邵婷煒

It's been awhile since I posted in this... heh.  Much has happened since May!  Graduation, Taiwan missions, the Olympics.  (currently watching recorded US vs Korea women's vball semifinal match)  Though each of these events contain many stories each deserving to be told in itself, the one that I want to tell right now is of friendship.

I have to admit after graduation I was feeling just a bit down.  A lot of my friends were leaving, and seeing as my closest ones are all in the class of 2012, I really didn't know what to make of the coming year.  Sure I have friends in my own grade, and I love them lots, but... they're not the kinds of friends who ask me how I'm doing, or listen to my problems, or even invite me to birthday parties (though I have to admit that most of them don't have birthday parties to begin with haha)  Growing up I have always made friends with those older than me, and as a result, never really put in the time or effort to truly develop relationships with those my own age.  When we were younger it didn't matter, but in recent years the experiences that we shared grew fewer and fewer, and consequently it became harder to relate to each other.

And then I made a friend.

When I went to Taiwan missions, I thought I would be too busy to build any lasting friendships.  I know we'd be working most of the time, and within our own group, so I thought I wouldn't have the chance to meet any new people, to say even less of people that I could actually befriend.  But this year we ended up staying at a local church, and as a result, were able to work day and night with the people there, and ended up forming deep relationships.

Okay basically to cut the long story short I finally made myself a best friend heh.  Haven't had one since Nicole and our elementary days, and I don't really count that cause we were just kids.  But I met this girl (who's my age, finally) and we just really clicked.  She's the kind of person who's super shy (as in sits in the corner and gives one word answers to direct questions) but once you get to know her, she opens up.  One of the sisters at the church told me that even though she's been going to the church for 2 years now, I'm only the third person she's opened up to - the first being her music teacher who brought her to the church, and the second being the sister who told me this.  I'm the first of her peers ^^  And we were already good friends at that point, but that just made me determined to hold onto her even more.

I just feel so blessed that I finally have someone who cares about me as much as I do about them... always reaching out, never taking in, it gets tiring after a while.  I love how she asks me how I'm doing (and really wants to know the answer), how hearts and smiles and laughter fill our conversations, how we give and take advice readily as needed.  I like feeling needed, feeling special.  She makes me feel that way.  We share our lives, our dreams, our problems - nothing is too trivial or too serious.  Now I really get what Carly Rae Jepsen was saying in her song, "Before you came into my life I missed you so bad" - my friend has filled that hole that I didn't know that I had, and now that it's full, I finally feel complete. And I know that there are people out there who may be smarter, kinder, more talented, but I wouldn't trade any of them for my friend, cause she's one of a kind.

Time, distance, language - none of these are true barriers.  The only barrier is a closed heart.

Diction

On Friday, Ms. Hall told the class that "Emily has good diction. Creeeeepy good diction. She always finds the right word like *mwa*"

HEHEHEHEHEHEHE.  Finally accomplished my goal of getting her to brag about me like she does about Saatchi/Sofia/Shannon. =)  She also said that my style is distinctly different from theirs in that I don't mince words but get straight to the point! Very blunt/straightforward, that I know what I want to say and I say it and I'm done. Which is how I approach the rest of my life, actually haha.

Recognized by Ms. Hall as a good writer! YES.

Someone Like You

Though our genetic sequences are all but identical, a minor percentage (I think less than 1) of our DNA makes us completely different people. We look different, act different; hell, we even talk different(ly). As such, it makes for an entirely surreal experience when one meets someone exceedingly similar to oneself. You know in your heart that there is no way the two of you could be completely alike (and upon closer examination, you find that indeed, you are not) but there is no denying the fact that the two of you are still decidedly similar people at heart.

Alright I'm going to stop talking in the abstract now – it's way too time-consuming. So anyways, ever since middle school, when my elementary friends and I went our separate ways, my friends have been telling me about this one girl that they met who is supposedly JUST like me. Of course, I refused to believe all such tales and continued to cling to the belief that I was truly one-of-a-kind. Four years later, I finally meet this girl at the Distinguished Young Woman of Cerritos-Artesia (supposedly scholastic) pageant. She won the entire thing, congratulations! As the pageant progressed, I was arrested at the sight of someone who didn't really look like me so to speak, but rather felt like me. It's an experience that cannot fully be expressed in words. And I can't decide whether I feel this way because so many people have told me that we are similar, or because we truly are similar.

I have to admit, I did a bit of stalking (the internet makes it altogether too easy these days). I do not intend to be creepy in any way!! I just really needed to satisfy my curiosity... Upon further investigation, I found that we share a similar background - we are both the youngest child and daughter of Taiwanese immigrants, Christian, quite intelligent, and very good at the piano. Her activities focus on soccer and MUN, whereas mine are centered on basketball and band, though neither of us currently play our respective sports. We share the same sense of humor (I found myself chuckling aloud as I read some of her posts) and we both write in a fairly straightforward manner, though hers is far more eloquent and descriptive than mine. I feel that blogs should be informal things, and so usually write as I would in an instant messaging conversation with a friend. And though I have heard several not-so-nice things about this girl, I find myself liking her more and more as I learn more about her for myself. In another life, we could have been great friends.

We are still quite different from what I can tell, don't get me wrong. My friends tell me me she is quite crazy/hyper, whereas I tend to be very laid-back and relaxed in general. ...that's really the only major difference that I can think of for now, but then again I don't really know her because the only conversation I had with her was only for a couple of minutes. But I really do hope that I can get to know her well sometime in the future =)

Great Teachers

Background for today's story:

I made a bet with my good friend Pauline that if she could guess who I was thinking about asking to Sadies, then I would ask. But my brother came over so together they figured it out... Anyways, they wouldn't let me renege on my deal so I put something together and asked this guy. I didn't really want to at first, but then I got kind of excited after talking to people and so when he turned me down (nicely though) it really sucked.

Fast forward to a week after that - we're chilling in physics, and Mr. Z starts walking around talking to a couple of us, asking if we're going to Sadies with anyone. He gets to me and I'm like "Yeah I got rejected"... He pauses for a second then says, "Well ask me again later and I'll think about it again." And we laugh =)

That happened about a week ago.. today I was sitting in the hallways waiting for the tutoring room to open when Mr. Z walks by and sees me sitting there, and he goes, "I've been wanting to talk to you ever since you told me you got rejected to Sadies. That was one of the few times that I really didn't know what to say right then, and I haven't gotten a chance to talk to you by yourself so I'm glad that I caught you here." (at this point I'm thinking oh shoot here comes the emotion)

And he continues to say things like I know that must have really sucked, and high school can seriously be one of the toughest times in your life that you'll ever face, and sometimes life just sucks. That he's a fool who didn't know what he was giving up, that I will find someone someday who sees and values me for who I am, who sees how smart and attractive and awesome I am. (oh yes, that's definitely me)

There was a lot more, but I can't really remember it off the top of my head. I thought I didn't really care about this anymore, but I guess I did cause I started crying LOL. Anyways he gave me a hug (which was a little awkward considering that I'm like a foot and a half shorter than he is) and he talked to me some more, I said "Thank you Mr. Z," and then we parted ways.

It really made me think about how blessed we are at this school - where teachers take the time to know and to care about their students, where they talk to us and give advice (even unasked) on our insignificant high school problems. I wish every teacher, no, every adult, could be like Mr. Z. Mr. Z, you are truly my hero.

"It all comes back. Perhaps it is difficult to see the value in having one's self back in that kind of mood, but I do see it; I think we are well advised to keep on nodding terms with the people we used to be whether we find them attractive company or not. Otherwise they turn up unannounced and surprise us, come hammering on the mind's door at 4 a.m. of a bad night and demand to know who deserted them, who betrayed them, who is going to make amends. We forget all too soon the things we thought we could never forget. We forget the loves and the betrayals alike, forget what we whispered and what we screamed, forget who we were."

-Joan Didion, "On Keeping a Notebook."

Chinese Club

Hooray for finally being an active member!

Anyways, this really cracked me up at practice today...

Pauline: ...so in this new scene, you guys will now only have FOUR counts to fall in love with each other.

Joan: That's how the Chinese do it! Gotta get busy and make all them babies... ;)

Pauline: Uh no. Only ONE baby now, don't you know?

Joan: ...well if you get a girl you get to keep trying!

hehe, love ya pauline and joan! =)

on a side note, Happy Birthday Katti!