A New Experience

 

    Usually, my instinct is more than sufficient to tell me whether an activity, class, or food is enjoyable to me. When my mom suggests a new experience my gut tells me whether I will like it or not. This peculiar sixth sense has never failed me before. But it broke its “A+” score of one hundred percent during my last summer vacation to China.

    This past summer vacation in China was a perfect example of the summer break I want. Almost every day, my grandpa and I would just lounge around the living room chatting about random stuff and devouring any good food we could lay our hands on (this is why I gain weight so easily in China). After spending the drowsy times of early morning this way, we would go down to the community park and ride our bikes to somewhat control my weight gain. Then I spent lots of time on my iPad until my mom caught me and made me do summer homework. After the gruesome homework was finished and the fantastic dinner cooked by my grandparents was demolished, I would play a card game with Grandma, sometimes joined by my uncle and aunt. After doing my “ritual” of attacking someone on Clash of Clans (an addictive iPad game), I would watch cartoons until close to midnight, sleep, and start the cycle again. And there were the ever present invitations to lunch or dinner at excellent restaurants.

    My instinct failed me during one of these lunches with Cherry and her parents that took place in a really fancy and realistic Japanese restaurant where everyone removed their shoes (very stinky) and sat crosslegged on thick woven mats that slid around ever so slightly on the oiled wood floor. Although the mats felt comfortable for the first ten minutes or so, they steadily became stiffer after that.

    At first, the adults sipped on hot green tea and filled each other in on the latest celebrity gossip, while Cherry and I chugged mango juice. Then the adults started ordering the dishes. First came six steaming, aromatic bowls of miso soup. I sipped slowly straight from the bowl since the Japanese don’t use spoons. Then came the food that I absolutely despised in Japanese cuisine, sashimi. There were salmon, tuna, shrimp, yellowtail, eel, and some type of fish called Ayu, all raw and shining with oil. My guts told me immediately that I would not enjoy sashimi. Luckily for me, a dish of dragon and caterpillar sushi came and I gratefully helped myself to the more inviting food.

    I was able to avoid the slimy sashimi for a few more minutes, before my mom noticed I had not tried it yet. She told me to eat some sashimi and that Cherry loved it as well. I stubbornly refused and continued munching my sushi. A couple of minutes later, when I was off guard, my mom unceremoniously stuffed a particularly large piece of salmon  sashimi into my mouth. Cherry was stunned for a second, then burst into uncontrollable giggles. Mom tried to look mad, but couldn’t stop her lips from twitching upward. As I was forced to chew, I suddenly noticed the pleasant soft texture of the salmon flesh, as well as the exotic wasabi and savory soy sauce. For a moment, I was stunned that sashimi tasted so good and that my instinct had been mistaken. Then I started wolfing down every piece of sashimi as fast good eating manners would allow.

    From that moment on, sashimi has jumped from my least favorite to my second favorite food, close after eggs. I learned that trying a new experience with the urging of your parents is not harmful at all, even if your instinct is telling you to back away from the experience. To this day, I am still very grateful to my mom for stuffing that delicious piece of salmon into my doubtful mouth!

Technology For The 21st Century

 

    The first elective class I had ever taken in my life was Technology For the 21st Century, a computer class.  Before that, I had never known that elective classes even existed. Tech Ed turned out to be a good starting experience for these optional classes.
    Overall, the experience in Tech Ed was pretty enjoyable. We always had something to work on, but were still not overloaded. There was always a little free time where we could play games on our assigned computers. All the lessons Ms. Mejia, our teacher, taught us contained something new. All of the information Ms. Mejia taught us is knowledge that has been carved into my brain. Ms. Mejia was also pretty organized, and the grades were accurate. If I were to grade this class like a teacher with a letter grade, I would probably give it an “A” or “A-.”

    One of my favorite parts of the class was the free time, where I got to play lots of interesting games. The one I played the most was called Strike Force Heroes. I used to play that game a bit at home, but soon stopped playing after my mom’s “reasoning.” I played so much at school and saved all of the content that by the end of the first week, I had beaten the whole game on Normal level. I also played a few other action games that were not blocked by the school district. Playing games was sometimes so addicting that I barely had time to finish all of the assignments.

    Although these Tech Ed classes were nicely taught overall, there were still some places where there could have been improvement. This suggestion is based on my opinion, but I think that the class should contain less work. Although it is not an overload of work, it still pressed down on me, especially because we could not work on our assignments at home. And, as always, there is the constant suggestion of more free time!

    If I were given the chance to recommend this elective to a younger student, I would do so without hesitation. I recommend this class not only for the opportunity to play on the computer, but also for the awesome knowledge of  keyboard shortcuts and unknown functions of the computer.

    If I were given the chance to retake this class, I would do so willingly. Taking the class again might allow me to learn some of the vital information about computers that I missed while I was trying to successfully capture the flag with only a minute handgun on Strike Force Heroes. I might even have the chance to beat the game on Hard level during the free time.

     For all of these reasons and more, I have totally loved this class. If anyone has no idea which elective to take, please consider taking Technology For the 21st Century.  

A Surprisingly Satisfactory Swim Meet

 

    I have failed and excelled in many sports events, but, believe it or not, the events that stick to my memory are the ones in which I do both well and poorly. One of the most recent events in which I had this experience was a swim meet at TMEC, or the Temecula Swim Club.

On January 11th, my mom and I set out for Temecula, one and a half hours before the warm up time at one o’clock . After an uneventful one hour drive, we arrived at the swimming pool with ten minutes to spare. But when I saw my couch, Tyler, he informed me that the swim meet was 15 minutes behind schedule. So my mom and I found a comfortable, shady seat and settled down for the wait. While I just stared at my book without taking anything in because of my nervousness, my mom started to let out a stream of continuous advice on all of my weaknesses, like the start and the different types of turns.

    At around 1:20, we started our warm-ups. These were pretty uneventful, apart from being kicked one the head a couple of times and having people brush my toes for the whole warm up. At 1:40, the actual meet finally started, but I still had to wait a while before my first event, the 100-yard IM’s.

    I had a bad start. Even though my time for the IM’s improved, I got DQ because I turned my shoulders past vertical in the Back to Breast turn. But quickly I forgot about that as my next event came up, the 100-yard freestyle. I made a satisfactory dive in, keeping up with the others. My muscles steadily became sore as I pushed on. The three flip turns I did were all neat and quick. When I took my first breath after my third flip turn, I caught a fleeting glimpse of Coach Tyler bent down, yelling at me to put in greater efforts. As I reached the last 25 meters, I gave a final effort, and with my muscles screaming, I finished the race, coming in third of the heat. I was even more happy about the fact that I got in the Red Division, one division above the entry level.

    Before I knew it, the next event, 50 Breaststroke, was up. My mom encouraged me and patted me on the back. It somehow gave me strength, and I was grateful for that simple yet effective gesture. As the starting machine beeped, my dive this time was not so great, for I belly-flopped slightly, and a small amount of water found its way into my goggles. But the dive was still okay, and I recovered quickly. After the first 12 meters of the race, I gave it my all as I had before, and hit the finish with the muscles seriously on fire. When I talked to Coach Tyler, he was impressed that I dropped about 5 seconds on a 50-yard race. I also made the Red Division for this event.

    My last event, the 50 Free, was separated from the 50 Breaststroke by more than 10 events, so my mom and I settled in for another long wait. Sometimes we would chat quietly about random things, and the rest of the time was spent in companionable silence. Finally, after almost thirty minutes of waiting, my last event was up. As soon as I left the diving block, I knew the dive was a good one. After 4 quick dolphin kicks I broke the surface and swam furiously to the other end. The flip turn was excellent, and I finished first of the heat.

    This 50 Free event made the swim meet stick to my memory because I also found out that I had squeezed my way into the Blue division, only one level below the Junior Olympics. Also, the DQ of the 100 IM’s gave me a learning experience. My mom told me that a great way of learning is through your mistakes and failures. Surprisingly , I agree.

    This swim meet contained both the positives and negatives I needed to learn. I hope this experience will stay with me for a long time.

The Historic Party

 

    Hello, everyone! The celebration that you will attend will probably be the one and only of its kind. Let me just give a little information for the people attending this once in a lifetime party.

    First of all, each and every one of you should know the purpose of this party. This occasion is designed to celebrate my mom’s birthday in October. It is a Chinese tradition to have a big birthday every five years. This is one such period and that is why this party will be so grand.

    No one would want to attend the party if they didn’t know what it was about. First of all, this celebration will take place on one of the fifteen Princess cruise ships. The cruise ship will be Caribbean Princess, because the entire trip will be in the Caribbean Sea. Since my budget is virtually unlimited, I plan to book the whole ship just for my mom and our guests.

    Since this trip celebrating my mom’s birthday will be a weeklong one, it has to happen over Thanksgiving vacation, which is the closest weeklong break to my mom’s birthday. I have to wait until everyone invited is free, so more people can show up to fill the seats of the vast cruise ship. There are so many people on the invitation list that I cannot name them all in this essay. Some of the main parties include everyone from the families of my parents, Darren and Wesley’s family and anyone else they wish to bring, and friends from China and school.

    While I was planning the party, I thought some required dress code should be set. So I made the required type of clothing casual wear. I also thought of an exciting punishment for any formal wear of ties or suits. I will have the captain of the ship bring the cruise to a full stop. Then I plan to tie a rope to the rule breaker's ankle and have a trustworthy crewman hold tightly onto the other end. We will make the person, wearing only his swimsuit, jump feet first off the side of the cruise’s 100 ft high deck with more than enough slack to not result in a broken ankle during the jump. After the jump, he can climb up one of the ladders and enter the ship through any one of the lower balconies. (This jump is not required for anyone under 18 or with acrophobia.)

    One of the things I am the most proud about during this weeklong celebration of my mom’s birthday is the awesome food prepared by the Princess’s chefs. I have experienced this cruise line’s food when I was just a regular guest, and even then, it was awesome. For this special celebration, I went to the liberty of hiring a couple of professional cooks representing all sorts of cuisines, from European and American to Asian. The one I can’t wait to eat is the Japanese cuisine, because of the buffet style sashimi of all kinds of fish and shellfish. This variety of food style will satisfy all of our guests. The beverages will be provided  by my parents. My mom and dad will offer every possible drink; if anyone asks for anything, we will be able to produce it.

    Because of my unlimited budget, I will pay the cruise line to let all the rooms play any game on the Xbox and watch any movie. Everyone can also watch new release movies at night while eating popcorn and Italian ice cream. There are also four swimming pools, multiple hot tubs, and an arcade room. There is also a workout room, basketball courts, and ping pong tables. One of the best parts of the cruise is a visit to the various islands of the Caribbean. I also plan to hire some of the best ice craftsmen to carve ice sculptures in the hot weather, with fresh sashimi frozen in the middle. Sets of the best radio-controlled helicopters and airplanes will be lined up in neat rows, just waiting to be flown above the cruise ship. Crewmen standing next to some cool looking rescue rafts will wait patiently to take guest out on the sea in those airtight boats.

    As usual, for a birthday, gifts are required. But there is no need for expensive gifts, and any gift over $75 will be rejected. I hope you all can come to join us in celebrating my mom’s birthday!

Lies for Games

 

    There have been many times where I felt it necessary to lie, but lying has been needed in one specific situation more than all the others combined. I have used this method of lying more times than I can count to avoid getting caught playing games while I was supposed to be doing educational work on the computer or iPad. Although I have been suspected many times, my mom has never produced actual proof of me playing a game -- until recently.

    My “arrest” happened less than two weeks ago. Mom attempted to catch me two times, only succeeding on the second try. All this happened when I was supposedly drawing pictures for a history project. This is basically how I got apprehended.

    After I found the pictures I wanted to draw, I quickly sketched a rough outline, which I planned to perfect at school the next day. Since I figured Mom would expect me to take longer than just twenty minutes to draw the cartoons, I went on Armor Games and became absorbed with Strike Force Heroes. Almost all my senses were centered at the game. Luckily, my peculiar sixth sense was still on guard and warned me just in time to save and exit the game when my mom clomped downstairs to check on me. I must have been clicking the mouse too loudly because I thought the P99 handgun was malfunctioning in the game. The page flicked out of sight just as my mom came rushing over to check my computer screen, which had just been replaced with a picture of a Despicable Me minion. I put up my innocent face and asked, “Is there anything I can help you with, madam?”

    My mom took a few seconds to recover from her rush downstairs. “I just thought you were playing games,” she answered.

    “I wasn’t playing games,” I said, trying to sound offended. I felt this lie was totally necessary and I didn’t feel that guilty.

    “Then what was that series of loud clicks for?” asked my mom accusingly.  

    I hesitated a second too long, “It was just a stubborn website that wouldn’t open, so I got mad at it.” My heart was beating a bit too quick, but it immediately started slowing down as my mom seemed satisfied with the answer and went upstairs. I sighed again and continued playing with more care.

    As time passed, my guard started dropping. My luck this time was pretty bad. My clicking became louder again and my sixth sense was only lazily on guard. This time the sense warned me a nanosecond too late. I was pretty sure mom saw a grey Special Forces dude carrying a Glock 22 and UMP submachine gun before it flicked out of sight. When she asked me what that thing she saw on the screen was, I shakily lied that it was the home screen. This time she didn’t seem too convinced, and continued to stare piercingly at me. I tried gallantly to return the look and actually succeeded. After all, she can’t prove I did it, I thought almost happily.

    But these hopes were crushed immediately as she suddenly grabbed the mouse and went to the history button, revealing the icon of Armor Games. My mom screamed her triumph and turned dramatically to face me. “You are banned from iPad for a week,” she said with a fake sweet voice that reminded me of Professor Umbridge. Then she left, leaving me stunned.

    Well, this latest attempt of lying to cover up an “illegal” act didn’t go so well. I learned from being caught playing games that it is never wise to do “illegal” things until you know how to wipe every trace of the evidence away.

First to Aid

 

    Boy Scouts of America has always been one of the biggest repositories of learning. BSA has not only taught me wilderness and survival skills, but also some politics, fingerprinting, and countless different hobbies and sports. Although all the skills taught had some things that were valuable, one that stands out is First Aid, the second merit badge I earned in my time as a Boy Scout.

    In the First Aid Merit Badge, we were taught a variety of initial ways to treat an injury while in the wilderness. The counselors started with the basics of simple scratches and cuts. Then, we learned the ways to deal with a puncture wound and how to take a fish hook out of someone’s flesh. I had no trouble in getting the right way of treating insect stings, burns, hypothermia, poisonous snake bites, and heat exhaustion. But when the counselors starting instructing us on treating sprained ankles, wrists, and broken arms, I became totally helpless. I had to use a specific knot to tie a straight piece of wood onto Darren’s “broken” arm, for he was also taking the merit badge with me. My knot was super weak, and the moment Darren lifted his arm, the knot came loose. As Darren laughed uncontrollably at me, I attempted it again. This time, the knot was slightly more secure.

Almost all of these skills have come in handy sometime during my time as a Boy Scout. But, for some unknown reason, first aid skills were particularly important to have during one specific week-long summer camp, which took place on Catalina Island.

Since this camp was Wesley’s first one, Darren was his buddy. I was paired with Naam, another scout who was also our patrol leader, and who always seemed to have an injury somewhere on his body, from simple cuts to broken bones. Surprisingly, Naam came to camp with only a slight scar. But barely an hour into camp, when we were heading down for lunch, Naam tripped on a tree root, skinning his knee. As he washed the shallow wound, I sighed and pulled out a bandage, which I handed to him.

The next day passed without accidents, and I knew this was too good to last. On the third day, Naam carelessly grabbed the flap to our tent, in which a bee was hiding. At the time, I didn’t know what was happening, so I jumped at the sound of Naam’s yell of pain. It wasn’t until I saw the little stinger protruding from his hand did I understand what had happened. I immediately flipped open my pocketknife and used the dull side of the knife to scrape out the stinger. When it finally came out, Naam gave a sigh of relief. I felt lucky that I had taken the First Aid merit badge, for I was about to pinch the end of the stinger to pull it out, which would have released all the bee venom. I remembered the first aid lesson about stings and applied the right instructions to it. If I hadn’t, then Naam would have had a very painful and slow recovery.

Finally, the last day of camp arrived, without further injuries happening to Naam, and I was pleasantly surprised. But, when Naam and I were packing up our tent, he was using his heavy shovel to lever up the tent pegs, which wasn't a good thing. Sadly, I was working next to him, packing up the poles. He lost control of the shovel and sent it flying. The tip of the shovel landed perfectly in the center of my palm, leaving a big gash. I immediately jumped up from my crouch and bit my lip to stop a scream. Naam was paralyzed there, and I had to ask Darren for help on cleaning the wound with a high pressure stream of water.  After the wound was clean, I saw that it wasn’t as deep as I had originally thought, which was very lucky.

Of all the skills that I have learned in Boy Scouts, I think that First Aid would count as something very important. It benefits not only me, but my fellow scouts as well. Learning the right way to aid someone is not complicated at all, and it can be lifesaving!

 

 

Creative is Easy

 

    One of the best 3D projects I have made for school was a very creative Great Wall of China at the end of sixth grade, for a China project. It was made with totally normal things you would find in almost every house. Together my mom and I used our creativity and the material available at hand to put together a model of the Great Wall.  

    It was a warm late Saturday afternoon when we decided to  start making the model. The project was due the next week and I didn’t have more time to work on it. For a whole ten minutes, we just sat in the living room, brainstorming. Many ideas popped up, each worse than the one before. I had thought about getting supplies from Michael’s, but it would take up too much time. Finally, the obvious idea of using cardboard to build the Great Wall model reached my slow brain. I had almost fallen asleep when I thought of it. When I mentioned it to my mom, who had also fallen asleep, she agreed readily and went to work immediately.

    My mom cut cardboard pieces into the rough shape of the battlements, while I painted a rectangular piece of cardboard green to act as the bottom. Then we faced another problem that later was solved by creativity. The outside of the Great Wall was done, but the inside structure was basically like a card house. My mom continued working on the details, while I tried to solve this roadblock. My mind started to wander off topic and I thought about the shipment of a fountain that had come in. I wondered why the styrofoam protecting the package was so squeaky. Then I suddenly had the solution and yelled, “Aha!” so abruptly, my mom jumped and accidently dropped her paintbrush from one hand to the other, leaving a big blotch of green paint. But I hardly noticed that as I strode out to our yard and grabbed all of the big pieces of the styrofoam in the now empty fountain box. Back inside, I cut the styrofoam into rough rectangles and fit them beneath the outside of the Great Wall.

    Yet another problem posed itself in front of us. When my mom and I cut the useful styrofoam into the shape of a mountain to set below the actual Wall, we couldn’t paint on it or get the texture of the mountain right. In the end, it was my mom who figured out a solution.  She used a bunch of tinfoil to get the rugged shape of the mountain and glued in to the green cardboard. The effect was splendid!

    An easier block that stood in our way was how to keep the Great Wall on the mountain. We both knew glue itself wouldn’t enough. In the end, I got a whole bunch of toothpicks and stuck them through the cardboard and into the styrofoam, keeping the wall firmly in place.

    The last, and probably the hardest, was how to decorate the hill with “trees.” I didn’t have any fake trees to use, so my mom and I just sat there and thought. I got hungry at one point, and went to the fridge. It was there that I got my idea. There was a bundle of broccoli at the bottom, and I immediately grabbed it, forgetting all about my need for food. I chopped them into smaller pieces, while my mom glued it to the surface of the mountain. Soon the project was finished, standing on the kitchen table.

    Had it not have been for the improvising and creating done by my mom and me, we would have never finished the project, fretting about the lack of material. It makes everything much more simple and easy. No matter what your strict parents (cough cough, mom) might think, creativity can be a very useful thing.