merry christmas!

merry christmas! tomorrow, the extended family comes over for christmas dinner. i'm thinking it shall be fun. it's something we haven't done for quite a few years. i miss those days, and maybe tomorrow can be the restart of that particular tradition.

family time

on sunday afternoon, it snowed! it snowed enough that stores closed down and commerce was shut down for an afternoon. everything outside was snowy/icy, depending on your elevation. it was great! and it only lasted for a day, so we didn't get stir crazy being trapped together. the day before that, our power went out for about 4 hours because of a fatty windstorm. so without power, which means no internet, tv, etc, we grabbed flashlights and played 13 and texas hold 'em (but not for real money, just...uh...pride). it was pretty amusing.

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i've been home for a week, and i've just been hanging out with my family, cooking, running errands, shopping. now, people know i have much love for target. i have been to target almost everyday since i've been home. even i am almost getting sick of going there. almost. it's been to get random things for my mom like band-aids, lotion, cleaning supplies (since christmas is at our house this year), storage containers (for mike who's finished UO and has officially moved back home), and other household goodies. i think the reason that i'm almost sick of going there is because of the quantity of other people there. it's just a handful of shopping days before christmas and people are savages. i much prefer my target time when it's not as crowded.

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my parents haven't really cooked at home in years. since we've been out of the house for the last few years, my parents just eat out all the time. but now that we're home for break/permanently, my parents find it a hassle to figure out where to eat all the time for all meals. so, they've gone back to cooking at home. this has been great for me, because i get to eat well, and learn how to make it. the only downside is my mom's constant declaration about how i chop stuff so slowly that when i have my own children, they will starve before i finish prepping. hey, i can't help it if i'm careful and ultra-paranoid about slicing off much-needed fingers with sharp knives. better safe than sorry. while we've been cooking, which has become a family thing - i help chop/cook, mom supervises, dad makes some stuff, mike and andy set the table and wash dishes - other extended family has been busy making things too. my aunt made a bunch of bao zi and my family had eaten all except one. i woke up one morning and realized that there were two left from the day before and i hadn't yet had one. i ran downstairs and grabbed the last one and ate it before my dad woke up and got to it. my dad, whom i like to call "father" just because i find it amusing, will eat whatever is lying around, and if you don't label it, he'll just take it. it's a survival contest here.

i think it broke

on monday morning, i woke up and my neck hurt really, really bad. i slept on it funny, and it was super painful. i couldn't really turn my head and tilt it back, or lean it forward for that matter. i never realized how heavy my stupid head is. it's gotten better over the week, but it still hurts, but only on the right side. and i still can't tilt it back. is everyone's head this heavy? i know that according to the little kid in jerry maguire, it weighs 8lbs...that's a lot, a bowling ball in fact. and my cheek hurts too. i went to see the dentist and i had some cavaties...which is super not cool since i've been taking care of my teeth, with flossing and listerine and everything! boo. it actually kind of feels like when i had my wisdom teeth pulled, except it doesn't look swollen, it only feels like it.

have i mentioned how i love vacation? i really missed having winter break over the last 2 years.

back at home

i'm back at home in portland. i think i flew on one of the tiniest planes yet...12.5 rows of seats. i slept the whole way. my brothers and my mom picked me up and we ate dim sum! hooray! and it's flippin' cold here, just like winter should be. i think it's still in the higher 60s in LA, which just seems wrong for december. i love winter. and i'm super excited to be home. i think this is the first time i've ever flown back here for a break. it's a little weird. but on the plus side, i think my family has really missed me, which will hopefully translate to be spoiled rotten. and by spoiled, i mean eating a lot of good food. double hooray!

chip leader

my group and i finished our ed psych paper around 2pm. emmy and i decided to grab lunch afterwards and celebrate the fact that we're done. then we did a little light shopping along westwood. later, she picked me up and we headed over to west hollywood for a team potluck/poker night. i made it past the first round and then started playing like "crazy" as one of my cohort friends likes to call it. anyway, i was chip leader back and forth for awhile and because it was getting late, i just went all in and i ended up winning $40. not too shabby. the people that were out early in the game played "spoons" with punishments that steph k. made up. stuff like making up a rap song about our team advisor, trying to kiss your elbow, walk like a model, etc. it was pretty hilarious. yay, i super enjoy my cohort buddies!

more photos here (new pictures at the end).

98% done

wendy: let's watch narnia. NARNIA!
me: i don't really feel like it. is that bad?
wendy: yes, it means you're not christian.
me: (pause) hahahahaha!
wendy: HAHAHAHAHA!

that wendy, sometimes she's pretty funny.

anyway, i to see narnia last night. it was good. it wasn't great, but i liked it. i think there were some moments that the filmmakers didn't mean to be funny, but i heard laughter anyway, and i think some of it was mine.

i'm sitting at the campus computer lab waiting for the rest of my group to finish typing up their portions of our ed psych paper and then we can edit and then we will be done! wahoo!

one to go

i'm about 90% done! i have one assignment left to complete - a paper for my educational psychology class. it shouldn't be too bad. and, i'm getting set to meet with my advisor to discuss my student teaching placements (grade level, school, etc) for winter and spring quarter. how exciting! i'm thinking one placement somewhere between 1st - 3rd grade and the second one in 6th grade.

the last two weeks, i've been at a middle school and it's been pretty great. i'm thinking my middle school affection was heavily influenced by JEMS warm beach experiences. middle schoolers are funny. they are also shocking. one of the guiding teachers told us that she had 3 parents in the class. 3 parents! as susan would say, "it's fetuses having fetuses." we were stunned. i'm still stunned.

and in other middle school news, angel, teaching english in japan with the JET program sent me "letters to santa" written by her 8th grade 2nd year english language students. i volunteered to write letters back as "santa." actually, i wrote some letters and my friend judy wrote some letters. and some people from my lovely cohort helped me decorate them with gel pens. yay! the letters are pretty dang cute (the ones from the students). i love having helpful friends!

God is SOOO gracious

early last month, i took the CSET. it's a standardized test that tests my content knowledge in the areas of english/language arts/literacy methods, US history/world history, science, math, PE, human development, and the arts. this is the test that i had to pass to be able to student teach for winter and spring quarter. well, i got the results today, and i passed all subtests! hoorah!

and i've also just finished the biggest paper out of all the ones i have due this week. it's a group essay, a 15-20 pager and i was not feeling motivated at all to write my portion. but my group is great and they're smart, so it helped...a lot. and now it's one less thing to worry about.

i'm just glad i'll be able to follow the outlines of my program and start student teaching next quarter. it would've really sucked not to pass.

in other news, i'm trying to start and end my day by intentionally spending time with God, in the reading of the Word and through prayer. i've have not been good about starting the day this way, only ending it. but i'm thinking this new thing i'm trying it will be good. i post this so i'll hopefully be more accountable to it. hooray for using blogs positively.

last week!

i took the RICA yesterday. there's a good chance i passed. there's also an equally good chance that i did not. ah well. i'll find out in january. after the 4 hour test, i refused to study anymore for the rest of the day. instead, i went out and had dinner at a cantonese seafood restaurant, where we pigged out on crab, beef, chicken, soup, and veggies. and then it was boba at tea station. and then, we went to see rent. i've never seen the stage musical, but i really enjoyed the movie.

now it's back to work. this is the last week of school!

...

good at math? check.

relatively obedient? check.

overachiever? check.

model minority? check.

crap. i'm a stereotype.

i've been trying to figure out my expectations. where's the line between having high expectations and just being nit-picky/legalistic? i don't have the answer. all i get are more questions. arg.