Holiday Plans

I don’t think I have any holiday plans YET! I am probably going to stay in Hsinchu for the week. My only goal is to buy a new pair of basketball shoes. I am looking forward to buying the Hyperfuse Low that is going to be out on the first of February. I saw it online the other day and it only cost ninety bucks! The only problem is that it might be too “low” for me. I don’t really like basketball shoes that are really low because I easily roll my ankles when I wear those kinds of shoes. Actually, there is also another problem: Hyperfuse Low might not be out before the holidays in Taiwan. Even though I really own a pair of Hyperfuse, I really wanted to buy another pair with different color. I would say that this is the best pair of basketball shoes I have ever worn. The lightness, texture, and softness of the shoes are just perfect. This is the only event that I have planned so far and I think I would be using my red envelope money to buy it. I just can’t wait for my unplanned holiday to come, where I don’t even know what kind of exciting things I am going to do.

Omniscient POV

The story may be kind of different if it is told from Jerry’s mother’s point of view. Jerry’s mother is always worried about what her son is doing, but on the other hand, she also doesn’t want him to fell limited with his freedom. We can’t really see the curiosity that is in Jerry’s mind if the story was told from her point of view. I would say that it wouldn’t be as interesting as the one we have now because we wouldn’t know what Jerry is doing when he was with the big boys away from his mother. The story would only show what Jerry’s mother was doing and thinking instead of all the dangerous adventures Jerry had faced when he was diving and swimming under the sea. The omniscient point of view was one of the great factors that make this story fascinating. It would just be a bored and plain story if it was told from the mother’s point of view. If the story has a third person limited narrator, then we wouldn’t be bale to understand the feelings each characters has. Feeling is something that we cannot see or feel if it is a limited narrator story. The original story was mainly focusing on Jerry’s perspective and some of his mother’s point of view.

Film vs Print

Movies are really different from books. The imaginations inside our brains when we read the books are projected out by movies. A movie can show you how the settings and characters really look like. a book can use all words to describe one thing, but every person who reads it have different mental pictures in their head. We all have different imaginations, so what you “think” something looked like might not really be what the author is trying to express. As for movies, it is filmed with what the author wanted it to be and everyone would find the books they read a little different from the movie. On the other hand, it can also be hard for a movie to show that the book can really described. Some of the things the author described may not be filmed because it might be unrealistic in the modern world. The movies actually help us get those mental pictures in readers out of their minds and put it into something where everyone can look at it. Movie is where the expressions are being expressed from movements and the quotes they say. Books have a lot of descriptions that supported the author’s idea, making the book interesting.

Shaped by Time and Place

I moved back to Taiwan after three years in Canada. I remember I was crying on the day we were at the airport. My parents promised me that we would be moving back after living Taiwan for two years. Right now, it has been almost five years since I came back and I guess I am used to living in Taiwan. I don’t really think there is any possibility of going back to Vancouver, the place with full of my memories, anymore un less I am going to UBC, University of British Columbia, when I graduate from high school. Sometimes when my memories pops up in my brain, I would wonder how I would be like right now if my parents had made their promise and bring me back to Vancouver three years ago. I would probably still be playing tether ball with my friends in high school at recess time. I really miss out the days where school starts at nine and ends at three. Those are the most memorable part of my life that I would never forget. I think I would be really different than who I am right now if I am living in Vancouver for high school.

How to Present Yourself

The choices we present to ourselves to the world reveal our personality. I have met someone before who looked like a nerd, with a black pair of glasses that looks so nerdy. He always tucks his shirt in like wearing a suit. On one ever believed he could play basketball, or even dribble the ball down the court without losing it. We were all surprised to see him in our game on the first day of practice. He was going to join the basketball team! We had a scrimmage game on that day to let the coach take a look at the new people, especially that nerd. Except that he was a beast on the court and no one could stop him from dominating the floor! We can’t really judge a person based on the outward appearance even though we make judgments and biased perspective on people or things every single day. It is just something we can’t control. I would say that the physical appearance is a really important key to judge a person on. When someone wears a tie and suit the first time he or she is at a interview, it can really give a good impression to the boss compared to the same person wearing t-shirts and jeans.

Rites of Passage

Rites of passage include puberty, coming of age, marriage and death. I would say the biggest rite of passage for me is my sweet 15 years old birthday. I felt different form the past. I think it is the age of turning into a high school student, which means I am going to start be responsible for some of my things. When I become a high school student, which means I get a lot of freedom, such as staying up late and chat online with my friends, joining the basketball team and represent our school to play the tournament, and a lot of other freedoms. On the other hand, this means that I have to take care my own homework assignments, quizzes and tests, and be responsible for the things I do or say. I have to think about almost everything before I say it out or the statement may be offensive or inappropriate. Other rites of passage like marriage and death are things that I haven’t faced myself. I always imagined myself in a wedding while I am attending a wedding ceremony. It is always a great pleasure watching two couples getting married and I think that is going to be one of the rites of passage that I would be passing through.

Symbol of the House

In Julio Cortazar’s “House Taken Over,” the house was a symbol of a place where the Irene and the narrator have everything they wanted and the house was the only place that can make them satisfied and happy. When the narrator said that half of the house was occupied, it symbolizes how freedom can be limited gradually, just like how the house was being occupied slowly. They started out with full control of the house, then it become half, then one room left, and then at last they have to leave the house and go somewhere else. The story itself is really weird and I think there must be some kind of symbol inside the story. I am curious and suspicious that the house might not even be Irene’s or the narrator’s. They probably stole the house and lived in there temporary until the owner of the house comes back. What I am guessing is that it is not their house and after they left the house, they had to go to another empty house to stay in temporary until the owner of “that” house comes back. I don’t really think it is the ghosts that are occupying the house.

Being Tested

In the movie “Coach Carter”, the players in Richmond High School faced academic challenges. They were failing their classes, which made Coach Ken Carter mad and locked the gym. Instead of going to the gym for practices in the school, the Richmond Oilers players have to go to the library for study hall and tutoring. The students faced mental tests. At the end of the story, the players overcame their challenges and were back into their dreams: being a basketball player. I think I did not face too big of a challenge on the academic part, but more on the physical part. The first year of my basketball career was both a pain and something fun. The pain I felt was the lack of stamina to play at least thirty minutes on the court. Because I am a starter, I got a lot of playing minutes. I would say it was kind of a big challenge for me because I get tired really quickly. I would start breathing really hard after the end of first quarter. Physical challenge was more challenging to me than the mental thinking part. I could think really well and read what my opponent is thinking during the game, but a lot of times I don’t have the stamina to compete.

Proving One's Self

Young people feel, at one time or another, the need to prove their strength, endurance and maturity because they have been viewed as children since they were born and they wanted to prove that it is no longer true. I still have this kind of feeling now because my parents still doubt that I am able to manage my own things by myself. Sometimes, when I forget to bring something to school, or when I was unprepared for some events, my parents would say I am still not mature enough to take care of my own things. That is when I wanted to prove them wrong. I have witnessed this at school when I saw a middle school student kept on saying “I can do this! You have to trust me! I have the capability to do it myself” to his teacher. The student wanted to be the teacher’s assistant, but the teacher was till thinking hard whether or not he should accept it. A lot of young people tried to prove themselves simply just because they wanted to challenge their bravery and prove to other how strong they are. They take risky chance in order to overcome their fear, which most of the time has to do with stupidity.

Symbols

Symbol is some kind of representation that represents a certain object or person. One of the symbols for people in Dallas is cowboys because Texas contains a lot of desert lands. Another example is the Rockies Mountain. It is one of the symbols for Colorado because it is where the Rockies are located. I think these symbols have acquired a culturally agreed upon meaning because it contains stories that has been passed down through generations that tells the significance of these symbols. Personally, I think symbols can either be created at will or occur naturally. In the previous examples, we can see that the symbols have been created naturally due to its geographical regions. There are other symbols that are created at will in order to make it special. For instance, a person can go died his hair blue and green and make that the symbol of him. He didn’t do it naturally, but instead, did it on his own will. Some of the symbols were created by will and were passed down through generations. The Nazi symbol, for example, is being established by personal will. It wasn’t just created naturally. Language could also be a symbol that is created naturally.

Choices

Our choice may reveal about what we believe in. others would learn how I think if they knew how I would choose. I think I agree to the quotation because our believes, our self, and what we truly are, can only be revealed from the choices we make. However, we don’t get to choose what we truly believe every single time. There just may be obstacles between you and the choice you feel is right. There are times when we have to make choices that don’t reflect how we truly feel or think about things. Sometimes, it may be culturally influenced while other times it may due to other factors. Outward appearance and dressing may be something Muslims could not choose what they wanted. Wearing shorts may be their choice, but that may be too short for the Muslim religion. Instead, Muslims would probably have to wear something religious, which may be against their own will and choices. There are other times where people are being forced to do something. For instance, when you believe in something but your boss disagrees with you, you are forced to do what your boss says even though it may be against your own will.

Welcome Back!

My holiday was pretty good. I went to Tokyo, Japan during the holiday for seven days. It was a break for me to relax and escape from all those school work. After I came back from Japan, I started getting back on work, finishing my take home quiz and reviewing my test for history class. I also began to read the SAT Math 2 book because I am going to take the test on the seventh of May. I gave myself a short break and went to the countdown in Hsinchu with some of my friends that day after spending the whole morning to math. It was great hanging out with friends and we spent the last second of 2010 in McDonalds. To be more specific, I spent my last second walking on the stairs after coming back from the washroom. During the two days between the countdown night and before school starts, I started getting back on track and finished the rest of my homework that I didn’t finish previously. I also read one of my newest novels during the holiday. I read it whenever I was bored and didn’t know what to do, especially when I was in Japan.