Happy Veterans 2011: "It's the Little Things That Really Mean Big"

QOTD: It's November 11, 2011! Did you wish for anything at 11:11?

Before anything else, I just want to congratulate the UNC Tar Heels for their AWESOME win against MSU (67-55). I'm usually not a Sports fan but when it comes to UNC (and especially when it comes to UNC basketball) I get kind of excited :) Even better, we won on an aircraft carrier! Woohoo! #heelsonaboat

Speaking of aircraft carriers, Happy Veterans Day! Thank you so much to all of those who have died, fought and risked everything to protect the lives of American people. We appreciate everything you do for our country, and I can't imagine the amount of courage it takes to do what you do. Thank you. 

~~~

Today, the Red Cross sponsored an event at my school that involved having students create greeting cards for our troops overseas. I stopped by the Pit (the heart of our school--both geographically and symbolically!) earlier this afternoon and, after noticing the group's booth, wrote a greeting card. Something about this particular event really warmed something inside of me. I don’t know if that's what compelled me — but I asked if I could help, and ended up spending an hour in the Pit and various school centers nearby asking fellow students if they’d like to write greeting cards as well. 

I was so surprised and taken aback by how many students actually said “Sorry, I don’t have time…I, uh, have class soon” or just simply said “No thanks.” 

Sometimes, I wish people would just stop what they are doing and think about what they could do to make others happy—not to make themselves feel good or to put that act of service on their resume, but for the sake of genuinely wanting to make someone else smile. 

I mean, I didn’t even tell the other “official volunteers” my name in the end—but I didn’t care. “Getting credit” wasn’t my mission at all. The only thing on my mind was the fact that people like these men here are fighting every day for us and may not even be at home for Christmas to be with their families. It takes three minutes to write a greeting card of warm wishes and thank-yous. It’s the least we can do. And in my opinion, it's a collection of little things like this that can really make a difference. (Agh...sorry for being a huge cheese ball tonight!)

I mean, I'm not saying that I don't get hurried some days and forget to slow life down for a few moments and think about what I should be thankful for, because I do. I guess I just feel very strongly about this because I associate serving in the military with making sacrifices for others. What greater sacrifice is there to give than risking your time, energy and life to help protect another?

I do have wonderful news, though. At the end of my "shift", we'd collected 50 greeting cards written by students from all over campus. YAY! Thanks you guys. <3 Whoever picks up your card somewhere in the world, I know he/she is going to love it. Once again, Happy Veterans Day! 

Oh, and one more thing: 

NaNoWriMo Word Count: 9,152 (still behind, but hey I'm making progress...sorta...)

Happy Veterans 2011: "It's the Little Things That Really Mean Big"

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Remember 9/11

QOTD: Where were you 10 years ago?

My heart goes out to those who died during the 9/11 attack and to those who lost family members and were remained behind. You are in our prayers, always. 

Remember 9/11

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Dear, you.

QOTD: What salutation do you prefer to use and receive? 

Perhaps in my mind I am living in the Middle Ages when Old English was still the norm, but when I receive a letter or a message that begins with "Dear," I can't help but feel as though I'd just swallowed a steaming bowl of chicken noodle soup or received a big bear hug from an old friend. 

Nowadays, the salutation "Dear" seems to be most often used between co-workers, in student emails to instructors, and other more professional and formal written exchanges of communication. What I love about "Dear" is not only the respect embedded within the word, but also the fact that it carries such an affectionate sense of caring, fondness and amiability. We have gotten so caught up in today's convenient "American language" and colloquialism that acknowledgments such as "Hey," "Hi," and "'Sup" have replaced more traditional ways of greeting people. 


Of course, I would be a fool as to say that I myself don't use those expressions, because I do. All the time. That being said, I will always have a soft spot for the word "dear," and try to use it when I can and when it's appropriate--even when I am just writing friends. I like to give them the sense of warm, glowing fuzziness that I tend to get when someone calls me "dear." It's just nice to hear, you know? 


Just for fun, here is one of my favorite clips that show the cast of Harry Potter speaking "American." Hilarious. 

What do you think about the progression of the American language over the years? Should the degree of respect and formality in salutations really matter? Is it really that important to use greetings at the beginning of an email or a chat session on Facebook? 

Dear, you.

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Home, finally.

QOTD: Imagine you have one full day to drop all obligations (chores, work, cooking, blogging) and go anywhere you wanted regardless of money/time/travel constraints. Where would you go?

Home sweet home, finally!

It feels absolutely AMAZING to be back home, snuggling in my own squishy bed and eating endless slices of real pizza with real cheese on top. This year's trip to China was definitely the longest we've ever had, setting a record of one month and one week! And I could definitely feel the effects of such longevity away from home.

When we stepped off the airplane and into the airport, I got almost excited when I saw Americans walking around with their luggage trolleys and speaking English. I got even more excited when I visited the ladies' room and realized, no longer did I have to use my own toilet paper--it was provided! Those were the beginning moments of what would become a renewed appreciation for the amazing country that is America. (Yeah, I know Fourth of July is over but it's never too late to celebrate your country, right?)

Though I am more than happy to be back here in the States, it goes without saying that during the next several months, I will be missing China very much and won't forget all that I learned this past July. While I do return annually, every single trip offers something new and exhilarating, whether it's a dubious dish that can't look more foreign but turns out delicious, or a glimpse at the Chinese countryside, or perhaps a beautiful garden museum filled with Chinese ancient historical tales that seems more fit to be in a fairy storybook.

If you didn't get the chance to follow my China blog posts at SHB, don't worry! I have decided to keep a portfolio of "traveling chronicles," a new project which I have begun and will add on to as I continue to travel in the future. Check back in a day or two, and you can find the portfolio (with "The China Chronicles") above as a new link on the blog!

Home, finally.

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China 2010 Scrapbook: Scenery

Question of the Day: Do you prefer a cell phone that has a touchscreen (like an iPhone) or one that has a keypad (like a Blackberry)? Why?

So basically I took over 400 photos while I was in China and had a pretty tough challenge before me in deciding which ones to host on my blog. I've decided to do 3 different posts, each one called China 2010 Scrapbook, but with a unique subtitle. The 3 scrapbook pages will be: Scenery, Food, and Fashion. There were loads of different foods that I ate and I'm sure you've probably never seen before, plus lots of clothing and accessories that I bought. Can't wait to share them all with you!

13-hour plane flight FROM Chicago (after the 2-hour connecting flight TO Chicago) TO Shanghai, China. I absolutely adore plane flights, mostly in part by the beautiful view from the sky. Honestly, you can literally see a map forming before your eyes as everything gets smaller and smaller and eventually turns into a whirlwind of green and brown. Love it.

Here, I was at Pudong, one of Shanghai's major skylines. It serves as the more contemporary side of the Huangpu river; on the other side (the side that I was standing on) is called Puxi and is made up of more historical and traditional buildings. I think it's so cool how that skyscraper to the right curves inward and looks like some sort of fish or knife.

Another photo of Pudong, but with the famous Oriental Pearl Tower, which is actually a tower that operates television. Isn't it beautiful? Also, you can see exactly how foggy and humid it gets in Shanghai...most days, the weather there is characterized by lots of cloudiness and fog.

This is Chen Hua Miao, aka Yu Garden, otherwise known as one of the busiest and most famous bazaars in Shanghai. I bought tons of little trinkets and oriental gifts there for myself and my friends. Rain or shine, there are always loads of people there. Plus, the cultural architecture is wonderful to view and admire. Nanjing Lu is one of the biggest shopping centers in Shanghai as well, and is particularly breathtaking at nighttime. As you can see, there are LOADS of people. Tons of malls and restaurants are located here showcasing the biggest name brands (Chinese as well as international), but the downside is that most everything is extremely expensive.

And here we are...pictures of The World Expo 2010!!! Over 200 countries from all over the world participated in the Expo, and each country had its own pavilion that they'd spent the past couple of years building in the Expo ground. The motto of the Expo was: Better City, better life.

This is China's Pavilion, one of the biggest and most noticeable ones there. Unfortunately, only VIPs were able to get in, but from what I saw on CCTV, the pavilion mainly has very oriental and professional performances with traditional dancing and singing. Everyday there were crowds of people waiting in line, sometimes for as long as 9 hours straight, to go into pavilion after pavilion. Underneath China's pavilion, you can see some other neat pavilions.
Welcome to the pavilion of the United Arab Emirates! I thought this was really beautiful...reminded me of a pot of gold, to be honest. There were loads of people in this pavilion, and it's not hard to see why. I realized that the first impression and architecture of the buildings have to be really impressive for them to be that popular.

I think Sri Lanka's pavilion was one of the coolest! It looked very oriental and centered very much around their culture. Unfortunately I didn't go in, but it was homongous and had lots of people in it, too!

Here is Argentina's national pavilion. If you look closer, you can actually see all the people standing in line, waiting to go in. Outside the pavilion, there was a really big television screen on the outer wall showcasing Argentina.

How could I have gone to the World Expo without seeing good ol' America's pavilion? Ours reminded me a lot of an airplane, hehe. The USA showed two large-screened movie clips and had a few performances led by American dancers and singers. They also had a small restaurant that served American food. We ate some burgers and fries, but it wasn't like the real thing. xD

Brazil's pavilion was pretty neat. Like Argentina, they had a giant screen showing (I think) Brazil in this year's World Cup (congratulations to Spain, by the way!)...but I may be wrong.
~TRA

China 2010 Scrapbook: Scenery

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Happy Memorial Day! + Frankie's Blog Contest

Question of the Day: What are you doing to celebrate Memorial Day?

For those of you living in America, Happy Memorial Day! Big thanks to those who currently serve or have served our great country. You are our heroes. Unfortunately, I had school because we'd originally taken an extra Snow Day during the winter time, so today was our makeup day. On a brighter note, today was also a half-day, so I am home early! Yay!

A few cool facts about Memorial Day (Source: Yahoo):

• It was originally called "Decoration Day"
• It wasn't considered an official holiday until 1971
• Civil War General John Logan was the one who founded the holiday

In addition, Frankie Writes blog is having a 500 Followers Contest in which she is giving out three pretty awesome books: Will Grayson, Will Grayson by David Levithan and John Green, Looking For Alaska by John Green, and Gimme a Call by Sarah Mlynowski. Basically you just have follow her and comment her, but there are multiple ways in which you can earn brownie points! Check out her blog to see how. Good luck to all entrants. :)

Stay tuned for yet another Cooking post (broccoli and cauliflower casserole!) and a Character Profile. Have a good day!

~TRA

*The photo is a Google image.

Happy Memorial Day! + Frankie's Blog Contest

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My Trip to Washington, D.C.

Question of the Day: What would YOU like to say to President Obama if you met him on the street one day?

So here are the pictures** of my Washington, D.C. trip from a little over a week ago. For those who didn't see that post, I went to the 101st Annual American Association Researching Meeting, which lasted from Friday, April 16th, to Tuesday, April 20th (I think). It was a ton of fun and I'm really glad I decided to go with my parents. I didn't really learn very much but I got to see all the the different products that were advertised and sold at the exhibit's different booths and read on various professors' posters about some interesting research studies that are going on.

In addition, I also go to get some sightseeing done! I now realize that, as a citizen of the USA, a trip to Washington D.C. is completely wasted if you don't spend time to get to know it, especially since it IS America's capital and whatnot. ;]

But yeah, sorry my post on this trip is so late! Like I said, I am studying for AP exams, but luckily tomorrow I have my last one! :) Enjoy, hehe.

Left: Between the doors of our hotel and the actually lobby, the entrance had this beautiful electronic graphic thingy up on the wall. It's basically an outlining of Washington's streets and notable sights; it changed colors every few seconds which was REALLY cool! I wonder how it works. XD


Up: This is what our hotel looked like...it was really nice! There was free internet access at the main lobby, coffee shop, book store and sit-down reading area, private meeting rooms, and other neat services. I especially liked the waiting area in the middle of the lobby that was confined by several sticks (see?). I'm pretty sure they're meant to look like pussy willows. I wish I'd taken another picture close up so I could compare them to the real plant!


Right: It was a beautiful day when I took this photo but a little too cloudy!! This is the Washington Memorial, named after our amazing first president, George Washington!

Unfortunately we didn't get to go in because we were running out of time, but apparently you can go on an elevator all the way to the top and look down! =D I hope to go back and actually do that someday haha.


There were LOADS of tourists and visitors there, though, just taking pictures and staring in awe at this great monument. You MIGHT be able to see some of the people in the picture amidst the many American flags...?

Top: Lo! and behold, this is Capitol Hill! Thankfully we were able to take a full tour in this historical structure, and I actually learned A LOT! It was amazing being able to go in and see firsthand the place where real history has taken place and still takes place everyday! The greatest thing is that THE TOUR WAS FREE!! It's great that the American government isn't trying to suck our money through tourist sites and are allowing us to learn about our great country freely (literally)... xD I mean I guesss that shoud be obvious anyway but you never know what governments are up to these days. Haha I think I've been in AP Comparative Government too long!!

Left: This is what the inside of the Capitol Hill looks like, at the central core of all things. All around, there are magnificent paintings of important historical time periods with real gold frames as well as statues (created with different types of stone) of significant historical figures, including our presidents of course! I can't remember which statue it was, but one of them had pieces of the Berlin wall at the bottom of the statue. Cool, eh?

















Left: I think anybody could recognize this building anywhere!! Of course, it is The White House, where the First Lady and the President and his family lives. To be honest, it's A LOT smaller than I thought it would be, but it was still an amazing sight to be able to see in real life! Needless to say we took a ton of pictures. You can't really see it, but the flag that's usually at the top of the building was halfway down that day as a sign of mourning for the loss of the Polish president, who died just a few days beforehand from that plane crash. And no, I did not meet President Obama. XD

Up: This was the Convention Center where the 101st Annual American Cancer Association Researching Meeting was held, as the huge banner you see up there (^^) indicates. All during the few days we were there, TONS and tons of people --graduate students, postdoctorates, and professors-- came to the meeting to share their findings and learn about others'. It was AWESOME. And everybody was always dressed in a suit or something similar; even at nearby streets and hotels there were people with AACARM tags sporting shiny suits...they were everywhere! I think the Cancer Association people advertised their meeting very well. :3

Left: This was the "Poster Room," where there were loads of bulletins, posters, demos, and tents where research was shared and freebies were given out! They gave out lots of cute stress balls (my favorite was one shaped like a sheep), sample science lab tools, handouts, ice cream, LOTS of candy, notebooks, and other really neat stuff. I basically pretended that I was a student, but didn't dare to ask any real questions in case I sounded dumb. ;P I didn't meet any new friends, but I learned a little bit more about the type of research that's going on in the science world today and what products are used in the lab. AND I got some awesome free stuff!!

Right: This is one of about four or five works of art that were being hung from the ceilings of the convention center. If you can't tell, the circle is made up of several guitars. They had many other similar sculptures (is that even the right word to call them?) that were made from tennis rackets and even canoe boats!! I just can't imagine how many darn canoe boats, guitars, etc. were needed! Where did they get them from? How did they assemble them all together? Pretty innovative, huh?

I wish I could've taken more, especially of the neat experiment products and posters that I was able to see, but I don't think we were allowed to take pictures. =/ But yeah, that was my D.C. trip!! I can't wait to go back in the future. :) Have any of you been to Washington D.C. before? If so, what were your experiences like?

~TRA

**All photos in this blog post were taken by me, (c) The Red Angel. By the way, sorry if the photos and text are positioned oddly; it's hard uploading photos on Blogspot with this specific layout!

My Trip to Washington, D.C.

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