Unusual Gifts

Having a mom as a kindergarten teacher makes me even more excited when the Holidays roll around. She always gets yummy treats that I get to steal. The candy, however, is not what makes me most excited. The random knick-knacks that her students give her always amuse me and make me wonder what these children think. My mom told me that one year her friend received a bra from her student. I thought that was the worst of them all until I encountered an article in a teacher's magazine about unusual gifts given to teachers.

The article compiles submitted entries about strange presents teachers have been awarded with. One teacher "received a pack of condoms from a student who thought they were Band-Aids." Another teacher received a live chicken from her student and had to walk it home!

Even though the gifts teachers receive are random and sometimes disgusting, my mom says that teachers still love them anyway. Although the gifts probably will never be put to use, my mom has a hard time throwing them away because they are special in an odd way. For teachers the silly gifts resemble the fun and not so fun memories with their students, and not to mention, they also give them a good laugh.

A Single Digit

10, 9, 8... 3, 2, 1! Cheers erupt, hugs squeezed, and poppers explode. The anticipation of a new year comes to a close at the drop of a shiny ball at Times Square.

New Year's Eve is the epitome of letdowns. Each year every person wakes in their bed up on December 31st looking forward to their last full day of the year. They plan huge parties with friends and family that include fun games and food to keep them awake until 12 a.m. to welcome the new year. They buy poppers, balloons, confetti and festive plates and utensils to make the day more memorable.

The countdown begins and people watch as the second hand creeps towards the number 12 on the clock. When twelve o'clock arrives, a moments worth of cheers and excitement passes within a few minutes. Parties end and people are left with a huge clean up. Everyone exhausted from the long night crawl into their beds and fall right to sleep.

The letdown always hits me the morning I wake up on January 1st. I think of the fun games and time spent with friends the night before only to wonder what difference it made. The day seems just like any other day before; I'm in my same bed, I look the same, I still have to brush my teeth. Nothing seems to have changed except for a single digit on the calendar.

Holiday Dilemma

Every Christmas I find myself putting on a fake smile as I open a gift from my relatives and graciously thank them for their it. In reality, I'm thinking, "When am I ever going to use this?" Gifts like these usually get thrown into the unused gift pile in my room or are recycled as new presents for other people. However, I keep up with the act, not wanting to sound ungrateful, and say things like, "I really like it!" or "I've always needed one of these!" I can't tell if they can see through my fake excitement, so I keep on pretending and keep on the fake smile.

I know that my relatives spent money and time trying to find me a gift, which makes me unable to find the courage to tell them that I don't like the gift, thinking that it would be mean say. However, is it more cruel to be honest and tell them the truth, or to lie and pretend the gift is what I have always dreamed of?

If We Lived Like Weasels

Recently, I read "Living Like Weasels" by Annie Dillard. Dillard compares the life of a weasel to the lives of humans. Throughout her writing she describes how weasels live by instinct and only react to things that are necessary. On the other hand, Dillard says that humans think too much which inhibit them to live to the fullest. She thinks that humans should be like the weasel and only act, not think. I however, disagree. I think our ability to make decisions allows us to live to the fullest. Humans are blessed with the ability to make choices. If our decision making is taken away, humans would be boring and all too common. Humanity's diversity makes us unique and different from the animal kingdom.

It somewhat irritates me that Dillard encourages humans to become equal to animals. Humans were created for so much more than to live only to survive. A weasel does not think about how his decisions can affect another's life, but humans can decide to sacrifice for others. Human's love and sympathy for others makes me feel lucky to be human and not a weasel who is selfish and only thinks about its own survival. If we all became wild animals and acted upon our instincts, as Dillard wishes for, the world would be a cold and heartless place.

Rain Here, Rain There

People here in Southern California really don't know what a rainstorm is. Today, I heard a girl complaining about having to practice in the barely visible specks of water falling from the sky that she called "rain." If I heard this years ago, I would have agreed with the her.  I thought I knew what rain was when I was younger. Rain meant putting on my raincoat and getting my boots wet in the "big" puddles out in my front yard. Occasionally during the night, flashes of lightening would penetrate my bedroom shutters right before the thunder would rattle the windows. This was the extent of my knowledge of a rain storm, until I experienced a one in the Grand Canyon.

As the sun set, the clouds began to accumulate. I knew a storm was coming, but I had no idea what was about to happen. At first, the drops of water that I knew to be rain began to fall from the sky. Suddenly, the droplets got bigger and bigger, becoming what seemed like five times larger than the rain I knew back home. I became drenched within seconds from standing outside while the abnormally giant sized raindrops continued to pour down.

Soon the lightening arrived. It lit up the sky just as it lit my room through my window shudders, except the bolt made it almost daytime for a split second, then complete darkness would return until the next bolt struck. The thunder that rattled my bedroom window was magnified as it rolled through the canyon. As I stood soaking listening to the thunder and watching the sky turn from white to black, I realized what I thought to have been rain was only a small fraction of it's true power.

Consumerism Gone Wild

Black Friday marks the beginning of holiday shopping. The bargains offered on Black Friday make the day seem perfect to get early Christmas shopping done, but have people taken it too far? Shoppers stake their spot in line several days before the stores are open for Black Friday shopping and even miss their Thanksgiving dinner in hopes of finding amazing deals. Once the doors are open, people go wild and stampede into the stores, losing all sense of humanity. It's as if people have become animals acting upon their shopping instincts trampling over other shoppers to get an item that's discounted. It is sickening to hear of people getting into brawls just to get a small item on sale. The other day I heard that two grown men got into a fight over a Victoria Secret gift bag filled with goodies, most likely for women. Not only was I thinking how ridiculous the story sounded, but I also came to conclusion that people have lost respect for others and even themselves over material possession.

Times Have Changed

Recently, I read Jonathan Edwards sermon "Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God" for my English class. Our class had to discuss how we felt towards the text. Most people were violated and thought Jonathan Edwards had no right to tell them that they are wrong. This demonstrates the cultural difference between Edwards' time and today's time. During Edwards' time, it was acceptable for people to tell others that are they wrong because people did not have a subjective sense of morality. However today, people do not take it very lightly when someone tell them that they are wrong. That is why students in my class felt violated and did not like Edwards' sermon. Edwards plainly states that people are sinners and need God. They did not appreciate that Edwards was intruding on their personal morals. 

Today society does not believe in a universal, unalienable definition of right and wrong. Most people believe right and wrong is defined by their own standards, and not a god or higher power. If they believed in a god, the god would be able to say what is good and bad, and nobody would be able to contest to that.  However, people who do not believe in such a higher power, believe they are at liberty to determine what is good and bad. 

Today, it is not acceptable to impose one's own beliefs onto other individuals. However, I find it contradictory, that by simply telling someone this, one is inflicting their own beliefs onto other individuals. 

Of Cats and Men

Today I learned that even that gentlest of souls have a little bully inside of them. I thought my cat, Morpheus, was the most gentle of all cats, but today he proved me wrong. Recently there has been a stray black cat wandering around my neighborhood. She doesn't bother anyone and just goes about her business, occasionally finding someone to play with. This afternoon I was in my family room and as I looked outside I saw the stray cat. Morpheus, the timid cat I though of him to be, as expected hid inside and watched the stray cat roam around his personal territory. I went outside to play with the cat and eventually Morpheus gathered the courage to come join us. At first, Morpheus and the stray tentatively sized each other up, neither one really making any move. Then suddenly, Morpheus pounded his paw onto the stray's head. I was appalled! Yes, the backyard is his territory, but I never expected him to make such a move without provocation. How could he do such a thing? Then I realized that no cat, or human, can be entirely good. Every soul, both gentle and fierce, has a mean side.

All Hallows Eve

Happy Halloween! On this particular day, I thought it would be appropriate to remind everyone how this holiday came to be. Many people associate ghouls, ghosts, and evil spirits with Halloween. However, putting on fun costumes and eating lots of candy were not the intentions of creating this day.  Halloween, or All Hallows Eve, was created to end the Celtic year and welcome in a new one.  The end of the year for the Celtics was the end of summer and the beginning of a harsh winter that would kill their livestock. The Celtics believed that on the night before the New Year, the dividing wall between the living and dead was broken and spirits were released into the living world.

Trick or treating and dressing up also have their own history. To scare off the roaming evil sprits, people would dress up in ridiculous costumes. They thought that making lots of noise and looking “scary” would protect them from possession. Others would ward off the spirits by leaving out food and drinks. They also believed that faeries dressed as beggars and went to houses begging for food. People who gave them food were rewarded, while those who did not help the faeries were punished.

Now that you know the true meaning of Halloween, have fun scaring off those evil spirits and make sure to help those faeries in need!

What earthquake?

The first thing that came to mind when I read about the Cesium levels off the coast of Fukushima was not that I can't eat fish, but instead I thought about when the last time I heard someone talk about the earthquake that struck Japan about eighteen months ago. I honestly cannot remember. When the earthquake first stuck, that was the only thing everyone talked about. People were donating money and spreading the word. Now however, I don't even hear even a hint about the topic. 

Hiroko Tabuchi, in his article, explains that fishand cannot be sold because they are contaminated by radioactive Cesium released by the Fukushima power plant . Scientists are now concluding that radioactive substances are settling at the bottom of the sea and will keep contaminating the seabed for years to come. It saddens me that people in Japan are still suffering from the earthquake and people have lost their passion to continue to help those in need. Last summer, my friend went to Japan and visited a location where the earthquake struck. People there had not eaten meat in weeks and were ecstatic when my friend and his team barbecued for them. Even though the earthquake may seem like a distant memory, it still affects the Japanese as they continue to recover from this devastating tragedy.


Hiroko Tabuci's article

The After Effects

I was born with epidermolysis bullosa. More simply put, layers of skin on my legs were not fully developed when I was born. Eventually my legs healed, but not without leaving some trace. I have scars that run from my toes to my knees. When I was in elementary school, I was very self-conscious about my legs. I never liked to wear shorts because I was afraid of what people would think. When we went to assemblies and had to sit on the ground, I would always sit criss-cross-applesauce to try to hide the scars. It usually worked, but sometimes classmates would ask me what happened and I would tell them, unwillingly.

I do not know when, but eventually I stopped caring about my scars. Today, I go on for days not realizing that the scars are there. They are just a part of who I am. Occasionally people ask me about my legs. Before, I would not want to tell them because I was embarrassed, but now I do not want to tell them because I get tired of repeating the story. Sometimes people tell me that my legs are really dry and I just agree with them, not wanting to tell the story for the hundredth time. However, when I do tell people my story, I feel extremely blessed. Some children never grow out of the condition and have to live with it their entire life. Others never survive pass infancy. My legs are a constant reminder to me that God has blessed me with this life and without Him, I cannot do anything. Since my scars look like burns, my friends and family tell me that I should tell people that I saved my little sister from a burning building. I have yet to try it. 

In Between

There are stereotypes about being the middle child. Sometimes the middle child is said to have "middle child syndrome". I however, do not see the problem of living in between. People believe that the middle child is neglected, and constantly vie for their parents' attention. However, being in the middle has its advantages. For one, my older brother acts as the guinea pig as my parents try to guide him in the right direction. By the time I reach that point in my life, my parents know what and what not to do. When my brother was beginning to drive, my mom reacted to every red break light, sharp turn, or sudden move. She unexpectedly shriek and brace herself by slamming her hands against the car door. I found this quite funny, and even teased her about it, but I was worried she would act the same when I started to drive. The day finally came when I got my permit and had to drive with my mom. I was expecting her to squeal at every turn I made, but surprisingly she was much calmer. Even though she still had her moments, I never had to experience the stress of being the first teenage driver in the family. 

Being the middle child also makes me the older sister too. Just like any oldest sibling, I get to be more independent. My sister, being the youngest, has to deal with my parents constantly checking up on her and making sure she is doing what is supposed to do. My parents trust that I am more responsible and allow me to have more privileges, such as being able to go places with my friends. 

"How come the middle child appears so different?"people may ask. Some hypothesize it's because they are overlooked. This is my response: It's because we are different! Everyone constantly tells me that my older brother and my younger sister look, act, and even laugh exactly the same. Then they look at me and say, "You aren't anything like them." I laugh because I get this reaction every time someone realizes that we are related. I somewhat like the fact that I do not look or act like them. I get to make a name for myself before people discover my relation to my siblings. I take pleasure in being different from them.