On The Court

It's the feeling you get when you're team makes a good play that makes all the hard work worth it. It is the feeling of exhilaration as the crowd goes wild and your teammates scream, "Yes! Great job!" The volleyball court is another place where I spend a lot of my time at. I have been playing volleyball for... well pretty much forever in my life and although it gets tiring and I do get sick of it sometimes, I know why I still play.



This is my team this year, Eclipse 16's Gold.



We got first place at a tournament! :)

And one last thing, I know I haven't been posting a lot recently, but I will make it up soon!

Tiffany

I Think I Need a Sunrise, I'm Tired of the Sunset

When we went to drop off my sister for college 2 years ago, we stopped by Boston for a couple days. Of course, there was lots of seafood (including lobster mmm) and shopping. But apparently there are not many ethnic families at Boston, because while we were spending a day at Quincy Market, this little blond boy was in between my family and some other Asian family and I heard him say, "Mom, are we in China town?"



And because I'm taking about Boston, I thought posting up Agustana's song, "Boston," seemed appropriate.

"She said I think I'll go to Boston
Think I'll start a new life
I think I'll start it over
Where no one knows my name
I'll get out of California
I'm tired of the weather
Think I'll get a lover
And fly him out to Spain [...]

I think that I'm just tired
I think I need a new town
To leave this all behind
I think I need a sunrise
I'm tired of a sunset
I hear it's nice in the summer
Some snow would be nice."

Tiffany

Image Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kathrynpostulka/726802918/

Thanks to Davis

Thank you so much, Davis family! Because of your generous donations, Harker was able to build its beautiful synthetic football field. David field is one of my favorite and most relaxing places on our campus. Every Wednesday long lunch, my friends and I love to lie on the plastic glass, staring at the blue sky and listening to music. But in my opinion, the best is after a football game, when it is still the end of summer and the sun does not set until around 8:30. When the game is over, all the screaming fans run from the bleachers onto the field, giving congratulatory hugs and high fives to sweaty players while the sun sets in the distance.



I know this isn't Davis Field, but close enough. Last year during our first homecoming as high schoolers, it started raining right as the ended. But it wasn't uncomfortably pouring, it was just lightly drizzling in a way where it shimmered like a dream under the stadium lights; except we knew it was real, for we could feel the light drops cooling our warm skin. Last year's homecoming week was probably the best week of my life. It is amazing how during Freshmen year, everything we did was just so exciting because it was all completely new to us and our naive minds. Ah, to be a freshman again!

Tiffany

About five years ago, my family went to Yellowstone during summer vacation. We saw geysers, hot springs, buffaloes, and all sorts of crazy things.



We had to evacuate the general store because a large male buffalo with horns randomly decided to come over and frolic around in front of it.



I remember that this was my favorite geyser pool, Morning Glory. It was a natural spring that was shimmering with beautiful rainbow colors. It looked prettier in real life though... =/



We were hiking around a trail when suddenly a geyser erupted into the river. Later on in the trip, we bathed in similar water conditions. It was called the "fire and ice" spring, where icy mountain river water flowed through a natural rock formation which caught boiling spring water. The two temperatures mixed in the small pool and created the perfect temperature to relax and bathe in.

Tiffany

Photo Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dracs/173499636/

Paradise on Earth

I am sure that one of almost everybody's favorite places is Hawaii. The beaches are beautiful, with warm golden sand and deep blue waters filled with aquatic life. It is the one place where you can just walk around in a bikini and flip flops and nobody cares. I visited Hawaii about two summers ago, and it was incredible. As probably the last big family vacation in a long time we would have with all five members, we tried to make the most of it. We visited volcanoes, traveled on cruises and horses, ate at delicious restaurants, and of course, lounged around on the beach.



My dad took this during a sunset at Poipu beach in Kauai.



We were hanging around this beach when a cute little Monk seal randomly popped up onto shore.



And this is the view of the sunset from our hotel, the Waikoloa Village. The hotel was so huge, we had to take either a boat or a bus to get to our room. At first, we thought it was really cool but it grew to be annoying when we were tired after a day in the sun and had to wait for a ride.

The song currently stuck in my head is "Yellow" by Okkervil River. It's a very slow and mellow song and one of my favorite lines in it is:

"And I really do think that there’s probably more good than anger or selfishness, sickness, or sadness would ever completely allow us to have in this life, I think I’m sure."

Tiffany

I Left my Heart

Although I only live about forty minutes away from San Francisco, I do not go there very often. I use to even think it was pretty boring, because the only time I would ever go there was either to have a fancy dinner, to show foreign relatives the famous Golden Gate Bridge, or simply to pass by because it was on the way to my cousin's house in Novato. Yet about two years ago, we were driving home from a far-away volleyball tournament at about 8:30 pm. The sky was completely dark, and as we drove over the Bay Bridge, I had a nice view of the entire city and its shining lights, reflecting off of the Bay water. That was when I realized how beautiful San Francisco is, and I had a sudden longing to be there, just walking down the street and enjoying the city ambiance.



This is San Francisco's famous Golden Gate Bridge. I went there over the summer to show my family friends from New Jersey. It was pretty windy that day, so one guy thought it would be funny to spit from the bridge and watch it fly away. Unfortunately, at that moment the wind changed directions and the ball of saliva flew the opposite way and hit me and his little sister.



This is pretty much the scene I saw when I fell in love with San Francisco.

Tiffany

Image Sources: http://www.solarpowerrocks.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/12/san-francisco-gate-bridge.jpg
http://www.flickr.com/photos/ianan/2283597170/

Sitting, Waiting, Wishing

This summer, I'm planning to go to Japan for about a week and a half to sight see with my fellow peers and experience a home stay for three days. I'm ridiculously excited for that, to be on the other side of the world with my friends where people have a whole different language and way of life. The last time I was in Japan was about eight years ago, and young as I was, I remember having a blast. But, I'm also pretty nervous for the home stay. What should I say to them? What if my Japanese is not proficient enough to have a decent conversation? What should I do when I get there? What will they think of me? What if they don't like me? There are hundreds of questions bothering me at the moment, but I guess none of them will be answered until summer comes.



I cannot wait to see Japan's famous cherry blossoms, temples, and Mt. Fuji.



I am really hoping that in Japan, we will stop by and see this building. This is Japan's Kinkakuji Temple in Kyoto, a pagoda in the middle of a lake, gilded entirely with pure gold.

And the song of the day is Gravity Rides Everything by Modest Mouse.

"In the motions and the things that you say.
It all will fall, fall right into place
As fruit drops, flesh it sags
Everything will fall right into place
When we die some sink and some lay
But at least I don't see you float away."

Because things really do have a funny way of working out.

Tiffany

Image Sources: http://www.totalwallpapers.com/places/wallpapers/fuji-japan-cherry-blossoms-and-mount.jpg
http://www.orientaltales.com/photography/japan/japan_gold.jpg