Wise words from my father

"The SAT is a test for test-takers. That's what the Chinese are trained to do: take endless yes/no, black/white tests; your mom is very good at tests like the SAT cause she's been trained. I am not. But you Americans learn the maybe/depends, gray-area tests, so I love American tests.

You know, Caroline, the area of China near the Russian border is very cold, so I went to the library. The library was always warm. After dinner, I would tell my friend to save me a seat at the library and I would go there after I eat so that I could sleep. I slept until closing time, then I went back to my dorm to play. I played all day."

Wow, thanks Daddy. Those are some great genes you gave me...

Contemporary

"Driven Out: The Forgotten War Against Chinese Americans," by Jean Pfaelzer, and "Compelled to Excel: Immigration, Education, and Opportunity Among Chinese Americans," by Vivian Louie, are two relevant and fascinating books. Some parts of Chinese history in the U.S. is heartbreaking, a lot more so than I had thought. But in the "Compelled to Excel" book, it's interesting to see a scholar's view on the Asian phenomenon in the U.S.; a lot of facts and statistics about the Asian experience apply to my family and families that I know.

I am getting disgustingly lazy. I have plenty of motivation, but it's hard to translate motivation into action. And I have returned to my terrible habit of biting my nails. I think I got it from my seven-year-old brother, cause he just started last month. I'm actually biting my nails right now.

"96.7902%" is good enough for me, haha. YAY :)

Blissful

I feel like I'm in a really good place in my life. Sure, I complain now and then but nothing that really affects my outlook. My parents are totally supportive and my brother always makes me smile; my friends are always great, especially you gang of amazing girls, along with tram and dorkatron lol; school is still rather worrisome but not deadly; and I'm really getting used to juggling and truly enjoying my extracurriculars. I feel like for once, things are going right. I once again feel blessed to live each day instead of wanting to fast forward to the future. And I believe I am in this mood because I'm finally exercising/swimming since November 2009, so more healthy blood is flowing to my brain! haha. Swimming makes me such a happy and better person, and I love love love it. And maybe driving too, driving everyday to school and back makes me feel so good haha.

I was talking with a friend about this the other day, but I wonder what my blog really says about me. Looking back at old entries, I guess you can learn a whole lot about me if you read between the lines. I'm not the type of person to say much, but I guess my everyday thoughts on here say enough, especially if you're cool enough too decipher my meanings :)

I love all this talk about Junior Prom. Who's wearing what dress, who's going with who, who's eating where with who... how exciting! Once I "do what I gotta go" and decide on my dress, I will be like a happy ticking bomb, ready to explode on prom night! And hopefully senior ball too :D