It wasn't really thin, actually. It was pretty thick. The ice I'm talking about here is the ice in a local ice rink.

I haven't gone ice skating for a long time. I think that the last time was probably at least a few years ago, if not more. I'd been meaning to go, but I never got around to it. (I wanted to go in the summer because it would be a nice way to cool off. However, my parents are working, and I am not allowed to go far by myself, so unless there was a holiday like Independence Day, there was no chance. And if it was a holiday, it would probably be crowded)

I was surprised by how many people were at the rink. My dad says that it was less than average, which I think is even more startling. Most of the people there were young people (I mean people who are young enough not to be in college yet, and such). In fact, I saw a couple of people I recognized, such as a girl who is a friend of the person I walk home with, and some classmates of mine.

It was really awkward getting started. I could only stumble along, clinging to the side of the rink. This didn't work too well because there isn't much of a handhold. I've heard there are rinks out there that actually have a wooden bar running around the perimeter so you can hold on to it, but here all you can do is try to hold on to the half-wall (on top of it is some glass since the rink is sometimes used for playing hockey). It was especially hard considering that the gloves and mittens we had brought for ice skating did not allow my fingers much flexibility.

After a while I kind of got the hang of it, just keeping my feet parallel, and occasionally kicking the ice with my left foot to keep me moving. Sometimes I messed up my footing and I'd flail about wildly before managing to get my balance. My dad and I are afraid of falling, unlike the little kids (who dash about and all, and some of them cry when they hit the ground) and the other young people, so we can't go so fast.

Since it's the holidays, once in a while the rink's lights are turned off and the strobe lights (is that the right term? Don't know what to call them) went on, and it was sort of like a disco, in a way. The young people gave a cry of delight, but I said, "Noooooo!" When it's dark and there are colorful lights moving around, I get a little distracted from my skating. Besides, I heard people who have seizures don't react well to things like that. (But I guess it's pretty unlikely that someone with epilepsy would've been there anyhow)

Less than two hours after arriving, we left the rink and went home. I expected to be able to skate longer than that, but it is surprisingly tiring, particularly for people like me who haven't gone skating for a long time. My dad said it was good we left early, otherwise our legs would be really tired at nighttime. This turned out to be true, and I felt discomfort during the night from my aching legs...

My mother has lately been trying to get me to shop for my Yosemite trip. Most of the 8th grade goes on a trip to Yosemite each year. It's meant to be educational, since we'll be in the great outdoors, but really people are just excited to be away from home, in a place that snows (Yosemite does get snow, after all, but it doesn't snow where I live). I'm really not that excited about the trip, because...
1. I've never slept in a sleeping bag.
2. I don't know if I can handle the hiking. (I'm always paranoid, thinking I will fall to my death. And I hate going uphill.)
3. Apparently we don't get to use the new cabins, which upsets me. (Are they not ready yet? Or do they just not want to let us stay in the new cabins?)
4. I don't want to get attacked by a teacher. (One of my old teachers often goes on the Yosemite trip and he sometimes destroys kids. No joke.)
5. Carsickness! It's a several hour drive just to get to Yosemite, and it's uphill. I will probably be pale and half-dead by the time we arrive. (It is unlikely that I will upchuck because I have self control and try to avoid throwing up. Haha!) I'll probably have to take medicine for motion sickness, if that helps any.

However, it might be fun, because I'll have plenty of photo opportunities, and I did enjoy science camp. Science camp was what I went to in fifth grade, since everyone in the fifth grade went. We stayed in cabins (but we slept in beds) and we hiked around. It was a lot of fun, actually. The food wasn't too bad either. I guess you never know. I'll have to find out in March.

Labels: cabins, carsick, falling, hiking, holidays, ice skating, lights, people, rink, science camp, seizure, sleeping bag, sore, trip, trouble, yosemite

I think I became a scratching post for cats last weekend or something. Let me start with a bit of explanation.

Lately my dad and I have been going biking once a week, for the purpose of exercise and some good ol' fresh air. Can't do wrong with it. (Unless, of course, you live somewhere very polluted, like China; then maybe you're better off not breathing...) We paid a visit to Hoover Park in my town. I've been there before, but I usually took a different route to get there. You can get to the park by going to the very end of my street and getting to the railroad by finding a gap in the fence. Then, cross the railroad and go up and you'll get to the park. My mom doesn't want me to go in that way since a train could suddenly come, or whatever. Just like this problem about a guy named Bobo that I did last year in math class. (I don't know if this is a true entrance to the park or if someone unofficially made it) The main way to get the park, though, is to go to a different street, and to the very end, and there's the actual sign that says the park name and such.

When we were heading back from the park, I noticed a black and white cat wandering around and so I got off my back. I watched the cat for a while and decided to whip out my camera, which I had conveniently brought should I have a good photo opportunity on the bike ride. I tried to take pictures of the cat, but whenever I thought I had a good position, it (I wasn't sure whether it was male or female, I guess my knowledge of animal genders is rudimentary) kept turning and walking toward me. At first I thought it was going to attack me, perhaps (I know that's far-fetched, but cats don't like me too much. My dad's friend's cat tries to hide its face when she sees me, and another time there was a cat, the cat of my mom's friends, but it was a lazy sort that didn't like people) but then, when it was about to collide with my legs, it would swerve just a bit to the side, so instead it brushed against my pants. My dad said that the cat couldn't reach an itch and so was using me to fulfill that purpose. D: How offensive to be made into a scratching post!

Anyhow, today, one of my friends showed me her Chinese book. She doesn't study Mandarin at school, but she does go to Chinese school, I believe. I am glad that I'm not in Chinese school. Only very recently did my mom tell me one of the reasons why. One reason was apparently because of my dad - he says that he convinced my mom it was not a good idea, though I have no idea if that's true, considering it's my dad. The reason my mom told me had to do with behavior. She said that different cultures can have different views on things, and different ways of doing things. And, well, according to my mom, I was actually in Chinese school for a short time. Apparently there was a woman who needed to pick some other kids and me up to take us to Chinese school. My mom says that the woman was in a rush and she pulled me along too quickly, so I fell and hurt myself. And my mom decided to take me out of Chinese school. So, I guess a good thing resulted of a bad thing. :p

Back to the Chinese book before I forget what I'm supposed to be talking about. To practice for her test, my friend read me a story from her book. It was a strange story. The main character was a guy who had only one eye, no arms, and I think he was missing a leg too. And he had holes in his mouth because he had to write and draw with his mouth (putting a paintbrush in his mouth or something, seeing as he didn't have hands). Then there was another story which she started to read (but she was interrupted by the bell ending brunch) which was about a girl who had only half a brain, or something like that, and she had to get a surgery, and she liked to play sports... (Which I, surprisingly, could understand by hearing my friend read it - I mean, the part about the character liking to play sports) And apparently she got seizures or something. What kind of things do they teach you in Mandarin?! Sounds pretty vicious to me, but my friend says they just write strange stories to make it more interesting. -_-;;

Labels: bike, camera, cat, chinese, chinese school, culture, disability, entrance, injury, itchy, mandarin, missing limbs, movement, park, railroad, rush, scratching post, seizure, story, street

I've been reading a book called Little Women, so I feel this unexplainable urge to sound old-fashioned, even though the book is driving me insane. (I can't seem to finish it no matter how fast I read it) If you do not like my weird writing today, let me know, but if you don't mind it, I might someday type a post like this again.

My day began without any disturbance. I had quite the pleasant time in my art class, talking to my fellow students while trying to fix my yellow paint (it had turned a disgusting shade because I have used it too often to try and make a different green). Yash, one of the people sitting at my table, fell off his stool (those black-legged stools are awfully dangerous). Mrs. Masero, the art teacher, laughed at me because my response was so bland - I just looked at Yash the way I would look at an interesting-but-everyday-sort-of-thing, as if people crashing to the floor was an everyday occurrence. Math class had nothing worth mentioning today, save the fact that I am sitting with the same boy I sat across from last time. Even though we were supposed to change seats, apparently I have "lost out on the lottery", so to speak.

At brunchtime, Marina, one of my email-and-school correspondents, met up with me and bid me talk to her. She gave me one of her delicious homemade cookies, and then asked me if I had come up with a character yet. (She wants us to exchange emails and write some sort of random story, fast as possible.) Apparently we only have a little while to do it. I am not sure what possessed her to choose me as her partner for this two person email story. Perhaps she had little voices in her head, St. Margaret and St. Catherine, just like in Joan of Arc - which leads me to the next portion of the day.

After brunch came third period, in other words, history class. For one reason or another, we had a substitute teacher today, so we just watched a rather odd video about Joan of Arc. Since Joan was being burned at the stake for "witchcraft", she kept on shrieking in agony. What was amusing about it was that it wasn't the actress screaming, because the screams and the actress's mouth movements didn't match up! While the person screaming was yelling, the actress's mouth was closed, and opened to lip-sing a bit late.

Science had not much happening except for our Chapter 5 test, which I shall omit from this entry, and instead move past lunch to 5th period Language Arts. My friend and tablemate was very anxious for the cookies the teacher had promised, but these cookies did not show up until the end of class. It turns out we are going to work on summary writing right now. Even the teacher admits that summaries are just simply a bore, but she must teach us about them because summary writing is a necessary skill.

The last event of the day may be considered the most interesting - and alarming. All of us thought PE would pass in a normal manner (besides the fact we were starting our wrestling unit). But actually, a traumatic accident occurred. Somehow, a student from another PE class had collided with the volleyball net and fell onto the ground. She could not get up and so even my PE teacher, Ms. Rawson, tried to assist the poor fellow. The student's own teacher, and later even the principal, came over, and called 9-11. I was told that the student had a seizure, and was even hauled off in an ambulance! Even later, in the locker room, some of the ladies continued to discuss this recent turn in events. Almost as if life were simply a great big soap opera.

Before I conclude today's entry, I shall mention the shrieking I heard as I walked home from school this afternoon. Some person - or persons, who I believe was a girl, would occasionally give a few high-pitched squeals. Whoever it was, was obviously taking great relish in destroying my eardrums, and those of the persons around me. Were I not such a polite and well-mannered sort of girl (yes, that is exaggerating, no need to tell me that), I would have run back and socked the poor person in the face. That is quite untimely, I understand, but I still would not pity the person(s) if they ended up with a sore throat.

Labels: ambulance, art, books, classes, colors, email, injury, joan of arc, little women, paint, PE class, saint, scream, seizure, stool, summary, teacher, video, witchcraft

Top ↑