emily_the_angel_devil's Xanga

Saturday, September 30, 2006

Sat, 30 Sep 2006 23:07:10 GMT

Walk With Me

If you have learned to walk
A little more sure-footedly than I,
Be patient with my stumbling then
And know that only as I do my best and try
May I attain the goal
For which we both are striving.

If through experience, your soul
Has gained heights which I
As yet in dim-lit vision see,
Hold out your hand and point the way,
Lest from its straightness I should stray,
And walk a mile with me.

Monday, September 25, 2006

Mon, 25 Sep 2006 17:56:45 GMT

ADD YOUR PICS @ www.pictures.aol.com (Username: garibaldipics) (Password: ibgeo12)

If you were group 1, add pics to album 1, and same with group 2.

IF YOU JUST went on your own, feel free to start a new album for say, Semi Alumni Blacktusk trip!

Wednesday, September 13, 2006

Wed, 13 Sep 2006 01:11:40 GMT

Time for a change.

Saturday, August 12, 2006

Sat, 12 Aug 2006 00:22:08 GMT

A couple of the pictures from Taiwan (most are from when some friends and I did artistic photos but there are some candids):

http://s78.photobucket.com/albums/j102/estewartsemi/ (copy and paste URL)

Sunday, August 06, 2006

Sun, 06 Aug 2006 12:00:16 GMT

Tim and I had a great day at JuMing Art Gallery (there are many more pics but I'll put in some highlights):

A giant mural of women in towels (made of election posters)

Many variations of Mao

Tim joinging the ranks of the Armed Forces exhibit

Most of the art gallery is outside (and gorgeous)

To me it looks like stainless steel aliens

A group of 5 girls and I went to get "artistic photos" done together, and I
took a picture of my hairdo in the changeroom (I don't think I was
technically supposed to.... but oh well!)

Wednesday, August 02, 2006

Wed, 02 Aug 2006 14:39:46 GMT

So last week, again, we didn't win the cleanest room. It turns out out "cleanest room" percentage was 99% only because my roommate left her LAPTOP on her desk!!! AAAAAH so close!!!
Again, I had scrubbed the grimy floor on my hands and kneews, picked up EVERYONE's laundry, and wiped the tables and washed the toilet. While in the shower I sprayed the entire bathroom with soap and water (because there is no shower stalls). And yet again, my roomate's laptop sitting on her desk made us not pass the "desk" category of roomcheck.

I HAD to win this award to PROVE something. Room 711 WILL win it, I told myself, and yesterday, WE WON IT!!!! I went up to my room during break, and the little laminated anime drawing with a the lovely words "Cleanest Room" was posted on our door.

Mom told me to get started on applications or at least research.I have thought of alternate careers other than medicine, or opthamology in particular. I'm going to try to get an undergraduate in geography or some artsy language thing...maybe, or take the science route. Man I'm so indecisive.

I finally got the guts to use a squat toilet. Apparently they are more hygienic than regular toilets.... but..... still kind of ew; it reminds me of peeing outside in desperation during a camping trip or something.

Today I was not feeling so good. I kept getting these refluxes where some vomit comes up to your throat and you have to do a little quick gulp to swallow it back down and then your throat burns for a while. Except this keep happening every few minutes or so.

Plus I keep getting random bruises and my hair falls out easily. I'm probably just being hypochrondriatic, but I'm worried I'm missing out on some essential nutrients or something. Mom gave me this explanation:

Refluxing is possible if you have a lot of gas buildup, eating foods that don't really agree with you, constipated (therefore more bloated) or under a lot of stress (cause you to swallow a lot more gas and lowers the esophageal sphincter tone.) "The esophageal wha-???"

As for the missing nutrients, I don't think you would be missing any major nutrients (especially in that short time) if you are eating a balanced meal. I am sure they are serving a balanced diet, but only you determines what goes in your stomach. So if you are not eating the variety that is provided, then you can become depleted in some essential nutrients. Calcium is not it because you can have a calcium-poor diet for years before you get the effects of the missing calcium (your bones is a big calcium store and if your blood level is low in calcium when your intake is insufficient, your body just removes some of the calcium from your bones for your blood, so that the serum calcium level remains physiologically stable enough to keep your muscles and cells working.) It might not be called Tums in Taiwan, but there will be something similar to that for indigestion at the pharmacies (look at the ingredient to see if it contains a calcium-containing compound like calcium carbonate or sulphate.)

ANYWAYS, the reflux went away, and I'm not sure what exactly the esophogeal sphincter tone is, but I realized that I probably need to be drinking way more liquids. My eyes were cracked and barely could open yesterday morning until I drank two bottles of water then all of a sudden everything was clear and I had tons of energy.

I saw a very poor (financially), physically-disabled person at the nightmarket who had himself chained to a giant crate and was dragging it around, crawling on the ground. I felt sorry for him but I couldn't help thinking that the act of chaining himself to a crate was all an act to wring sympathy from passer-bys. I mean, even if someone is crippled that CAN live life with dignity, even if they physically cannot do what others may be able to do. He was reaching out for money, but he was smoking a cigar as well, and he stopped me and my friend, and we were a little worried. So we didn't give him money, but instead gave him some of the food we were eating. I mean, the cigarettes gave an indication that he probably didn't handle money handouts very well. Not sure if I did the right thing....

A horrible thing happened on the weekend. Somehow my entire camera card got formatted so EVERYTHING (all 600 of my pictures) were erased, as well as several videos. I basically had an internal tantrum of kicking and screaming. Then one of the counsellors saved me somewhat because he's a computer whiz and had this program called "digital image recovery" and managed to get about 50% of the pictures back, and the others were just toast. I'm still very upset but its better than nothing. ARGH i'm so stupid.

AND its been almost an entire month here. One week until my best friend has her sweet 16 and I MISS IT!! @#$%!!!!

This afternoon I bought what I thought was a chocolate popsicle but it was actually made of this popular brown syrup made from rice flour and cane sugar that is BROWN like chocolate. I was wondering why is was so cheap. It wasn't that great.....

I watched the "Da Vinci Code" in the auditorium because someone decided to beg the counsellors to show a movie they brought. Unfortunatley it was a bad-quality pirated version, so it woul keep switching between mandarin and english. The Da Vinci code followed the book, but everything was spelled out to the audience as if we had the intelligence of three-year olds, and there was no chemistry between the A-list actors. The book was basically written as a screenplay, but the movie wasn't executed all that well, considering the crazy hype preceding the film.

I ran out of shampoo the other day, so in a pinch I used green tea on the counsellor's suggestion. Surprisingly, it worked like a charm and my hair was non-greasy, full and luscious for 3 days without washing it again!!! But I think should go get some real shampoo before my hair turns green.

Yesterday my roomate surprised everyone by saying to my other roomate, "You are so scandalous!" It turns out she meant "noisy", because in Spanish "noisy" is "escandalosa", and she thought she could just translate it loosely into English: "scandalous". It was quite funny. Same with me thinking that "costumes" for the class skit would be "costumbres" in Spanish, even though "costumbres" meants "customs" in Spanish. So I ended up saying, "We are wearing customs..."

On Zoe's birthday is was the third Chinese Valentine's Day of the year. People were getting flowers and chocolates all over the place and much mushiness was to be seen in the hallways.

There was this English person that Tim and I met at the bustop who would NOT stop talking to EVERYONE on the bustop, but me in particular because I didn't look Chinese. I could barely understand his heavy English accent, so I just nodded a lot. Then he spoke chinese to the busdriver, but with an appalling accent, and then starting mumbling to himself in some other language..... then when he left he gave me and Tim a band to listen to.... "Red Hot Chili Peppers?"......

Last night at dinner they said one of the counsellors purse and plane ticket was stolen from her room on the 6th floor, and that they caught the thief on camera (there are cameras everywhere in the school). They then called up a list of people who were up that morning between 6 and 7 am. These people, they said, were possible witnesses or suspects. People were getting nervous, and I did especially when I was called up. 'I was on the 7th floor'm I was thinking. Then they told everyone to close their eyes, and asked the standing people (us 40 or so), to raise our hands if we knew anything about the theft or had anything to do with it. I was curious why they were doing this in front of everyone, and why, if they had footage, they didn't just confront that person. A counsellor whispered that it was a "Taiwanese scare tactic", designed to draw out the thief (as stealing can involve the police here), so they take it seriously. Then we opened our eyes, and were told that the standing people (us 40) would be interrogated. I started internally flipping out, and THEN they said they would play the video on the powerpoint screen in the basement eating hall. People were getting REALLY nervous by this time. They dimmed the lights, and all of sudden.........

"Happy Birthday to you....... Happy Birthday to you......... " (but sung in chinese), and they brought out a giant Birthday cake for all of us 40 who had summer birthdays. It was a HUGE surprise. HAHA

From the blog of a French girl who I met here, try to figure out some French internet slang:

voi la voilou on est tro m imi pa la peine de l e dire on le c deja ( allez y dites c p a grave on s'en l asse jms ^^ )

bon ha nta hanta ns 2 on se dit bcp de ch oses surtt des conn eries ms des fois c serieu na ??!!

2 ns 2 comme 2 dis c 4e ver juska ke ca s'ar rete ^^

j espere ke sa s'ar retera le + tard po ssible en tt cas on doit part ir ensemble 1 t'ou blie pa ^^

bon just e comme ca tu es tre s grande ds mon c oeur ^^ hih ihi

b on sina ref lechi b ien tu pre fere pa s etre ac m oi a flo ra ??
bon na c pa rave je ser ai tte se ule abandon nee et tr iste ms bon

tu c bien su r ke je t' aim e bocou et ke j M tr o ton ja rdin ac t frais es et to n panie r de bas ket ^^ b on sina fanny ke dire de toi t unike vraimen t ien a pa 2 c omme toi et voil a

alor s kare n toi t vrai ment s pecial e t tr o marr ante t ro fol le ! s ina t ossi t res ze ntille et je te le dis k aren j e te r espect ta p eur de rien
margot t tro zolie sur l a foto ^^ bo n sina t tre zenti lle tu fais tres b ien le s pate rs a l a carb onara ^^ et t tro intell igente

ke dir e de t oi en fait t oi oss i t fo lle m s c pa rave c mar rant !

bon v oila v oudrez vs di re ke vs aim e ttes bcp d efois vs me faites chi?lt;/SPAN>

bon c normal e ms l a plup art du temps vs ai me bic oup ^^

bon co mme je c pa ds kel le lyc ee je v je c pa si on va etre separe ms

bo n lann ee pro chaine je pe nse ke ca va chang er . t ans pi s je v s fais des e normes bisou x a tt es et voila

merci hanta c magnifike ms tinkiete pa je tabadonne pas je te laisse juste pr un court moment de tte facon lete prochain on se retrouvera ^^

bon sina hanta moi ossi je t'adore bicoup ms ca tu le c deja enfin jpense ..^^

AlOrs c'est the first gif ke jai f?et jai commenc?par un pr toi!!
C'est gentil,hein?!!
Voila mon sunshine je sais ke t stréssée en ce moment et en pluss tu vas me laiss?ds ce monde de brut ms bon...
Bref groks bisouww jtoublier?jamais je te promets ke tora tjs ta plass dama tite tete joufflue!!!

je tadore bicoup forever juska ce ke sa sarrete!

Sunday, July 30, 2006

Sun, 30 Jul 2006 11:07:37 GMT

Tim and I went to Taipei 101 after meeting at the GuTing metro station at 11:00 am. I tried to get a hair cut earlier but it didn't really work. At least I got a 30-minute hair wash and very relaxing hair massage out of it.

Then we stopped at ChiangKaiShek Memorial Hall, and spent time in the science exhibit AND played tic-tac-toe and played hangman. Someone please tell Tim that "lol" is not a legitimate word to use in hangman. I didn't lose the game for lack of skill.

Then we went to Taipei 101: Guess, Gucci, Prada, Roots, Miu Miu, Chanel, Armani, Louis Vuitton............... and a book store that I raided.

Then we went to where Tim used to live and his old elementary school and he told me about his childhood while hobbling around with a wooden cane. It was very....... endearing???

Then we visited DaHu Park and I gawked at the amazing vegetation. At his house, I got to meet his aunt, uncle, parents, grandparents, and one very cool cousin.

Here is us:

Tim's idea of fun......

Saturday, July 29, 2006

Sat, 29 Jul 2006 12:52:00 GMT

JOURNAL BLOG # 5:

I'm starting to wonder what is so great about drinking??? I mean, I hear things like "fun" and "tastes good", so I'm starting to wonder if I'm missing out. So many people my age and even younger have already tried alcohol and things like that. So what's the big deal?? I'm not saying that I want to be drunk or anything, its just that sometimes my roomate and her friend get tipsy off vodka or coolers (I think they're called), or fruity drinks, and they're laughing and much less inhibited and shy. I can't help thinking that it looks fun. I've heard about hangovers and things, but I don't know...

Anyways, no worries. I'm not going to take a sip of alcohol. Older students here say that it's basically like university here...social-wise and drinking-wise. I'm just used to innocent parties where we jump on the trampoline and drink gingerale, and innocent sleepovers where we actually don't sneak out, but just stay home watching movies and eating popcorn. This huge difference makes me feel less mature than other people who actually party. I'm not sure I really understand this whole thing about maturity after all. People are mature for not drinking right??? Then why do I feel less mature??? At least I've made some friends who don't drink every night......

What are your thoughts??

Anyways, this is what my dad had to say about this, being wise as usual:

Emily, alcohol, as one drinks more one goes through several phases (some people pass throught these phases quicker than others):

Less inhbitions (talking, flirting, etc,)
Flushing of skin (reddening)
Loss of fine motor control and mental judgement
Loss of peripheral vision
Loss of balance (gross motor control)
Dizziness
Slurred speech; speaking louder than is necessary in the circumstances
Loss of conscisousness
Death from alcohol poisoning.

My dad was 2 years younger than most of my peers in university because he skipped two years in school and I know that the peer pressure he felt to drink was strong. He did overindulge a few times, but found the effects and afteraffects (hangovers) very unpleasant, so got that out of his system rather quickly.

Personally, I saw the effects second-hand. I walked into the lounge yesterday and there was a 14 year old French girl, lying on the couch. I thought she was just resting, but then she leaned over and threw up. Later, I found out she was completely drunk from dirnking half a bottle of vodka or something. My roomate just drinks cheap peach-flavoured wine with 4 percent alcohol or something so I've never even seen her tipsy.

My dad ALSO said this:

(I left off having the smell of alcohol on your breath (this is how breathalyzers work) and vomiting, which can happen before, during, or after waking up from passing out!)

Having just one normal strength drink (1.5 ounces of distilled alcohol); 1 beer, or 1 small glass of wine) will usually (depending upon the person's size, alcohol tolerance, and metabolism) just lead to: less inhbitions (talking, flirting, etc,), flushing of skin (reddening) and possibly some mildly slurred speech & speaking louder than is necessary in the circumstances. This is why in social situations, having one drink can help get the conversations going; once the 'ice' is broken, usually no more drinks are needed!

It turns out my dad is more open about these kinds of issues than I thought. Maybe we all underestimate our parents and their understanding skills. I tend to base what I tell them on the premise that they were never young; yet, sometimes when you least expect it, they dish out good advice without sounding patronizing, thus letting you come to your own conclusions. Dad is smart in letting me make my own decisions based on generally very accurate and unbiased information.

Friday, July 21, 2006

Fri, 21 Jul 2006 04:26:04 GMT

The following provisional results are available for the subjects you entered in the MAY 2006 examination session as at 21 July, 2006.

Session

MAY 2006

Name	Stewart, Emily Woot-Ping Chang
Category	ANTICIPATED

Subject		Grade
2006 MAY	SPANISH B SL	7
Additional/Extra subjects
None

Wednesday, July 19, 2006

Wed, 19 Jul 2006 08:39:07 GMT

HELLLLLLPPPPP!!!!! how do we find out our Pin # to access our IB exam results!?!?

I even emailed Mr. Baldasso but he said he didn't have it. *bonks head on table*