My Old School

   Today, I return to my old school－Sanmin Junior High School, to ask for transcripts. It’s been three years, and the school still looks the same. Standing in the office, it feels like I'm back to old times again, being a middle school student. Hearing the bell rings, my memory at Sanmin are all brought back. More surprisingly, some teachers even recognize me and call out my name; I don’t think I’m a student who would be remembered because I’m not either having excellent academic performance or always breaking rules. However, I’m only able to recall few teachers’ last name rather than their whole name, and some of them I just forget what their called. This time’s return, I have to thank the office staffs for being so helpful and efficient that I get my English transcripts within such a short time. In addition, I have to especially thank Mrs. Lo, who used to be my English teacher. She still remembers that I’m called “Teresa,” and she helps me on translating award. We chat for a while, and she knows that I’m going to Canada to study. Also, she said that I have to go visit her when I finish studying college, and I’ll definitely keep this promise since deep in my heart, I really appreciate what Mrs. Lo has done for me.

Gaining Offense

   Today we have our second basketball practice, which takes place at school. Mr. Li makes some changes for the warm up: usually when we’re doing “Four station,” people on the top would shoot, but now is people at the 2-point line shoot. From now on, the practices would focus more on our offense since we’re good at defense but lacking offense in the tournament. Shooting and cut-in are two only ways that can gain points, and we practice cut-in because most people are afraid of doing so. When the defender is really close to you, it’s the easiest time to cut-in because the defender wouldn’t be able to act so fast. In addition, v-cut, turning, or faking can always be successful while doing cut-in. In another case, which the defender stays where she is instead of approaching you, you can either shoot or pass. So, all team members have to be capable to shoot at everywhere, not just limited to one spot. The whole team has to be more familiar with these offense skills, so that we can get more points for games next year.

Alumni Party

   Today is the Alumni Party, which is held at the Hsinchu Ambassador Hotel, and starts from 12:00 pm to 3:00 pm. When I get to the hotel, I’m shocked by the scene that there are lots of people lining up for elevators. It’s not only my first time to see three elevators are crowded with people, but also my first experience of waiting for 10 minutes just to go up. However, I take the escalator with other attendants rather than the elevator to go upstairs because three elevators seem stuck: neither showing the sign of going up nor down. When we finally get to the 11 floor, there aren’t lots of people, so there is waiting again. I meet some of the alumni from last year, and it’s pretty happy and exciting to see them again after so long. While waiting for others to come, me and the alumni talk and take some pictures. Finally, the last group arrives, and everyone can start eating after 1 hour of waiting. Although there is never-ending waiting today, I still enjoy the party because the food is delicious and it feels good to see old friends again.

Macbeth Video

   Today is the day that our group films Macbeth, and we decide to shoot it in Jingmei, Taipei. In the morning, I take the train by myself, and also the MRT, and finally get to Jingmei station. The place we’re doing the film is at Bella’s house, which is beautiful since there’s a river and a park across the apartment. For the first two hours, we divide up the group and assign each people to read each act and choose what they think are the important lines. While one people is doing the work, the rest are just lying on the sofa and watching TV, which is pretty relaxing. After two hours of summary reading, we finally start to film. I think our film is extraordinary because it has some funny elements yet not losing essential parts of the story. Also, I like our group a lot due to the fun filming process and the efficiency of our teamwork.

   After the film is done, I have dinner with Sylvia and Leo at an Italian restaurant－Partco. I’m really not familiar with Taipei, and the restaurant is in the district that I’ve never been to. After dinner, Sylvia originally said she would take the bus with me and send me back to Taipei main station, however she changes her mind and decide let me take the bus by myself. She and Leo just walk me to the bus station and tell me which bus I should take. I’m pretty nervous and scared because I’m afraid I might miss the station to get off the bus. After the exciting journey, I finally get to Hsinchu successfully and safe. After today’s alone trip in Taipei, I think I become more independent.

Winter Solstice

    Today is the annual Winter Solstice, and people have to eat stuffed dumplings according to Chinese tradition, which has the meaning of growing one year older. Today is also when day time is the shortest and night time is the longest due to sunlight’s angle. After today is over, the weather will become colder and colder until lunar new year. Personally, I really love to eat stuffed dumplings, and Winter Solstice is always my favorite holiday because I get to have lots of them. Mom cooks both the sweet and the meat kinds of stuffed dumplings, and I decide to have four of each flavor. When I open my mouth and ready to have a bite on the meat stuffed dumplings, I find out that there are still frozen parts. Not only mine is like that, but also the whole pot is. The meat stuffed dumplings were bought last year, and I think they have lost their freshness, so that’s why they couldn’t be cooked. Despite this, the sweet kind has no problem at all, and I still get to enjoy this tradition.

Build Your Body

   Today, the girls basketball team members meet at UMC for the first practice. Rather than practicing basketball, we focus on body building this time. Mr. Li introduces to us all kinds of fitness equipment in the gym, and he plans a lesson for us. Most of the girls are afraid of having big muscles, but Mr. Li says we don’t have to worry about that as long as we control our diet. Moreover, fitness training can help to shape our body and we can have better physical strength while on the court. For every basketball game we play against other schools, we lose because our physical strength is not good enough. Thus, both boys and girls basketball teams are going to start work out in order to play better on the court.

    Mr. Li plans for us what we have to do over winter break: there are two sets of programs, and they will cover training of different parts of muscle. The most important thing to remember is “one front one back,” which means if you train the front muscle for the first facility, then you have to train the back muscle for the next facility. Mr. Li says we have to rest for 48 to 72 hours between two training days. Also, he says that the muscle will be sore after first few times of training because it’s trying to get used to the new condition. After today, I learn lots of usages for different fitness machines, and which part of muscles they train. From now on, I have to go to the gym more often and start doing the assignment to be stronger.

Late Lunch

   Today is the first day of the productive-week, so I do homework after I wake up at 10:30 am. After I finish Act 4 of The Tragedy of Macbeth, it’s already lunch time, and I thought I can take a rest since my brain works so hard in the morning. However, Mom and Dad haven’t come up yet, so I have to wait for them to finish their work. I thought they would have been done with their work within 30 minutes, but I waited and waited for a long time, until my brain is dizzy, my limbs are cold, and my lip is pale. I decide to eat some cookies because there’s a great chance that I faint if I wait any longer. I couldn’t even do any homework since my brain can’t run, so I just play games and listen to music while waiting. When we’re finally going out for lunch, it’s already 3:00 pm! Today’s lunch is the latest in my life, and I learn that the feeling of hunger is really disturbing and uncomfortable, I really don’t like it.

Christmas Break

   Today I wake up at noon, which I haven’t done so for a long time. Christmas break is a great time for me to regain my energy, my 8 hours sleeping time that I lose due to heavy school work. Although we have two weeks off, we still can’t really relax at this year’s Christmas break because seniors have finals right after the first week school starts. In addition, these final grades are especially important since they determine whether one can get into the college one wants. I have planned through my break that I should do homework, study for final exams, and start my college application. For first three days of the break, I’ve been acting pretty lazy, and I did almost no work at all. Tonight, I watch TV again for whole 6 hours, and this should be the last time for doing so. For the rest of the break, I tell myself I have to begin to work harder so that I can have less pressure next year.

Winter Dance

   Today is the last day of school, and also the Winter Dance. This year, I’m a waiter, so I have to dress all black. I decide to be a waiter this year because I found out it was boring when I came to the dance last year because I didn’t know how to dance. In addition, I was even washing the cups at the back, which I found more interesting. This year, I think it’s pretty fun to be waiters because we can mix different kinds of drinks with various colors of syrups by using the shaking cups and come up with specials. At first, I don’t know which drink should mix together with which syrup, and Julie teaches me. After several try outs, I become more familiar and use my creativity to create new products. I really feel like I’m a bartender, and people say I can work at night club as a second job. When everyone rushes to the table ordering drinks, it’s a time challenging us how fast can we make one drink. We have to make tasteful drinks fast so that customers wouldn’t be irritated. Almost everyone orders Julie’s Special, which is really delicious.

    Although I didn’t dance much this year, I still think this year’s winter dance is greater than that of last year. When I go down to the dance floor during fast songs, people pull me in and tell me to dance, but I just don’t know how to. I just stand there and smile, which I think extinguishes people’s hyper emotion, and I feel kind of sorry to my friends. During slow songs, I get to dance, and it’s pretty memorable because it’s my first time. My feet are sore due to standing too long, but I think it’s worth it since the dance is so perfect.

Rush and Busy Day

    Today is a rush and busy day for me because I have basketball game, final exam, and Christmas performance. Right after the school ends at 11:10 pm, I run to the cafeteria and finish my lunch hurry because I have to take the AP European History make-up final exam. Although Mr. Jones will be in his classroom for whole day, I only have limited time to do the exam since I have to catch game with the last basketball game that starts at 1:00 pm. I couldn’t really focus while doing the exam because my heart is thinking about the game. When I finish the exam at 12:15 pm, I quickly head to Frank, who is going to drive me to the competition place, and I have a chance to sit in Ms. Sherry’s sports car.

    After I get to the location, I do some warm up, and the game against Peng Shi starts in 5 minutes. I am the first five players, but Mr. Li didn’t send me to the court because he wants me to do some more warm up. After several minutes, Mr. Li calls Wan Yi down, and I go up. However, I’m replaced again 2 minutes later because Mr. Li thinks I’m not ready yet. I want to play, I want to go on to the court, so I tell myself to wake up. For the rest of the periods, I stay on the court longer, which I’m satisfied. Another thing that I’m happy is that when we use the Typhoon strategy, which is two people defensing one person, I successfully force the other team to drop the ball. No matter how good a team is, they would always be nervous when facing Typhoon. Also, the final score is 12 to 23, and we finally get a non one-digit number. Today, I didn’t shoot in baskets as I did yesterday, and I have to work on that. In addition, I learn that lay-ups become extremely hard while on the court because I didn’t count the steps correctly thus not able to get the ball in. Mr. Li tells us that in the future that practice will change to a new direction: more physical training, more offense, and we have to play hard as we’re against our own teammates. I fell down on the court again, which I lose the ball, and I should that my arms be stronger so I can fight for it. After playing today’s game, there are lots of bruises coming out of nowhere on my body, and this is probably the first time I get so many injuries.

     When the game is done, we head back to school and prepare for the Christmas performance at night. I hear lots of parents say that this year’s show is much more better than that of last year, and the senior performance is a big success. Although there are some mistakes during the basketball dance: some people don’t get the ball and the floor is too slippery, I think everyone does a great job. The most interesting part is when Victoria imitates Ms. Pamela, and all the people say that she looks 100 percent like Ms. Pamela. After the teachers finish singing, all the PAS students go up to the stage, which is a surprise because we don’t know what to do on the stage, and sing songs. At that time, everyone is so organized, singing Christmas songs, making the movement, while having no rehearsals. This really amazes me. The whole show is excellent, but there’s one part that’s a pity, and it’s I don’t have any prizes. I really want to have one, but I guess I’m just not lucky enough. Tomorrow is the last day of school, and I have to rest since my body is so sore, so tired, and so painful.

Tournament Day 2

  Today is the second day of the basketball tournament, and both boys and girls basketball teams have two games to play. I think I play a lot better than yesterday because I know what I’m doing on the court, where should I run to shoot, how should I help my teammates when they’re stuck. Also, I didn’t get tired right after the game starts. In fact, I think I have abundant energy because I’m able to run through the whole 40 minutes without getting exhausted. Today’s games are also the first time that I fell down on the court, and I think this is because my shoes are too slippery. My shoes are worn out, and I think it’s going to tear apart if I keep wearing it. It’s actually pretty cool to see my shoes are in such condition because it’s the first time that I torture them. Also, I get a big bruise on my knee when I try to steal the ball from the other team. It’s really hurt because I feel hard to walk, and I think she’s also in the same condition since our knees bump together.

    Again, our defense is pretty well, and still we need to work on our offense. Although we lose the game: the score is 7 to 27 when against Hsinchu Kao Shan, and the point is 3 to 56 when opposing Shu-Kuan Girls High School, Mr. Li is happy today because he sees we are showing our attitude. We need to trust in ourselves that we can do it, we can beat them. If we’re depressed at the very first period, then we would only result in going after the other school, which is tiresome. Tomorrow, there’s one more game for the girls. Go Typhoons!!

Tournament Day 1

    Today is the first day for both boys and girls basketball teams of the Hsinchu City Basketball Tournament, which takes place in the gym of Juibei High School. The boys have their games first, which is against Kuang-Fu at 8:30 am. Our game starts at 11:30 am, and our opponent team is Hsinchu Girls High School. From the starting point of the first period, I directly feel that I’m in a really bad condition. I try to let myself wake up at the coming periods, but I just can’t. I think I’m the one who plays the worst today because I can’t run fast, I miss catching the ball, I fail at dribbling, and I didn’t help my teammates to get the ball when they’re stuck. For the whole four periods, I feel like I’m an amateur; a person who doesn’t know anything about basketball being forced to go on to the court and play. The final result is 4 to 30, which is the lowest point that we’ve ever got. After the game, everyone is depressed, including the coach. I feel sorry for Mr. Li because he has been teaching us so hard, but we just couldn’t reach his expectation.

     Today, our defense is well, however we’re lacking chances in offense. Tomorrow there are two more games, I hope my performance would be much better than today, and we can be more aggressive while offense. Mr. Li, Frank, and Mr. Rick have been telling us that we’re not that bad, so we shouldn’t give ourselves so much pressure before game starts. Due to the atmosphere, the different location, we’re nervous, but we have to try to relax so we can show what we truly got to other teams. The score isn’t the most important thing; what’s prominent is that everyone puts greatest efforts into playing the games.

Senior Xmas Performance Practice

  Today is Sunday, but I still go to school because seniors have to practice the dances. Most people arrive around 2:30 pm because that’s when the practice starts, however I’m not able to make it that early since I have tutor. When I get to school, it’s around 5:30 pm, and I see lots of people, not only the seniors, are there. After everyone finishes the dinner, we gather at the dance room and start reviewing the steps of Time Warp, which is the dance that all seniors participate in. My favorite part in the Time Warp is when everyone lines up together because it seems impressive. When the Time Warp is done, the rest stays and practice the basketball dance. Although I still miss some moves, I think I’m familiar with most of the parts. For tomorrow’s rehearsal, I must remember all the steps and not having any mistake due to the fact that it would be the last time practice. Seniors have been working hard for preparing the shows, and I believe that we’re the most attractive also the best.

Xmas Performance Rehearsal

    Today the whole school went down to Kuang-Fu gym to run through the Christmas Performance on next Wednesday. Seniors had lots of dances, which were mostly choreographed by Antony. I participated in the basketball dance and the last dance. I wasn’t familiar enough of both dances due to less practice time. Next week, everything is bunched up: 3 days basketball games, final exam, and the Christmas Performance. This week is like an energy testing tryout because all basketball team players have to practice their dances after the basketball practice. I don’t want to look bad on stage, especially I’m a senior: I’m eager to leave a wonderful memory in my mind. This Sunday, the seniors will go to school and practice all the dances. Everyone is putting so much effort and trying so hard, so I mustn’t be the one who destroy everything. I hope all the seniors can do perfectly on stage.

PAS vs Kuang-Hua

   Today is the day when the girls basketball team has a game against Kuang-Hua Middle School, and we get our new jerseys. Our new jerseys are blue, and they are double-sided. In addition, my number has changed from 2 to 10. I and Esther’s ankles are injured, so Mr. Li winds bandage around our foot. After the tight bandage is on, I have a strange feeling for walking, and also I think I can’t run fast. The final result of the game is 39 to 46, which we get 39 points. Although we lose, 39 is the highest point that we’ve ever got for playing so many games. I think the game is somewhat unfair because the judges fail to whistle when the opponent team has fouls. The opposing team hits, blocks, pushes us, but the judges don’t do anything, just like nothing happened. However, there are still happy parts of the game. I, Caroline get in lots of hoops. No matter how we shoot, the ball seems like being controlled by the remote, it would just get in. After playing some many games, our team’s flaw is that we are always unprepared for the first period, when the opposing team finds a good chance to shoot in many hoops. Falling behind lots of points is a bad sign, because our confidence would collapse, and we wouldn’t want to put in our heart and effort into the game anymore. Mr. Li tells us we have to be prepared before the first period, and we need to trust ourselves that we aren’t that bad. If we’re leading the game, we wouldn’t feel tired at all.

Long Time No See, Basketball Dance

    Next Tuesday is the Christmas Performance, and today some of the seniors finally finish learning the whole piece of basketball dance. There is one move that I would never forget how to do because I practice for a lot of times. When Antony teaches everyone this move, all the others seem to be doing it quite well. But, I am the only one who has trouble doing it. This move is to put the ball behind your back, throw it over your head, and catch it. I just don’t get the key to do the action successfully. After I practice for several times, I still can’t throw the ball to the front. I’m nervous because I don’t want to ruin everyone, destroy the whole dance. So I ask Esther for help, and she teaches me. After she tells me that I have to use the power of my wrists to throw the ball rather than my arms, my brain seem to be illuminated. I’m excited because I finally know how to do this cool move. Although we know the whole basketball dance, it’s still pretty messy. There are still two more practices, and I hope we can be more organized. So on Tuesday, we can do the dance well no stage.

Sunburn Again!

   Today, most of the students were tired, and their body parts were sore due to Sports Day effect. Also, lots of people got sunburn. It sounds ridiculous for people getting sunburn on December, coldest of the year. I think my situation of sunburn is the most severe one because not only there are obvious red spots across my chin and on my nose, but also my neck is surrounded by a circle of redness. I don’t even know how did I get such sunburn, so serious. The stripe across my face was funny; it looked like some super hero’s mask. I remembered the sunburn at my neck was just exactly at the same spot where the juniors went to Camp Yilan last year. The feeling of sunburn was pretty awful and painful. I felt just like someone was using a needle poking at me, and every burned part was burning, especially my neck. The only way to ease the uncomfortable situation was to use Alo Vera, which can cool the burned part down. So, whenever I felt that my body was going to burn, I rushed to the bathroom and quickly put on the cooling medicine. I hope I can recover as soon as possible because sunburn is really troublesome and irritating: my face feels dry all the time, and my neck hurts a lot when my clothes just slightly touch that part of the skin. I don’t want to experience the skin peeling-off again because it’s definitely a nightmare.

PAS 2010 Sports Day

   Today is the annual PAS Sports Day. This weekend I didn’t get to have any time to relax because I had to wake up early on both Saturday and Sunday due to SAT testing and the school event. This year I’m in the red team, which I think is with the most spirit. The first event I had was rope pull, and we were against the yellow team. I wasn’t happy that Jack Sung acted as the team leader and ordered us to stand on one side and just keep pulling because I think this strategy wouldn’t work. We weren’t professional rope pullers, so it would be easier for us to stand on both sides and combine the strength on the count of “1, 2, pull.” I remembered last year our team used this strategy, and we won. However, the red team lost this time, and I was pretty depressed.

   The second event that I had was 400m relay, which is always my favorite running event. I was nervous when I heard that I had to compete against Jane Jan, Sharon Kuan, and Melissa Lee because I think they were fast runners while I wasn’t. Although I was on lane 4, the most front, I was the starter, which made me super nervous. When the gun shot, I ran as fast as I could, and I was leading! But, my legs started to feel tight while on the turn, and they seemed to be out of control. It was at that point that two runners ran ahead of me. I guessed I was too nervous, so my legs suddenly lost forces. However, I was glad that our team still has the second place. Moreover, I was thrilled when heard from teachers and my teammates saying I was running like a wind, proving that I could run fast.

   After the lunch break, I had the most fun event- water balloon fight. I not only threw balloons at our principal, but also sneak attacked Esther. When I was being chased by Esther, I really could feel that my speed was so fast that she couldn’t get me. I think the best way to let people run faster is being chased by those who are trying to revenge or kill them.

   Then, there was kickball competition between seniors and juniors. Although there are less people on the seniors team, we still show our unity, and finally got five points. During the match, I kicked for twice, but both times my result was out. I thought I could have done better, and got some points for the seniors. So I was not happy at my performance on the field today. Nonetheless, this year’s sports day would be my most enjoyable one not only because it was the last one, but also because I attended lots of events. Also, the red team got the second place for final result.

Three games in a row

    Today after school, I went to the sixth floor and was ready to have the basketball game with Frank Wu. I, Esther, Bella, and Julie were in a team, and Frank’s team had Vincent and Ping. Although the game was 3 against 4, I think it’s still unfair because Vincent is on the basketball team, and Ping is a great shooter. After the first game ended, we were behind by 2 points. I was reluctant to admit that we lost, so I suggested to play another game. When the second game ended, our team finally got the victory, and it felt great.

    Right after two basketball games, I had another one waiting for me. This time, I and Julie were on the same team, and Esther and Bella were on the other team. It was really hard to concentrate when playing with Bella and Julie because they were so funny that I laughed hard, and even my stomach was sore from laughing too much. Also, I couldn’t use all my effort when trying to grab the ball from Esther’s hand because I wasn’t focused. Moreover, my shooting was really bad today. There were so many chances that Julie gave me the ball, but I failed to get it in. For the final result, our team lost, and I think this should blame on me. In addition, I was embarrassed and sad since I’m in the basketball team. I determined to have another game with them next week, and I don’t want to taste the feeling of losing again.

Attitude

   Today was the first time that I saw Esther Lu, who is the captain and Caroline Tan, who is the co-captain of the girls basketball team being so furious. The reason they are so angry is there is one player, Christine Kang, whose uncaring attitude causes a severe problem to the whole team. This player just joined the basketball team, and she doesn’t know how to do lay-ups. Esther, the captain, has offered a chance for this player to learn how to do lay-ups. However, the team member was unwilling to put more effort, and she didn’t stay after practice. Moreover, she always had excuses to get away from more tiring training. Thus, she didn’t know how to run certain strategies, and this resulted into bad cooperation between teammates on the court. Also, she just took a shot randomly whenever she had the ball, which was nonsense because we should only shoot when we’re in our shooting range. Due to her irresponsible attitude that resulted into a burden of the team, Caroline decided to kick her out.

   The event that Esther and Caroline were angry about was that Christine told people in the badminton team that the girls basketball team treated her badly. This was the most loathsome and unreasonable claim that I’ve heard of because we have been giving her so many chances to change, and she just ignored us. And now, how could she lie under her conscience? It would be fine that one doesn’t know how to do lay-ups as long as the person shows the positive attitude of willing to learn, unlike avoiding it or giving up because one doesn’t know how to perform it. I think the lying is really what tickles the fire in Esther and Caroline’s mind since they have been spending so much time on trying to help Christine while they are pressured by college application. Everyone wants to contribute something good for the team’s benefit, and I think it’s right to kick out those who shows lacking of interest of the team because they would only damage the team rather than helping it.