Countdown

I just came across my countdown calendar on facebook, and it's at 18 days. I have 18 more days at home. It's kind of frightening. I'm so excited about going, but I also don't know how often I will ever come home again. I am planning on coming home for Christmas, but that may be it. Thanksgiving is too short, hopefully over spring break I'm going to Holland to visit my best friend at her school, and then over the summer, I may be going to Thailand/SE Asia for a couple weeks, and hopefully I'll have an internship. And the type of internships I am interested in don't really happen in Colorado.

It's not only that either. My parents are seriously considering taking up an offer from my Dad's company to move them pretty much where ever in the world they would want to go. I do feel thought that for me, home is more where my parents are than where I grew up. I have really enjoyed living in Louisville/Boulder/Colorado, but I don't know if I will really miss it. It is pretty much the only place I've lived, save Maryland for 18 months when I was 2, and my year in the Czech Republic. I don't know much else. Everyone always tells me that the biggest change will be the weather- humidity, rain.

I guess I will start to see in 18 days. Less than 3 weeks.

Is It a Great Loss?

I am officially without 4 teeth: 1, 16, 17 and 32 I believe. I had heard various horror stories about wisdom teeth extraction, but so far, 16 hours later, mine doesn't seem to be too bad. It was really weird to wake up after the anestesia was a little strange, because I have a vagure recollection of getting the teeth out, but not really. I went home and slept, but after that it all seems pretty okay.

My sustenance for the day has been 2 Jamba Juices, some mashed potatoes and some mac and cheese. And by the mac and cheese (my dinner), I could chew with my front teeth. Progress, I say.

It is kind of important to be okay by this weekend because I have an action filled trip to Moab- rafting, biking and hiking. I'm hoping my three lazy days will mean it's okay.

Curry

The long awaited Thai food has finally been found, and enjoyed. So apparently all the Thai places near my town are "asian diners" meaning they have a curry, and then the American Asian food. The one really good restaurant was owned by this little old Thai lady who did all the cooking and her daughter did the front work, and it was amazing. But apparently they were shut down for not paying some type of tax they didn't know about. It was a serious deprivation. But in the end, Siamese Plate came through. And even gave us free dessert. So a good Thai meal: Thai iced tea, panang curry and coconut custard. Amazing.

Sitting and Going....and Going....and Going

I just got back from our annual driving trip to Utah to visit my Grandparents. And no, they aren't Mormons or Utahians (?), but every summer they along with a million other senior citizens inhabit student apartments to escape the Arizona heat.

I like my grandparents, but it has gotten to the point where 2 days at a time is definitely enough. We usually do the same things when we go to Utah, go shopping, swimming, to the theatre and out to dinner, and it gets a little boring and repetitive. Oh, and we play Mah Jong (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mahjong). My grandma has been playing (the Jewish American kind) for almost 50 years, and taught my sister and I to play when we were 8 and 6, respectively. That always kind of amazes people. It's probably the most enjoyable part of visiting them because it's the only time I get to play, and I really do enjoy it. So if anyone wants to get a rolicking game of Mah Jong going at MIT, let me know. And I sort of know how to play the Chinese kind, taught to me by two of my Hong Kong friends in the Czech Republic, though I only played one night, so it is a bit distant. But I would definitely be up for it.

Logan, Utah is about a 9 hour drive from Louisville, Colorado, and it's not the most exciting. Wyoming is a rather ugly, boring state (in my opinion; my sister would say differently- she goes to UW), and very monotonous to drive through. I've driven a couple times, one year the whole nine hours both ways to get the hours I needed to get my license, and others because time goes by faster when you're driving than when you're not. My parents really like road trips. We used to drive every year once to Phoenix and once to Utah, and then other places we have driven are Las Vegas, California, Montana/Canada, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Indiana, and a variety of others.

It was weird to tell people while I was abroad about out auto adventures because in the longest you can drive in the Czech Republic, from the Southeastern corner to the Northwestern corner is about 6 or 7 hours. In most places, drive 2 hours and you're in a different country, with a different languages, and people don't do that too often.

Call to the Bloggers

So Matt just announced the application process for bloggers. Let the rush begin. I never thought I would try to do it, but after restarting a blog this summer after a yearlong hiatus, I remember how much I like it. Basically, I like telling people things, whether they are important, or just random facts about me. Or the occassional vent. But I just like being able to write stuff about my life, and the fact that maybe someone will read it. A journal doesn't quite do it for me, but I do like writing with my fountain pen. Fact #1: I use fountain pens whenever I can. I lost my 100 Kč (maybe $4) fountain pen at Band Camp in the mountains, and probably can't get another one until I go back to the Czech Republic, which is a bummer, but I got a nice one for graduation. But I haven't used it much this summer due to my lack of writing on paper.

Anyway, back to the whole blogging idea. I kept a blog while I was on my year abroad in CZ, and it always suprised me to hear that I had like a following of people living vicariously through me. I guess that's what unusual experiences will do. But it was cool because people sort of knew what I was doing and what I was going through- tough experiences and all. I didn't keep it up during senior year but I just got back into it, and it's a lot of fun. As much as I don't like writing, this is the one kind I really enjoy. I don't know if I even have a chance of getting a blogging position, but I'm going to try anyway. I always feel like I'm sort of an average person doing average things, in an average life, but I like it that way.

Temp Room

So the extent of this post is that I'm temped in New House 4, and very excited about it. More to come later.

Life Can Have So Much Fun

Life is cruel sometimes. I guess this isn't the worst it could be, but it could have been better.

So I went to this meeting/seminar tonight for an "urban adventure race" called the Denver Oyster, and of course they were having a raffle. The prizes included t-shirts, some things to do with the race, a pair of new Merrell shoes and two tickets to the Steamboat Wine Festival. And which did I get? The wine festival tickets of course, even though I am not of age and they probably wouldn't even let me in. I thought about offering the guy who won the shoes an exchange, but he seemed pretty happy, and I figured maybe my parents will appreciate them (aka they love good wine-where it comes from, how it's made etc.). I kind of regret that decision, but whatever. Bargaining power.

So this race, which if all works out I'll be racing with Tim '12 and my friend Hannah who is going to the Utrecht School of the Arts in Utrecht, the Netherlands next year. We haven't signed up yet, but hopefully that will happen in the next day or two. The race is basically a bunch of legs (6 maybe), with a goal, such as take pictures with all the teammates of certain landmarks in Denver and you are given a method of transportation- running, biking, rollerblading/scootering/skateboarding, rafting, creeking. It supposed to be about a 6 hour race in downtown Denver, but apparently it shouldn't take more than 8 hours.

A Day at the Races

So after my slightly morbid post yesterday, I am feeling much better. I had a wonderful regatta today and am now slightly toasty, tired and happy.

Row the Rockies is a HUGE regatta of 3 clubs. (Please note the sarcasm). It is a lot of fun though. The club I'm rowing with this summer, Boulder Community Rowing is a good group of people, fun to be with. The only regattas I've rowed in thus far have been junior regattas. so I was a little oblivious to the whole idea of master rowing and age handicaps. I ended up having 3 races, a double, a women's eight and a women's four.

Chelsea, my doubles partner and I, rowed together the whole of last season after half our (really good) four decided they didn't want to drive 1.5 hours each way to practice (I suppose that's understandable), and so we were down to 2. Since our club doesn't own a pair, double it was. We haven't rowed together since regionals (in a double), and so yesterday we went out again, hoping for the best. I guess it's like riding a bike though, because it went pretty well. We were in the youngest age group, where the average age of our boat was 18, and the other boats in our race were 34,35 and 37. Slight age gap. But we did win the race! Even with the age handicap (basically taking off time based on the difference in ages, I'm not really entirely sure how it works), we were way ahead. One boat in the next age group, women in their 40s, beat us by 7 seconds with the handicap and 2 without, but they gave out medals based on heats, so we walked away with a gold. I feel victorious.

The second race I did, about 3 hours later was a women's eight. According to the lineup I was supposed to be in bow, but seeing how the person who usually rows bow was in 5 seat, and it about 8 inches shorter than I, we logically decided to switch. After some drama at the start (our coxswain doesn't really know how to start a sprint race- get into the block) and evil officials, we ended up in 2nd even though 3 people either had too many or too few oars at the start, and we were still going backwards when they called, I wouldn't say it was too bad. It's been awhile since I've raced a sweep boat, so it was nice to get back in. My last race was a hotseat into a 4, which is always fun. It didn't go quite as well as it could have, I think partly because we were tired, partly because none of us had rowed together before (same in the eight) and partly because the boat was heavily geared towards heavyweight men, so even when we were set, I know my hands were bascially at my chin. And of course there was no way to change it. We came in a pretty close 3rd out of 4 boats, so it wasn't too bad and it was fun.

I love rowing. I just have to say. I love the feeling of lactic acid in my arms, throat and tongue and the desire to cut off my appendages because it hurts so bad. But it feels good. I like the fact that it is an individual and a team sport. If you don't do it well, your boat won't do well, but you're not anything without you're team mates. It's hard for me to fathom that I considered not rowing in college. At most of the schools I looked at, the boathouse was WAY off campus, upwards of 30 minutes one way by car. I wasn't so sure I wanted that. But I don't think I ever truly considered going to a school other than MIT, so I don't know if it really matters. Rowing is a love of mine, I hope a lifelong love. I can't imagine not doing it.

I Feel Alone

And I don't think anyone understands.

I just want to drive to the airport, get on a plane and go somewhere I've never been, where I don't know anyone and don't speak the language. Then stand in the middle of a crowd and then maybe I won't be so alone.

A Day of New Information

So as my very boring, yet practical, title says, a couple of days ago I had an immense day of discovery.



1. I discovered one of managers truly does hate me, and I'm not exactly sure why. She basically had someone else tell me, say I had a bad attitude, and wasn't doing things right because I was moving between stations (when I thought it was good to help people out...). I think the attitude thing is because I wasn't really participating in their conversations, but 1) most of the people I work with, especially the leads are all a lot older than me and their conversations tend to revolve around partying and sex. I don't have much experience with those things, and so I tend to keep quiet, smile and do my work. I like most of the people I work with; I am friends with most of the younger (teens) people, and with some of the older ones who also don't necessarily participate with the others. And 2) When I go into new situations, especially with people who have known each other a long time and are older than me, I tend to observe before I participate. I know this is something I have to work on, but I started work kind of like a deer in the headlights, and I think things have improved immensely since then. So my manager is, of course, in charge of scheduling, but before having this other person talk to me, has never tried to initiate a conversation, other than to tell me to go home early, never went to college and is a single mom. People at work know I'm going to MIT, because they ask, and I kind of think she thinks that I am just a spoiled rich kid doing this job for fun, while the others live alone and need rent money. I may not live alone and need to pay rent, but I have to make money for school. Point blank. So I think she is just kind of jealous and resentful of me. We have also worked together once, with her best friend and they made me go home early. But things have gotten a little better since then I think, I hope. I have talked to her just like in casual conversation, and I am talking more on the line. Hopefully things will be okay. I only have 6 more weeks.

2. My car died. I mean literally, it just died. I was driving home from work, and when I was on the highway in 4th gear it didn't feel like it was getting any gas when I pushed on the gas pedal, and it was slowing down, so I switched into 3rd gear, and it was okay. And then I got off the highway because of major traffic and after the light, 3rd gear was having some issues. Then maybe 2 miles up the road, after I had to stop at a stop light, the max speed was about 5 miles per hour. So I pulled over, unsure exactly what was happening, and sort of mad because I just had to put a new clutch in my truck, and now this. This guy pulled over, and I was sort of wary, but after some inspection, he said he thought it was the fuel pump and there was nothing he could do, so he left. Luckily I had a (stupid) book, so I had something to do to kill time until my dad came. And this day was a scorcher. Kind of sucked. My truck sounded so sick though, if I tried to start it, it would sort of gurgle, and then stop. My dad came, but was on a conference call, and so he closed all the windows (no breeze), stuck his head in the car and talked on the phone. This was unbearable, but we had to wait for the tow truck. I got off work at 2:30, the tow truck came at 5, and I got home at 5:30. Basically 3 hours on the side of the road. Exciting day. Now I don't know if my parents are going to help fix the truck, or whether he is truly dead, which would be really sad. I love my truck, with my CZ and rowing stickers. His name is Fred and I hope he lives.

3. I learned that my best friend has decided to go to school in Utrecht, the Netherlands. She was going to go study trumpet performance at Grand Valley State University in Michigan, but she was never very excited about that and she went to this trumpet camp, and there was a professor from this school in the Netherlands and after about a week of deliberation, she is officially going to Utrecht School of the Arts. This was just sort of sudden and not something I evre had expected from her, but I am a big advocate of international, independent experience and I think it will be good for her. And now I have just another excuse to go travel.

Agh.

My mother does not understand why I'm upset. Normally, we get on very well. She's definitely one of my best friends. But this escapes her.

I just found out my AP scores. They're not bad, 5 on Macro and BC, 4 on Lang, but it's not what I was expecting. I had prepared myself to get a 5 on Lang. My AP Lang teacher is an amazing teacher, but definitely difficult. I improved from getting 5s and 6s on my essays to only getting 8s and 9s. I was getting 5s on the practice multiple choice tests we did. This is why I don't know why I got a 4. I think part of it was the prompts. My G-d, were they ever stupid. I mean, for me at least, it's definitely easier to write more/a better essay on an interesting, thought-provoking prompt. The ones they gave us were like SAT prompts. Stupid, and just asking for everyone to write the same thing. The synthesis was on whether or not we should get rid of the penny as a form of donomination. I mean really, 2 sides, very few reasons, trivial. Another, the argument, was on advertising in school, the classic Coke paying for books. Another stupid, though perhaps slightly more important. But still, you can't write a really well rounded, college level essay on a prompt a 4th grader might get. I mean, you could, and I did my best, but they were just stupid. My LA teacher basically put it, if you get an A in her class, which is hard to get, you will get a 5. I worked my ass off in that class to learn how to write, and I think I learned well. I just wasn't planning on having to take the FEE. To have to go through another sit, wait, anticipate. It wasn't part of my summer plan.

And so my mother is on my back to do all this stuff minutes after I get the results. She doesn't get why it's a big deal, and why I need to process it. Now I need to take this test, which in it's self isn't that huge of a deal, but it could mess with my plans for classes and stuff next year. I'm the type of person who likes to make lists, make plans, and have things to follow. I've made many variations of possible schedules for next year, and I picked the one I liked best. This may mess it up. I don't want to take another writing class. That's why I switched into AP Lang with this teacher, which she didn't want me to, and then worked to get her to realize why I switch and to show her what I could do. I don't want to take a CI-HW, basically.

And so with these scores, I would have 39 units of AP credit, which isn't a whole bunch, but it is almost a semester. Now she wants me to graduate early, save $25,000 and she's pushing me into a corner. I haven't even started to think that far ahead, and I don't know how to respond to that. I don't know what to tell her, and she keeps talking about it. I haven't even started yet, I don't want to feel pressured into doing something 4 years down the line. I know it's a lot of money, I know I haven't gotten a lot of the scholarships I applied for (I feel like each time they tell me I was part of the smaller group, but didn't get the scholarship that they're saying, yes, you're good, and smart, but just not good or smart enough. Good luck.) I just sick of thinking about this already. I want to go to school but not have to think about paying for it. I love for it to start tomorrow. Get rid of the summer. I have never really liked summer. I'm not so good at the unstructured thing. I love my friends, but my good friends I really like to hang out with on a one-on-one basis aren't too big in numbers, and they are away a lot. I like my boss, but the girl who schedules us hates me. I always have the least number of hours, and usually my boss is around to call me to give me the extra hours, but he's on vacation this week.

I just want to go, and not have to think about anything else. I never want to work in a retail/ menial job position again; at least I'm motivated to get internships now. I just want to live, not have to think about living.

*If you couldn't already tell, this was a vent post. I have a lot to say today.