It's almost April...
Wow, it has been amazingly long since I last wrote or was on here. Lots of things happened during that time. Maybe I can just jot down some things that have made an impact on me.
- My residents have impacted me in good and bad ways - mostly the bad within the 2 or 3 weeks before and after my Spring Break. I've gone through a whole lot - emotional, mental, and physical distress. I guess I got to experience what a job like an RA usually gets. Hopefully, the things that I had gone through had made some difference in my residents' lives because they have definitely changed me. I felt like I grew older, just by the stress, during those weeks. Those 2 weeks before my Break have been the worst weeks of my life - not only because of my residents, but school work, my job, my responsibilities as an incoming officer - everything culminating into one large wall that I had to struggle to climb over. I had never felt so exhausted and so weak. I was definitely happy when it was all over. ^_^
- Spring Break was fun. I can't really say if it was better than all the other spring breaks I had spent at UVA for the past 4 years. I was across the country so that's definitely different. I visited Berkeley, Stanford, Santa Cruz, Half Moon Bay and went around San Jose some more and got to see a lot. Saw beautiful places and spent time with family. But it didn't have the relaxing feeling that I had when it was just Aye and me and we could do anything we wanted, anytime we wanted. There were restrictions. The craziest part of that break probably was when Aye and I went to see "Letters from Iwo Jima" at the theater near their place. The showing was at 10:15pm on a Tuesday or a Wednesday night. The movie had been out for about 2 or 3 months by then. The theater was in a suburban area. There weren't that many people when we first got there. The room where our movie was showing was at the end of the long hallway, near the exit. No one was in there when we first got there. The movie started and it was just us! *O* I got all freaked out cuz it was like a scene from one of those horror movies. Random people would walk in and stand at the very back and watch the movie for a minute or two and walk back out (trying to watch a 2nd movie for free, I guess). So finally, we went to sit in the 2nd to last row so that we will be able to see who comes in and out. It was creepy! And then, since most of the time, we had the theater to ourselves, we would talk loudly and comment on the movie which totally ruined the movie-going experience. We were laughing at the most inopportune times - Nino make funny faces!!!! ^O^ LOL! And he definitely cannot act a 35-year-old man with a mustache! He still looks 13! ^,^ I'm not even sure if I liked the movie or not because all I can remember are the funny things that Aye and I did and me being freaked out and gripping my phone tightly, and my heart pounding (esp. when this sketchy guy came and sat behind me for like 10 minutes). By the time we came out, the whole theater was empty, the parking lot was empty - truly a movie scene for the phantom! ^-^
- I anticipated the arrival of my baby niece who didn't come into the world until the day after my CA departure which was just plain cruel. *pout* I got back and was so upset that I couldn't hold her in my arms like I had wanted to. Just looking at her pictures and videos is not enough. I want to be there!!! And it makes me terribly sad that I won't be able to hold her until end of July which is so far from now. She's the cutest little baby and she definitely has a lot of our traits. And she's sooooo tiny! ^o^ Aindra, I love you!
- Circle K Spring Officer Training Conference at Mary Washington - going to workshops all day long. Mmm... The bad: not sleeping, getting lost, road closures, crazy drivers, long workshops without coffee, too much coffee, chaos. The good: walkie-talkies, bonding with my club, hanging out with Ali ^_______^, the DANCE where no one danced but us, joy-riding, post-SOTC fun in Annandale with Korean food! ^o^
- Aye was back in VA for a while so I got to hang out with her too. Too bad I was too busy all the time. She stayed with me for a few hours the very first day she got here and then we spent some time yesterday before she left today. We took our dad to Il Mee Buffet and had our full yesterday. We had lunch at 2 and was still full at dinner time and all throughout the night! I was comfortable full - not omg-I'm-about-to-explode full. Haha! ^o^ Bulgogi was so yummy and I had never tried their ice cream which was delish! Mmm...2 Korean meals in 4 days...so good!
- I got a job for the summer! It says volunteer but I get paid... ~_~ It's at the Children's National Medical Center in NE DC and I will get to work with kids who have cerebral palsy. Half of their body motor functions are weak so I'll have to play with them and work with the therapist. It's only about 10 hours per week which is really nice. And the experience is super nice. So what else should I do then?
- Oh, I also got the House Scholar (equivalent to RA but for sophomores) job for next year! I'm super excited cuz they only pick like 3 to 4 current House Staff out of like 25 who re-applied. And this year, there were about more than 250 applicants for 70 positions. The whole application process was a month long and I was so nervous the entire time. But I got the good news and I'm so excited! Yay!!! ^_^