Man I always hate coming back to school. More often than not, at the beginning I feel alone because no one is physically around, and this time I began to think of my mortality. Not a good way to go when you are trying to fall asleep.

But my back pain is also coming back. It's pretty intolerable, to be honest...such that I wish I were back in LA or that my mom were here so she could help me "fix" it. I don't know if I can continue on with my internship or with kung fu if this pain persists...I suppose I should invest in a mattress topper or mattress in general.

I look forward to seeing what kind of trees they plant in China...and maybe Korea...no maybe not Korea. I hope I get to go!! Though I'm honestly sick of studying Chinese right now, after this last quarter.


A conversation I had with my gramma after I got back:

Gramma: Don't marry a black guy, [an acquaintance] kicked her daughter out after she married a black man.
Me: Yeah yeah, I know...
Gramma: Even a white guy is better.
Me: WHAT?????????? NO WAY!!! Has to be to Asian.
Gramma: White is better than black.
Me: NOOOOOO ASIAN!!!!!!!
Gramma: Yeah Chinese is best.

FaTGuYw1tFooD: how you cant get off the floor
FaTGuYw1tFooD: thats one of the few things i cant begin to comprehend
dhereztrez: .....i can get off the floor
FaTGuYw1tFooD: LOL
FaTGuYw1tFooD: if you bike everyday, your legs should at least be able to push you a foot off the floor...
FaTGuYw1tFooD: oh, u must take the bus
dhereztrez: ........HOW DARE YOU
dhereztrez: HOW DARE YOU
dhereztrez: YOU BASTARD

My schedule for next quarter is SO much nicer than this quarter's :)



I do have kung fu practice MW 8-10pm and F 6-8pm, but just look at it!!! It's so empty! I'm taking a break from my greenhouse job next quarter although I will have my Arboretum internship...but now there is a lot more time for me to do that and I can spread the work out. MUAHAHAHAHAHA.

I don't think my water internship will resume since the grant doesn't seem like it will come through. I still have to wait on my research grant and scholarship to see if I can get some funding; if not, no research either :(

OMG this bonsai sequoia sempervirens is so cute!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



I hate the redwood because there's so many to take pictures and height of for the internship, but I can't deny the cuteness. Muahahaha I want this bonsai.

I think finding housemates under urgent circumstances has got to be one of my least favorite activities. To be honest...I'm already stressing about the summer. If I lower the rent for the living room I MIGHT be able to find someone to take over, especially if I include some furniture (not my futon or screens though). But I'm not sure if my housemate is going to stay here, and I need to know for sure that I can get the rent paid. I can probably sign them on officially as a cosigner...

Right now I have the guzheng and that's stressing me out too. It's a precious item and I can't have it get damanged or stolen, but I feel bad for not making use of it since my friend had her dad bring it for me.

I just hope my housemate will stay during the summer so I can maybe have him keep a lookout for my stuff. To be honest, I don't ever want to stay in Davis for the summer, but I will have to during grad school. Until then...subletters it is. Sigh.

A few things have happened recently that I find interesting...certainly does add some flavor to this overly-busy life.

I've been constantly editing a video for my Chinese skit, I decided to take responsibility once I realized how easy it was to use Windows Movie Maker.  Granted, despite my dedication to details, I couldn't get the audio or video as smooth as I wanted it to be.  But I'll subtitle it and put it on Facebook for all to enjoy.

I also by the most random and shocking coincidence ended up talking with someone who plays two traditional Chinese instruments, and he asked about the guzheng in my Facebook profile picture.  The coincidence?  He's 1. from LA 2. went to Chinese school in Chinatown 3. went to Castelar 4. horticulture major AND I HAVE NEVER SEEN THIS GUY IN MY LIFE WTF IS THAT!  Our major is so freaking small!  But at least now I have some outside motivation to get on the guzheng and practice.


Lastly kung fu is awesome as always.

 It's been a long time!  For the use of my housemates or friends, here is my schedule.  The latest version but not really the most updated because the other things are so...flaky.



I start work at 8am.  And have MW 8-10pm kung fu club practice...but I was lazy to edit the whole thing since I'm not sending it to anyone important (like my bosses).  I agreed to help some guy with English...and some other couple too.  Don't know how that will work out.  

 So I got my internship, which starts this Friday.  This Friday, which also seems to be the last peak of heat before the quarter begins.  That's right, it's going to be 100 degrees when I'm working outdoors.  Then I'll get stuck on campus because I yearn for air conditioning...the bike ride back will be brutal.  

I suppose I could buy a bit of ice cream in preparation...

Haha!

Hopefully I can pin down some times when I would be working so I can start planning my visit to Oakland.  I think my enthusiasm for leaving Davis has waned enough that I wouldn't be satisfied with just a day or two in the Bay Area, I would prefer a minimum of four days, during the weekend.  That's when the taichi, shaolin, and guzheng classes are.  Woo.

But 9.50/hr is not bad.

 I'm not happy in Davis right now.  I wish I could go back to Berkeley for the moderate weather, the long talks with my cousin, and the limitless Chinese culture activities I was able to do there.  LA Chinatown is so limited; if I had stayed in SoCal I doubt I would have developed any interests like these.

I should be looking forward to the new quarter because everything is going good.  Yet I want what is even better.  I don't know how long it will take me to get used to our current place but I'm already becoming stressed out because of the rent and utility bills.  Maybe having a house of some sort wasn't what I needed at this time.  Presumably by the time a week has passed I will become used to it.  At least I have the company of my friend,,,but she is leaving soon.  I think it's highly likely that I would return to the Bay Area if things don't change soon.

It's been long since I wrote.  

I decided to change my stance on going abroad.  I think I'd be interested in going to either Korea or China as long as I meet the following requirements:
Intermediate Korean (2 years)
Advanced Chinese (4 years)

If I can find some time in my schedule, if I won't be in Davis during the summer, maybe I will do a Korean intensive at CSULA.  There's a required trip to Korea, so I have to really plan ahead.  I did also want to do volunteer work for Northeast Trees, but perhaps I can work that in when I have free time.  Augh but the internships I wanted to do!  I don't think it will be an option to go after I start grad school...

I don't have a place at home anymore.  My dad took over my room after I left, which I admit I shouldn't have had to myself in the first place.  I've also given up on mediator duties between my parents, so it's just awkward with my dad.  I feel like LA isn't home anymore, I hate our apartment too.  (At least the cockroaches are gone.)

Even so, the only other place I could potentially consider home, Davis, is no home of mine.  I can't live with pretentious white and white-washed people, in a town where college students will never cease to get drunk or generate negativity.  If I have money, I will definitely buy a property there and make money off the kids, but that will be the extent of my involvement.  One of my acquaintences, which I volunteer with, predicts that I will be back for Whole Earth Festival after I leave.  I know I won't.

So now I'm lost.  Career-wise, I don't know if I can manage in LA unless I take on the tree survey internship, as well as follow my former instructor around for his arborist job.  The latter would require a summer in Davis.  I don't know which is worse, summer in Davis or summer in LA.

LA seems doomed as far as the urban forest is concerned.  It's easy to do that in the rich neighborhoods, but I don't know if I would be willing to commute so far daily for work.  But then again it may be my immaturity speaking; my dad goes farther each day for less.  I wasn't sure if I should keep working at the greenhouse, but I think it's inevitable.  I surely will need money next year, and I have loans (personal and governmental) to repay.

I hope my credit card application gets approved.  And that my non-academic future will soon be as certain as my academic one...

Dammit I messed up my chance for straight As.  Dammit.  Not even A-, I have a B+ in plant propagation.........augh..........aughhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

 BOO YAH

"Hi Jennifer,

Here are the final grades.

Final Proposal               10
Panel Score                  10
Your Reviews                10

Final Grade                   A"

Heheheheheh.  The panel that reviewed my proposal gave ranked mine at the top, which means I would have received funding if we had money!  Hahaha.

So now I want As in my other classes.  I need to work extra hard, although I already have an A+ in one of them.  It's actually Chinese that worries me since my professor hasn't put up all our grades yet...and I've been slacking off a lot.  

It's my last chance at straight As.  Last likely chance........afterwards it will get super hard.  OMG

 I think summer's gonna be pretty awesome.  

- license, finally
- apply IPM tactics for cockroaches
- learn to cook Chinese-takeout style
- study for (and take?) GRE
- some stats maybe

Just gotta finish two major items for class and I'll be unofficially done.  Whoo...Reaper.

REPRESENT!!  Am I awesome or am I awesome?



I'm missing the good old days......I find it hard to believe that I actually have the capability of doing something like this. 

You should totally click on it to get the full view.  Marvel in my attention to the slightest details.  And how I expertly and slyly faded out Rukia and Ichigo because the picture got cut off...and how there's that small white line around Ichigo.  Eraser magic, man.  Eraser magic.

I'm stil in awe...

 I took a break while working on the final draft of my proposal, and when I came back this is what I found!  



No wonder half of my proposal is gone...

Fun is eating messy pears with people in your internship group.  Pears that are used to grow bacterial cultures, but delicious Barlett pears nonetheless.  This is what grant money is used for - beware!

I like the uber-flexibility of this internship.  They're willing to let me "work from home" to free up time for my upcoming internship - so awesome!  

kouhosei87: but doesnt that just show progression?
dhereztrez: the sodium and potassium gradient isnt being reestablished!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
kouhosei87: XD
dhereztrez: no its more like
dhereztrez: lack of stimulation
dhereztrez: you dig?
dhereztrez: diga dig diga dig TRIO TRIO TRIO
kouhosei87: LOL

So this is it.  My last summer of doing whatever I want before I jump right into my project...technically it won't begin until winter quarter at the earliest because I need to find funding; my boss said he'll try to get me some out of his grant but I'm not expecting any.  I'll refine my proposal and apply for undergrad research money soon.

I'm undecided about my plans for this summer.  I wanted an internship, but I haven't been able to reach the person I would be working with.  I have at least two other options, but more like five...I just don't really want to do those.



If I continue with my jobs and internships, I expect all those large gaps to fill up.  But this won't be finalized until fall so i won't bother with it.

There's the slightest chance that if I don't get those internships I wanted most, I'll return to LA for the summer.  But honestly, that's just a complete waste of time right now.  I don't know...

(But after meeting with my adviser today, she added something else to my workload - honors thesis.  That's gonna be during senior year most likely.  So if I don't get into grad school, I think I would end up dropping it - it would be unfathomable.)