I just wanted to tune you guys in for a halftime report. I cannot believe that its July already. It is only a month away before I go back to Gallaudet early to start working again and begin another academic year. So far, the summer is treating me wonderfully. I visited Alaska and Colorado, but guess what? I’m back in Alaska. It’s lovely here and visiting for two weeks was a big mistake, Alaska is HUGE and you’ll need a month or more to enjoy Alaska. The only thing I am still trying to integrate on Alaskan lifestyle is sleeping soundly at nights. Their sun schedule are way different than the schedule we have here! Their sun goes up until like 3 am! Other than this, it’s all good in Alaska! Lately I’ve been visiting places and places, this weekend I’ll camp out in Homer for the Forth of July!

 

On July 7^th, I’ll go back home and pack for Indiana & New York. I plan to visit my family in Indiana and go straight to New York for Camp Mark Seven. After the camp, I’ll go straight to District of Columbia. This summer is very different for me, often I stay in home a lot and spend a lot of time with my family. But this time the summer is so just busy and it cuts down the time I have with my family. It really helps me see how important my family is to me, because often I would wander in those reflecting moment while being away from home; I would think how much I miss the serenity I have around home. The family I have are people who allows me to be completely who I want to be, where I feel it is okay to be a temporary couch potato! I miss the serenity, the calmness, and the joy of being home.

 

Anyways, here are some pictures!

1) The view of Denali which is 6 hours away from where I took the picture! 

2) I held the gun and it was heavy, but nope- I don’t hunt. 

3) This is something I enjoy daily at Alaska- COFFEE!

4) Democracy isn’t something you see too often in Alaska since their gov. is Palin. 

5) Me posing in front of The Sleeping Lady Mountain.

Spring Semester 2009: The Final Edit

 

Eagle River, AK

 

 

Greetings from the lovely Alaska! I am enjoying my little adventure at Eagle River and I am sad to say that it will end this Friday. Anyways, I cannot believe that the semester is over, I know that I’ve been inching closer to the ending. But it is finished. I remembered that I had a severe case of sophomore blues at the beginning of my epoch. There is something I would like to share about Gallaudet University. I looked back on how my courses were and the benefits of General Studies Requirements course, which consists two professors teaching an integrated course.

 

When I begun my freshmen year and I learned that our class will be the first to explore the new curriculum which has GSR courses in it. I didn’t understand what GSR was for until I got my schedule. For example, First Year Seminar is GSR 101. When you register for classes you’ll see the headline to be “GSR 101” and the topic will tell you what this GSR course will cover. I have taken seven GSR courses and I have had a quite interesting experience.

The pros of having an integrated teaching environment is that you do really get most out of the course itself. Because you have two different professors who have undergo an experience of a lifetime where they fully invest in their doctrine. You hold an option of talking to one of them, in certain situations. One time I recall myself being very uncomfortable about my paper’s thesis. I decided it was best for me to ask one of my professors for an opinion because I am comfortable with her. You will also be able to get am insight of your professors’ strengths and weakness where you will become familiar with situation tactics they use. Once there was a scramble between an enraged student and one of the professor. The professor who was dealing with the angry student couldn’t understand “fast” American Sign Language. The other professor who was also hearing but is a CODA herself quietly interpreted what the angry student was saying. It was wonderful watching an actual integrated team work in action.

The concept of having two professors can be difficult because when they disagree on something, the classroom environment can become awkward. Some of the professors have different learning outcomes which makes it much more frustrating for us. Some of the professors bring up an issue which other professor strongly disagrees on, which becomes a squabble inside the classroom. Sometimes the professors do not communicate with each other where the lesson plan is lost; it can be frustrating for students because it is a waste of time. One of the few guarantees about having a GSR course is that you will get a very strict professor and a sweet one. I remember my GSR 101 professors very clearly: one was a mother-like and another was just some kind of crazy aunt! The motherly one was all about making sure that we got our life under the table. However the crazy aunt really kicked our rear end with tons of academic workload.

Overall I am glad that I enrolled Gallaudet in time they invested in the GSR courses. I feel that I do get the most out of those courses and it is not like I have this attitude where I groan and say, “I have to take this course!” I do not think that GSR course needs a major facelift but they do need to polish up some area.

 

Ok, I need to go back to where I was in Alaska!

 

Till the next time I blog,

 

-C

Your action speaks louder than words.

I apologize for not keeping up with my promise. BUT BUT What I can do at this very moment is share you guys an entry filled with pictures. So that way you all can know how crazy my semester went. I cannot believe that the spring break begins friday and guess where I’m going? 

 

NEGRIL, Jamaica! 

This is what I really need: 

 

Paradise, BABY!

But the weird thing is that I am not excited, not even a bit. That is just because I have several hefty workload coming up BEFORE I can even go to Jamaica. 

Ok, enough with words- pictures! 

 

 

Vagina Monologue Cast 2009

 

In green room, being my own self

 

POWERSHIFT 2009

I am involved with Green Gallaudet, an environmental organization at Gallaudet University. My position is Education Track Director, and we’re very fortunate to be in D.C. Since Powershift 2009 Conference took place at DC! 

 

Rachel and I with Jessy Tolken

 It was a such honor to get the chance to meet her, she was featured all over on media- discussing about cleaner energy in the future. She is an activist who is very short but you cannot allow her height  to put some assumption because she made 12,000 college students all over the nation to come to Powershift 2009. Imagine. 

 

Ben's chili at Adam's Morgan

Me posing in the front of the best chili eatery in D.C. where Obama ate! On that day, we went to the University of Maryland to observe their cheerleading competition. Before that, Ben’s Chili was our pit stop. 

 

Their proudest portrait

Now they were really serious about Obama eating there once. 

We were getting ready for the CAC Cheerleading Competition where we hosted at Gallaudet this year. 

 

Siren Red Lips = Bonus Score given by Judges!

Fooling around with one of stuntmen

This is why I love my team

 

 

 

My cheer hunnies  

 

Bachelor's Party: The Season Finale

 This is one of the most fun thing I had during the semester. We were so crazy about the new Bachelor’s show on ABC so we actually had a “score sheet” for who’s right with the predictions. We would predict who’ll be in, who’s gonna be out. For that we had 1,000 points awarded to the ones who made correct assumptions. On that night of season finale, we all dressed up as if we were going to the rose ceremony. (Rose ceremony is when they eliminate one of the contestant) And we were not VERY happy with our bachelor’s decision. He choose the girl he wanted to marry which is our favorite- Melissa then later he broke off the whole engagement and went over for the second girl- Molly who he didn’t propose to in the first place. 

 

Our reaction when Jason didn't propose to Molly

 

My proudest moment for my stuntmen- Kent.

Two of my closest people, well Californians. They got into a fraternity- Kent just became a brother of Alpha Sigma Pi Fraternity and Mark got into Kappa Gamma Fraternity. I’m really proud of them and their pledging program just ended! 

 

Mark as Kappa Gamma brother

Other than this, Real Women, Real Beauty performance night is tomorrow! It is part of the Women Awarness Month, I can’t wait. I did the performance last year and this year- trust me it is entirely a different story! Then Jamaica this friday. aah. 

 

Till the next time I blog

 

-C

Do you take excuses?

First of all, before starting business- I apologize for not writing up lately! Again, when you’re in California for a month..you got to vouch for me! I don’t mean to be egoistical about where I come from but my nirvana is California. Then I had a busy start for the semester- Campus Activities staff training week, cheerleading practice, and vagina monologue rehearsals.  This semester I do have lot on my plate, for sure.

One of my own pet peeves about myself is that when it comes down to asking for favors- I do not know how to say no. This semester I am responsible for the National Teach-In Day which just happened today! I am part of the Vagina Monologues- I’ll do “Because He Liked to Look At It”. I am also on the cheerleading squad and the team will compete CAC’s cheerleading competition at Gallaudet on Feb. 21. and I am so nervous about that. I also am focusing on Powershift 09- a convention for national college students to gather up and pursue for cleaner energy. Green Gallaudet is working with Powershift 09 this year and I am very thrilled about that!

You guys will be treated with a long entry coming up by sunday!

Cheers-

-C

Personal Space Status: INVADED

I love finals- because it means black coffee and bringing the best out of Clara! I wrote y’all up an entry while being inside the plane. Yep, I went home for Thanksgiving and word of advice: if it’s California- don’t go until your winter break! California got me distracted, too comforting (okay, it ain’t just California, it’s also home!) and doing homework was somewhat difficult. Rating the difficulty from 1 to 10 scale, I say its 12.

As of right now I’m on the plane to Las Vegas where I will make my connection to San Francisco. I just cannot wait to be home for Thanksgiving, even though it will be just a four day stay but being home counts. Lately for me at Gallaudet University I have been cramming on my ENG 399 Seminar Paper, which is worth forty percent of our final grade. The paper isn’t just a huge weight on my grade, it will also determine if I can enroll into the English majors. My apologies for neglecting the blog lately! (As I typed- there was turbulence)

You know, I hate airports because the place symbolizes heavy emotional influence. Either it’s a good bye or welcome back! But it isn’t all about that jazz, we sometimes do not realize that the airport is filled with some really rude people. I must share this to you all today, I have encountered lots of rudeness today. First I went to check in and bumped into our recently-elected Graduate Student Association Vice President: Rachel Berman! It turned out that we were on the same flight which was cool, we kept each other company and I got the chance to get to know her. She’s a rad gal who I will later work with in Vagina Monologues.

Anyway, I was getting my stuff on the x-ray machine conveyor belt and a woman walked right in front of me and piled her stuff ahead of my stuff! I was speechless, she didn’t even ask- she quickly proceeded to the metal detector area. I thought to myself “Well I have two hours before my plane leaves so sometimes other people really need to go.” I managed to keep my cool although I had just pulled off an all nighter- I haven’t slept for twenty-four hours. Just a quick tip- never do anything last minute. Back to the point, when Rachel and I boarded the plane; I had to go to the restroom so I decided to use the back of the plane which was a dumb idea. When I came out of the door and my seat is in the fourth row- I was all the way back and people would not just stop coming in! I decided to play the game by myself, portraying the rows as a video game setting. I walked to row sixteen and stayed inside the aisle, I helplessly watched more and more people lining up in the pathway. I became frustrated because all I wanted to do is SIT! Then all of sudden- people finally stopped coming in! But the problem was that there’s still a line in the pathway which blocked me from getting to my fourth row seat! I became tense because I did not want any more people coming in! The guy who is in my aisle’s pathway carried a pretty big carry-on bag which took up most of the “cushion” space of the line which annoyed me! I kept on hinting to him that he should just simply lift the bag and let me through but he wouldn’t! Finally the line moved and I timely went through and got back to my seat.

If you think that’s all the rudeness I encountered today, wrong! Ever had any next-to-seat mate from hell? I was in the middle which I didn’t care because my mate on the left is Rachel who spent most of her trip leaning to the window. But the right seat mate who I will just call Cindy, she is a petite Asian woman who seemed very friendly. She gestured that she loves my earrings so I got a good vibe from her. But from what I learned- the vibe doesn’t necessarily determine the rest of experience on the flight with Cindy! She could not stop moving, she leaned on me and slept, she took up most of the arm rest space. I never had any stranger leaning to sleep on my shoulder! I grew irked and decided to send out a signal. She moved to a comfortable position which allows her to lean on my shoulder further, I leaned leftward to Rachel. Cindy woke up and gave me a long blank stare and slept. Even now, I still don’t understand HOW can you lean on a stranger’s shoulder to sleep?

The solution to this situation is either never sit in the center or smile. Sometimes when it comes to my work- no matter how badly my day went- I still am able to smile and treat my customers wonderfully. This also for sure applies to your approach to strangers out there whether they’re rude or not. If I could do this differently- I would have tried to communicate with Cindy rather than bottling my frustrations up. Despite all the countless flights I have made, 10 hours, 15 hours, 1 hour, and international flights- I remind everyone to NOT sit in the center.

Clara is in CLARA mode right now, until the next time I write!

Cheers,

-C

Say YES to weddings, and NO to funerals

Hola everyone once again!

 

With all of this election-craze, what can I say? Yes, it is finally over- the result is in and YEAAAHHH BABY! OBAMA TO THE WHITE HOUSE! I VOTED for the first time in my life and who knew a such small thing stuck on my chest which reads “I voted” could make a difference to my ego? I went to the Bestheda Bapist church on mt olivet road which is in the back of Model Secondary School for the Deaf. I went inside the building and I had to take the Obama pin off because it is the law to not wear any campaign-related items in the polling area. I signed in and they gave me the ballot- there was NO line and that was because I came in at around 3ish while everyone was still at work. The first section was for the presidency race- and I proudly voted for Obama and Biden. My vote sure counted in DC- report shows that 94% of voters voted for Obama, yeah baby- ‘Bama! 

Enough with the politics although CNN will email me anytime to interview the first time voters. Now, I just wanted to talk about the joys and perks of our existence on this earth. I looked at some of my old photos- and I looked back on the last few weeks I spent in California before going to Gallaudet. I just realized that I attended a wedding and a funeral in one week. Before I begin- I want to fill you guys in that I am NOT good at dealing with grief or saying “I’m sorry” when a life is taken away on the earth. I just bottle up my emotions and say nothing- that’s how I deal with deaths. Everyone has their own weakness. 

While growing up, I had my own childhood friends who are my homies. One of their mothers was already handicapped (not severe) and later had some health complications- where she spent a few years being in a wheelchair and eventually her health went downhill. One day I was notified that she passed away at a hospital because her brain functions were considered “vegetable” and I felt a wave of bitterness crashing down on me. I sucked it up. Later I learned that there would be a funeral and my family would attend since we are family-friends. I became nervous because the last funeral I attended was for my great grandmother which took place more than 5 years ago. I remembered that I did not enjoy it. I still wanted to go to my friend, to pay some respect. I remembered walking up on the stairs before entering the cathedral- the funeral home people gave me a pamphlet which sank my heart. The pamphlet has a quotation as its headline: ”Heidi, God saw you getting so tired.” Who knew that those words- the words they used could be so powerful. I mean, we get tired at certain times but the intention of this quotation is WAY different. It was very poignant, still I did not shed a tear. I went and it is a catholic funeral which its procedures took really long, I was very good at handling my emotions while watching others grieve. I sat and watched all the family members on the other side, during the service- we sang songs and listened to some of speeches. They did a lot of blessings until a church assistant came forward and asked the son of the deceased to come over and say the last goodbye. A short fill-in: the son is now a senior in high school, starting his 4th year on the football team and he started his senior year off without his mom. 

Anyways, the son came forward and looked at his own mother on the casket. I was sitting, my legs crossed- they begun to shake and I folded my arms stiffly- I no longer was able to control my emotion. The moment- the very last moment of son and mother before she is buried under the soil is right there in my eyes. The sense of anticipation rushed inside my head and watching the son tearing up (he’s a jock so it is not easy for him to cry in front of a crowd) and finally- a tear rolled down on my cheek. I felt much better but another tears came on the other side then there came more. The church service ended and we all were to go to the final burial place, we were given a neon orange bumper sticker that prints: FUNERAL and we put it up on the front window of our van. I sat and realized that they got whole thing arranged- ALL cops were blocking the every intersection of the street to allow us to pass. The hearse was in the front, carrying the body and there were cops riding on the motorcycle and driving the cars all over place. The lifeless one is being honored at this very moment- the peace she deserves was visible when I watched the cops blocking the intersection- the town stopped at the very moment. Funerals are powerful for me, I will attend if it is for a close member of friends and families but other than that- it is not for me.

Then I was very excited for a special event coming up, my first Varsity Co-ed Cheerleading coach and English teacher invited me to her wedding in San Diego which is located in the very deep south of California. San Diego is a very gorgeous big town, where its lapis blue beach lays around it. You want the hollywood minus its plastic surgery craze, go to San Diego. I landed at the Burbank airport and got picked up by a friend then we went on a long roadtrip, finally arrived the location. We rushed through to the hotel to just take a nap before the night of dancing-filled fun. We got dressed and went to the wedding- the very last wedding I attended before this one was more than 6 years ago and I was involved as a flowergirl. The experience was also not pleasant since you are young along with older bridesmaid, you can’t really fullfill the interaction experience with them yet. Back to the point- I arrived at the beachfront and most of the guests were already there. They had this cute program book which was glued to a handle- which makes it a fan! 

The wedding was beach-themed with light yellow and sky blue as their color, there were lots of shell decorations and oh boy I won the centerpiece! Anyways, I waited anxiously for the bride because I haven’t seen her since I went back to Gallaudet after the winter intermission! From January to Aug, LONG ENOUGH! The wedding march hummed on the deejay’s speaker and I timely stood up and saw the bride in beautiful gown, the gown’s details were so enormous and she looked like a queen. She had this small tiara covered into veil, her hair was styled into a up-do, and she never looked so happy. The wedding resumed at the reception where most of us partied and danced to the beats, and had our fair share of the cake which was so scrumptious. Everyone was laughing to dialogues and stories of our old times with the bride and the groom. It is a hearing/deaf combination of guest with small number of deaf people. The bride now is working as sorenson video relay interpreter, so in my table- I sat with her co-workers. We shared MANY stories of vp prank calls. Oh man, I cannot believe that there are people who ACTUALLY did those specific pranks (they must be crazy) and the wedding ended so fast. It was because I spent my time: dancing, laughing, taking pictures. It was a very full-filling feeling for me and weddings are FOR ME! Well, it is for everyone? 

 

Ok I think I write too much tonight, to the next time I blog. 

 

Good night!

 

-C 

 

Oh by the way- I must post the picture of the bride and I  

Busboys and Poets, National Cathedral, and the oh-my’s

Ok, call me crazy for updating on homecoming week but I finished my assignment for tomorrow so I thought why not bother to update the blog. So, here I go!    On my birthday which took place two weeks ago, I wanted to DO what I want. Last year it was on a thursday and it was not ideal to celebrate on a school night but I did anyway! Ever since I took Art History, I fell in love with the subject itself even though I had a beginning hate relationship with it. Taking Art History requires lots of memorizing and that’s a very “traditional” learning method which I didn’t like. One of our projects was to go to the National Cathedral and observe the cathedral structure, so I went and met my soulmate: Washington DC National Cathedral. Basically it is a HUGE cathedral standing proudly in the DC area.  Lovely huh? This time I went with my friend: Alicia and my trusty digital camera instead of carrying around a textbook and a thick worksheet to be filled out. We took the metro and got off the Tentleytown/AU station and took the 30 digit bus to cathedral avenue. Before we did that, we stopped by Whole Foods supermarket which is full of organic eats! We got ourselves a light cheese lunch and a drink. We arrived at the cathedral and went inside- amazingly we bumped into Art History students who were doing their project! We went to the top and I began my photo-taking frenzy. 

Posing in the front of West Facade 

On the top of the world, well not really; on the top of D.C. probably. 

I love how the rays sink in 

One of my favorite details on the cathedral

The structure used: The Flying Butress 

Do you see what the lens show? Ok enough with pictures- I laid on the grass and went on with my Art high. I slept, ate, and took pictures with Alicia. I was very satisfied with what I did on that special day- the day my mom screamed while giving birth to me! Later that night, I went to a hookah bar and enjoyed hittin’ it down with my girls at Adam’s Morgan. We ate at a joint named Tatsu, this restaurant has its own style of setting. The restaurant is designed with many different tables from places and antique furniture which was cool, we got to seat ourselves in comfy couches and order our food. The only con is that the place gets full at night and its harder to have the option of having your own table so you end up sharing with strangers. After that- hookah bar then my girls kidnapped me to a surprise party, another one this year! Again, I enjoyed this! 

Several days after my birthday, I went out to eat with several of my friends to Adam’s Morgan again. I don’t think I can ever get enough of Adam’s Morgan. We ate at a restaurant called Busboys and Poets, oh boy I love that place! It has a bookstore full of poetry books, political books, and environmental books. We waited for our table as I observed the place (Pardon my being, it is an inner-nature of Art History minor) and noticed that they had many powerful artworks on Obama. Since I’m a Democratic, I felt right at home instantly- the environment was very dark yet they used bright curtain fabric (lime green) with white lamps. We got our table and the room next to our seating was a slam-reading room, which was decorated with lots of vintage “peace” spelled out in many languages on the wall. The food there is very good, you must try the bruschetta. I’ll go back there and try some more courses for sure.

 

Other than this, life’s good as usual. Maybe a bit too fast.

 

Until the next time I blog!

 

Cheers,

 

-C

Midterm

Forgive me for not updating anything lately, this week is the “worst” week since the semester started. Why’s that? It is the midterms! But after the homecoming and everything else ends- I’ll treat you all a nice update. Here is the preview:

 

- My Birthday 

- My visit to my favorite place at DC

- Eating at Busboys and Poets (dish review) 

- PICS PICS!

 

But I’m really nice enough to give you a picture: Me at the National Cathedral on my birthday 

Going green

The word of the day: booked.

 

I’m so booked with meetings, the organization that I’m involved with. Lately I’ve become the Education track director for the Green Gallaudet organization. Also I have been doing works for Homecoming 2008 and so far it is looking very sweet! I can’t wait to see the result of this event, all of our hard work we’ve putted in lately is not just enough- there’s lot to come! I also will be doing make-up for this year’s fashion week and I can’t wait to start on my portfolio because I would love to work for the M.A.C. someday. I also will be responsible for the Halloweek this year which requires lot of work. 

 

Eating meat is not good for me when I’m doing those stuff. I eat white meat three times weekly and that’s it, I’ve completely shed red meat away from my diet. I feel much more energized, I don’t call myself a vegetarian because I still do white meat. I can’t just give up chicken! They’re so delicious and tempting. Maybe a semi-vegetarian. Lately I’ve started my day off with raw breakfast then a salad for lunch then dinner- I treat myself to a sandwich or something small. So far it is all good for me and I’ve been feeling a lot more upbeat. Maintaing a healthy diet in college is important! 

 

Ok I have a meeting to attend now, until next time I blog!

 

Cheers,

-C

On being a mom

Today I surfed on the web after finishing Psychology test which went ok. One of my favorite website besides the greek tradegy blog by Stephanie Klein, I visited post secret and the first postcard I saw was this:

As an art history minor, along with the English major. I just find this post card sad but yet it makes sense. I was really not close with my mom through out my childhood, I was more of daddy’s girl. I was really tight with dad, so close that we usually go to starbucks for late night conversation. I recall this, when we got so carried away with our conversation; it went past starbucks’s closing time! The employer had to notify us that we need to leave because they’re closing and dad would go “Oh no! I didn’t page your mom to assure her that everything is ok!” Then the moment daddy check his pager, he would get countless worried messages from mom.

Those late night starbucks time was something I didn’t have with my mom. I often burst into the argument that I picked up with mom, sometimes I don’t understand her from her background experience. She was the only deaf child in a family who doesn’t really sign, they made homesigns and that was it. So you can say that my mom lived in an isolated home life but that changed dramatically when she moved into dormintory. Then she went to Gallaudet and got pregnant- yes I’m the baby. I call myself a native Californian but the untold truth is that I was produced at Washington, District of Columbia! I’m one of the 1989 alumni’s babies currently registered as a full-time student at Gallaudet University right now.

From the previous statement I made, I wasn’t really close with my mom. But that changed dramatically when I went to Gallaudet last year. I became much more closer and I always had countless videophone session with mom, I always felt this warmth when I see her on the videophone screen. Then, she came to visit me in the fall and I was SO thrilled. I went away to my uncle’s home with her for the weekend, she was surprised by her old Gallaudet classmates. I watched how they laughed with my mom while sharing many funny stories that occured during their times at Gallaudet. My mom did lived her life to the fullest at Gallaudet when she was a student back then. I find myself sharing many details to my experience as a freshmen to mom, much more than I share with my dad right now. I embrace the closeness I currently have with mom, for some reason I thank Gallaudet University for that. I think the distance helped simulate the closeness in the relationship I have with my mom. Now I still am close with her, I still have those countless videophone session even if it is just a five-minute call. It counts. Amazingly, Gallaudet can be something that plays a big role in life even although college is a dot in your life span.

It came to a realization that it is a LOT of work being a mom, it doesn’t take a mother’s day to thank your mom; thank her everyday. Hell, we should have a holiday called “Mother’s year”

Everyone should love their parents no matter what, but don’t worry about the part when you feel that you won’t just get along with one of them. You WILL someday get along with both, and the feeling is so idyllic.

It is OK to not be like your mom, but everyone will always have something that belongs to their mom inside them.

 

I love you, Mum.

The Baldwin Family

(The picture is outdated, it will soon be two years!)

Until the next time I blog!

 

-C