i seriously.. seriously.. had the frickin' craziest semester of my life, with a break in between to go to ghana and germany. to spare you all, i will not elaborate on how terrible my graduate school program is, or how much i am paying for this terrible program. depressing. BUT. i graduate in 10 months. :)
anyway, i'm currently in week 8 of my 12 week summer fieldwork (full-time internship). the hierarchy of where i work goes something like this: county of los angeles--> department of public health--> children's medical services--> california children's services (CCS)--> medical therapy program--> medical therapy unit (MTU)--> CCS huntington park MTU.
i probably missed a few steps.
i work with kids 0-21 years old with neurological or orthopedic conditions/disabilities. they get free physical and occupational therapy services through the state. kewl. after this 12 week fieldwork, i'm supposed to have the skills of an entry-level OT. . . HAH. i'm co-treating or independently treating about 10 kids (each 1-2x/wk) and i pretty much have no idea what the hell im doing 90% of the time. yay.
anyway it's not so bad, minus the 5:30am wake-up every morning and 9:30pm sleep-time. i've officially transitioned from my frat-boy lifestyle to ultimate grandma status. thank you.
so now that i've had student life and work life back to back, i can make an unbiased comparison of which life really sucks more. 1) it's REALLY nice coming home and not having to write an effing paper or work on a useless group project. it's nice watching TV after work and not feeling guilty. but work.. is work. enough said. 2) the student schedule (ie sleep at 2am, zone out in class, take a 3 hour nap, repeat) is so much better than work schedule. however. everything else about school... sucks. conclusion: i hate both. HAHA. welcome to reality.
hm.
i have a new roommate! marian. classmate. this week we cooked pasta together. it was good. the best part of my new roomie compared to my last roomie is that we interact.. you know.. like talk. and eat dinner together.
1 year later, i still have no living room furniture. donations gladly accepted. i realized... i am beginning to develop a bit of.. fondness.. for alhambra. the drive-thru starbucks 2 seconds away from my apt may have something to do with this change of heart. also, pho 79, lee's sandwiches, and the trees (more than south bay). that is all.
i have an itch to travel. GAHHH. please. please. my friends and i talk about going to [wanting to go to] southeast asia after graduating. tap tap not planning.
too had we have another full year of school. i also have to do another 480 hour fieldwork with LAUSD (20h/week), from september to april. woo....
anyway.
STRIKE 1: so.. i got.. a really bad haircut last week. bad like my right side layers are a full inch shorter than my left side layers. i kind of wanted to cry afterwards. .....i've been tying my hair a lot more these days. STRIKE 2: a couple of weeks ago, i decided that i am going to grow out my eyebrows so i could get them professionally shaped/re-done. they have been growing out at a rate of 1 hair every 3 days. i'm NOT exaggerating. i kind of want to cry when i see them. STRIKE 3: pending.
pictures from january to march 2008..... !!
evergreen birthday. (also kenny & jess' farewell). [1.13.08] leading with the girls and justis. farewell, jess, my alto partner.
two cats. two.
rinnytingrinbug
video message recorder thing for kenny and jess.. SO COOL..... you can.. record messages. and take pictures. i look like im going to shoot myself. maybe because 'life suck' teeet.
mammoth trip. [1.17.08-1.19-08] melancholy moose lodge. how appropriate. okay so maybe i didn't snowboard... so maybe i spent a full day alone at the cabin, studying. maybe.
but it was so relaxing. and warm inside. and cold outside. the best :)
the snow was so soft. i played outside by myself for a bit.
girls, sam, byron, and young'uns, aka little shekks.
emo byron.
twinsies with the same snowboard. such hobbits. the last time i went snowboarding with these girls, i almost died trying to learn how to leaf. LEAF!! are you kidding me right now. and this is why i don't board anymore.
i<3boba(pre-daikokoya, ie, pre-heaven). [1.20.08] such animals... bird and bear.
almond boba!
mazinga, post-'the happy ending' [1.31.08] david pri leo
my first time at mazinga [also my first time at 'the happy ending' (restaurant......). they have the claw game there... 'cept instead of playing for stuffed animals, you play for live lobsters! if you win, they cook it for you. no one wins. just ask pri.]
han. cartoon wallpaper. kewl.
anywhere where you can write on the wall is cool with me.
lucky strike and crazy hook [2.8.08] my worlds collided with prisca and pri for the first time. so weird. one of my first college friends... and one of my first grad school friends.
leo prisca david
my first time at crazy hook. the only thing crazy about it was the massive amounts of beer everyone drank. rett. pri... you look so...... pleased.
random japanese restaurant, pre-'crazy hook'...again [2.14.08] it was cold. we're wearing peacoats. it's hot now. weird.
ghana. germany. too many pictures. new post for that! [3.4.08 - 3.21.08]
lisa's birthday. theme: her japanese heritage. [3.22.08] 2008.....
...2007.
SO MUCH has happened in one year. geez. i feel like a whole new person! in a bad way! ha!ha! -_- i remember going to lisa's party last year, and listening to the maroon 5 cd on the way home. to continue the tradition, i listened to the same cd driving home this year. de.ja.vu.
tim wong was at lisa's party, and this shows that the world is small indeed. i met tim in a ucla psych class. it was during a semester in which i wore glasses and dressed like crap every day because i decided my laziness/apathy > my desire to look presentable on campus. the one day i wore a skirt and contacts, he asked me if i had an interview. after that semester, i started to care again.
easter at evergreen. [3.23.08] since we're on the theme of comparing last year's events with this year's............. this year: tree (of life?)
last year: tomb (of death?)
prom!! lucky eric.
tinz!! purple lips and purple tulips :)
this year: i.love.this.kid.
last year: i.love.this.kid.
ENOUGH PICTURES for now. rahhh.
speaking of evergreen kids, i need to make a whole separate post about my kinder (now 1st graders... woe) sunday school class. LOVE. i'm going to miss them. guhhh.
i need to learn spanish. like REALLY. really. a lot. really. i can't communicate with my patient's families, and i will never get a job. who wants to learn with me...
i've joined an unofficial pilates club. we meet once a week to do a pilates dvd. HAHA. hotness, here we come... and then maybe i can resign as co-president and founder of life suck club. okay calm down. im (mostly) kidding about life suck. maybe.
things to look forward to: -two entire weeks off in august-- no work, no school. let's playyyyy!!!!!!! -tentative santa barbara weekend trip in september
okay nevermind i can't think that far ahead right now. i'm trying to get through these next 4 weeks without cracking. or accidentally killing a kid. frick.
TOday.... was a good day. though my dinner plans fell through i had a SPONTANEOUS summer perfect night. roomie and i went to daikokuya for hiyashi-chuka, then stumbled upon a free outdoor ukulele concert..! and then walked into the japanese american national museum to check out admission rates (for future reference) but then... we found out it's FREE! on thursday nights! so we went through the whole museum! and then went to albertson's for their 8 hour sale, and bought 13 drumsticks (chicken, not ice cream) for $4.37.
SONGS i like RIGHT this second:
day too soon - sia you are goodbye - holly conlan cry in my heart - starfield
i keep saying this but i want something CRAZY (good) to happen. change. i need change.
the chance that 2008 will be better than 2007 is incredibly high. if only for the reason that (the second half of) 2007 was probably the most terrible period of time in my life.
i'm so happy it's a new year. new year, new slate, new leaf, new life! yahoo. says the optimist in me. (s)he's itty bitty but (s)he is alive.
so apparently the theme for 2007 was crappy+fullofchange. westwood --> south bay --> monterey hills --> alhambra 3.5 year slave (addiction)--> freedom (de-tox) loss. incredible loss. gargantuan ginormous hugungous loss --> grieving. still grieving.adjust. accommodate. learn. be okay. hope.
2008... please be good to me. new semester begins: 01.14.08 leaving for ghana: in less than 2 months. did i mention i'm also going to FRANKFURT (after ghana) for a few days? to play. hello europe... i've missed you.
good riddance, oh seven. the month of december in pictures (not a very good representation of my terrible year.... oh well).
12.01.07 zo's b-day dinner. the grove at christmas = fake soap snow. terrible parking. cold. a sea of red pea coats.
typically, cheah would be replaced by ann. (see below).
12.25.07 point proven. christmas at the matsushima's.
12.28.07 sarah + janet = 46. happy bird-day and happy birthday... respectively.
frozen delight in a freezer apartment
12.29.07 crew reunion potluck celebration festivities 6 to 10 years of being friends (7 for me). thank you jesus for mt. hermon?
i know. OG.
ann crochets.
"straight-up down syndrome" -cheah, referring to me. thank you. you are terrible.
01.01.08 there is nothing like bringing in a new year with a bowl of pho. also. college girlfriends. sleepover. mike's hard lemonade. and a sleepy prisca.
foods i enjoy: lime. cilantro. bean sprouts.
01.06.08 using my disneyland annual pass for the first time since i got it in september. redemption. first time = scorching heat second time = torrential downpour
i need to go in milder weather conditions. spacey. for the first time in my life i kept my eyes open the entire ride. congratulations.
eric are you embarrassed?
my newest christmas toys: ...apparently my sister is the more generous choi sister. thank you. (sincere).
it's going to be a good year. a crazy year. i can feel it.
my prayers: full redemption full healing full (of) joy and clarity.
i've had the privilege of serving on a worship team at evergreen for the past year or so with these cool people:
alas, we are no more. (i.e. we're no longer in the official rotation). SAD. but it's been good times...
last set... we decided to dress up for the first and last time we pride ourselves on being the team that always wears jeans. haha. "second service i love you!!!"
we will forever be known as the "youth team." why? i don't know either.. josh is technically the only "youth" on our team.. and only for 6 more months.
some random pictures from leading at random events: vbs '05. this is when i first i started helping ash with worship i remember being SUPER hesitant i'm so glad i did it. i love children's worship. the kids are awesome
easter '07
sunday school promotion arin and caylie are helping us out :)
vbs '07 in our jumpsuits i am 95% positive that karin and i are singing 'one way'
vbs '07 finale life is a highway... did we ever pull that off? i don't remember.
all of us. me and karin (vocals), jason (lead vocals, guitar), josh (drums), eric (bass), christina (violin), san (electric guitar)
ROCK ON.
anyway. i am DONE done with the semester and i am so relieved. it's been seriously a hellish few months. not even because of school. HELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLISH hellish.
winter break for a full MONTH. things i am looking forward to: (not christmas. i hate the holiday season.)
jan 2-5: pvbc retreat jan 6: disneyland jan 9-12: san francisco with bird jan 17-20: mammoth snowboarding trip
...YEEEAHHHHHHHH get me outta here. NOT HERE... i love you.
pri's christmas party/gift exchange brazilian bbq. ohmygash. i've been getting spoiled like crazy by pri's parents in the last month i freaking love brazilian food now. grace diana char lindsey me marian pri (replace char with jen, and you have all my friends who will be going to ghana with me) FUN!!!!!
white elephant gift exhange/yankee swap is a MEAN game. -__- who says OTs are nice.
char's house party as if we don't see each other enough, we plan things outside of school.... haha we were all so ecstatic to finish finals "no one understands! no one understands!" (how good it feels to be done). char was a good host she cooked ALL day for us and made sure we were well fed (and full of etoh) throughout the night.
we balance each other out.
just because:
sunday morning! i like maroon 5. i like this music video. one of my favoritest songs ever. ever! it reminds me of better times.
currently on repeat: breathe me- sia be be your love- rachael yamagata
...the first time i heard each of these songs they literally stopped me in my tracks i love it when songs do that to me. <3 LOVE.
Hold me, wrap me up
Unfold me
I am small
and needy
-----------------
Everything's falling, and I am included in that
Oh, how I try to be just okay
Yeah
she cooked ALL day for us and made sure we were well fed (and full of etoh) throughout the night. 
