Cyrano & Roxanne Difference

One of the biggest difference between the two movies is the part where the guy insults Cyrano about his big nose. In the movie Cyrano, he didn't ask for the guy to choose a number of how many different way he can comment about his nose. Another big difference in that scene was the fighting scene, in both how they fought and the timing. The fight in the movie Roxanne was a lot shorter than the one in Cyrano. In the movie Cyrano, Cyrano made a poem while dueling, but in Roxanne it was quick and effective. A characteristic that was different in the Cyrano of the movie Cyrano and Roxanne was that the one in Roxanne had like super acrobatic skills. Something in common is their personality such as intelligence, cleverness, way with words, and wittiness. Both of their physical capabilities were compatibles as well, they were both able to beat up the guys who gives him  trouble. Last but not least, in the movie Cyrano, Roxanne was the cousin of Cyrano. While in the movie Roxanne, Cyrano (Charlie) and Roxanne were complete strangers.

Legend Post

My favorite legend would probably be the Incidental Adventures of Hercules. Mostly because of the movie Hercules, because it's a really cute movie. I loved that movie ever since I was a little kid, and I still do right now. I'm exactly sure why I love it, but I really like the story. Hercules is strong and skilled, and fair in all his challenges that I've read about. It's said that he's fair in all his challenges and never uses unfair tricks to his advantage. The story of Hercules is also quite interesting because he's a demigod. The story of how Zeus had an affair with Alcmene, and Hera was really mad when she found out. Yet, Zeus placed Hercules in Hera's arms and she raised him. Hera still had a grudge against Hercules so she sent him on a blind frenzy. He killed all of his children and his wife. When he finally came back to sanity he went to the Oracles of Delphi to make amends. The Oracles ordered Hercules to serve Eurystheus, and he sent Hercules on a series of tasks.

Odyssey Quickwrite

What makes a hero? Write down the names of people, real or fictional, whom you consider heroic. Then, list character traits that you think a hero should have. Are these traits universal, or do they reflect only our own cloture add to you notes as you read the Odyssey.


A hero is someone who does right by justice, and only does what right. He stands for justice and he wants what is fair for everyone. Often, a hero is also someone who saves people from  bad events. People that I think are heroic is Hercules, Superman, Spider man, Odysseus, etc. As a hero, you should have a strong sense of justice, good morals, fair, unbiased, and always willing to help out others. These traits are usually universal between all heroes, because heroes need to be unbiased and willing to help. Heroes ask for justice between all people so then there would be no arguments. Heroes aim for the same goal, so the traits they have a usually the same or universal. 

Animal Farm Movie/Book Difference

The difference between the book and the movie is that the book had more details. While watching the movie, they don't narrate. Without the narration, I wasn't sure what they were trying to show at some scenes. In the movie they sang the national anthem for the Unite Kingdom, which you can't really do in a book. The movie also kinds of exaggerates the details. For example the fire when they were burning the books. In fact, in the movie, they didn't burn the books like the movie. In the book, it said that Napoleon tricked Roxy into being on his side, but they never showed that in the movie. Most of the main events were the same, but of course, the book was more detailed. There were some details that were altered in the movie, but it didn't stray far from the original idea of the book.

Beware of the dog quick write

There is an old saying, “Appearances can be deceiving.” Have you ever been misled by the appearance of someone or something? List some situations in which people might be deceived. Why might they be misled? How might they discover that their initial impressions were wrong? Jot down your responses.

Yes, I have been misled by the appearance of someone or something. I know that everyone have been misled by some one's appearance before, especially if they looked really innocent or sweet. A lot of times I've been misled by people appearance because at first they're all nice, then they become really untrustworthy. I've also been misled by the appearance of something, especially things that are simple.  I once saw a book mark that was a pen at the same time! People might be deceived when they imagine too far from the reality. Sometime when you expect someone or something to have a certain quality just from their appearance, you can often be deceived. To be misled you can either be misled by the person or thing, or it can be because you allowed yourself to be misled using your own imagination. To discover that their initial impressions were wrong you spend time with the person or thing. When you spend time, you find out more about them, allowing you to know whether they appear to be what they seem.

What is bullying? Have you been bullied? What happened?

Bullying is making other people feel bad or hurting them emotionally or physically. Bullying is when someone or a group of people going up against one person and putting them down on their self-esteem. The main thing that makes a person a bully is making other people's self-esteem go down. For example, when you call other people names that they don't like, it's a verbal abuse, and considered as verbal bullying. If the person who you're calling doesn't like the name they are called, then you should stop. It's also another form of harassment, which is kind of another way of bullying. Bullying can also be when you hurt someone, both emotionally and or physically. When you hurt someone emotionally, it's when you play around with their feelings and allow them to get hurt. For example, you make a comment about how they look or how they dress. Telling someone that they are ugly or really short like a dwarf is offensive to the person, so it's considered bullying. Physically bullying someone is when you hurt one another on purpose. For example, you or a group of people gain up on one person and start beating him or her up. You're purposely hurting that person, so it's considered physical bullying. One thing that all of those have in common is that it lowers the person's self-esteem. As you've noticed, the people who are bullied have lower self-esteem than the people who are the bullies. It's because they've been put down, and made them feel like they don't fit in, or they shouldn't do what they do, in other words, be themselves.
Yes, I have been bullied, both emotionally, physically, and verbally. I've been bullied ever since I was in kindergarten up til around the end of seventh grade. Even till now I'm bullied, but personally, I consider it as teasing and not really bullying. Ever since I was little, I'm always called short, and I use to take that as an insult. I've been called nasty names that are inappropriate for school, and of course names that related to waste and junk. I would also get bossed around, act as if I'm a slave for other people. I was always controlled by people because they would threaten me if I didn't do what they asked. One time that I remember most vividly would be when I was in kindergarten. My "friend" told me to get something for her in the bathroom at the very end of the room. I walked in and suddenly she closed the door, lights, and locked me inside the bathroom. Ever since then, I was afraid of the dark. Another unforgettable memory was in fifth grade. My classmates accused me calling another one of my classmates a bad word. No one would believe that I did not do such thing, at the end of the year at our water balloon party, people would throw water at me. Not just water balloons, but the water inside water bottles as well. One of the most recent one would be in sixth grade. My so called friends started talking bad behind my back to my best friend at the time. For some reason, she believed her and she started spreading the rumor even further. For a couple of weeks, all my friends isolated them from myself. During class time I would be all alone, and sometimes I would have some people who were willing to work with me. Ever since the end of seventh grade I've been teased, but not bullied.

American History Quickwrite

• The earthquake of 911: Many buildings were destroyed, but luckily our apartment was fine. While it happened, I could feel the whole house shaking back and forth. Our whole family came together and grouped in the living room. It made me think about my family and my life, but mostly, I was just scared.
• The tsunami in Japan(2011): Many of my friend's family back in California has relatives living in Japan. Hearing from all my Japanese friends talking about how worried they are about their relatives, it made me think about the tsunami. What if it hit the West coast, or if it hit Taiwan? It made me think how valuable our lives are, and how you have to treasure each moment with your family and friends.
• At around 2010, a law in California was proposed that all teenagers born during the year 1995 and after, can only drive when they're 18 years of age. Before, all teenagers could learn how to drive and get their license if you turn 15, but now we have to wait until we're 18. I'm not sure if the law was passed or not, but so far, I think it didn't pass.

Turning Points Quickwrite

The people that inspire me about risk-taking are people that are brave and strong. Harry Potter was a big risk-taker, he was never afraid to face the dangers and the evil. When he was in the race for the Goblet of Fire, he stood in front and fought Voldemort. Harry didn’t run away or turn away from this risk he’s taking, and fighting him. Another character is the soldier in Iraq, or any soldiers. The soldiers who fought in wars are inspiration risk-takers since they faced up front with war and fought for our country. Soldiers risk their lives to save thousand and even millions. They never back down from justice or war, they go out into the battlefield and face whatever comes their way and sets out to complete their mission. One of the most inspirational people is Barack Obama. He took a risk to run for president because he's an African American. I have nothing against African Americans, but there was never an African American who became president. He took a big step, and this resulted in a big event that will be marked down in history. Obama is the first ever African American president, who is risking his own life to do that. As you know, when you become president, there will always be people who are dissatisfied with you, so there might be people who want to kill you. Obama is risking his life to make America better, trying to make this country a better place again. Trying to fix up the mistakes that the last president made.

To Da-duh, in Memoriam Quickwrite

I would consider myself more of a city slicker rather than a country bumpkin. I can relate and associate more things to a city slicker than a country bumpkin, because I've lived in the city for more than half my life.

Country Bumpkin

• walk everywhere I go
• watch really little TV
• surrounded by nature (trees)
• not a lot of people at my school

City Slicker

• use the computer a lot
• has the small apartment
• a lot of people
• cars everywhere
• variety of transportations
• poluted atmosphere
• rely on technology
• noisy
• downtown is very busy with a lot of people
• food stores around every corner

Analyzing a Poem

When analyzing a poem, I find lines that are interesting to me. I read over the poem once, and try to comprehend the feeling it expresses to me. I also look for lines that are hard for me to understand. If there are words that I can't understand in a line, I look them up in the dictionary. Once I know all the words in the poem, find lines that are hard to understand or interesting to me, I start to think about what it means. Line by line, I analyze what the line might mean. The best clues that start off my analysis is by looking at the lines that are interesting or hard for me. Usually, those are the lines that I find are the main ideas of the poem. So, by understanding those sentences, I have a small understanding of the main idea the poem is trying to say. After I analyze every line, I put all of the meanings together to see if it makes sense. Sometimes, when I put everything together, I come up with other ideas for the poem or lines that make more sense than the one before. A lot of times, one line or word can symbolize for other things, so I think about the poem over and over again, until I think there's no more to it. After I'm done, I read over the poem and the analysis I came up with, making sure that I found the main points and showed an understanding of the poem.

Becasue I could not stop for Death

-          Death was a gentlemen

-          Gloomy feel of the school

-          Shivering feel, quivering

-          Rhyme in every other line (me, immortality; done, sun; ground, mound)

-          Death seems nice, but yet, eerie

-          Image of death going past

-          Image of setting sun, and everything going dark

-          A barely visible house

-          A black carriage

-          Sounds of horses

-     Death tricked her

-     Death was a gentlemen, but tricked her into death and eternity.

Death was a gentleman who’s patient, who accompanied the speaker. He’s not scary, and people shouldn’t be that afraid of death. He didn’t rush her into anything, only being patient with what is bound to happen, death. Death was civilized, and gave the speaker a rest to her labor and leisure. They went past places, like memories. It’s like the path down memory lane when you know you’re about to pass away. Passing the setting sun, and going into the darkness. Moving away from light and life, and going into the darkness and death. In the fourth stanza, the speaker wasn’t sure she was with death, or that death had passed her. Was this trip just a passing of death, or was it really death accompanying her, because she felt the chill for her clothes were thin. Since then, each day felt shorter, for death is slowly getting to her. The carriage that she’s in, with death and immortality is going towards eternity. Meaning that death isn’t an end to things, it’s just another form of eternity/forever. The carriage is welcoming and taking her towards eternity, knowing that mortality is gone, and going towards death and eternity.

Because I could not stop for Death,
He kindly stopped for me;
The carriage held but just ourselves
And Immortality.
We slowly drove, he knew no haste,
And I had put away
My labor, and my leisure too,
For his civility.
We passed the school, where children strove
At recess, in the ring;
We passed the fields of gazing grain,
We passed the setting sun.
Or rather, he passed us;
The dews grew quivering and chill,
For only gossamer my gown,
My tippet only tulle.
We paused before a house that seemed
A swelling of the ground;
The roof was scarcely visible,
The cornice but a mound.
Since then 'tis centuries, and yet each
Feels shorter than the day
I first surmised the horses' heads
Were toward eternity.

Essay Question

In your own words, describe the tone of "Women."  Identify the origins of the tone based on what you can infer about the life experience of the speaker.  How does the speaker communicate her attitude through her words?  Use at least two examples  from the poem to support your response.

The tone of "Women" is a inspired and grateful tone. The speaker probably had a hard life, working everyday just to be able to barely feed her family. The poem shows inspiration of women over the world, working hard every single day. The speaker uses words that are easily related and understood. The words are simple, but together, it shows the tone of inspiration shows. "How they knew what we/Must know/Without knowing a page/Of it/Themselves," shows that the hard work that pays off, it's not for them but for the children. The women who work to let their kids have what they have today, they've never had that privilege. Even though they never had it, they work their hardest to let their kids be able to have that kind of privilege. How they led/Armies/
Headragged generals/Across mined/Fields/Booby-trapped/Ditches/To discover books/Desks/A place for us." Shows that the women works hard like soldiers. They are like soldiers who battle through, work through their everyday life. Fighting for what is right, working for what is right for their children and future generations. What they do isn't for a prize, but for their kids to have a place to go to school and learn. Become a better person, and make themselves a somebody.

The Courage That My Mother Had- Quickwrite

Something that I would like to inherit from my family is the smart brain that my dad has. My dad is a professor who's really smart, and he's especially intelligent in engineering. He went to graduate school and graduated from Berkley. Berkley is a really good school, especially in the fields of engineering. I would like to inherit the intelligence my dad has so I'd do better in school. Not just in school though, also everyday life. If I had the brains my dad has, I wouldn't have to work as hard and sleep so late everyday. I would be able to get concepts a lot easier than I do now.
Another thing I would like to inherit is being conservative and kind like my grandfather. My grandfather the most conservative person I've ever met. He would eat any leftover, choose the cheapest item available while it's still new. He didn't spend much money, but yet, he stilled lived happily. If I could do that, I'd feel really good about myself. I want to save and contribute to my family and the world. Same goes to his kindness. My grandfather was so nice that he got cheated off by his friends. He's an amazingly kind guy, so he believed in his friends, even when they were cheating off of him. I want to be kind like him, but no so kind that I'll get cheated off of. If I had the smarts like my dad, being conservative and kind like my grandfather, I think I'd be a really good person.

The Base Stealer/ American Hero Quickwrite

The the critical point of the fourth quarter, it's the last 5 seconds, the pressure's on. I go into action, and suddenly the crowd the silent. Everyone is in slow motion, you could see their faces one by one. My footsteps seems like it's fast forwarded in this slow motion world. I could hear my own thoughts and nothing else. Step by step, I dribbled the basketball, step by step, I move towards the hoop. As I ran, my legs felt like feathers surfing on air, my heart thumping as fast as I ran. I could feel my heart jumping, and hearing the thumps as loud as stereo speakers. Then, I jumped! The feeling of freedom, the feeling of victory, the feeling of accomplishment overcomes me. I felt nervous, scared, and confident, but only a little. The team depended on this shot, fate was in my hands.

Folding Won Tons In- Quickwrite

Something that another person has taught me to do was learning how to bike. Some words that associate with this activity is: summer, hot weather, main courtyard, brother, dad, security guard, tall bike, helmets, protection, wobbly bike, feet pedling, pushing, falling, bruises, scars, sweat, laughter, encouragement, benches, poles, slopes, cement, breezes, short legs, panic, determination, moving bike, metal bike, old bike, yellow bike, blue bike, training wheels, cushioned handlebars, hard seats, short bike, cycling sounds, cheering, difficult, wanting to give up, tears, agitation, complicated, help from others.

Country Scene- Making the Connection

Things that are permanent is like the nature, the waterfalls, rocks, mountains, trees, and the sky. There's also life, because plants are alive too, so are little creatures and insects. There's always life around you, so in a way, it's permanent. History is permanent as well. When someone or a group of people does something amazing or greatly beneficial to the world, it's recorded down in history. Records of history stays permanent, and so that's how we have history class. If it wasn't permanent, we wouldn't be learning about things that happened hundreds and thousands of years ago. Things that are fleeting is our own lives, because our lives only go up to one point where we say good bye to the world.  Feelings are fleeting as well. Feelings such as love, anger, hatred, envy, all kinds of feelings fade at one point or another. We're unable to hold on to allow these thing to stay the way they are, so that's why they fleet from us. Feelings are hard to hold onto, just like people. People everyday may fleet from us, whether it's ending a relationship or someone passing away.

Haiku Quickwrite

On the special day of the year, what I hear, see, taste, smell, and touch all connected with each other. On that day, most of what I heard was about how the year was ending so fast. "I'm going to miss you so much," was the majority of what I heard. Yes, it was the last day of school. Everyone was so sad about leaving each other, so everyone was talking about eighth grade ending and starting high school. Everything I saw that day was special to me. It occured to me that this was the last day I'll ever be a student at CMS. The fields, classrooms, classmates, trees, teachers, benches, and the hall seem memorable to me. Not to mention the food was memorable as well. At most schools, their lunches are disgusting, and so were some of our lunches. But, our lunches had a lot of variety, so even if there were bad food, there were also good ones as well. Same goes for brunch. I remember everyday during brunch, I'd get a cookie or a bagel. They were delicious! They smelled delicious too. The sweet smell of chocolate chip cookies, warm soft bagels, and the cheezy pizza sticks. This special day was a hot day. During PE, I could smell the sweat in the lockers, but also smell the fresh smell of the grass and flowers. Last but not least, the touch. This may sound weird, but on this day, everyone was hugging eachother. Because of that, I felt the warmth of peoples body.
This was an incredibly important and special day to me. Especially the moment I stepped foot on school grounds, and when the bell for school ending had rang. When I got to school, my view of the school had changed. I felt sad, happy, and thankful. Imagine you're leaving your home and this was the last time you're ever going to be living in this house. Wouldn't you feel sad, happy, and thankful? When I was leaving the school, thoughts about all I've heard that day flashed through my head. I felt like crying, but I didn't want to be sad over this. I'm sad that I'm leaving the school, but I know so is everyone else. The feelings are hard to describe, but the main thought on this was that it was a feeling of sadness mixed with thanfulness.

A Blessing Quickwrite

When I close my eyes, what I see when you say "nature," is a big open field of grass. Baby blue sky with no clouds at all, with the sun shining, but not too bright not too soft. There's a slight comfortable breeze that feels like silk on my skin. I can feel the small tinkle of warmth on my face from the sun. Surrounding me, there's flowers, many many flowers. Flower of all kinds, from tulips to roses to daisies to petunias to lavender. The sweet and fresh aroma of flowers fill the air around me. If you look closely, there's little lady bugs on the leaves of the grass. Little ants trying to find their way back home, and up in the sky there's white doves fluttering the place. A magical view of nature! The mood of the place makes me feel like dancing and spinning like those commercials for fragrances or wedding dresses. Dancing around the green grass and maybe accidentally stepping on some flowers. The field is open and wide, green grass as far as the eye can see. Everything, gives me a strong feeling of relaxation and paradise.

Let your backbone slide

This was kind of hard, I tried my best!

I Am a Rock

When he sings the chorus "I am a rock, I am an island," that's what I literally think of. In his first verse saying "I am all alone," I think of a person stranded in a deserted island. "It's loving and laughter that I disdain," shows me that he likes to be alone. To back that up, he sings "if I never of loved, I never would of cried." That verse gives me an image of someone trying to be strong, even though they've been hurt before. When hearing this song, I have an image of a lonely person on a stranded island because he doesn't want love, laughter, tears, or pain, because he just wants to be alone.

Fall For You by Secondhand Serenade
When I hear this songs I see a guy trying to persuade a girl that he loves her. Throughout the song, he tries to secure the girl by saying "I may have failed, but I have loved you from the start." He also says "because tonight will be the night that I will fall for you, over again, don't make me change my mind." That gives me and image of a guy standing in a garden rooftop with flowers, candle-lit dinner and everything. When he sings "because a girl like you is impossible to find, you're impossible to find," I think of a rare diamond or antique, something that's not common and there's only one in the world. Throughout this songs, I think of a sad image that a guy wants his girl to come back to him, but in the end I see the girl coming back to him because of what he says in this song, telling her she's one of a kind.

Quick Write- Symbolism in Stories I've Read

In the story The Osage Orange Tree, the tree was the main symbol in the story. For one thing, it's a tree, it's also the place where the Narrator and the girl meets. It was a meeting place, and soon it became an everyday place. An everyday place where the narrator goes and drops off the newspaper. The tree is also a symbol of them, the narrator and the girl. It's a symbol of them together, their feelings, and friendship. They walk together everyday, and the narrator drops off the newspaper there everyday. That place became a place that belonged to both of them. I think this tree is symbolic because it shows more than it just being a tree. It symbolises the friendship of the two characters rather than just a tree as a meeting place.

The Road Not Taken

I think the title is called "The Road Not Taken," because it's choice that you didn't make. When you do take one road, it's the choice you've chosen, and there's a road that you didn't take. People always wonder about what would of happened if you chose the other choice rather than the choice you chose. The road NOT taken is always more mysterious than the one you chose, because you don't know what could of happened. Maybe everything will be different now, your life could of been changed. In your life, there's always a point where you have to choose between two choices. There's one that taken, and another that's not taken. The one that's taken has lead you to your life right now, but what if you chose the other road? It's questions like "what if" that makes the road not taken all the more mysterious and makes you more curious about it.

The Scarlet Ibis Quickwrite

Situations that might make someone feel proud:
- winning a game
- getting better grades than others
- knowing more than others
- being right
Pride is both a positive and negative thing. It can be positive because you might of just won a game, and you feel proud that you helped out to win the game. It's good when you accomplish something good. It's also a negative thing because sometimes you can be too proud. When one is too proud, they change and think that they're better than others. Just because you're good at one thing, doesn't make you better than everyone else, so pride can also be a bad thing. To be proud means to feel strong accomplishment, to feel superior over one another, and to feel that you did something good or that you can brag about. Pride isn't a primary emotion, so it's a mix of other emotions. Pride is also another feeling of confidence, being confident about doing things, and not afraid of being wrong.

The Lady or the Tiger Quick write

Yes, I did have to make a choice between something that was good for you and something that was good for someone I cared about. It was a simple choice, though at that time, it wasn't. It was when my friend and I were shopping for a special occasion, and we saw a really cute shirt. We walked into Forever21 and the first thing we saw was that shirt, but there was only one size that was left. Coincidentally, only that size fit both of us, and neither of us knew what we could do. We asked each other whether we wanted to buy it. I really liked that shirt, but I told her that she could buy it. I am glad that I made that choice, because she looked really good in it. Also because I ended up not spending any money that day, so I saved money! When I made this choice, I thought about how it would benefit my friend. She really like that shirt, so if she got it, she'd be really happy. If I wanted to buy it, I would of felt guilty because I knew my friend wanted it. When it comes to a point of deciding whether to benefit my friend or I, I usually end up choosing the one that benefits my friend. I do that because I want my friends to be happy. I would rather have them happy than sad over something that could of benefited them but then ended up benefiting me.

Chinese Mothers - Quickwrite

After reading the article I felt that maybe Amy Chua is right. I always knew that Chinese parents had a "different" teaching method, but it was just a way to help their kids. Even though in the future it really does end up helping the kid, it's a cruel way to teach. In the article whenever Amy talks about how Chinese parents deal with their kids, I think about my mom. It's really stupid and mean of the parents to do that to their kids, even though it's for our own good, it's a way of disrespecting the kids too! From this article I learned that it's true that Chinese parents are able to get away with things western parents can't do. Chinese parents are able to call their child names, but western parents aren't able to do that.  Whenever my parents call me a name, I feel really angry but not bad. It's true that Chinese parents are able to get away with it, but it doesn't mean it's OK. Throughout this article it's telling the reader about how all the cruel things Chinese parents do to their kids is for their own good. That may be true, but the only people that knows that for sure, is the parents. By using this teaching method, your kid can grow up to hate you. Thinking more and more about this article makes me more mad, because I hate how my mom treats me. I believe that making me feel "bad" about my bad grades will cause me to want to achieve better, but I hate how she does it. I hate it when she calls me a name because I didn't do something, even when it's simple, I get called names like "garbage, idiot, retard, stupid," etc. Unlike the article saying how kids feel bad about it, I feel extremely angry. This article is right for the most part, but it's still unacceptable to me how this teaching method is always so mean to the kids, and I really don't believe that it will change soon.

Poison Quickwrite

Factors that influence our choices are our personalities, our needs, fears, society values, environment, and the people around us. A hard choice that I had to decide, was when my parents asked me if I wanted to move back to Taiwan or stay in California. I thought about it for couple of months, because I was listing out all the good and bad of each decision. I thought about how I would fit into a new school when starting high school, how my environment would change, how my personality fits in, and whether I was brave enough to go to a whole new school. Keeping all those things in mind, if I chose to stay in California, I would have more friends. I would of had people I knew when becoming a freshmen. Since I already knew the place like the back of my hand, I would of had no trouble going anywhere. But, if I chose to go back to Taiwan, everything would change. I would be going to a whole new environment that I haven't been around for over 7 years, and attending a new school where I know no one and no one knows me. It was a hard choice, because mainly for me, I was seeing whether if I was brave enough to start a whole new life in a whole new place. The most important factor that influenced my choice, was my personality. I love meeting new people and going to new places to see what it's like in different parts of the world. Being that kind of person who loves meeting new people, I decided to move back to Taiwan.

The Gift of the Magi Quickwrite

If I could save just one item from a disaster, I would save my picture album. My most cherished possession is my picture album of family and friends. The album is a scrapbook from Disney Land when I went there in 8th grade for a choir competition. The pictures in it are pictures from the whole 8th grade year, and some photos of family. Other than pictures, there were also signatures and messages. In a way the picture album was a gift, because all my friends wrote messages in it, so a gift of messages. They wrote in it because the picture album was a going away gift for me. What makes this album special is that all my friends wrote me messages inside. You might think that they could just send those messages to me over email or chat, but when it's down on paper it's different. It feels as if there's more feelings and reality to what they're writing down. Everyone has a different handwriting, and their writing styles are different, so when I read what they're writing, I can kind of imagine what they were like back then. It shows me that they really did like me as a friend and I was special and important to them. Without this picture album, I wouldn't of been able to be as happy to accept my Taiwan environment. The album gave me courage and happiness to open my mind and think "I could make friends like that in Taiwan too, so I have to be more social and nicer to everyone I meet."

New Year Resolutions & Career

Five of my 2011 New Year resolutions are to be able to get better grades in school, especially in math, grow a bit taller, get rid of stage fright,  become more prepared for SAT subject tests, and learn to stop procrastinating.

If I could choose any occupation in the world, I would choose to be a performer. I would want to be a performer because I love to entertain people, especially if it's making them laugh. I love how performers are able to connect with their audience ,making them feel sad, happy, hyper, loved by being on stage and performing. I love to dance and sing, but I have stage fright. Stage fright is a big obstacle for this dream to come true, but even so, it's a career I would like to have.