Post Semester Fun

December 6th, 2010

Our day started off by going to the BCTF seminar which was... let's just say enjoyable. It wasn't the most intellectual experience of my life, but it was alright to sit and learn how to manage the behaviour of the classroom. After that, Meg and I took off to go to Seattle by car. First we took off to the Seattle Premium Outlets where we stayed about 5 hours to shop. We went store by store and bought quite a few things. Later, we drove to Seattle in a just a few hours and arrived at the Hyatt hotel. I managed to book a nice place somewhat near downtown Seattle for a decent price. It was probably one of the nicest hotel rooms I have stayed in a while. It had a huge left hand chaise that was in the corner, a nice bathroom, two beds and a large HD TV. It was very enjoyable to stay there.

That evening, we went out for some food nearby at a sports bar. It was mostly decorated with baseball and basketball memorabilia. After our meal we took a look at the space needle which was a block away. The space needle looks very cool at night, all lit up and standing out. We took a few pics and then went back to the hotel to rest. We only had one day to spend in Seattle so we had to go home and be prepared for a long day.

The next day we went to Pike's Place, the market for all the fishermen and arts and crafts. Meg had a good time, it was her first time there and she kept on reminding me of how nice it is to visit Seattle. Later we went shopping to a few places, shoe stores, the Nike shop, Nordstrom Rack, etc. It was very enjoyable to travel with Meg. We then ate dinner at the Cheesecake Factory and started our journey back home. Before we took off from Seattle, we stopped by AT&T to find an iPad to buy. They only had iPads with phone contracts, so we couldn't get it. But they were so helpful there, they suggested a place where we could get it and even printed us maps of how to get there. Talk about service even though they weren't making a profit. On the way back we stopped by Target and bought the iPad. The best thing was Meg's residence card of Alberta, that means NO TAX! She bought the iPad for exactly 599. No more, no less. That's just a steal. What was even better was the fact that the custom people knew we spent $1060 and did not decide to charge us custom tax. That was awesome. That was a lot of fun going to Seattle with Meg. I never had a chance to visit a place with just my girlfriend, so it was an awesome experience.

Life as we know it...

So many new things have happened since the first week of classes. First off, I would like to say that there is a wonderful girl in my life now. Her name is Megan and we met in our education classes. I have been spending a lot of free time with her and its been great. Usually after school we hang out at her place and we either go to the grocery store, study, exercise, run errands, cook, wash dishes and repeat. Today was our one month anniversary and all I can say is that she is so nice to me. I feel we have really connected and that we may have a bright future together. As well, school has just been great. The last few weeks have been really easy because we got Thanksgiving long weekend combined with an off Tuesday which gave us a four day weekend. Then after that, we had classes cancelled in response to our class' practicum. Then last week we had a professional development day where we were encouraged to find some resources on teaching. Although it's been easy these last few weeks, it's going to get real busy soon. Off the top of my head, I have a large assignment due for POT/COM, then I have a music project, psychology project and a exceptionality project due in November. Plus, I got to stay up to date with my readings since there's a Reading exam coming up mid-November. It's going to be very hectic, but I'm up for the challenge. Despite all the work, school is just so much fun. The people in our cohort are just amazing and fun. We have fun in our classes, all of us are friendly and we're all nice to each other. However, the real fun happens outside of school. Like when we went to the Vancouver Aquarium for a teacher's appreciation day, go eat sushi at the Eatery and soon to be having fun at a Jazz show. It's just really great.

The next biggest news is probably my new cell phone. The Samsung Galaxy S Vibrant from Bell is just an amazing phone. It's a great competitor to the iPhone4 which I think half the population has in possession. With the new software upgrade from Samsung to Android 2.2, my phone will be much better than before. Although the iPhone4 is great, there are a lot of restrictions on it that don't make sense. Also, I got an awesome plan with Bell by talking to their retention department. They have the power to change your cell phone plan, but before that happens, you got to present a good case to them on why you might switch over to another company.

Well it's that time of the year. I believe my cousin Justin just got married today. Congratulations to Mr. and Mrs. Kienzle. As far as I know, they flew to Vegas for the wedding and are having a honeymoon over there right now. I hope things go well and best of luck in the future. Next up on the wedding list is probably my brother. But I'll post on that later when it actually happens. On a sad note, my cousin and friend are leaving the country again for work. My cousin Jason will be flying to China to teach English. He says that the pay is good and the cost of living in that area is really low, so he will be able to save money and live comfortably. As for my friend Richard, he will be flying to Vietnam to meet up with his father who will be hiring him for helping with hotel management. His dad is a business man that puts up hotels in the area and Richard can definitely help him out with that.

Sports. So the hockey season has just started and the Vancouver Canucks are off to a slow start. However, I think that will change soon when Luongo heats up and the team gels together. They do have a few new faces and they're getting on to the score sheet, but it's still early developing that team chemistry. In particular, I think the Canucks will be able to get things going by November 6th when they host the Detroit Red Wings. The game will probably be a good 3-2 victory at Rogers Arena. Oh yeah, I got tickets for that game and I will be taking my girlfriend there. Even though she is a Red Wings fan, I still love her. But anyhow, I hope it will be a fun and exciting game to watch. Another thing that she wants to do is go to Seattle. I was thinking about doing that in December when there was time off. She wants to go shopping to buy, buy and buy. I like shopping too, especially in Seattle. They have a lot of cool stores that aren't so accessible down in the Lower Mainland. Hanging out with Megan is really nice. She taught me how to cook a few dishes. Namely, delicious rice, soy sauce chicken, Mexican shells, pasta and pumpkin pie. I think tomorrow we have some kind of pasta lined up to make. Something with mushrooms and asparagus... MMmmm sounds good.

On Thursday, I went to Play Land's Fright Night with my girlfriend and two friends, Bunthai and Pamela. Together we lined up at four haunted houses and it was a lot of fun. Some parts were scary, the people in the houses have scary costumes on and the machines inside are just fantastic. There are a lot of robots that are connected to sensors and they just pop at you. But the best is when there is someone pretending to be a robot and then as you walk by, they jump at you and scream. That happened quite a few times and Megan held me close. I would have to say that Fright Night has really improved since the last time I saw it. It wasn't so great a few years ago, but they really got their reputation back. Good for them.

Lastly, soccer has been going well. Right now I'm playing for two teams, I got an outdoor div 2 team and an indoor div 1 team. The outdoor team is a lot of fun. I haven't played a full season of outdoor soccer so I am adjusting to the positions and the tempo of the game. I like it a lot more than indoor soccer now that I have experienced it. Our team is doing great, we're first in our division and we hope to stay in that position. As for the indoor team, we are not that great. We have a good squad of players, but we just have that experience yet which is so crucial for games. Despite our terrible losses, I think we can turn this season around and end the season respectably. As for now, I better grab a snack and sleep, I'm tired.

Week 1 of Education

First thing first, UBC is amazing so far, the atmosphere, the people and my classes. Compared to SFU, I feel more comfortable and welcomed. Seriously, at SFU, it was weird. My friend and I had a theory that everybody stared at each other while walking. To be honest, it wasn't just staring, but actually glaring, quite the hostility there. Anyway, my brother's COUSINS shirt finally came in. I'm excited to wear that one. The first week of classes have been difficult, but enjoyable. Waking up early is probably the hardest part of the classes, other than that it's been a breeze. With the same colleagues in my classes, I feel comfortable voicing my opinion whenever and that just makes classes much more memorable. In music class, we all did a folk dance which was quite silly but really fun.

I just finished writing a good 500 word essay which I think I did an good job. There's quite a heavy load of work, reading and writing to do. However, it'll all be worth it in the end. Too many thoughts on my mind right now. I'm excited to go to PE class on Monday, that will be fun. Also, the classmates that I've been hanging out with during the first week are really amazing. It feels that theres a connection there and that we are all comfortable talking to each other just after one week on meeting. As for IKEA, I feel really tired working there after a long day at school. It's really tiresome. I think I have to change my sleeping schedule so I have more energy during the day.

New York City 2010

My supervisor at IKEA is super duper nice. I had to get time off work to go on vacation, but I had threethings going against me. First, I already am taking time off late August to go to Mexico with my parents. Second, there is a two person policy at IKEA which says that if two people in your department are on vacation, nobody else is allowed time off. Third, the Katalog-Drop which is when IKEA delivers its new catalog to the world. This is the time when IKEA is most busy with people buying and returning new products. I would have to say that IKEA is the busiest during the month of August. Despite all this, my supervisor and I had a talk in the back of the warehouse. At the end of the conversation, he told me I could go, "You're young, enjoy it while you can". He really is a believer of "Carpe Diem". I was so happy I got the time off. Honestly, out of all the people in IKEA, I would say that he is the best supervisor a co-worker could have...

So now I booked my ticket to go to New York on August 10th. I will be travelling with my friend which would also be the first time going on a trip with just a friend. I am pretty stoked about this trip as it will be my fourth time visiting New York, but this time I'll be mostly with him all day. For sure I'm going to be shopping a lot, buying lots of things, visiting small places that are unique to New York, go to a comedy club, jazz club, things that are out of the ordinary here in Vancouver. It's going to be a blast, I just have to plan this trip carefully so we can go to all the things that we want to enjoy.

One of the Best Days of My Life

Being a Chinese guy with Chinese parents means one thing. They over emphasize schooling to say the least. But most importantly, they judge you from what you have done academically. It doesn't matter if you're working and making money, respect comes from what you've done in the education system... according to most Asian parents. Anyhow, that good stuff has rubbed onto me now. I've taken schooling very serious and have prioritized it to be most important. While volunteering at my elementary school, I opened up my email from my phone. From that moment, my life changed. I read my acceptance letter from UBC and got into the Education program. I told the people in the staff room and they cheered and congratulated. Great. From being a part time worker and a student working towards a Psychology degree, I got myself an opportunity to become a teacher. All it takes is two years in school and I can get my certificate. So right now, I dropped all my courses and requested more work hours. I plan to make money for these next 4 months and then get down to business when my education program starts. I can say I am quite excited for this and in retrospective, I would have to say all this school was worth it. Even though I'm not done by a long shot, I feel that I now have a profession/career that I can work towards. With this degree, I can become a teacher and work. It's a great accomplishment knowing and planning your future the way your dreamt it. I now have an opportunity to get a job and start working. Get my own place, buy my own car. The good stuff that we all think about when being independent. It hasn't started yet, not by a long shot, but I feel that in 2 years this time. I will have my teacher's certificate and I will be teaching. May 18th, 2010 was probably the biggest day of my life.

Vancouver Sun Run 2010

Today was Mother's Day. It was a sunny day with a nice breeze, perfect conditions for a good 10 km run. This was my first time doing this event. I wasn't really enthusiastic about doing this, but rather I just wanted to say I did it before. So I signed up and here I am. In front of the start line with my buddies. My friends weren't exactly the greatest runners of all time. We chatted and jogged lightly for about 2 km and then they gave up and walked. As for me, I continued running, picking up my pace and making sure I kept my back straight, arms moving and breathing properly. I basically ran this one alone, I didn't see my friends again until after the race as I didn't stop to take a breather. Honestly, I think that if you put your mind to it, you can accomplish it. I am in no way a endurance runner. I don't like cardio, I don't practice or train for it. I just think that if you can push yourself and tell yourself not to quit, you can finish the race with a good time. My time was alright, it was 58:59. In self defense, I had roller hockey and soccer two nights before, then work and hockey the night before the race. So my legs weren't exactly fresh to start out with. But, it was all good, I knew I could push myself no matter how much it hurt. In fact, I wore my tennis shoes with dry fit socks for this race. Big mistake. Since the socks are slippery, they rub against the sole of the shoe. So then I developed a nice blister on the arches of my feet. I really felt it during the last 5 km. But I just kept on trucking. The worst part of the race is that there are so many people obstructing you, that you have to use extra energy to avoid them and pass them. The best part would have to be passing people, it just keeps me motivated to pass as many people as I can while carrying out the same pace for the whole race. I loved passing people on the uphill, it felt so good. Maybe it's my competitiveness. After the race, I got some chocolate milk, bagels, oranges and some juice to refill my body with nutrients. That felt good for a while, then I went back to my friend's workplace where there was a breakfast to be had. We ate a little and then headed out. That was pretty much my day. After that, I showered, played some sc2, watched the Canucks stave off elimination and then sleep. If there's one thing I learned today about myself, it's that I have what it takes to ask more of myself. To push myself further than what I have in me. That's a good feeling.

Preferred Seating

I find that your seat at the dinner table has a big influence on what happens that night. If you're at a Chinese restaurant with a bunch of people, you're usually seated at those big round tables. At those big round tables, two people always have to suffer. Those sufferers are those that sit in between where the waiter/waitress fits in and serves the dishes and tea. Man... at those family dinners, there's at least 10 dishes. Those people get interrupted at least 20 times when they bring the dishes, remove the dishes, hand out the towels for crabs and refill the tea. It can be quite a nuisance. After so many family dinners at Chinese restaurants, I have come to realize this fact and now I try to sit away from the kitchen. This can be annoying at times, when you're eating and you hear your Uncle say "siu sum", when the waitress brings the fish over. But what I find to have an even bigger influence on how you interact with the people at the table is how well you know those who sit beside you. If you're invited to a dinner and you only know a few people, it's probably best you sit with those people. You're gonna be pretty quiet sitting alone with a bunch of strangers on one side and all your friends on the other. To be honest, I've been in this situation a few times and I've hated it. Sometimes it's fine, but with people that you don't really know or don't feel comfortable with, it can be a problem.