The Holiday Festivities at U-Hill
Yesterday was suuuuuuuuuuuuuper fun! Got up at late 7 something, took a bath and got to school before 9.
So, we were supposed to report to homeroom by 9 for attendance check. My homeroom friends and I did nothing but wait outside Room 28 for about 20 minutes cause Mr. Bordon (our homeroom teacher, coincidentally my English teacher) did not show up. Mr. Pelletier told us to report to the gym instead. Hope I wasn't marked absent. o.O
Anyhoo, the gym was packed with people, all of them sitting on the stands. Momentarily, the professional caller* asked people to come down onto the gym floor for some dancing. Over two-thirds of the crowd left the stands to dance. I stayed behind with Junghoo and Michael because I wanted to take videos and pictures. I was able to video some round dances and square dances. Eventually, Junghoo, Michael and I decided to join the merriment by doing some line dancing. Too bad line dancing was absolutely no fun, not to mention confusing. I think I messed up some moves! WAHAHAHAHA. That's because line dancing was never taught to us. We only learned squares and circles/rounds. :D
Turned out one of my katabi in dancing is my neighbor Daniel. Haha. He came over to our unit last week I think. To make the long dances short, Jung, Mic and I left the school after two dances. Others chose to stay behind for more square dancing (till 11:30). We headed over to the skating rink by foot, which isn't too far if you're already used to walking (think 3/4 way of Xavier Gate 9 to Unimart).
Upon arrival, we realized lots of people already left the school before us. It was so crowded! So, we fell in line to get our pair of skates. After waiting for a few minutes, we cut through (singit) when we saw Meghan, Jaden, Leticia and Sophia. Hahahahaha. Don't worry. They weren't handing out skates yet. So, we talked for a while. Hong and Ziming came shortly after and joined the conversation. Approximately 30 mins after, the skate booth opened up. So many people started pushing and crushing each other just to fight over skates. According to hearsay, there were only 4 pairs of each size.
I'm of the lucky few to get a pair of NEW fantastic-looking skates! ^_^
I gave the guy exactly 3.50, as instructed by the school. Turns out the rental fee was only 2.50 since he returned a loonie*! Hahaha. I left the violently scary crowd, armed with shoes with blades that could kill. WAHAHAHA. They gave way, and I rushed downstairs with Meghan and Sophia. I tried putting on my skates and miserably failed the first time. I thought I got the wrong size. But I didn't want to go up and face that army of people anymore, so I tried again. I kept loosening the laces and tried over and over again until my foot went inside. Weee!
NOTE: WHEN GETTING SKATES, ALWAYS GET A SIZE SMALLER THAN YOUR SHOE SIZE!
Ziming joke-cursed me for getting one of 4 pairs of size 7 skates. =))
He ended up having to use a size 8, cause Henry got the last size 7.
Then, Meghan taught me how to tie the skating shoes. It has to be really really really tight. Jaden also told me that if you still walk wobbly, it's not tight enough. I walked over to the rink, re-tied my skates by the benches and then STEPPED ON THE ICE. I almost slipped! Good thing the borders were there to stop me. It is not as easy as it looks. Then, all of a sudden, miracles happened. Hahahaha. My friends swarmed me to help me skate. THANK YOU VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY MUCH, GUYS!!!
Leticia helped me first, telling me to hold on to her. Then Henry helped me. I was a bit scared to trust them at first, but they didn't let me down. I ended up making Henry and me fall on the ice. I landed on my butt! My butt still hurts up to now. Hahahaha. THAT ICE IS FREAKIN' HARD! You do not want to hit your head on it! I couldn't get up after that, so there was yet another swarm to get me up. This time, it was Arthur who helped me skate by forming a chain with either Junghoo or Michael. One was in charge of my back. Two people held my hands. They also learned how to skate backwards. To make everything seem much shorter, my friends took turns helping me skate for the first thirty minutes.
Ms. Silvers even commented: "Isn't it so nice to know there's so much support?" And I couldn't help but agree. It's just so touching, y'all! I guess that's what makes U-Hill, U-Hill. Xaverians display a sense of brotherhood occasionally, and most U-hillians have this sort of compassion and helpfulness that just can't be explained. It's like when all is right, you can't really count on all of them (Hahaha!), but when you need help, they got your back!
I ended up stopping because my feet were aching. To all you first time skaters out there, make sure you wear thick socks and gloves! Also, wearing new skates WILL make skating hurt even more. Extended skating may even make you bleed.
I didn't wear thick socks so [a part of] my right skating shoe scraped my skin, which is why I have a wound now. Also, since I had new skates, it hurt a lot. In fact, I think I'm starting to grow blisters. I was nevertheless still able to skate a bit more after all that pain and eventually learned how to skate on my own, but I had to skate near the edges of the rink just for support, even though I didn't need to touch the sides. I also learned how to break/stop, but it takes time for me to do so. I'm still wobbly though and could easily topple over if pushed. Haha. I also still don't know how to glide. Gonna learn that next year, hopefully. Or maybe if I return to the Phil. Basta, I want to learn! My friends here taught me to keep my knees bent slightly low, to look forward and to not look at the ice when ice skating. Most of all, relax and enjoy. :D
So, yes. I had fun!!! I always wanted to learn to skate, but I wanted to do it in a positive and supportive environment, and I'm glad my friends provided that. *hugs* The only reason I stopped is because it really really really hurt already, despite what Alex did to try to stop it from hurting. (He re-tied my shoes over and over till he got it right.) THANK YOU, MY HOMIE! It did reduce the pain, but I just had to give up. :))
I saw Mrs. Ngo and Mr. Gillespie skate too. They were both good skaters. Oh, and Mr. Bordon showed up at the ice rink! It's odd how he could appear at the ice rink but not at school. Anyhoo, after 100 minutes of intermittent skating, I cooled down (literally, cause it was freezing!) during the last five minutes by talking with Mrs. Ngo. She asked me if I was staying in town for the holidays. I said yes. Haha. Then we ended up talking about Philippine-related matters (taught her the difference between Filipino and Tagalog and about our English accent). She even said I don't have the hard accent most Filipinos have when speaking English. (Not that she was insulting Filipino accents or anything.) Haha. I told her it must be because Xavier teaches good English. [Yay for Xaverian English teachers!]
Speaking of science (since Mrs. Ngo is my science teacher here), I'm still trying to understand the orbit thingies. Dito, ang turo, the third shell of an atom can only hold up to 8 electrons maximum. Mrs. Albano sa Xavier taught us naman na the third orbit can have up to 18 electrons max (2n2). So, with Mrs. Ngo's help, I'm trying to get the facts right by trying to relate the two. I sort of have an idea, but I'm waiting for Mrs. Ngo's approval to tell me if I'm right. Of course, I intentionally didn't ask her yesterday kasi yesterday was a fun day! :D
I'm not implying one of them is wrong, because they're both right since I've seen proof all over the internet that proves both facts right. I just want to understand why there is a difference in facts. Maybe it's because they're referring to two different things, or because there are rules with regards to these, or maybe because they're just trying to make things simpler for us now.
For example, Math 10 says "i", which stands for the square root of -1, does not exist. Math 11 says "i" exists. Math and science are subjects that deal with facts and reason, and as a person of logic and also as a sigurista, I'm interested in knowing more about the explanations behind these things. Well, with regards to science at least. Haha.
So yeah, that was all for yesterday. My fellow U-hillians (specifically, Hong, Eric Zhao, Serena, Sophia, Leticia, Meghan and Jaden) and I walked home after ice-skating. Actually, they went to the Village* for lunch, but I went straight home. That's because my condo is just a street away from the Village. Hahaha. But before I reached home, it started snowing!
I ate a lunch consisting of:
Since we were already on West 10th Ave., my mom urged me to apply for a library card at the Vancouver Public Library (VPL) for free yesterday. UBC residents above 19 years of age have to pay though. Boo!!! The library card looks so cool: it's black, with red, blue and yellow blocks. We also visited a few cake shops to find a cake fit for the Christmas Eve feast in Auntie Marlene’s house and another one for sharing in Auntie Jane’s. We have a few in mind; my mom’s gonna make the final decision. I was attacked by a splitting headache when I got home, so I took a painkiller (Biogesic) and took a nap. After that, it was all gone.
In conclusion, I love yesterday! Sana ganun na lang palagi araw-araw. Sure, I may have had little moments of stress (fighting for the skates, waiting for a chance to dance and finding my cellphone sack, which I eventually found), but it was mostly a happy day. I may have messed up a few moves, but what's important is I had fun. Lastly, I might be a bit sore from the skating yesterday, but it was all worth it because it was a day well spent. :)
Now, if you excuse me, I have to sleep.
P.S. I DON'T WANT TO DO HW DURING BREAK!!! WAAAAAAA! :(
[PICTURES AND VIDEOS TO BE POSTED ON MULTIPLY IN THE NEAR FUTURE.]
----------------
Professional caller = a trained person who shouts out the moves during a dance
Loonie = a Canadian coin with the value of 1 CAD; the Canadian dollar per se (USD = the US Greenbacks)
The Village = the University Marketplace, similar to the Promenade, but less grand-looking and less mall-looking
I know technically, "yesterday" is Dec. 22 cause this entry was posted on Dec. 23. But, for now, think of "yesterday" as Dec. 21. :P
So, we were supposed to report to homeroom by 9 for attendance check. My homeroom friends and I did nothing but wait outside Room 28 for about 20 minutes cause Mr. Bordon (our homeroom teacher, coincidentally my English teacher) did not show up. Mr. Pelletier told us to report to the gym instead. Hope I wasn't marked absent. o.O
Anyhoo, the gym was packed with people, all of them sitting on the stands. Momentarily, the professional caller* asked people to come down onto the gym floor for some dancing. Over two-thirds of the crowd left the stands to dance. I stayed behind with Junghoo and Michael because I wanted to take videos and pictures. I was able to video some round dances and square dances. Eventually, Junghoo, Michael and I decided to join the merriment by doing some line dancing. Too bad line dancing was absolutely no fun, not to mention confusing. I think I messed up some moves! WAHAHAHAHA. That's because line dancing was never taught to us. We only learned squares and circles/rounds. :D
Turned out one of my katabi in dancing is my neighbor Daniel. Haha. He came over to our unit last week I think. To make the long dances short, Jung, Mic and I left the school after two dances. Others chose to stay behind for more square dancing (till 11:30). We headed over to the skating rink by foot, which isn't too far if you're already used to walking (think 3/4 way of Xavier Gate 9 to Unimart).
Upon arrival, we realized lots of people already left the school before us. It was so crowded! So, we fell in line to get our pair of skates. After waiting for a few minutes, we cut through (singit) when we saw Meghan, Jaden, Leticia and Sophia. Hahahahaha. Don't worry. They weren't handing out skates yet. So, we talked for a while. Hong and Ziming came shortly after and joined the conversation. Approximately 30 mins after, the skate booth opened up. So many people started pushing and crushing each other just to fight over skates. According to hearsay, there were only 4 pairs of each size.
I'm of the lucky few to get a pair of NEW fantastic-looking skates! ^_^
I gave the guy exactly 3.50, as instructed by the school. Turns out the rental fee was only 2.50 since he returned a loonie*! Hahaha. I left the violently scary crowd, armed with shoes with blades that could kill. WAHAHAHA. They gave way, and I rushed downstairs with Meghan and Sophia. I tried putting on my skates and miserably failed the first time. I thought I got the wrong size. But I didn't want to go up and face that army of people anymore, so I tried again. I kept loosening the laces and tried over and over again until my foot went inside. Weee!
NOTE: WHEN GETTING SKATES, ALWAYS GET A SIZE SMALLER THAN YOUR SHOE SIZE!
Ziming joke-cursed me for getting one of 4 pairs of size 7 skates. =))
He ended up having to use a size 8, cause Henry got the last size 7.
Then, Meghan taught me how to tie the skating shoes. It has to be really really really tight. Jaden also told me that if you still walk wobbly, it's not tight enough. I walked over to the rink, re-tied my skates by the benches and then STEPPED ON THE ICE. I almost slipped! Good thing the borders were there to stop me. It is not as easy as it looks. Then, all of a sudden, miracles happened. Hahahaha. My friends swarmed me to help me skate. THANK YOU VERY VERY VERY VERY VERY MUCH, GUYS!!!
Leticia helped me first, telling me to hold on to her. Then Henry helped me. I was a bit scared to trust them at first, but they didn't let me down. I ended up making Henry and me fall on the ice. I landed on my butt! My butt still hurts up to now. Hahahaha. THAT ICE IS FREAKIN' HARD! You do not want to hit your head on it! I couldn't get up after that, so there was yet another swarm to get me up. This time, it was Arthur who helped me skate by forming a chain with either Junghoo or Michael. One was in charge of my back. Two people held my hands. They also learned how to skate backwards. To make everything seem much shorter, my friends took turns helping me skate for the first thirty minutes.
Ms. Silvers even commented: "Isn't it so nice to know there's so much support?" And I couldn't help but agree. It's just so touching, y'all! I guess that's what makes U-Hill, U-Hill. Xaverians display a sense of brotherhood occasionally, and most U-hillians have this sort of compassion and helpfulness that just can't be explained. It's like when all is right, you can't really count on all of them (Hahaha!), but when you need help, they got your back!
I ended up stopping because my feet were aching. To all you first time skaters out there, make sure you wear thick socks and gloves! Also, wearing new skates WILL make skating hurt even more. Extended skating may even make you bleed.
I didn't wear thick socks so [a part of] my right skating shoe scraped my skin, which is why I have a wound now. Also, since I had new skates, it hurt a lot. In fact, I think I'm starting to grow blisters. I was nevertheless still able to skate a bit more after all that pain and eventually learned how to skate on my own, but I had to skate near the edges of the rink just for support, even though I didn't need to touch the sides. I also learned how to break/stop, but it takes time for me to do so. I'm still wobbly though and could easily topple over if pushed. Haha. I also still don't know how to glide. Gonna learn that next year, hopefully. Or maybe if I return to the Phil. Basta, I want to learn! My friends here taught me to keep my knees bent slightly low, to look forward and to not look at the ice when ice skating. Most of all, relax and enjoy. :D
So, yes. I had fun!!! I always wanted to learn to skate, but I wanted to do it in a positive and supportive environment, and I'm glad my friends provided that. *hugs* The only reason I stopped is because it really really really hurt already, despite what Alex did to try to stop it from hurting. (He re-tied my shoes over and over till he got it right.) THANK YOU, MY HOMIE! It did reduce the pain, but I just had to give up. :))
I saw Mrs. Ngo and Mr. Gillespie skate too. They were both good skaters. Oh, and Mr. Bordon showed up at the ice rink! It's odd how he could appear at the ice rink but not at school. Anyhoo, after 100 minutes of intermittent skating, I cooled down (literally, cause it was freezing!) during the last five minutes by talking with Mrs. Ngo. She asked me if I was staying in town for the holidays. I said yes. Haha. Then we ended up talking about Philippine-related matters (taught her the difference between Filipino and Tagalog and about our English accent). She even said I don't have the hard accent most Filipinos have when speaking English. (Not that she was insulting Filipino accents or anything.) Haha. I told her it must be because Xavier teaches good English. [Yay for Xaverian English teachers!]
Speaking of science (since Mrs. Ngo is my science teacher here), I'm still trying to understand the orbit thingies. Dito, ang turo, the third shell of an atom can only hold up to 8 electrons maximum. Mrs. Albano sa Xavier taught us naman na the third orbit can have up to 18 electrons max (2n2). So, with Mrs. Ngo's help, I'm trying to get the facts right by trying to relate the two. I sort of have an idea, but I'm waiting for Mrs. Ngo's approval to tell me if I'm right. Of course, I intentionally didn't ask her yesterday kasi yesterday was a fun day! :D
I'm not implying one of them is wrong, because they're both right since I've seen proof all over the internet that proves both facts right. I just want to understand why there is a difference in facts. Maybe it's because they're referring to two different things, or because there are rules with regards to these, or maybe because they're just trying to make things simpler for us now.
For example, Math 10 says "i", which stands for the square root of -1, does not exist. Math 11 says "i" exists. Math and science are subjects that deal with facts and reason, and as a person of logic and also as a sigurista, I'm interested in knowing more about the explanations behind these things. Well, with regards to science at least. Haha.
So yeah, that was all for yesterday. My fellow U-hillians (specifically, Hong, Eric Zhao, Serena, Sophia, Leticia, Meghan and Jaden) and I walked home after ice-skating. Actually, they went to the Village* for lunch, but I went straight home. That's because my condo is just a street away from the Village. Hahaha. But before I reached home, it started snowing!
I ate a lunch consisting of:
- Last week’s leftover fried chicken from Auntie Jane's house. Sarap ng luto ni Yaya Rose!
It was still very, very, very good, even after 6 days! Hahaha! - Cream of mushroom soup with broccoli in it. Pseudo-cream of brocolli ni mom. Lol.
- And white rice, siyempre!
Since we were already on West 10th Ave., my mom urged me to apply for a library card at the Vancouver Public Library (VPL) for free yesterday. UBC residents above 19 years of age have to pay though. Boo!!! The library card looks so cool: it's black, with red, blue and yellow blocks. We also visited a few cake shops to find a cake fit for the Christmas Eve feast in Auntie Marlene’s house and another one for sharing in Auntie Jane’s. We have a few in mind; my mom’s gonna make the final decision. I was attacked by a splitting headache when I got home, so I took a painkiller (Biogesic) and took a nap. After that, it was all gone.
In conclusion, I love yesterday! Sana ganun na lang palagi araw-araw. Sure, I may have had little moments of stress (fighting for the skates, waiting for a chance to dance and finding my cellphone sack, which I eventually found), but it was mostly a happy day. I may have messed up a few moves, but what's important is I had fun. Lastly, I might be a bit sore from the skating yesterday, but it was all worth it because it was a day well spent. :)
Now, if you excuse me, I have to sleep.
P.S. I DON'T WANT TO DO HW DURING BREAK!!! WAAAAAAA! :(
[PICTURES AND VIDEOS TO BE POSTED ON MULTIPLY IN THE NEAR FUTURE.]
----------------
Professional caller = a trained person who shouts out the moves during a dance
Loonie = a Canadian coin with the value of 1 CAD; the Canadian dollar per se (USD = the US Greenbacks)
The Village = the University Marketplace, similar to the Promenade, but less grand-looking and less mall-looking
I know technically, "yesterday" is Dec. 22 cause this entry was posted on Dec. 23. But, for now, think of "yesterday" as Dec. 21. :P