Oh my!

     Admit it! You read that in George Takei's voice, didn't you? "Oh my!" is the only thing I could think of to describe what I found with "Watch how I Soar's" page views today!
     I have finally broke 1,000 page views! Yay! It was at 900 something yesterday and with the rate things were going I thought it would be another few days to get to 1,000 views. What a wonderful surprise this Independence day!
     I was also surprised to see that I had a viewer from Ukraine. I've had a few from Germany and I think the Philippines. Of course I've got people who look at this blog in the United States of America I'm just always surprised to see when people in other countries actually clicked on my blog. It also makes me wonder how they stumbled across "Watch how I soar"!
    "Oh my Rowling!" "I just can't even." "Oh my!" Thank you all for making my day!
      

Existence

     Existence has never been good enough. Human existence has never or will ever be good enough. We exist on a little blue and green speck and are the "very best" living things on it and mere existence isn't good enough for us! What the heck?
     We have created religions and rituals around the fact that we hope that we exist beyond this existence but even in this existence there is boredom. What are we going to do with another existence if we get bored with this one? Especially since most of us believe that we won't have to work in the next existence.
     Other organisms don't get bored as easily as "man kind" because they have to work to stay alive! Imagine if you couldn't go to a grocery store and shop for what ever you want to eat. What if you instead had to evolve a long neck to reach leaves or if you had to stalk and kill your prey? Sure humans still hunt for food but in general we don't have to work very hard for anything really.
     We don't have to work for much so we have all sorts of time that we can spend on creating whatever kind of shelter we want, building vast empires and reading. Reading. We have developed a system of communication that uses symbols to describe sounds that are connected to thoughts. We read. What do we read? You can read what ever you like: biographies, diaries, letters, fictional works.
     Fiction. Why must we have a different reality if we have one right in front of us? Why must we slip between the pages of a book when we could work like the other organisms? We get bored! Merely existing is not good enough for us. 
     We have created television, radio, music and so many other types of entertainment and we still get bored. Is that not the most frustrating part of human existence? The fact that human existence isn't entertaining enough for us! Doesn't that make us the greediest organisms on this pretty blue, green orb? We want more with our time than just having time to exist.
     We want more. Existence will never be good enough. I dare say it never has been for humans. Go out there and celebrate your existence.

Today.

     Today is a rather unextraordinary day in my life but today is the day that someone:

• was born
• died
• laughed
• cried
• walked for the first time
• said their first word
• said their last word
• went to a wedding
• went to a funeral
• met the person they will spend the rest of their lives with
• left an abusive relationship
• got over a breakup
• went on a first date
• laughed for the first time
• learned to ride a bike
• became cancer free
• was diagnosed with cancer
• read a book that changed their life
• got help
• realized that others have lives just as complex as there own
• got a pet
• made a friend
• had their dreams come true
• learned the alphabet
• became addicted to drugs
• came home
• "Let it go"
• got the job
• was fired
• got that part they auditioned for
• became popular
• realized they didn't care
• smiled for the first time
• found a reason to live
• wanted to die
• had to say goodbye
• got a crush
• got noticed
• learned how to tie their shoes
• told everyone about their sexual orientation
• was forgiven
• finally forgot
• proposed marriage
• proposed a business plan
• got a divorce
• wrote a hit song that we will never hear
• gave an important speech
• became a parent
• learned to love
• lost trust
• gained faith in humanity
• is being tortured by someone or a thought
• figured out that problem!

That was a really long way to say "someone's live changed forever". Sure boring days change your life but someone's life changed in a big way today. Every day means something to someone. "Carpe diem!"

I'd like to hear from you!

     Yes, I understand that this blog is all up to me.I don't think I can do justice with my vocabulary in describing how weird it is just prattling on about whatever with out any feedback, not that I don't just do that anyways. I still love comments! I like to answer questions and hear what you think. I would like to make my blog easy to understand and fun but I need your help to do that!
     Things I'd like to hear are whether or not a post was "good". Heck! One time I had a friend correct me on a word and I got to learn! You could tell me if I need more interactive gadgety things or if I should do some sort of "ASK ME ANYTHING" post and do a sort of Q&A. I'll take post ideas as well. Constructive criticism is also good.
     Let me know! I like to hear from you and would like to make "Watch how I Soar" better!

So. How 'bout them sports teams?

     If you have talked to me then you may have heard me say "So. How 'bout them sports teams?" This all started one day in the car and I added that to the conversation, it stuck. I annoyed many people with the over use of it and it seems to be somewhat of a catch phrase of mine. I am finally getting the answer to my question!
     The first soccer game I've ever watched was the USA at Belgium game yesterday and I got caught up in it! Like halfway through I just started paying more attention to Belgium because of Kevin De Bruyne, oh my Rowling! Momma was who pointed him out to me when she went "TINTIN PLAYS FOR BELGIUM!" I missed him and so it became a game of  find the guy who looks like Tintin. Later after we spotted De Bruyne again Momma said "I hope he's wearing sunscreen!" and I had to laugh.
      I was ECSTATIC when he scored the first goal of the game. I went on to research him a bit and am now quite fond of him! Plus I now have an athlete I can discuss with my Belgian classmates!

 

 

     I was really proud of Tim Howard for all those saves and of the new guy (I don't remember his name) for having it be the first time he touched the ball and he got a goal! CRAZY! Simply insane!

                                               SWITCHING SPORTS

     Don't even get me started on Gaelic football! That sport is just crazy! It is like speed ball but you can tackle people! I support Kerry because I don't really ever know what's actually happening in that sport and I like their colors plus they have a rich history of their area and in the sport. The only names from that team I can remember are Declan and Darren O'Sullivan and Colm Cooper. I have no Idea who is in this picture but you can see Kerry's colors. Maybe later I'll do a post explaining all the rules and such.

CHANGING SPORTS FOR THE LAST TIME

 

     So the last sport and probably the only one I could rattle off all the rules to is Muggle Quidditch or Quidditch, I'll focus on MQ. I hardly ever know what's current in MQ but I can tell you that several colleges in Michigan have teams and I try to follow the Belgian teams. It is the only sport where I know that you can say "He's a keeper." or "CATCH THAT SNITCH!" with out it meaning the same thing as it does to the rest of the world. I will probably have to do a separate post for the rules of this quirky game.

      I believe that a good way to make connections to people is to ask about sports because everyone has at least one they love, or are at least willing to listen to. Sports are something you can't get away from so, yeah. So. How 'bout them sports teams?

 

On my mind

I have many irrational worries about going to Belgium in August. I'm excited but have a lot of fears that I know (or at least hope) are complete nonsense because they are very similar to how I felt going into high school. Some of my worries aren't complete nonsense but they are there.

1. What if I don't learn quickly enough? After all I do have to learn a different language and culture.
2. Will I adjust well to a new family?
3. What if I completely forgot how to make friends?
4. What if my teachers don't like me?
5. How difficult is learning a different language by immersion really? Other people do it all the time plus I think I did well in Chinese after all I scored 114% on the final exam that means I should do pretty well right?
6. How American do I dress?
7. What if no one has anything in common with me?
8. How much will I change while I'm gone?
9. How will I handle culture shock?
10. What about reverse culture shock?
11. Dutch looks pretty hard and I can't roll my R's so what if they roll any R's? Can I get away with just tapping my R's like some accents get away with? Maybe I can't roll my R's because of the palatal expander.
12. What if the other kids make fun of me? I wouldn't really be able to tell at first, of course they might talk about me but seriously!
13. What if I accidently offend someone? I would apologies of course but I don't want to offend anyone.

I don't want anyone thinking that I'm not COMPLETELY ecstatic about this. I just wanted to share some of the thoughts that roll across my mind. OH MY ROWLING! I'M GOING TO BELGIUM!

Chicago diary 7/ after thoughts

     We talked to a nice, apparently French man in the hotel lobby about his Tintin shirt and he said that when I go to Belgium I can come back with as many Tintin shirts as I want! I started thinking about ALL the people Tintin has allowed me to meet so far and have something in common with and I felt like I made a good choice in comic book obsessions.
     Then we went to the Hershey's store followed by the Ghiradelli store. I preferred the smell of the Ghiradelli shop because it wasn't IN YOUR FACE sweet it was just nice and slightly chocolaty, Hershey's was REALLY sweet but smelled like baking day at Grandma's.
     Then after shopping we went to the hotel and got our things and got to the train station. The train was delayed at Kalamazoo because someone got hit by the train ahead of us. I made good use of the Harry Potter book I brought.
     Now (thank goodness!) I'm back home and got to sleep! I also go to reflect on the trip a bit. I like lists so I will make this a list.

• I would like to start by saying, "Thank you cute boys. For just existing." Of course I say this because I'm a teenage girl and there were plenty of attractive people to look at!
• Chicago public transportation stinks compared to Washington D.C. It almost seemed like they kept making up subway stops and stuff.
• THANK GOODNESS for good tour guides and wait staff!
• My bed at home is wonderful and I am very grateful for it!
• Soft pretzels are amazing and one should never take them for granted. EVER!
• Russian, German, French, Asian languages (I'm not sure which ones I heard), Spanish, Accented English, Sign languages, and any other language I heard this trip are BEAUTIFUL. Enjoy language, I think it adds something beautiful to the world.
• The Carbide and Carbon building is probably the best joke ever! It's basically a giant Champaign bottle build during prohibition! Isn't that just the best thing you've heard like ever? Plus now it's the Hard Rock hotel so, yeah.
• I don't like how many alarms there are going constantly in the city.
• Boats are cool no matter where you are!