The West Wing

I am so excited! I finally had the opportunity to see the West Wing of the White House this semester. Many thanks go to my friend for making it happen!

The first time I went at the beginning of this semester, it turned out to be the epitome of a perfect day. It was slightly cool, the sun was shining brightly, and the sky was a cloudless, gentle blue. I went with several friends from home who were here visiting DC. We got a tour of the East Wing first and then we got a tour of the West Wing.

I have been on the East Wing tour several times already, but it never gets old seeing the bold elegance displayed in the architecture and interior decorating that permeate every detail of the East Wing.

This was my first time, however, to see the West Wing–the Oval Office, Rose Garden, Press Briefing Room, South Lawn (from the inside), and so many other neat things.

So here, I will share some pictures from that first time in the West Wing. The second time I saw the West Wing, I chose not to take pictures because I was completely drenched from head to toe. I am not kidding. My clothes were dripping and my feet were practically swimming in my dress shoes. Oh well, it was quite nice getting a better view of the Oval Office the second time around and getting to see my friend’s family again, making the trek through the pouring rain from the Metro stop to the White House well worth it.

Me in front of the White House

The West Wing (Front Entrance)

Me in the Rose Garden

The Rose Garden was much smaller than I expected, but it was beautiful nonetheless.

The Outside of the West Wing, looking from the Rose Garden

The Press Briefing Room

 After the White House tours, my friend took us to see his old office where he worked last year and to look around in the Eisenhower Office Building next door to the White House. Here are a few pictures from there:

This was President Nixon’s office during his Presidency. He did not like working out of the Oval Office, so he moved his office here. This is also where the Watergate scandal took place.

Alice in Wonderland Staircase

I thought these stairs were interesting. They reminded me of something you would see in “Alice in Wonderland.” These were also in the EOB.

Well, I hope you enjoyed the mini tour! I wish I could post pictures of the Oval Office, but cameras are not allowed in that part of the West Wing. You can see photos of it on the White House website though. I think Mrs. Laura Bush did a great job decorating and picking out colors 🙂

fall semester of 2008 has flown by!

Wow! Can you believe that the fall semester has been flying by so fast? It is almost December and I am about to be done with the fall semester. While I was in high school, I used to think time went really slowly, but here in college, time flies. This semester has had its ups and downs with my school life, sports life, and social life.

            When I first came to Gallaudet University, I didn’t know anyone except one childhood friend. I went to New Student Orientation (NSO) week with my mom. It was pretty hard to leave my mom because I knew it would not be the same and I was pretty close to my mom. I didn’t say the final “good-bye” to my mom and my family back in California but I said “see you later” because I knew I will see them again when I get back to California for the winter break.

            The first month was pretty tough because I was trying to get used to being on my own without my mom being there. I still keep in contact with my mom and some of my family members. It is really nice to see my mom through videophone (VP) but it is still not the same because I can’t give a physical hug to her or my family. Like other people said, the first semester of the freshmen year in college is always hard.

            While the first month passed, I kept myself busy with sports. I decided to join the Gallaudet University Women’s Soccer Team this fall because it would keep me busy and keep me motivated in school. I never had any experience with organized soccer, but I did play soccer for fun. Initially, I was a forward on the soccer team, but I didn’t like it because it doesn’t keep me busy and the only thing I can do is to make some goals and try not to pass the defenders or it will be called for off sides. I only played two or three games as a forward then after that, I changed to a defender. I like to play as a defender because it takes a lot of sprints to prevent the opponents from shooting the ball to the goal line. I realized how much fun soccer is and how much I love to play even though it’s my first year. I am planning to play soccer for the next three years.

            After soccer season was over, I transferred to the women’s basketball team. I was not able to play for a while because of my injuries from soccer. I started later than my other teammates and I started on bad terms with them. But after a week, I started to bond with everyone on the team. One day, I was not able to practice with the team because of the injuries leftover from soccer. I am no longer on the women’s basketball team because of length of time it will take to heal my injuries. I have a sore Achilles tendon, shin splints, and arch pain. So it is not worth being on the team this year. It was my dream being on the Gallaudet University team since I was 12 years old. I am planning to play basketball next year with the skills and the talent that I have and I’ll be able to prove to the basketball coaches that I can play and be 100% healthy.

            It is almost Thanksgiving break and almost everyone is gone for the holidays. I wish I could go home and stay with my parents for the holidays but I can’t because it is expensive to buy the tickets from Washington DC to California. I am planning to stay here on campus and go to one of my family relative’s house in Maryland for thanksgiving. It won’t be the same without my family because I am used to my family’s tradition. Anyway, I will be back in California in 23 days to be with my family and my friends. I can’t wait for that day to come because I deeply miss them.  I love them so much and nothing else can replace my family and my friends. J

 

 

 

 

 

Draconian IT Policies

The IT department can kiss my butt. Since I last brought my laptop to school, they’ve started requiring XP Service Pack 3 to be installed in order to use the wifi network. It took a trip to IT services to figure out that’s what they wanted me to install in order to connect, and I promptly rejected the idea. I told them I would either dual-boot with Linux or just not use the network. And I will probably do the latter, although not having Zotero at school will be a pain.

But see, I’m a nerd. I’m a geek. Expecting a geek to follow your ridiculous IT policy is like expecting a model to eat a hamburger. It just isn’t going to happen. If you read blogs about Cisco Clean Access, you’ll see people decrying its ability to let IT administrators control and monitor your system. That’s exactly my problem. I used to be an IT professional myself. I am not about to let somebody else mess with my stuff. I’ve bowed to the CCA demons long enough…no more!

On the bright side, I did see a sign indicating that the bookstore has Office 2007 for $15 (I paid $60 online last year) and Vista for $25.

Student Pricing

I am a certified interpreter as well as being a Gallaudet student. In 2009, the RID conference will be in Philadelphia, which is inexpensive for me to visit, so I figured I’d go. There were two registration levels – member ($350) and student ($200). Now, RID has a membership level called student; the dues are less and you must prove you’re currently enrolled in an interpreter training program. But student members at still members, so I thought maybe, just maybe, the student rate for the conference might apply to non-student members of RID. After all, I only work during breaks, so my budget is really tight. I emailed them to ask and I was told that only student members get to pay the student rate for the conference. I wrote back and said thanks, guess I won’t be coming to the conference then.

I guess I see it as kind of unfair. A student rate is discounted because students don’t have as much money, not because students derive less benefit from whatever they’re buying with the discount. It’s dumb to insist someone pay more in this situation. But what can I do? Nothing really. I’ll miss the conference and the opportunity to network with other interpreters. Life goes on, I guess…I’ll just try to forget that it’s so close to home. Pretend it’s in Hawaii or something.

Best movie trailer ever!

Wow, I’m at loss for words. First off I want to mention that I got back in my dorm hours ago from the end of the year soccer party with my teammates and coaches. I had so much fun, they’re like a family to me. Well our coach handed out awards for each of us. I love what I got, BEST WIZARDY. I got back to my dorm, and I was pretty bored because I didn’t want to leave. So I decided to surf the net and got on Muggletnet.com (best website in my opinion) I saw that they released another new trailer for The Half Blood Prince (HBP) I knew I had to check it out. I FELL IN LOVE WITH IT. I was so excited I wanted to cry. this is the comment I wrote…

WOW! OMFG! I cannot believe how good this trailer is. I almost cry, especially after seeing Hermione crying,  Snape casting the Avada Kedavra curse, and harry yelling, “FIGHT BACK YOU COWARD!”. Ron is so HOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I cannot wait, damn WB, making us wait this long. When is July going to be here? Tmr? Imagine if the movie were to actually come out on the 21st instead of in July? I’m so excited about this movie, and this is all I want to talk about. And the funny thing is, my soccer coach awarded me for BEST WIZARDY. And I thought this was perfect because I came back to my dorm and I came across the new trailer!  IT’S SO PERFECT! I’m Deaf too, and I wish I could understand everything they said in the trailer. Big thanks to G_Wizzle for the words, you’re not only helping one person, you’re helping loads of people!

 

 I’m such a hardcore Harry Potter fan. I remember when Harry Potter was everywhere, school supplies, backpack, lunchboxes, and all those things. I would be like, “I’m sick of Harry Potter. ” Til one day my friend begged me to try reading the first book, I finally gave it. So I gave it a try, read the Socerer’s Stone, and I fell in love with it since then. I continued to read book after book after book until the 5th one, The Goblet of Fire because the other books weren’t published yet. I started going to the midnight release parties at nearby bookstores for the last two books, I even wore my Harry Potter costume; the robe, Gryffindor tie, white top, black skirt, black tights, black shoes, and last, the most important thing for a wizard, a wand. All my friends know how addicted I am to Harry Potter. I went to all the midnight screenings, even without closed captions. Harry Potter is the only movie(s) I will watch without closed captions. And I know the stories because I read the books. I’m actually looking forward to The Beedle of the Bard by J.K. Rowling, and I will of course go to the midnight release party, but this time in D.C. I’m just sad that it’s going to be a long wait until the movie which is coming out in July. At least if gives us something to look forward to for a while, but it’s trying me MAD! Barbarous isn’t it?  I read loads of comments on mugglenet about their reactions on the trailer, wow, none of them were bad, not ONE.

1. Everyone is just as anxious as I am,

2. even lots of them wanted to cry,

3.will even see Twlight just to see the trailer on the screen,

4.show up to Twlight in Harry Potter outfit,

5. watch the trailer over and over,

6.felt really emotional to it,

7. is more than happy that the movie is really following and being faithful to the book this time,

8.reckon it’s the best trailer for a movie EVER,

9. wish that they didn’t have to wait until July and that the movie was still coming out on Nov 21st instead.

To be frank, I have been having a hard time getting myself to read other books that’s not written by J.K. Rowling. I even tried to read a few pages of Twlight at the bookstore. I couldn’t really get into it, I know the book is really good, I will read it eventually, just that even after a year I’m still going through a Harry Potter withdrawal. Okay, enough ramblings on Harry Potter.

Get your copies of THE TALES OF BEEDLE THE BARD Dec 4th, look for midnight release parties at bookstore near you.

Here’s the link to watch the HALF BLOOD PRINCE trailer… http://www.mugglenet.com/app/news/show/1973/page/3

is it going to end the world?

Have you wondered if a sport’s teammates will stay together as friends after the season ends?

I have been wondering about that a thousand times since our soccer season ended on October 30, 2008. We ended our season with 18 losses. We did not win any games this season, but there were two close games that we should have won. The women’s soccer team has not won a soccer game since October 4, 2006.

I have been thinking about my team staying together and keeping our trust levels up until next fall 2008 because i think it would be easier for us to keep our bond strong if we stay in contact with each other. I hope we can still have an end of the season party with our team even though our last game was October 30, 2008. After that party, I still  hope that we can go out to have fun as a team once a week for the rest of semester and when we get back from Christmas break.

Here are few pictures of my team at our last game which was the coldest night we have played this season:

Freedom and the Law

I do not want you to misunderstand me. I love my country. I love America. I love the idea that the United States of America represents freedom and the right to pursue life, liberty, and happiness.

America was founded on the principles of freedom at its best. Freedom of speech; freedom of the press; freedom to bear arms; freedom to congregate; freedom of religion; freedom from the government establishing a national church and religion; freedom from being deprived of life, liberty, or property without due process of law; and freedom to petition the government for a redress of grievances.

Are these freedoms honored now as much as they were then? Do we still even have all these freedoms? If so, does everyone have these freedoms or only a select group of people?

Consider.

Freedom of speech: kids may not pray or mention God in public schools. College students may not write papers that refer to the Bible and God as the ultimate source of truth and may not use the Bible as a credible source to support their ideas (I, personally, have experienced this on many occasions). Teachers may not mention God or discuss creationism or Intelligent Design (or any other theory for that matter other than Evolution) in the public classroom without facing serious consequences. Students may not question their professors or what they are being taught (for an example, read my two “Expelled” blogs).

Freedom of the press: while I do have the freedom to blog and publish whatever my heart desires, I have on multiple occasions been insulted and demeaned for writing from my point of view and for mentioning my beliefs. “You poor uneducated person! You should go to college and learn something,” they say. It is always a battle of intelligence. If you believe in God, you are automatically labeled and stereotyped as uneducated. Who cares if you have an AA, BA, MA, or PhD? However, if you do not believe in God, you are credited as educated no matter if you have a degree or not.

For another example, I was once asked to write a memoir for a college English class. I mentioned God two or three times in my over-thirty-page-long autobiography. During peer review, one student commented, “I see that you are a follower of Jesus Christ.” On the other hand, another said, “Leave God out of it. God should be reserved for jokes, not to be given credit for events in your life.” My professor then said, “See? You say you want to witness to these people but what do you have to say to that?” My only response was that I am simply a messenger. That is all that God has called me to be. It is up to the receiver of the message as to whether or not they accept it. I cannot be held responsible for someone’s personal decisions.

While I had been given permission, and even encouraged, to write this memoir from my perspective, my perspective was unacceptable to both this one student and my professor, who I must graciously credit though for humbly apologizing later after my response. But why? Why am I not allowed to give credit to Whom I believe credit is due? Why am I not allowed to believe that there is only One Way to heaven and that Way being Jesus Christ through His death and resurrection? The other students expressed their atheistic or other religious beliefs and it was perfectly acceptable and even commended. But mine were not.

So, I must ask again. Do we still have the freedoms mentioned in the Constitution and Bill of Rights? If so, does everyone have these freedoms or only a select group of people?

I would like to propose an answer to these questions: no.

While we do still (thankfully) have many of these freedoms, some of them are slowly being taken away. And who are they being taken away from? Bible-believing, followers of Jesus Christ.

Why? Why do people have such a hatred for God, the Bible, and Christians? People speak of equality, of acceptance, of tolerance. Why aren’t Christians tolerated? Why isn’t the Bible accepted? Why doesn’t God get at least as much honor and respect as Buddha, Muhammad, or Gandhi?

I have only one answer.

“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me [Jesus] first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own.” John 15:18-19, NIV

“I [Jesus] have given them your [God’s] word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.” John 17:14-15, NIV

“Do not be surprised, my brothers, if the world hates you.” 1 John 3:13, NIV

First Year Student Trip

Well, Gallaudet has unleashed its newest marketing tool on an unsuspecting student body. Free international travel for first-year students…and first-years ONLY. I had seen the promo about this over the summer, and I was hoping that I could get in on it somehow. But no, it is only for new students. Doesn’t matter if you are a freshman or a transfer student, but this has to be your first year at Gallaudet. They’re going to Costa Rica for a week! I’m sure space is limited…Gallaudet is paying for almost everything. The student only has to cover some meals, souvenirs, etc. I am so disappointed that they didn’t start this program a year ago.

Hectic, Hectic, and even more Hectic

Things have been hectic here. Since it is November, the unofficial crunch month, I’ve been busy with homework, projects, and researching for papers. I’ve also gotten back involved with writing as way to ignore homework, and sad to say, it’s very efficient. I’ve been scrambling a bit more than usual lately.

My post will be relatively short, most likely because I have a few more things to do for tomorrow that requires my full attention. Curse you, school. *shakes fist at it*

I’ve been busy registering for classes and looking up classes. When I finally (pah!) gotten around to actually registering, a tiny, tiny bump occurred. I couldn’t register for some essential classes because my “pre-requisites haven’t been met”. This is of course, very infuriating for someone who just want to get it done with. Another round of emailing teachers occurs now, and I’m waiting to hear back from them. I want to get one teacher’s permission before I ask the other two since that class is a pre-requirement for the other two.

In other news, the election occurred! It was my first time voting and I voted via absentee ballot. My state, Illinois, went almost automatically to Obama on CNN. The day it votes republican will be a very very very scary day. Since I’m from Illinois, I wanted to be at Grant Park for the Chicago rally badly. My friends had gotten some pictures of it – apparently the streets of Chicago were filled with people as well as the park itself. I still want to be there in some ways even now. However, I must admit it feels weird now that the election is over. I expect that there should be something different about the world – maybe it’s a little brighter or warmer (of course, Winter, ha!), yet everything is still the same. I don’t think any of us will truly feel the impact until Obama is actually in office.

Even though I dearly want to sleep (going to 4:30am, getting up five hours later is not a good idea!), I should focus on my homework. Farewell, my dears.

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 🙂