a winter sport.

I'd really like to go the Olympics myself sometime. Particularly the Summer Olympics. It's true, you can easily watch from the comfort of your home, and the camera can get closer to the people than you would be able to from your seat in the actual stadiums, but it would be nice to really be there. To really see and hear everything for yourself and to be able to look wherever you want, not just what the camera shows you. And to really be able to wave back at the athletes as they come walking out.

You know, I've dreamed of myself doing athletic things like skating or running. But I wonder if I'd ever be able to achieve such a thing.

I once said that I was interested in becoming a janitor to my parents. I think being a janitor is a noble job. You keep schools and other public places clean, even though it's hard work that must constantly be done and not necessarily for a great amount of pay. In fact, I would rather be a janitor than a soldier. A soldier is a noble job too. But I think sometimes when you get out there, and kill innocent people, and see people's fear, and be horrified by death and starvation and disease, it wouldn't seem so spiffy. I would think, "Is it really worth it for the 'great good' to be doing this? People are really, really suffering."

My father told me that he didn't think I could be a janitor because I didn't have the stamina. And he even went so far as to say that my talents would be wasted if I became a janitor. That may be so, but it was discouraging to me. I really hate to be told what I can't do. People's expectations and words can really build fences around you, fences that are barbed and would injure you terribly to climb over. But I guess that's part of what makes it exciting to chase your dreams. It's showing people that you can do things no one thought you could ever do and overcoming challenges to become a better person that is so great, kind of like people who are addicted to getting adrenaline rushes... I want to do something amazing, to leave my mark on the world, or to at least feel a sense of self-accomplishment. I think just having a small taste of victory would be enough to make me feel like life was worth living. Perhaps being a janitor doesn't seem like the most stunning, life-changing job, but you never know. One of my school janitors was able to run a 4:25 mile, back in the day. I could write a book about my experiences. I could start changes in the school The possibilities are endless. How else can a mountain be made out of a molehill?

Labels: aiming high, bagel, canada, challenge, countries, dreams, glory, hard work, india, janitor, limits, memories, mountain, olympics, potential, seattle, soldiers, vancouver, winter, wish

Top ↑