Moon Festival

This Tuesday(9/25) is the "Moon Festival." It's one of the three most important traditional holidays in Chinese. This is not the first time I had Moon Festival abroad. The first time was in 2005 when I came to San Francisco. This is the second time. Strange, right? I had both of them here in SF!!!And this year, I was abroad for all three important traditional holidays: Chinese New Year(Boston), Dragon Boat Festival(Boston), and Moon Festival(SF). I've never thought about that my life would have such a big change in one year!! Life is just amazing.....

For people who don't know about this Moon Festival, I can tell that there are several versions of stories for this festival. If anyone is interested in knowing it, Wikipedia is the best tool. Here is the link:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mid-Autumn_Festival

But anyway, this festival is for families to get together, having BBQ and eating some "moon cakes." I went out with a Chinese couple to Daly City(where there lives a lot of Chinese) on Saturday, celebrating this festival. The couple, Mr. and Mrs. Lee, are from China and I knew them when I went on the tour to Oregon with my families. They live not far from my place and their only son studies at UC Davis. I've never met him because he's at school, but I know he has a girlfriend already. :-p Mr. and Mrs. Lee really takes good care of me and treat me well. I do appreciate them and my mom also feels thankful for them. As I've mentioned in the previous article, I was dizzy last Monday and Tuesday. When Mrs. Lee knew that I was sick, she cook me some good soup and some sweet soup. I was so touched!!

Well, last weekend when I talked with Richard, he said he was going to the "Police" concert. I didn't realized what kind of concert that was, maybe an orchestra of police officers??? I was confused when he asked me if I knew the "Police." All of a sudden, I remembered that there's a group of singer called "Police" from the 70's and 80's. Oh My God!!! I was not even born or just born when they were super popular!!! But fortunately, I heard of them or I would be so embarrassed that I did not know the concert which he went to......

Richard always told me to go to the Golden Gate Park. He said it would be a huge pity that I live so close to the park but never go there. But I still didn't go to the park last weekend. I just don't know what I could do there. I don't have a bike so I can't biking. Walking in the park alone is lonely, and when I was alone, sometimes there are weird guys who want to approach me. It's not like Boston or Cambridge, where no one would want to approach me. Things are just different here......the streets are full of homeless people and they act strangely. I'm still not getting used to this situation and I don't want my safety to be threatened! But the most critical reason is I'm LAZY!!! I just don't want to go out during the weekend!!!

School turns out to be a very exciting place. The quizzes are just full of surprises and even though you've prepared for a long time, you still screw it up!!! What s nice place!!! There's one professor, Prof. Veitch, who is just a sly fox. The lectures and the assignments are both not positively related to the quizzes. His strategy is to make you panic and also make you think....in a 20-minutes quiz starts at 8:00am on Monday. I just got the result of the previous quiz and the average was only 6.39 out of 15!!! What kind of average was that?? (sigh...) But don't worry, I'm talking about the average situation in our class. Most of the time, I have my scores above the average. I'm trying hard not to fall behind.

Also, since the semester has been divided into 2 parts, the end of the first-half semester is coming, which means the finals are just around the corner.....I'll be in hell from now on.....

Painful Dizziness......

It was a normal day on Monday. I got up at 6:40am and went to class. As usual, we had a 30-minutes quiz at the beginning of the class. Everything was just fine, except I felt extremely hungry this day.... I did have my breakfast, but just not that much. I ate 2 pieces of chocolate during the break and hope it would give me some energy from arising my blood sugar. Luckily, the class was dismissed 30 minutes earlier than usual and I went home immediately, eager to get some food.

When I got home, I came into my room, opened my laptop, got my cell phone and tried to send a text message to my dear Richard, all of a sudden, I felt very dizzy!!!! The things in front of my eyes started to turn around like I just finished 3 rides of Roller coaster....I almost fell down on the floor!!! That's not a good sign. I told Richard that I was not feeling well in the text, then slowly changed my clothes and lay down on my sofa. I could barely move my body because every movement made me feel nauseous. My stomach was empty by that time since I haven't got a chance to eat anything, nevertheless, the nausea even made it worse!!! 3 minutes later, Richard text me back and asked if I was ok. I replied no, and told him that I couldn't get out of my sofa to see a doctor. He asked me to drink more water and go to sleep, it should be fine.

After 20 minutes, I couldn't stand the nauseous feelings anymore so I got up and tried to reach the bathroom. I had a feeling that it was the longest way I ever had in my life......Fortunately, one of my roommates, Noel, was home, and he saw me staggering in the hallway. He came to help me get into the bathroom and set me on the toilet. I tried to vomit, wondering if it could make me feel better. The answer was: not really!!! I felt even weaker after I vomited.......Anyway, I went to the kitchen to get some water, and Noel asked if he needed to call an ambulance for me. I said it was not necessary because I had this dizziness before. The only thing I need was to lie down and get some sleep. So, he helped me get back to my sofa (I have no strength to climb onto my bed), and I asked him to climb upstairs and drag the blankets on my beds for me.

I slept for almost 3.5 hours till 4:30pm, and started to feel a bit better. I got up to the kitchen and wanted to eat something. There's a pot of soup which I cooked the other day and I reheated it up and drank some of them. Noel was home and he helped me to cook some rice. After I drank the soup, I took one tablet of stomach pill and then went back to sleep again.

8:00pm I woke up again because of hunger. At this moment, I felt better than I was in the afternoon, but still a little bit dizzy. Couldn't move my body quickly, I could only sit on the chair in the kitchen and eat the rice and soup slowly. At that time, all my roommates were back and they all asked me if I was better. Noel told them that I was in a not-so-good condition so that if any of them happens to see me staggering in the hallway, they should ask me if I need help 'cuz I was definitely not drunk.

10:30pm, I called home to tell my mom that I need some pills from the doctor for dizziness. 11:00pm I took a shower and then went upstairs to sleep.

Tuesday morning, when I woke up at 8:00am, I was just thinking about Richard, wondering if he would write me a mail or text me a message. Suddenly, my cell-phone rang due to receiving a message. It was him!!!! I was very happy, although I was still a bit dizzy by that time. I replied him as fast as I could and told him not to worry too much. Also, I decided not to go to the group meeting in the afternoon and stayed at home for more rest. I did the assignment and took a short nap. Not until the evening did I really feel totally recovered. For the past 2 days, I lost almost 1 kg.(2 pounds)

Thank God!!! I was alive again!!!

Another week passed

It's just an endless cycle of my study: assignments, quizzes, and discussions. O well, I'm getting used to it right now. Nothing really special happened this week, so I don't know what I'm going to write down on this "weekly" blog..... :-p

Tuesday, I went to the USF gym for the very first time. It's truly a beautiful stadium and the windows are all glasses from the ceiling to the wall so that the sun can shine in.(This might not be good for me, I went to the gym because I don't want to get tanned!!) I was supposed to go to the Pilates Mat class that day, but since our discussion delayed my schedule, I didn't make it to the class. Hence, I just did some other equipment for 35 minutes and then went home to finish my assignment.

Wednesday, after class, Annie and I went to Chinatown for lunch. We found a facial massage salon there and tried one of their courses. It was very good and comfortable. I felt my skin was tighter and the color of those spots on my cheeks became lighter. Here comes the big spending: we bought the 10 times courses for $380!!!!! Well, one course is about 2 hours, including cleaning, scrubbing, supersonic massage with serums, facial mask, and final moisturizing. We only need to go there once a month, which is quite a good deal. Anyway, investing money on my own beauty is better than investing in the god damn stock market, at least I'll see the good result immediately and it's worth of it, not like throwing my money into the stock market and it's never going to love me back......= _=

After the facial massage, I went to Sean's place and helped him move to his new apartment. We walked up and down, back and forth for 4 times from his new apartment to the hotel, moving all his stuff into the apartment and tried to arrange all the things in his new room. See, I'm a good friend!!! Mr. Sean, you'd better remembered this. One day you'll have to pay back to me!! :-D

Thursday, I went to the gym again. This time, I caught up with the Pilates Mat class and it's very good but tired. Pilates Mat is a little bit like Yoga, but Yoga has more stretching and Pilates Mat is more like to train your deeper muscle. I like it!!!

Friday, we had group discussion in the afternoon in the library. This time we spent almost 3 hours to discuss this forthcoming assignment. Just a little bit confusing with the histogram and the meaning of those numbers. Anyway, it was a tired Friday afternoon and I got serious headache in the late evening.

Saturday, I called Richard in the morning and he said he was at the harbor and was going to have a boat ride on his friend's boat. I was so jealous!!!! But since he was about to board, we didn't talk for long. He said he'll call me later when he got home or on Sunday. So, I went to watch the baseball game: Yankee to Red Sox. Chien-Ming Wang lost this game and missed the chance to get the 19th winning. Well, I'm not a big baseball fan but I do hope that Chien-Ming Wang win, because he himself represents Taiwan!!!

In the evening, I went to a movie with my roommates, Noel, Paul, and Matt. We watched a western movie, "3:10 to Yuma," acted by Russell Crowe and Christian Bale. The movie is pretty good and the story is nice. However, the ending is a bit sad, and the chasing & shooting scenes in the movie is a bit too much. If you do not like violence, you'd better considered not to see this movie.

Sunday morning, Richard called and we talked for about 20 minutes. I just found out that I really enjoy talking with him and he's also the same. I do miss him, hearing his voice once a week can make me feel better.

Now it's time for study. If I don't study on Sunday, I'll be painful during the weekdays.

Getting Intensive~

School has already started for 3 weeks. Things are going well but I'm also getting a little bit stressful. My weekend is not so exciting. I spent almost the whole Saturday figuring out one of the assignments and completing it. Today, I need to do some reading because I have a quiz on Monday.

Sean came to my place for dinner on Friday. We went to the Chinese supermarket together to buy some domestic things. I bought a new cooking pot and a pottery pot. We cooked onion pork and stir-fried vegetables together for dinner.


Sean will come to my place tomorrow for lunch. I cut my finger(right index) last night and I'm unable to do the cooking. So, I'll just tell him how to do the cooking and I can just sit by the table and wait for eating. Well, I should be able to help a little by tomorrow, but learning how to cook is the reason he stopped by anyway. :-p

The studying is now getting more intensive. I have 6 courses for this semester. But the program divided the semester into 2 parts. For the first half semester(8 weeks till 10/19), there are 3 courses.They are "Financial Institutions & Markets(Mon.)," "Corporate Finance(Wed.),"
and "Microeconomics for Finance(Fri.)." I have assignments for every course almost every week. And these assignments are all due in a week. There are also quizzes for the "Financial Institutions & Markets" and "Corporate Finance" every week starting from this week. O well, I
guess I can handle all of them, especially I've experienced something similar at MIT.

I'm now considering enrolling in the June 2008 CFA(Chartered Financial Analyst) exam. CFA Institute is the global, not-for-profit association of investment professionals that awards the CFA and CIPM designations. If I want to go into the financial business in the future, I'll need to pass the CFA exams and get the CFA designation. The exams have 3 levels and I have to pass level 1 to get into level 2, and so on. Level 1&2 are only hold twice a year. One is on the first Saturday of June(Sunday in Asia), another is on the first Saturday of December(Sunday in Asia). I've taken the level 1 exam twice 2 years ago but I didn't pass. The enrollment fee is really very expensive (almost the same price of my rent for one level), and studying for this exam is very stressful, so I'm really seriously considering the possibility of passing the one in June 2008. The first enrollment deadline is Sept. 26. I need to make the decision before that and enroll online.

Here is the link of this institute, if anyone wants to know a little more about it, just check it out.
http://www.cfainstitute.org/

Ok, This is boring enough of my life. Let's talk about something else. I've sent a package to Richard 1 month ago and he still hasn't received it yet. The package is important because it's the gift I wanted to give him for the Chinese Valentine's Day. There is an album frame with the pictures we took together in it. And I also wrote down some lines for him on a SF postcard and put it in the package. I hope he can find it if possible. I sent it on 8/14 and it should be arrived already. I also sent one postcard to my Brazilian friend, Renata and Herton, on the same day and they've received it 2 weeks ago. By the way, Richard likes the "Ice Cream" picture that Sean drew for me. He printed out and put it on his desk. I'm flattered to hear that.

I'll go to the gym on Monday. Just find out there are some interesting courses to go: Body Sculpting, Pilates Mat, and Power Yoga. I'm losing my weight recently and I'm delighted about this fact. Now it's time to do some exercise to keep my body fit. I'll live a healthy and happy life here and become more charming and sexier before I meet Richard at the end of this year. Hahaha~~~ ^__^

Long Weekend

September 3rd is the Labor Day of the U.S, which is a national holiday. Since it's on Monday, people have one more day-off for the weekend, so called the "long weekend." Nothing special happened during this long weekend. I stayed at home for 3 days and didn't go outside at all.(well, maybe just went downstairs to help my roommate to cut 2 pieces of wooden board for 10 minutes) Although the weather out there seemed nice and warm, I still didn't feel like to move my body under the sunshine. One of the reason you guys might have already known, that is I don't like to be tanned. Another one would be a girl thing. I felt uncomfortable for the past 3 days.......you know......

My friend, Sean(阿屁先生), stopped by my place on Saturday. He's a new student at Academy of Art University, studying his master's degree in Graphic Design. He came to my place to learn some cooking skills from me. And in order to express his gratefulness to me(actually was under my threat...), he drew me a picture by using the computer based on one of the pictures Richard took of me. I attached both of them so that you guys can compare them to each other.




Ok, now you've seen the pictures. You might wonder why it is "ICE CREAM." Well, this is nothing particular. Just because Sean said my Chinese name, Pei-Chi Lin, pronounced like "Bing Chi Lin"(ice cream) in Chinese. From that day he knew my name back in Taiwan, he always calls me ice cream. That's it!!! A stupid story......>__<

Oh, what did I do for the past 3 days staying at home without stepping out of my house? Hummm.....I cooked almost all day on Saturday, also chatted with my roommates and Sean.(ah, and called Richard for the entire morning and finally talked to him a little bit in the afternoon) Sunday, I was lazily sitting in front of my desk searching for some Germany travel information, and then watched a bunch of Taiwanese drama downloaded from the internet. (Why Why Love-就是「換換愛」啦～～) Monday, still lazily watched a few Taiwanese drama, and then started to do my assignments and reading in the afternoon till 10:30pm. What a wonderful life..... XD

One of my parcels from Boston still hasn't arrived. Inside the parcel are all my books, notes, 3-rings binders, and the umbrella Richard sent me....I'm afraid that I couldn't find them back......However, this morning, Yunpeng told me that he found it!!!!! It was mis-sent to his office because there was an old address tag of his on the parcel and he forgot to peel it off....this is so dramatic!!!! But I'm glad that it was not gone forever and he said he'll resend it to me tomorrow!! Thank God!!!

I went to the library this morning at 10:00 and discussed the assignments with my group members for 3 hours. After out discussion, they came back to my place with me. Everyone was so hungry and I had rice and curry in the fridge. Just stirred fried some vegetable and we had a quick lunch together. Then I walked them to the bus stop and I went to the supermarket, buying some fruits. Now back and tired!!

Take a nap~~haha~