break

took these picture while taking an evening stroll :] 

I love working, being efficient, but the break of thanksgiving felt wonderful. Being able to relax without worry  of college going through my head. Eating without rushing and enjoying the company of my family. So this week's blog post is fairly short..

But my rest is done, and I will be back with two blog post next week - with one about unique LA so be excited (:

^ bye bye until next time

marimba

good morning Doris my marimba <3

Marimba. hands down my favorite instrument. When I get older, I'm going to buy myself a marimba :)

The reason why am I'm writing this is because band season has just ended. It's kind of strange when I think about it. I've spent four years in band - two years marching, two years in the front; three years following the leader; one year leading a section. I used to be a relatively quiet person in band, not wanting any attention to be placed on myself. Now, I sort of have to, but I don't mind it. I never would have imagined that I would end up being the pit captain.

It's so crazy how life kind of tosses you and throws you around; how you start in a place and think you know where you're going, but the next thing you know, you end up in a totally different place.

When I was in middle school, I remember my mom forced me to play piano and I hated it. All the other asian kids played piano and were ten times better than me and it seemed so mundane. I used to complain every time my mom asked me to practice. But I didn't give it up. I don't know why, but I just continued playing. But I think piano was one of the best investments of my childhood ( so thanks mom :). Piano gave me so many opportunities - playing in the praise team at church, playing in jazz band, working at getting paid for the first time, helped me find my favorite instrument - marimba - and that lead me to a leadership position in band... I'm not bragging about my musical accomplishments, but all these opportunities that piano has lead me to makes me grateful that I stuck with piano and reminds me that there is hope of something better in the future...

Although I initially hated piano, I worked hard at it and it turned out to be such a blessing.
And right now, life seems so hard with all these college apps, financial problems, leadership difficulties, and other issues that make my head spin... But I just have to keep working hard and hope for the best because I know that I will grow from this difficulty and will end up in a better place, just like I did from playing piano for twelve years.

bye bye until next time ^

looking backwards

 

I've been starting to apply for colleges and last monday, I went to a local favorite - Neighborhood Grinds.. I love the atmosphere in the cafe - everyone is working around you, so it makes you want to work too. 

As I've been working on the essay portion of the UC application, it really makes me think about what I've done throughout my short span of life.. what have I really been doing? What world do I come from? What am I proud of? What impacted me the most? And it's kind of strange looking back at all the experiences I've had - most of which I had forgotten, or at the time, I thought had no significance. I was really struggling with the questions and I've talked with some teachers and my mom for answers. So I'm going to share what I think I'm going to write about ~ 

First question

Describe the world you come from — for example, your family, community or school — and tell us how your world has shaped your dreams and aspirations.

I'm going to writing about the two worlds I come from - Seoul and Southern California. I love taking public transportation to see different places, to experience new things. I have taken the train and bus around to LA to visit friends and just to see the city. I have enjoyed that experience. But when I went to Seoul... the public transportation is pretty amazing. Through a combination of walking, subway, and bus, you can pretty much go anywhere in Seoul. You don't need a car, you just need a couple of bucks (or couple thousand "won") to visit a palace, an underground mall, an outdoor market, an indoor amusement park, a forest, or the blue house. Everything is accessible, therefore, people are more likely to get off their butts and actually look at the beautiful city around them. LA is pretty beautiful as well.. but it's impossible to go to because of traffic and the public transportation system is so poorly made. That is why it is my dream to change the public transportation in order for the future generation to become one that explores not just the city around them, but the state, nation and the world, just as I have. And there are some experiences you can only get from traveling which are very valuable

The other one I can't seem to find a topic for.. well

bye bye until next time ^ 

thursdays

Hello my unseen audience (and myself in the future)...

first off, I always loved blogs - the idea of having a place where you publish your thoughts on the internet was always fascinating, but I never really could make myself continue because of lack of energy/motivation and my blogs usually acted out as a diary rather than a publicly readable blog. But if I don't write things down, it will be forgotten. So I'm going to start a little project that will start from the beginning of my "adulthood" until the end of my time and it will be a present to my future self and maybe my future kids and grandkids - see what the crazy old lady was thinking when she was seventeen or twenty five. coffeestroke's blog and michelle's blog inspired me for this project; their blogs were the "final push" to get me going. Let's see where this goes.

this blog isn't a diary where I rant about my problems (tumblr) or a continual update about my social life (that's twitter) or a platform for my pictures (instagram) or a place to share my opinions and feelings with friends (facebook); rather it's a blog that serves as three functions:
1) a place where I can think about things beyond school and the stress going on in my own life; where I can be at peace and wonder about the beautiful things in life
2) scrapbook life events and what I think about them.
3) A place to explain my travel stories

So without further introductions, let's begin. 

Thursday is my favorite day of the week. Why is that? Because it's the anticipation of the weekend that is arriving. Usually, the weekend is never as good as you think it should be, so the day before gives you the best feeling. It's the 5th day of the week - you're almost done, but you still got some time. It's a nice feeling. Which is why I am going to be writing blogs on Thursdays. It's usually the day where I have the least amount of work and plus, it's my favorite day of the week, so why not make it even more amazing? I want to have a new post only once a week or once every two weeks because this is a project that I don't give up on - slow and steady wins the race, right?

bye bye until next time ^