The new, "Tog" bag

Maybe its just that my sense of humor has been getting dull here at home, all alone, playing piano and being online, but I found this really funny:

So I was helping my mom pack her stuff for a 2 day buissness trip, when she starts asking me to go find her a "tog bag". The first time I heard, I thought that maybe I hadn't heard right, and that she was just mumbling to herself, so I kept packing, Later, a second time, she asks again (in her chinese accent of course), "Arianna, go get me a tog bag, you know black or dark you know?", so I'm thinking to myself 'Oh crap, my ears are going, what the heck is she trying to say?' and subsequently started searching for all sorts of bags, and I mean, ALL SORTS. Duffle bags, beach bags, backpacks, plastic bags; you name it. Finally, after screaming "TOG BAG, you know a TOG BAG" for at least 15 minutes she's says, "THE ONE WITH THE POLKA DOTS INSIDE" o.O oh... that one. After about 2 minutes of dashing to the laundry room to find it, I get this "tog bag" of hers. I'm not quite certain, but I'm fairly sure she meant a "tote bag". 

I probably spent about 15 minutes laughing and rolling around on her bed. I love asian mothers, don't you? *sigh*, you really had to be there to understand the childish look on her face when she was like "that's what I said, a toooog bag, a tote  bag". 21 years later and she's still what people consider a "FOB". 

Oh, there goes another cry of distress from my mother and a big thump from above. I think I'd better go check in on her. 

headphone mystery

I've always wondered if it was just me, but it seem I never have/can find my headphones when I need them. They are always either broken or lost or not in the right place. For example, during camp I bought brand new (pink) headphones, because I had busted my last pair. But not one day after getting my iPod back and returning home, they got lost. Note to self: get one of those tracker thingies.

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

New Hampshire

In exactly one minute after starting this blog, I am suppose to be at the showing of Abby's show. I promised her like more than a half a year ago that I would go, especially because it will be her last production at wdw, the theatre camp she goes to. While I was away at Spanish camp, I made surevi had tickets an that my parents knew. When I got back, asked again, it turned out that my mom had planned an excursion to new Hampshire, to a friends house. Lovely. Now we're in the car (and will be in tv car for another 2hours, driving up to NH.


these friends of my mom just got a lakehouse and are therefore inviting all of their friends. Apparently we were suppose to go 2weeka ago to the chinese group of friends, but they had another grouping of "young doctors" that we would fit in. Whoop-dee-doo.

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPhone]

SCS

I'm not sure if my fellow amigos de Spanish camp are suffering from the same thing as I am, but I'm in the process of recovering from Spanish Camp Syndrome, or SCS for short. Basically, every now and then while I'm speaking in english, I get this nervous/guilty wave, where I feel like I should be speaking in Spanish. Que mal. Also, ever since I got back, I've been putting in a lot of random phrases into my conversations like "que" or "lo siento" as reactions. I bet tomorrow I'm going to be waiting for Jesse to call me awake at 7:30. 

So if you ever start experiencing this, you know you are suffering from SCS. 

:'( 

Spanish Camp

So I just got back from four weeks of spanish immersion camp today. All-in-all, it was a valuable experience. After thinking about it for a while, I think the best way to describe it, is a commercial preview of high school in Spanish. 

Getting more in depth about it: 

Academically, Spanish camp was a very rewarding experience. I can honestly say that I have achieved my goal of "dreaming in Spanish". My mother has a friend whose daughter went to some some sort of Spanish immersion camp and came back "dreaming in Spanish". Probably due to some asian gene, this phrase really appealed to my oh-so-asian mother. For the past 3 years, if not more, my mother had been bringing up this anecdote. Finally this year, after my CTY course in Spain got cancelled (boohoo :'(. Not enough people signed up. Not that I understand why. Why wouldn't someone want to do Surrealism in Literature in Spain?), she got her chance. Sure enough, I was packaged off to Spanish camp. I learned a LOT. When your target course is a part of your every day routine, from waking up to Spanish music, to having projects and classes taught in Spanish, and even being scolded at in Spanish, you really learn a lot. Thanks to Spanish camp, I'm probably set for the next year or two of Spanish.

Socially, Spanish camp was a slightly abrupt reminder that I'm leaving the shelter of my beloved nerd society at Meadowbrook with its tiny class of 36 students. From day one of Spanish camp, it was clear that the social rules of typical middle schools/high schools still applied even at nerd camp, even in another language. I had it O.K. I had my closest friends, and generally stayed above the current of popularity, but from my vantage point, I could see so many people getting dragged in. Even one of my closest friends ended up becoming one of the teenage popularity affected people. No worries, we were still close, but I'm glad to be reminded of the teenage mindset that seems to exist everywhere but Meadowbrook. 

Rina

Have you ever wanted to change you name?

I just got to thinking recently, that "Arianna" is awfully formal and nice. I don't mean to say that "Arianna" is not a good, pretty name. But I wonder why I never decided to come up with a nick name. I am called Ari at home. But to be honest, "Ari" reminds me of this trouble making 5th grader on my bus when I was a first grader (his name was also Ari). 

Anyways, I've decide, despite this being a rather grade schooler whim, that I would like to be called "Rina", sounded out as Reeh-nuh (like in dictionaries). "Rina" is the second and fourth syllable of "Arianna". This might end up just being one of those random wants of mine that die out eventually but what-the-hey right? I'll probably end up reading this much later and being like "What the heck was I thinking" "I'm so weird" etc. But I like the sound of it... Rina... Hm. 

And so tomorrow begins the adventures of "Rina"....

Blogs

This is probably my 20th attempt to start a diary or blog and keep it. I guess it is because I'm always forgetting or putting off writing. Its not because I don't like writing them, honestly, I've always found it fascinated as a girl; I read all the princess diary books, and bought journals to start writing in. Each time I started a new one I would think "this is the one that will last me my lifetime". Unfortunately, to date, I haven't kept a steady one.

However, even though very few of my diaries actually had more than 10 entries, I don't regret starting them. I actually have all of them hidden in my drawer right now, and from time to time I enjoy paging through them. Heheh. I actually just got through reading my 5th grade journal, which was actually quite successful. There's a good 120 pages of reading/drawings and stickers. 

But here's to a new blog:

"This is the one that will last me my lifetime"

-Rina