day at the museum

this is my favorite museum so far, not that i've been to alot. the field museum is huggeee. a whole day isn't enough but i must say, i've been around the best sections.
what is worth mentioning and what makes it so amazing is that most of the artifacts in the exhibits are REAL.

first stop- the egyptian section. it is incredible how much information there is. you kind of go down underground and read about the mummifications and their 'book of the dead.' then you emerge into an egyptian market where there are more exhibits.

next stop- sue the dinosaur. it is the most complete t-rex in the world. because of sue, scientists learned that t-rex have great sense of smell and that they do not drag their tails. so jurassic park and all those 1900s movies- incorrect. those that have seen the movie 'night at the museum' would probably recognize sue. sue's head is so heavy that it is actually on the second floor and the head that is attached to the body, is fake.

last stop- ancient americas. from ice age to the aztecs to the indians and eskimos, this exhibits covers all of the americas. and yes, it is long and huge.

someday i'll go back and visit the rest of the museum cause it really is awesome.

more later, bahu bahu

i'm dreaming of a white christmas

we had a white christmas in st. louis this year because it snowed!

it did not feel like christmas on christmas day, rather because we celebrated it all before. on the 23rd we opened presents. it is crazy how much you can get for christmas. guess all that christmas shopping was worth it after all. on the christmas eve we drove down to st. louis and had a christmas mass followed by a huge family party. so on the actual christmas day, we slept in, had an epic snowball fight and ate. there was sooo much food for the holidays, my weight is soaring and it has no inclination to stop.
after christmas, i had a little sightseeing in st. louis. the arch, one of the must see in st. louis is the symbol of the westward expansion when president jefferson sent louis and clark after the louisiana purchase. however, the arch itself was built in 1965 and amazing no man died from it.

another must see is the city museum, most enjoyable by children. it has a ten story slide and caves as well as some architecture exhibits. the building used to be a shoe factory, but is now a museum as the factory failed to compete with, the oh so fiercesome- china.

so that was my first american christmas, and now i'm hogging leftover christmas cookies.

today was a fairy tale

went christmas shopping today. i never could enjoy picking out presents. but i feel pretty accomplished with my shopping today so...anyway
i used to hate classics. thought it did not make sense. i used to read it because it was one of those things you should read before you die.
now i see it in a way similar to lalaland. a different world, but one i would love to live in. the sophisticated thoughts in a simple life- the passion, the language, naive dreams, morbid plans, confined society, gossip etc, makes it ever more appealing.
it's the closest you can get to a fairy tale. it is like the fairy tale of reality.
my winter reading list is as follows:
little women- louisa may alcott (finished it yesterday, an easy read, the characters grow over a period of years, one minute they're twelve, the next they're twenty)
gone with the wind-margaret mitchell (reading it, a verryyyy long book, hating scarlet o'hara right now, but loving her all the same, what a woman!)
great tales- edgar allen poe (read 'the black cat', so morbid, i do not recommend reading this before bed at all)
huckleberry finn-mark twain (this is school related, full of satires, a lol classic)
and not so classic just so i don't swoon out of reality too much:
the guerncey literary and potato peel pie society-mary ann shaffer and annie barrows (ppl say its good, i haven't started yet)
change of heart- jodi picoult (read her book 'my sister's keeper', so deep it hits you with a bang)
honestly, i do not think i'll finish all of it. but the library is too tempting, so i'll see how far i'll go.
if you haven't read jane austen's pride and prejudice yet, go read it! and then watch the movie.
more later, bahubahu

deck the halls with boughs of holly- fahlalalala lalalala

the holiday spirits are all around, for christmas is soon approaching near.

it is hard to believe the amount of work this season calls for. boxes of ornaments, hauling a giant tree into the house, unwrapping, wrapping, christmas shopping, and lots of baking and decorating. the house is transformed into a holiday dude. we put up nativity scenes from all over the world, bake a hundred cookies, hang decorations and ornaments, and listen to christmas music 24/7. it can get a little overwhelming sometimes.

the joy of winter break includes sleeping in, eating, watching tv, watching snow, reading and more eating. ain't that relaxing or what.

i love love tangled. disney fairy tales never fails.

more later- bahubahu

give thanks to thanksgiving

people say thanksgiving is all about food, which i guess is somewhat true.

so i went to the thanksgiving parade in the morning wrapped up in ten layers and still feeling cold. there was no traffic at all because everyone was watching or participating in the parade. there were various floats and ads and highschool bands. actually anyone who wants to be in the parade can be in the parade. so in addition there were random organizations and horses from all over the states. that was interesting.

then thanksgiving dinner. turkey, gravy, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, bread, cranberries, corn, and pumpkin/ apple/ pecan pies. it wasn't so bad. as a family people come together and have a lovely meal. it makes you feel kinda warm.

and then you listen start listening to christmas songs on the radio and feel reeeaaaalll lazy and sleepy. apparently turkey has this chemical in them that makes you feel that way.

sat is coming up. ohhh fear. more later. bahubahu

the art of pumpkin carving

a walk in the woods

"for a retribution too; a torture, to be felt many an unthought of moment; a pang, a sting, an ever-recurring agony, in the midst of a troubled joy! so forcibly reminding us of that red symbol which sears her bosom"- The Scarlet Letter

theres something calming about just walking...in the woods.

the crunch of the autumn leaves beneath your feet, the crisp air beneath your head, its almost the perfect moment to forget everything you want to forget.

the broken branches and trunks, the geese honking, the beaver's dam; its all the flaws that make a wood perfect.

and then...you emerge the roads, and you wonder if the wall of trees you were in is just a wall. a tiny part of nature to hide the guilt of man.

i keep my scarlet letter in my head.

a remembrance to those who served for the greater good...and to good food

there was a fall festival today. amateur cooks and bakers enter for the chili and pie contest. chili is my favorite american food and now pecan pie has the honor of being my american favorite desert.

interestingly, afterwards i went to the cemetery tour. knowing i was a coward, i thought i was going to be spooked out. instead i got a history lesson. speakers were dresssed up as individuals who were buried here, explaining their significance in history. these are some of the interesting events i choose to lecture here.

may 1st is a worldwide labor day. it started in 1886. workers were protesting for better working conditions when an anonymous bomb killed one policeman. instantly, the other policemen opened fire on the protestors. this was called the haymarket massacre.

another tragic event was the Iroquois Theatre fire in chicago, 1903. an arc light shorted and had ignited the curtain. no one knew what was happening until flames started shooting out. 602 people died as a result.

finally, the spanish civil war. i never knew america was involved and that Ernest Hemingway was a reporter there. Hemingway hated oak park. he thought it was a place for narrowminded people, which was why he wasn't buried here.

i wonder what will become of me when i die. would i be buried? or cremated? or remembered atall?

apple, squash, autumn, fall on me

i grew up living with the seasons of rainy, hot, so hot and omfg hot. if i had a favorite season, it would be none of the above. although i am experiencing my first fall, i immediately know i am in love with it. why do leaves change color? scroll down my playlist, and somewhere there is the answer. the trees are smarter than me. they know winter isn't going to provide sufficient sunlight so instead of doing winter shopping like i do, they just take off their chlorophyll masks and expose their 'true colors.' they've always been golden, red, orange, or purple all along, and i think their true colors are even more beautiful than their masks. this just shows that we're no different. and soon, winter will come and the leaves would all fall leaving them truly naked.
fall is also apple and squash season. taffy apples are great as an excuse for convincing you're eating healthy. its an apple on a stick dipped in caramel and nuts. fat fruits.
more later, bahu bahu
ps- the psat hates me.

wined and dined + shop til you drop + randomness

one of chicago's must-see is its theaters and musicals. yesterday i went to a theater tour. here's a random fact- when the oriental theater first opened, people were skeptical about their safety because the balcony had no pillars holding it up. so the theater had the media witness hundreds of sandbags on the balcony to prove that you weren't going to get killed by a falling balcony here. after that, i went to see the musical billy elliot and i almost wished i was a little girl dancing ballet again. but then i looked at myself and thought, nope, ballet, me, nuh-uh. i missed homecoming dance but the theaters were totally worth it. personally, homecoming dances scare me. you don't want to know why.

the weather here is so random, and not an 'i love random' kind in my opinion. its 80 degrees out this weekend whereas last week it was 40 degrees. go figure. i don't know what to wear anymore.
today i went to oak brook shopping mall. it was...big, but then everything in america is big for me so, no surprise. i've never been fond of shopping much, but maybe things change when you have a debit card. i even wished i had more time there. i had starbucks for lunch, and yet starbucks never fails...

i feel fat. take that back, i am fat. i gained five pounds in two months. this i blame on chicago's deepdish pizza, donuts, cookies, chips, chocolate bars, peanut butter and honey, capri suns, and high fructose corn syrup. i hate being a girl who has to look at the calories on the packaging and then convincing herself its only 200 so what-the-hell, eats it, then regretting it in the end.

love, lust, its all so complicated. guess i'll just continue being a narcissist cause i can't imagine myself in love with a guy. and no, i am not lesbian.

i have a psat exam coming up in a week and i have no intentions of studying, although i probably should, so, more later, bahu bahu.

bike tales

yesterday i woke up and almost had a heart attack. it was eight o'clock. i dashed out of the house and i was on the tour de france, or it seems like it. my legs were sore but i got to school by eight thirty. i changed my schedule for the 8th time, and now i have first period free so technically, i wasn't late. i swear, it wasn't a coincidence that i overslept.
today was equally jolting and alot more humiliating. after school i was riding the bike home and somehow the ground seemed to shift below me. i couldn't control myself and gracefully, flew in style. meaning i fell flat on my butt while half the school stood watching me. everyone was going 'ohmygod are you okay?' and just sat there on the ground thinking 'fuck.'
i was okay, unfortunately the bike wasn't. it somehow wasn't working, so i walked and dragged the thing. a lady was walking her dog. i decided to ask her if she knew where i can get the bike fixed. i was real scared. the bike wasnt mine and i'd broken it.
the lady told me to hold her dog's leash and the bag of dog doo doo. she took a look at the bike and said the chain was just out of place, and she popped it back in.
i think if i wasn't holding dog doodoo i would've kissed her. she totally saved my bruised ass.
more later, bahu bahu

your typical american highschool swears

so i risked looking like a freak today and took pictures of the school. i compromised myself by going in early so that i would actually get pictures of the school, not of 3600 chimpanzees, i mean highschoolers.
anyway, thats the pictures.

i've noticed alot, that in whatever place you might be, there's always going to be swearing. i would be lying if i said i don't swear, because i do. i think it's okay to swear when you want some attitude in making a goddamn point. or when it feels necessary. swearing doesn't really hurt anyone.  so i don't even know if its worth saying this, but would you please think before you fucking swear?

falling in style

its friday night. the start of homecoming. the cheerleaders and drill team are dancing down on the side of the field, the footballers are warming up. we are finally going to get to see them match some skills with that outfit of theirs, after seeing them walking around in it all day.
the crowd is full of parents, highschoolers, teachers, hotdogs, nacho cheese, burgers, and gossip.
the game starts, and only thirty percent of the crowd actually pays attention and knows what's going on. most do not even understand the game. i try to follow. the scoreboard helps, and there is someone trying to explain what's happening to me, but really, i just see big-shoulder-people falling on top of each other. anyway here's a brief explanation of american football. you want to get the ball ten yards before you get tackled. you get four chances to do this. this is your shortterm goal. your long term goal is to do a touch down. that means you reach the end and gain six points. one more point if you kick it through a pitchfork looking goal.
so at first, my school was in the lead, well, hey, we're the host here. but then things start to go downhill. we lost our lead.
the marching band comes wearing a full on white soldier uniform during the half break.
after that, some people start to leave, some do not know and do not care what's going on, others start yelling boo to the other team because they're better and because, well, we suck. miserably. we lost 14 to 36.
anyway, thats my first american football game. its a great place to be for social gatherings and to see people pin each other down or watch girls with pompoms cheering for the losing team.
more later, bahu bahu

it's only like HIGHSCHOOL!

first day of REAL highschool. it is exciting, scary, unnerving, big, chaotic, overwhelming, crazy, and about a million gajillion other things. especially if your highschool has over 3000 kids, and you are one pathetic junior with a sense of direction equivalent to a blind centipede. do centipedes even have eyes? good thing i don't take science here.
highschool is so diverse and also, yepp, my favorite word, random. you can wear anything, whether its pajamas or a dress. there are people from all over the world, but then, its america. there is even a daycare for the student's babies.
the hallways and staircase is like an assorted candy bag. you have to squeeze your way through to get to the top or the front or whereever you're going.
you meet different people in every class and there are so many choices, and so many electives. there are 3 lunch periods, but the cafeteria crams up in every single one that sometimes you just eat outside. to say that its wild would be an understatement.
so this is it, the highschool i've seen only in movies, and finally getting to experience it now.
more later, bahu bahu

to market to market to buy a donut

finished 'the lost symbol' today and realized i did the wrong math packet. but hey, when it comes to math, something's gotta go wrong one way or another. ironic, on the front page of the math packet there is a cartoon of a depressed looking guy sitting in front of a blackboard filled with numbers. the caption says 'he copied the problem wrong'
yeahhh, i love math...not
when i first came, i had absolutely no appetite. and now, im hungry all the time, even without hot food. my new oxygen is called a sandwich, i am going to have to live with it everyday. and my new lover is called the farmer's market powdered donuts. now that, is something i wish i had everyday.
heard that the weather is going to get colder, more reason to want hot food.
school is starting soon. more later. bahubahu

sightseeing the american life

it has been exactly one week from my official arrival here, and whoa, has it been one heck of a week or what. i've been downtown to chicago often, and had really awesome experiences there.
life here seems ideal. it makes me wish everyone had this kind of life. it is so much creative and healthier than the ones i've known.
people spend time actually doing activities. they actually know how to live, and the way the city, town, village etc works, makes them able to live without suffocating from pollution or melting from the heat or whatever.
the cool thing about chicago is that it is everything, from modern to ancient, skyscrapers to beaches, asians to africans, roads to parks etc. and the thing is, all of this, is in the same spot, in chicago. you'd think it would be really chaotic but it actually works out nicely in a perfectly organized city.
oh but there are flaws. for example the train. i just don't get it. you pay for a ticket. hurr, i don't even know how that works. there isn't an exact amount of money that you pay. and the machine doesn't swallow the ticket when you exit. that is just weird. the seating is also badly laid out.
it is pretty late and just thinking about how that train works makes me tired. so.. bahubahu

us of a

it feels weird, waking up in the morning, suddenly realizing you're in a different place. i mean, when i dream, its still back in the land of elephants (and maybe panda.) i guess its because the weather is just...hot. without airconditioning. oh imagine the pain some people would have. (hint-my sister, and about twen ty other people i know.)
it seems like everything in the us of a is huge, in a good way.
chicago isn't just skyscrapers like i've always thought. there is the lake michigan, which is so huge (and i was so lucky to get a chance to sail in it), and there are parks all around the lake. alittle history here- there are parks because after the chicago fire, everything burned down and they rebuilt the whole city and said no skyscrapers could be built near the lake. also because they rebuilt the whole city, the roads and blocks are very organized. Actually the only thing that survived the fire was the water building because it was built with bricks whereas the other buildings were all built with wood. and the story behind the fire is a cow accidentally kicked a lantern. that's it. one cow burned half of chicago. amazing.
the air and water show is a show where military planes fly around with smoke coming out of their butts. pretty cool.
so that's it for now. more later. bahu bahu.

chicago view from lake michigan air and water show skyscrapers