Wow. It's been practically three years.

My last post was near the end of 2009. 2011 just started two weeks ago. Between then and now, I've moved on to different websites, but with a sudden urge, I've decided to update this. I don't know why. Perhaps I've missed the simple life of blogging. The new site I've been on has been a bit hectic.

So what's new?

Sophomore year was pretty cool. I miss it, but it's time has passed. I started writing a story last summer. I've only the outline and it's already 30 pages long, I kid you not. There are some writing books that I find at bookstores that look like a great resource, but I don't have much money I can spend. That's because I going to Japan over summer break this year. Two weeks, just me and my friends on a school trip, touring Japan. I'm not sure where we're going exactly, but we might visit a high school in our sister city.

Why is it called a sister city anyways? Why not brother city? This goes along with ships and planes as well. People always refer to them as "she" instead of "it." Does it have to do with the males who are on the ship, I wonder? There are so many questions that pertain to the way things work, the way things are run.

I should stop my tangent there.

I should also get back to work. I have an interview Thursday, and I haven't set up my responses yet. All for now.

One new post.

Hey all, its been awhile. So much has gone on this summer, I just have no time to update. And then there are times when I'm too lazy to update it. But cooling off in my room, I challenged myself to a post from my DSi. So here it is x]

So a couple highlights of my summer... Well there was Filipino Day at Soak City. It was fun, but not uberly fun like last year. Lots of cute girls and guys though. x] The wave pool was crammed as ever, and the ground burned our feet. I saw one of my friends there, and apparently my other friend was there too, but I never got to see him. So a few days later, me and my friend, Murse, went to go visit him. It was good to see him again. He got a hair cut and shaved off his mustache. It was a bit surprising, but I quickly got used to it.

A couple weeks later came Summer Bridge Training. I couldn't go on Tuesday because it was my bro's 5th grade graduation. (They sang 'The Climb' by Miley Cyrus. LOL) We even learned how to do Thriller! :D But the last day was the funnest, we played a bunch of these games and I even got to climb one of those fake rock walls. x] Apparently, I was really fast because I got to the top in like less than 3ish minutes maybe? I don't know, I wasn't timed :p The next week, the real thing went pretty well. The mini-lesson was okay, buy we had to do a bit of of our groups posters because we were behind a bit. But they presented well. Me and Denise weren't supposed to do anything, just supervise.

Then on Sunday, I met up with Anja and we went to Comic-con. While we waited for the trolley, Anja couldn't find her school ID (which she needed to trade in for a pass). So we got on, and thought about what we were going to do. We got off, and we decided to call Patrick, my former advisor, who was head of the comic club. He gave us a couple passes, mine had Justin Martinez, while Anja's read Marisol Franco, co-head of the comic club. Marisol had her own pass so it was alright. Once we got inside we checked some of the booths out, went upstairs to the cosplayers, and did this repeatedly. Me and Anja did Do-Dai and some random stranger took a picture of us. There were a lot of cool booths there, some with figurines, some with clothes. I bought a Domo shirt from the J-List booth for my brother. I wanted the hoodie for myself, but it was too expensive. Right by that booth was the Rockin Android booth, a group that distributes Japanese doujin games. Me and Anja got to play "Acceleration of Suguri" and it was really fun. One of the guys there offered us Suguri, Acceleration of Suguri, and 2 soundtracks for just $15! Automatically we said yes. Then more walking, and then we went to go watch a screening for Lucky Star. I wanna watch it again. x] I met some of Anja's friends who were cosplaying as Vocaloids. It was cool. I got a picture with a Haruhi cosplayer, and everyone kept taking pics of Anja. ("Oh! You're Rena from Higurashi! Can I take your picture?!") It was cool to watch all of it happen. I wanna cosplay next year, but costumes are expensive, and I'm practically broke :P I saw this one girl from my middle school and another guy from my middle school. I didn't get to say hi though; I was on the phone. When I got to the trolley station, the one that Anja and I got off of, I saw yet another guy from middle school that was there. I got on, and I struck up a small conversation with a girl and a small group of guys. It was fun, I like riding the trolley. (:

Well that's a lot of tryping, both on comp and DSi. I'll leave it at that for now.

Anyways,...

So, for my memorial day weekend, I went up to Julian to go camping. Or rather, stay at an RV Resort. Now don't get me wrong, I love that place. In fact, I wish I was there right now. The atmosphere is just great, especially when you can talk with other people your age. Let me start from the beginning.

We left home about 15 minutes after my mom came home with my cousin. He came along too. Anyways, we left, and after some time of driving, we got at the ranch at around 10-ish. We checked in, and "moved" in to the trailer. We had a snack, and went to bed at midnight.

The next day, we just kinda got the feel of things. I walked around, saw a couple people. I wrote in my journal a bit, and read back at what I wrote, so long ago. I went swimming with my brother and cousin after lunch for an hour or two. I dried off, grabbed my DSi and went into the clubhouse for the Wi-Fi. I sat on the sofa, and soon after, another dude, about my age, came in and sat at the other sofa. We didn't say anything, just minding our business. Then other people came in. Turns out there was a Lakers game going on. So I decided I would watch it. The dude, left for 15 mins, grabbing something to eat, at which even more people started coming in. Then he came back and sat on the same sofa as me. We were all watching the game, and another dude, that seemed a few years older than me came in. Other people in the room included, a few Denver fans, one of which was very expressive, some middle-aged ladies, and some dads and young sons. Anyways, I was really into it, and I wanted the Lakers to win. So whenever the Nuggets shot I would always be like "miss!" under my breath. I guess the dude heard me and was smiling, when he was looking at me. x] Anyways, the dude got up and left, and my dad came in and sat next to me. I think he was for the Nuggets :p I left, took a shower and had dinner. Walked around a bit, hung around the playground, then went back in. I came in at the end of the 3rd quarter I think. I had to sit on the floor next to one of the ladies from earlier. I was muttering again, 'cept I was saying "shoot" or "hit," and the lady next to me smiled. So Lakers won. It was kind of like a weak "yay!" When they won. It was much more active when the Lakers actually scored. x] The room was full of "yes!" and clapping and arm thrusts. It was fun. I headed back to the cabin for a small break, then went out for more walking. We (me, my bro, and my cousin) walked places. First to the basketball courts for this astronomy thing. Then more places. Passed by a Shrek screening a couple times. Then back to the trailer and bed.

I think I bored you enough with all those details. I'll post about the next day later. All for now.

Mini Sports Festival!

Today was advisory olympics, and they were hella fun. We had a 3 win, 1 lose, 1 tie record. Anyways, there were 5 games, and I guess I'll fill you in on them.

First Game: Dodgeball
Vs: Tator's Tots
What Happened: It was the average game. I got hit in the arm eventually. James was one of our targets. We won, taking down either Jon or Gary at the end, I can't remember. We played a second game, just for fun, since we had time. I got hit in the face/shoulder. It stung for about 5 minutes, before I was fine again.Then I got hit in the arm again. :/ But it was still fun.
Result: Win!

Second Game: Project "Funway"
Vs: Rod Squad
What Happened: We had to create a new spring fashion out of the materials they gave us. These "materials" were: toilet paper, small paper cups, pipe cleaners, paper plates, duct tape, tin foil, some other kind of tape (the tan one, I forget what's it called", and I think thats it. Ours wasn't as great as theirs, but we still won anyway ^.^ The reason why was because they put makeup on Rod, which was illegal, since they weren't given makeup. but it was funny though. Rod, in a tin foil bikini. We basically dressed up Cassandra with a toilet paper top, an earring with 2 cups, a duct tape belt with cups on it, and tin foil wrapped shoes. When they told us that we won, there was a moment of silence, expecting the "Just Kidding" part. Then things got loud. But we marched out of the room happy.
Result: Another Win!

Third Game: Balloon Popping
Vs. Ted Titans
What Happened: In this game, we were supposed to pop the other team's balloons before they could ours. Whoever was left standing wins. At first, we thought that we had to pop our teammates' balloons, according to Ted, but he was wrong. It was fun. I didn't pop anyone's though. I got popped by this tall dude, which made me not so happy. I liked watching though. Monica even got cornered by 4 people! And she escaped! Go Monica! But then, because of her knee, we had to do a head count. It was 5 (or 4 excluding Monica because of her knee) against 5. We still called it a draw though.
Result: Draw...

Fourth Game: Volleyball
Vs. The Fishermen
What Happened: It took place in a room, with the wall collapsed. In it's place, there were 3 tables, separating us from them. We had to sit on the ground, staying in our spots, hitting a large beach ball back and forth. If it hit the ground or any wall, except the dividing wall, it was out and the other team gets a point. Best two out of three. WE won all games. :D We switched sides for the second game, though. It was fun hitting the ball back and forth, sounds more fun than it seems. I remember when I served the ball. I hit it over, then they hit it. It hit a corner on the ceiling, since there are pipes and lights above us, and it plummeted straight down onto the ground. Point for us! Toriaezu, it was close the 3rd round though. A point vs. two points left. And we still won x]
Result: 3rd Win!

Last Game: Pictionary
Vs. [Wagner's Advisory]
What Happened: WEll, the last event. Pity. It was so fun too! Except for the part where we lost. And they called us out for using a symbol, when they clearly used arrows and even talked when drawing. Then there was the time when Rey had to draw out "Mad cow disease." WTF?! How the hell are you supposed to draw that out?! We ended up losing by 2 points. And another thing. That guy must be deaf! I mean, when Marco was up drawing the detective-dud, I clearly said "DETECTIVE!" out loud. Ehh.
Result: Lose >.>

And there we have it. My first ever advisory olympics. Shame we didn't go against someone who made my hiccups go away x]

Hooray for Anime!

Well, here I am once again, posting up another blog post instead of doind homework. (: But that's what later is for! It's not important in the current time frame anyways. But this post will be about an anime that I found that is really ROFL funny. YOu heard me. Not "haha" funny. Not LOL funny. But ROFL funny. But since it's still airing, I think that it could bump up to ROFLMAO material.

The anime is called "Toradora!" and is a slice-of-life, shonen anime. The main character, Takasu Ryuuji, is a normal guy, but his peers are always avoiding him because he has eyes of a delinquent. All he wants is a girlfriend, particularly a girl in his class named Minori. But then on the first day of school, he bumps into Aisaka Taiga, or her other name "the Palmtop Tiger." Small in stature, she is the real delinquent. She angryly pushes Ruuji out of the way, and catch up with Minori who is apparently her friend. Later, it's revealed that Taiga has a crush on Ryuuji's friend Yuusaku. After a game of cat-and-mouse with a wooden sword at Ryuuji's apartment, the two agree to help each other in order to get each other's friends hearts.

The series actually originated from a light novel, much like the Haruhi Suzumiya series, and is available to read, on Baka-Tsuki.net. The anime is fairly new, only to have the 10th episode release on the 5th. Or in other words, this Friday. But since fansubbers, have to get to it and translate it, I need to wait a little longer to watch it. But hey, it's worth the wait (:

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

Hello people of the internetz! Because this font looks appealing to me currently, I have decided to keep it. (:

Anyways, happy Thanksgiving everyone, hope you fill yourself to the brim with turkey and stuffing ;) I am currently at my auntie's house in Escondido right now, and my ither cousins just go here. There's an annoying beep going off in the kitchen, but I'm sure it's not the turkey (: Or maybe it is? idk. XD I will be sleeping over here the night, along with my brother and one of my cousins, if not all of them. I'm still kind of sick, not as stuffy a nose and slight coughs. I sleep better at night. But it's been raining a lot lately, which equals the cold in early morning, which kind of brings me back to earth, just barely. Don't get me wrong, I love the rain, and in fact it was rainging on the way here. But then of course there was a 3-car accident that clogged up the freeway, and held us up about 15 minutes, but whatever. Sadly, my parents are working today, but I'm happy and thankful that at least I have my cousins and brother. x]

Last night, I downloaded the Super Mario Galaxy OST, and I like it. The tracks range from half a minute to about 4 minutes. I downloaded the Platinum Version, which has all 82 tracks from the game on 2 CDs. I've been listening to it all since last night, and I barely reached the half-point song, without skipping any songs. There are a couple that I listened to again, only for the pure enjoyment of the track. (LMAO< my brother sounds tone deaf, trying to sing Dirty Little Secret x], he's playing Rock Band with some of my cousins upstairs, sorry. /random tangent) I like the music which makes me want Super Mario Galaxy even more, even though I borrowed it from my friend andfinished it. x] Still haven't found out the red star's secret or finished all the Purple Comets. Maybe I'll add that to my ever growing wish list :D

Happy Thanksgiving, have a good turkey day, where ever you are :)

Twilight...

Yes, I have started reading Twilight. But I'm only like on the 3rd-ish chapter. Nevertheless, I'm enjoying the book. Bella and Edward make an odd pair. It's always interesting to see them bicker almost constantly. Seeing how their Biology class is almost the only place where they actually interact with each other is funny. Sure they have stuff outside that class, but that's where it all started. And Bella herself is a genuine character. Like how she acts and thinks, it isn't the same as how I would think. I kind of like the cold actually. I think it's funny how she thinks that Edward just automatically hates her after being glared at with pitch black eyes for so many times. 

At first I was a bit skeptical. I mean I know that the books about vampires and stuff, but the beginning was so ordinary. But then it hits you. Like the parking lot scene. I was like, "WOAHH!!! Super Edward to the rescue!" x] 

I'm at the part where Bella just turned down Eric, a boy with "skin problems and dark hair" to a dance where the girls are supposed to ask out the boys out. Is he trying to imply something or does he really like her that much? xD Then there's Jessica and Mike. Awkward... Kind of feel orry for them. It's kind of like a love triangle with extra lines and stuff. So with the number of people, I guess it would be an incomplete love pentagon? Since Edward's line is only pointed towards Bella's at the moment, it doesn't seem like he has anything against Mike and Eric. Oh! And don't forget about the guy who almost ran over Bella, Tyler. But then again, he's only trying to make up for what he did. Or didn't do. Or...I'm confused... But anyway so it would be a hexagon then. I like hexagons, you always see them in future sci-fi movies and stuff. 

P.S. Happy November everyone!!! It's time for turkeys now!

Reading Journal Again!

For my reading journal, I decided to do another manga series. I kept reading it at an on/off rate, only because I have like two volumes. Anyways, it's called Konjiki no Gash Bell (judging from the kanji I would roughly translate the title to Gold-colored Gash Bell, but it's known as Zatch Bell here in America.) and it's about a genius boy named Kiyo(-maro in the Japanese version) who gets a gift from his dad. The gift is a kid. Wierd, right? What's wierder is that the kid can shoot lightning from his mouth, and he came with a mysterious red book. It's really interesting. See, his dad found the kid, Gash (or Zatch) in a forest and he sent the kid to Kiyo to help him make more friends, since Kiyo being a genius and all, is kind of a sociopath. The lightning that comes out of his mouth is triggered by a spell from the red book. Later on in the series, the two learn that Gash is really a demon boy from another world, or dimension, or what have you, out of 100 kids. The kids are sent to the human world to fight one another with their colored spellbooks that only their masters can read. The only one left out of the 100 kids will be crowned king of the spirit world. It's a little bit sad because there are some kids that Gash made friends with and they were demons too. The girl was really sweet and lived with a girl who was kind of like a big sister to her. But when her spells were read, she became a monster with sharp knife-like claws that would hurt anything in her path. Another kid was found by this one dude and the guy used the kids for robbery and hurting people and stuff. That was Gash's and Kiyomaro's first real demon battle. In the end, the enemy's book always gets burned by Gash's attack. When a demon's book is burned, the child is then disqualified and then sent back into the demon world.
A running gag, I guess it would be called that, would be one of Kiyomaro's classmates, Mizuno Suzume (Suzy in the English version), always somehow gets involved in some of the little side stories that Kiyomaro and Gash have. Like when Kiyomaro was hospitalized after a demon attack (the owner, Sherry, decided to leave them and come back another day) and a kid in the hospital hid the red book. Suzume was sent by Kiyomaro to go find the red book, which I think is a stupid decision because A) she had to ask the nurse three times on how to get to Kiyomaro's room, B) She got easily distracted by getting a balloon from a tree for a patient, and C) When she was young she tried helping a younger child get home, she got distracted when she found a cat in a box floating down the river, completely forgetting about the other child and then ending up in the police officer's station at 8 at night 20 kilometers from where they started. But of course it's okay since she's always so happy. she kind of reminds me of me, happy, and (somewhat) energetic, getting distracted easily, and being a ditzy airhead most of the time. xD
And so ends my journal entry. Check it out, if you're interested in the supernatural shonen series. Please buy the books if you can to support them, but if not, check out onemanga.com and look under Zatch Bell. (:

Homework

Here is something that really isn't like our school. Vocabulary. Funny word ain't it. But here's something that is. Homework on our blog. And so, I will post 3 pictures about 3 words from our vocabulary from the play "Our Town" by Thorton Wilder.

Number 1: epitaph
"An inscription of a dead person (usually on tombstones)"









Number 2: muse
"To ponder"








Number 3: languid
"Slow, sluggish, listless, or weak"














I hope you've enjoyed this presentation of three word.

In other news, I received my cousin's iPod today!!! Yay!!! THANK YOU NATE!!! I'm installing iTunes right now, but since I have my computer regional settings on Japanese, it's all in guess what...Japanese. But, I could understand the katakana, and there wasn't a lot of Kanji (the ToA I didn't even look through) so everything was alright. Yay! THANKS AGAIN NATE!

Reading Journal!

Today's entry is about How To Be an Explorer of the World by Keri Smith, the same person who did Wreck This Journal, which I just bought today. It's kind of like one of those prompt books that gets you writing, but only different. It's one of those books that make you listen and look and use all of the other senses in the world to "explorer the world." Each prompt is listed as an "Exploration", followed by a prompt, an alternate prompt, a picture, and a quote from someone that relates to the prompt. There are 59 prompts in total and an extra spot to record and document whatever the prompt requires. I, however, bought a journal along with this book, and I will be using that. It will also be alternately used as a public journal, one for random lists, notes, and doodles that I make. I already wrote in it, describing our "first encounter" at the book store. I like the design and I think it fits me so I bought it. 

Anyways, I look forward to doing some of the interesting prompts of this book, which means all of them (:, and I look forward to jotting down my writings in my new journal. I think a journal's a precious thing to have, because it serves many purposes, and maybe I'll collect journals and fill them out on my own. That is, if my life ever has anything more interesting to write about that is blog material or the I have no access to the internet, be it grounding, or the death of the internet (both of which is very impossible, since I am a good child with computer access in many places :D) an there ends my book journal/journal tangent. I hope you enjoy (:

Breaking Through Ch. 1-6

So today's post will be homework. Woo. But hey, I'm enjoying this book, so count it as a recommendation.

Breaking Through by Fransico Jimenez is a memoir about a young boy who is at first an illegal immigrant. At first you may think, oh illegal immigrant, did he steal jobs or something? or something of the sort. But I felt connected to Panchito (the boy) in some way. When I read about him, I actually have pity for him when he has to work, or get angry at his dad for acting like there's a bee in his pants.
So at first, Panchito crosses into the US with his family, and lives his life for a few years. Until he gets caught by la migra, or the border patrol. What gets me wondering though, is when the officer said that we was turned in by "someone of his own." I started wondering during that part. Could it have been Mr. Ito, the cropholder? Or maybe one of their neighbors? But I had no time to play detective, because I wanted to read more.
So then the family goes back to Nogales, where they spend a couple nights. The family gets a check up in the US then decide to go to a relative's place. Mom and Dad talk about it and decide to let Panchito and his older brother, Roberto, return to the US to continue school. I couldn't imagine just abandoning my family like that, and taking my younger brother with me. I started thinking about everything else. Taxes, chores, and I have to send some of my money from my job to help out my parents. I admire the two because they are really sacrificial, and I don't think that I would've been willing to do that. But I felt good about Panchito, he got to go back to school and see his friends again. I was also amused at the parts where he started learning about rock n' roll. And the dances and class presentation of Elvis was cool.
Then the rest of the family came, eventually and it was a happy reunion. I could feel the warm and fuzziness coming from the scene. Dad apparently, was "hexed" which was to blame for his bad back. But like Panchito, I was a bit skeptical about the whole process: a tent full of incence, flowers, and holy cards; drinking tea that makes you drowsy; and stripping to your waist, getting a massage faced-down, being chanted on, and then puking up blood... I don't know, it all seems weird from my perspective. But it was good to hear that Dad was all better again.
Now, though, Panchito, Trampita (another brother), and Roberto all have to work in a strawberry field now, that Dad now looks after. I feel a bit sorry for Panchito and his brothers during this part because they all have to do manual labor, and it's really tiring for them and affecting Panchito in his studies. But, it can't be helped; they need the money. They start by pulling weeds, then hoeing the seeds in. But the seeds won't grow so they fumigate during the night. Turns out they killed the plants, and Dad's devastated. Now I feel sorry for him.
Later, Roberto and Panchito ask to go to the Vet's High School Dance, but Panchito gets yelled at for being "disrespectful" by asking if they could go while the Dad was thinking. At that part I was like, WTF? I mean, just because, your little strawberries won't grow, doesn't mean you have to take out by lashing at your kids and restricting them, when they've never done anything wrong!
Then Panchito "graduates" from Junior High, and I feel good about this. It was sad though that his parents couldn't come, but I could see that it meant a lot for Panchito to have his dad give him a special medallion and put some aftershave on him. And then I can't read chapter 7.

All in all, I've really enjoyed this book and I feel like I can connect to the characters. I look forward to reading the next parts.

Hello from High School!

Yes, I'm already in high school, ever since a couple days ago. It's pretty cool. We get to call the teachers by their first name, we use our fingerprints to get our lunch, and Advisory is pretty fun. We actually can start an electives class, and for those who know me, you'll probably know what I'll do ;) I guess I can be the teacher.

So yeah, anyways, in Humanities, we have to set up a blog. Lucky for me, I already have one set up. Can you guess which one? Yes. This one. So yeah, some of my posts might have random things saying something about a book or something. Breaking Through by Francisco Jimenez. It's really interesting, actually.
What I'm not used to is having a binder for each class we have, which is about three. But still, my backpack is kinda heavy for some reason. I was such a dork, I titled my Math/Physics and Humanities binders in Japanese. x] Ha ha...

Recent Mishaps

Sorry for not posting in forever. This past 12 days, some of my relatives from Florida came over. It was fun and I will go briefly as to what happened during their visit, and a little before that time:

• We went to SeaWorld and it was so fun. Shipwreck Rapids, Shamu, Clyde and Seamore (sp?), Journey to Atlantis, the Dolphins, everything! We got soaked a mighty couple of times too.
• My cousin from Florida and a couple from here watched Get Smart. LMAO-funny, especially the last parts.
• I got interested in the Septimus Heap series, really good if you like magic adventure books.
• I just got Mario Kart Wii. My friend code is 1633-5586-1977. I suck though :p
• I'm starting to play Trickster Revolution, by Ntreev, the same people who did Grand Chase, as I mentioned awhile back. I like it more than GC.
• My relatives just went home today. Really sad, but the rest of the family (2 older siblings + my cousin's bf) are coming in September.

I think that's about it. Keeping it short, because I want to play Trickster. Look up Tokome, if you play.

Twitter!

Notice on the top, under my profile, there is now a Twitter badge. Just signed up today, now everyone can stalk me! Nah, I can block any followers, though :p.
After cooling off in the hot tub (haha, oxymoron) then [look at twitter for whats next], it isn't so hot anymore :)

New Anime: Real Drive

While I was searching for any news for Haruhi Season 2 (though I found nothing, I did see that there's going to be a Wii game for it), I was looking through a blog and the anime title "Real Drive" came up. It's fairly new, started in April of this year, and I decided to check it out. I'm fairly not sure what it's about, but it looks good. The first ep, i was a bit disturbed (I'm not a big fan of blood and gore), but nontheless, it looks enjoyable.

OBTW, my relatives just came over from Florida, at 9:20 am, yay! I get to see them bedfore my brother, hahaha. They're staying for 12 days, which is cool 8). All for now.

New Website!

Straying from the History CST that I did horribly on, I'd like to annonce a new web blog of mine. harugeki.blogspot.com For those interested, check it out, though its really new. I just made it today. And since I can't doing anything on the stupid school computers, I have to do everything at home.

Anyways, check it out sometime. And tell your friends too! Chances are, they're probably one of the people I'm looking for.

Facebook Anyone?

So I have a Facebook now, yay. For anyone interested, search me up under bluetokyodog95@yahoo.com.

I'm also thinking about creating a new website on Freewebs just as a personal page. You know, my blog (this one), any files I want to share, my online info, that stuff.

A Little More In Depth...

I said that I'd go i little more in detail in another post last time, and hopefully if my brother is willing to let me use the computer a little more, I can get through with it.

So, the first day starts with registration. The scholars register into their groups, drop off their bags, and then head to a big room where all the other kids are. There are ice-breaker games till lunch.

The games included "The Cold Wind Blows" where it sorta like a four-corners game but with a category by the person left out in the middle, "Telephone Charades" where the person at the end of the line would act out a movie and it would go up to the front. If the person at the front gets the movie, that group wins a point. Then there was the shoe relay. It was a game where everone would put in their shoes in a pile in the middle of the floor. The adults would then mix them up and people were supposed to find their shoes. First time, everyone came rushing in. Then we had to start over into relay position. The first group that wold find all their shoes and sit in a line would win. Our group was the last one, and I almost tripped getting my shoes. *That's a great impression, trip when you run back to your group that's like 3 feet away.* But I didn't trip! I kept my balance and kept going. And then the adults tried to makes us do the Cuban Shuffle, but Only like half the people did it. :P

Then lunch. The food was pretty good and the program coordinator gave a speech, that was supposed to be motivational. Then we all go to the second floor with our group's FAs (Faculty Advisors), Leslie and Micah were the leaders of the Mississippi group, the one I was in. *The groups are named after bodies of water so there are Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, Great Lakes, etc.* We go into our conference rooms and the meeting starts. We started off into a name game which went like this, Leslie went to Micah (they know each other already, they started the game) and it went like this...:

L: What's your name?
M: Micah
L: It's Micah. Micah, Micah, Micah, Micah, Micah! (like cheerleader) Reverse!
M: (Grab's Leslie's shoulders)
L: (Finds a scholar) Hey what's your name?
*Here I forget who was up. I'll just use the letter G*
G: Gary
L: Gary
M: It's Gary
L and M: Gary, Gary, Gary, Gary, Gary! (again like cheerleader) Reverse!
G: (Grab's Leslie's shoulders)
M: Leads line, finds a scholar)

...and so on. When a new scholar is met, the name of that scholar is repeated down the line then cheered. Everyone in line says "Reverse!" then turns around. Whoever was last in line is now the leader and a scholar. This continues until everone is in line.

Then we set standards. If someone reveals a flipchart (Basically a folded over chart paper with the lesson on it) we were to go, "Shaaaaaaa....BAM!" *This was varied depending which FA we had or on Sunday when it was someone's Birthday* If someone tells us to turn to a page in our journals we'd cheer for them, "Yeah, Leslie '08! Micah for Prez!" unless otherwise said. If we have a different FA, we'd start cheering for them once they introduced themselves.

Afterwards, we broke up into "support groups". It was a group of 3 or 4 people that, when prompted, you go to and then you did an activity. We did a little game within our groups that was sorta like a guessing game. The people in our group would first fill out a sheet about everone in their group, what they thought their likes were and where they came from, then we'd talk about it. The person that was being talked about, had to turn around so they wouldn't see their expressions. Then we'd correct the people in our support groups.

Then we learned about the Johari Window. More other things. We talked about when we get our room keys and we headed down to dinner. We got our room keyes, and I headed up to my room. I changed then went back down. I forgot my journal, so I went back up again. The 3rd time I helped my friends carry a keyboard t oher room. *All I did was carry the stand though :p* Since it was a "No-Purple" zone, I wasn't allowed up there so, I just went back down again. Me and some of my friends waited a little outside the conference room, then went in . What's funny was that, my friends and I rode an elevator before going to the Confence Room and we thought we hit "2" but instead we hit "Pool" and ir reeked of chlorine, I gott tell ya. So then workshop. It was wierd to be still doing something at night, I have to be honest.

After, we went to our room, and I met my roommate. He was pretty cool. Micah had the security check in our room. Basically, all we had to do was just let him look at our faces and name badges.

I had a hard time sleeping, cuz I didn't know which pillow to use, there were 4. 2 oversized fluffy ones and the small firm ones. I was up past 2, and I couldn't sleep. but I eventually got sleep for like 10 minutes cuz I had to change pillows again.

So that was Day One. The next three days will come up soon. (If nothing happens, e.g. brother, chores, homework, etc.)

Oh btw, if anyone has a Myspace, search me up under makimoto95@yahoo.com. Starting it up again, mostly for my friends from NYLSC, but it's growing too.

Beginnings

Yo! So this is my first blog, hope it turns out well. Later on there will be stuffs, so sorry if the site is a little boring. Now on to introductions!

My name is Philip and I'm a bunch of different things. Just The Way I Am by Skye Sweetnam would describe my main personality. Other than that I'm a bibliophile, Japanophile and otaku :D.

More than likely, my posts will be really random.

So that's it for now. Happy reading!