Day 1: Poor doggies!

It's only been one night of dog sitting and I already feel like I would be a bad parent because I pretty much feel like I neglected them while I was practicing my speech last night! T___T 

Poor doggies.

On top of that, they have to listen to my horrible singing and yeah, it really sucks! Gosh, I hope I do okay when I perform my song and speech this afternoon! >__<"

9-TEEN!

Photo: My friend's 18th birthday last year...

If I could make out with Mike He, then I don't think I'd be singing Landy Wen's "Wish Me Happy Birthday" song. Go watch the MV if you don't know what I'm talking about.

Anyhow, I'm 19!! :DD

Well, to be technical and all, I'm 19 at 2:30pm... but hell! No one really goes by their actual birth time anymore! Today, I received something in the mail from my parents. I've been waiting to open it up at Midnight, and so the clock finally struck 12! It's one of those singing cards! Outside, it says "Smiles you give, Joy you live, Love you bring..." Inside, "Beautiful thing. Happy birthday to a daughter who's so easy to love. Mom & Dad." And then, it started singing "My Girl" by The Temptations! Oh man, I just bawled!!

I LOVE YOU, MOMMY & DADDY!

I need more photos with my parents! In the future, I plan on taking as many photographs as I can with my parents or just of them! I mean, why haven't I? They're just such a big part of my life! And photographs keep memories intact! :D

On a side note, do you know what I spent my last hour of being 18 doing? Something very um, unusual. I did my House chore for the week... cleaning the bathroom! -_____-;; Yeah, so my house mates started making this chores list thing where each person has a certain job, and my chore for the week is to clean the bathroom. So, earlier I had taken a shower and I was thinking... might as well just clean the bathroom so I don't have to do it later! It's freak'n filthy! And so, I cleaned. How sad~

Well, anyway! After classes, I have to deposit the rent money from my house mates so I can write a check for May's rent! My last time having to do that for this school year! After May, I'm out of here!! Woot! Freeeeeeee!! Haha, then my roommate and I are going to Ben & Jerry's and enjoying their free cone day thing! FYI, Ben & Jerry's 30th birthday! I didn't know they opened on my birthday! Yay! You know what that means, FREE ICE CREAM ON MY BIRTHDAY, EVERY SINGLE YEAR! WHAT A LUXURY! Okay, so after that, I have to go home, call my mom up so she can tell me what I need to change on my speech for Saturday's big competition. Then, at 6:45pm... my friends have organized a little get together for my birthday! I'm really excited! They are so sweet! I really had no idea they would actually plan something to help celebrate my birthday! It really makes my day and it doesn't make me feel so sad about not being able to spend my birthday with my family!

Um, and in the near future...
Thursday: Indian food with John & Reto (late birthday celebration)
Friday: Move to John's place to dog sit until May 12th.
Saturday: Mandarin speech competition #2 (where I have to sing "Wei Yi"...*pray for me*)
May 14th-??: Finals!

JIA YOU!

3rd place! :DD
Not too shabby, I suppose. Hehe!
Oh yeah! And other things that I've achieved today!
-Wearing heels!
-Putting makeup on myself! It looks natural, doesn't it?

Anyhow, not really anything else to do, but finish up my homework and finish writing my other speech so that I can get my professor to edit it and then memorize! Oh yeah and practice singing, but unfortunately, I'm pretty much banned from singing in my house. -____- My roommates don't particularly like my singing... ><" I probably go way off key or something. =/ I'll go to the laundry room and practice! No one really goes there anyway and I won't really be disturbing anyone (I hope!) Oh, and I chose my song! I'm gonna sing "Wei Yi" by Leehom Wang!My Chinese professor who thinks Leehom Wang is hot! :D I love my Chinese professor, Cheng Chih-Yih, she's just so incredibly funny, interesting, and very proud of being Chinese! Yes, very proud! Like, she has the greatest & funniest stories about why China is so AWESOME! And it is! Lol... after she says her stuff.Micky: "Won't I look like a pig?"
Amy: "Fine!" *stuffs bagel into mouth*
Micky: I guess I feel better now. :D

Welcome Ceremony for the 33rd Annual Chinese Speech Contest of California! We're all in the same Chinese class, CHIN 250 aka Intermediate Chinese (From left to right: Me, Micky, Ruby, Jasmine)Rm. 270, where we were judged... *dun dun dun* The guy behind us is the one who got 1st place with his darn cat story! Arggg... but haha, a lot of people had some really amazing speeches! We were in the uh, group where everyone spoke English at home? Which basically means a lot of non-Chinese people. Micky, this one guy, and me were the only Chinese! I'm kinda ashamed of myself... -__- Why did I drop out of Chinese school when I was younger? I could've been fluent by now! Aw well, no regrets! What's important is that I'm ready to learn Chinese now! OH! So, I guess it's kinda a stretch, but the judges' last names were Bai and Wang and when they introduced themselves, I was thinking to myself... "Where's Ma lao shi?" Because 白马王子 (Bai Ma Wang zi) = White Horse Prince! Hahah, do you get it? Okay... I have a weird imagination. -___-;;My trophy! From far away, Micky and I were guessing what it was... Micky thought it was a figure of a person flexing their muscles and I thought it was a Mouse because y'know... it's the Year of the Rat. But nooooo... it's a freak'n lamp. Aladdin style! xD

Where's my vinegar??

I think I blog too much. But that's a good thing, isn't it? Because I'm getting out my feelings and what not.

College is really killing my health. I'm always sick now. I don't remember getting sick so many times before. Oh! I know! I need to drink vinegar! Ewww, but the vinegar I bought this year is nasty. It's definitely not the type my mom always buys me... so I've been trying to avoid it. I guess I'll have to suck it up and just chug it. Hahah! Hey, I believe in Chinese remedies... if you drink vinegar, you are less likely to get sick. That was so true for me before. I think that's probably the reason! :D

So yeahh, please ignore my last post. I was just PARANOID. But, I'm over it because my parents agreed to let me try out the 2nd speech competition and I'm really excited that they are letting me do it. I just need to start writing that speech up sometime before Friday...><" Not to mention, my first Mandarin speech competition is this Saturday! Micky is picking me up! Yay! :D And I really should be working on that speech right now since my Chinese professor said that I need to practice it in front of the class tomorrow. Ahhh, so nervous! Oh right! Did I tell you I'm practicing singing. I have to pick a song for one of the parts for that 2nd speech competition. I've narrowed down the songs... sorta? 

-Wei Yi by Leehom Wang
-Lao Shu Ai Da Mi by n/a
-Hao Ting by Valen Hsu

My friend, Yan, says that I should sing Wei Yi or Hao Ting, but of course she prefers Wei Yi because she LOVES Leehom like any Chinese girl would. Haha... but she says I can't hit the low notes very well and I struggle a little with the high notes when he sings... "taoo bi... tao bi..." It's right before he sings "Baby ni jiu shi wo de wei yi...." Yeahhh BUMMER! But with practice, maybe I'll be able to pretend to hit the notes in front of the judges... AHH! I HOPE SO!

I actually don't really know why I am even considering doing these Mandarin speech competitions. I'm terribly afraid of public speaking! Like usually, when I'm in class and people are voicing out their opinions, I rarely raise my hand because I can't get myself to speak out my opinion in front of my classmates. Is that just me or what? 

But then, I guess in Chinese class that rarely happens. I feel comfortable talking in that class. I guess, now that I've thought about it... these speech competitions don't have much value, but it's making me feel like I'm one step closer to reaching my goal of becoming fluent in Mandarin. I mean, I know in the past... I had a hard time accepting my Chinese background, but now that I'm older... I feel like I should've paid more attention to Chinese school when I was younger.  Though, there's no point of regretting because maybe it was that time lapse that I needed, in order for me to truly appreciate my heritage. 

The speech contests are just for fun, I'm really not trying to get anything out of it but practicing Mandarin. Though, the 2nd contest is definitely something I want to try to win because I'd love to get a scholarship to study abroad in China and maybe meet my Hunan channel stars. If you didn't know this already, I'm am overly obsessed with that channel. That... is... the... ONLY Chinese channel I watch. Just ask my parents! The speech competitions are more of my way to grasp opportunities that I have... I mean, in the past I have regretted not doing certain things that I could've, well HERE'S MY CHANCE! AND I'M TAKING IT! I CAN DO IT! :D

Le Risque

We didn't go to Oakland for our "photoshoot." In fact, I didn't take any photos... instead, we went to the Mission district and after several thrift and 99cent stores, I found my shirt. Boy Scouts of America official shirt! Wooo!! :D It's a little snug, but I don't plan on buttoning it. I'll just wear a tank top underneath or something. What I really like about it is the decoration on it... all those patches! Eheheh...

Anyhow, not really sure when I'll ever get my chance to go to Oakland, but I guess I can always go visit Kathy if I ever decide to go by myself...

So, I really like the Post Secret France blog and it was just updated. This is my favorite for this week: "I would love to be able to take the risk to be (un)happy."I really don't have much to say right now... I just hope that my parents will let me try to do this other speech competition I want to do, which just happens to be the week after my first one. Of course, this one is an even bigger competition and one of the sponsors for it is the HUNAN channel which is my FAVORITE CHINESE CHANNEL!!! I really want to do it because if I'm one of the top 3 winners, then I will be able to go to the semi-finals and finals and it will be in CHINA! And, better yet... in Hunan province... and since the Hunan channel is sponsoring... MAYBE I WILL GET TO SEE THEM!! :DD Them... as in these guys that I really really like from this show! Su Xing & Wei Chen... Haha... ><" But of course, the timing is just bad if I do win because, it's during the SD Fair and well, I have to help my mom out at her booth. Ugh! But, gosh... if I win, I can get scholarship money for studying in China and I really want it! *Sigh* Please Buddha, convince my parents to let me do it! The application is due this Friday, April 25th!! *crosses fingers*

"Every human being is the author of his own health or disease." -Buddha

My Chinese professor edited my speech for this Mandarin Speech Competition I have on April 27th. And guess how she made her corrections... on a cassette tape! Ai ya! So, today I got out of Speech class early and went over to the Language Lab to listen to the cassette tape since I don't own a cassette player... anymore. So old school~~ But yeahh... SO MANY CORRECTIONS! I need to practice it like crazy before then! Also, I have to practice my Persuasive speech for Tuesday.

And how can it get worse... my voice died today! That's how! >___<" But I think I know why this is all of a sudden happening to me. Bad karma points, I don't want to go into details about what I did. Let's just say, I lied to someone so that I wouldn't have to do something because I wanted to sleep in. And, of course... here I am, with no voice. I know, bad bad BADDDDDD AMY! I deserve it. Well, at least I got to go see The Forbidden Kingdom (Wednesday night @ Cal) before it comes out tomorrow! =] Yay!? I thought it was really funny, but I think the crowd kinda ruined the movie for me... people kept talking when I wanted to hear what the actors and actresses were saying on screen! Ahhh, but hey... what an interactive crowd Cal is. =]

Note to Self: Do not go on BART late at night, like MIDNIGHT! Yeah, so... when I was waiting for BART, these 3 guys dressed in clown costumes came over. Clowns are scary as hell! I heard them saying that they were going to the same destination as I am... I think they were kinda drunk, so I guess they didn't make the transfer train. Thank you, Buddha!! =]

Well, there's so much work to be done! I mustn't get distracted! And besides, I made plans to go to Oakland for a photoshoot with Jellee and Crystal on Saturday! Stay on track!
---
Wisdom of the Day:
"Is there anything I can do to make myself enlightened?" "As little as you can do to make the sun rise in the morning." "Then of what use are the spiritual exercises you prescribe?" "To make sure you are not asleep when the sun begins to rise."
--Anthony deMello, from One Minute Wisdom
Amy says: I really need to start waking up earlier...

Who's Coming to Town??

I'm super psyched for Grace Lee's arrival to SF tomorrow! :D
Like AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

I'm not going to stress out this weekend. It's going to be a whole weekend of fun with my chick, Grace! The weather forecast says it's going to be rainy/stormy weather, but whatever! It ain't gonna rain on our parade! And plus, I got my awesome color palette umbrella to brighten up my world! ;D

Okay, well I still need to study for my Business Math test and I have to write my speech for my oral midterm so my Chinese professor can make corrections! Oh yeah, and I think I'll be entering this Mandarin Speech competition that is on April 26th, the Saturday before my BIRTHDAY! Whoo-hoo! From what my Chinese prof said, if I win... I can go onto the next competition and if you win that next competition, you win a free ticket to China for the Beijing Summer Olympics. I'm planning on attending anyway, but yeah... it's a longshot for winning because I bet I'd have to compete against native speakers, but hey! It's worth a try! ;D

加油，莫道兰！