Smiles of China #3

So within our GC, we are starting an initiative to sell milk tea. We haven’t really done much this year in terms of events and raising money. Perhaps we didn’t have as much opportunity of because of the financial restraints but we are in the midst of setting up a business for milk tea. We probably won’t have time to start selling this school year but we are trying to set up everything so that the business can begin right away in the beginning of next year.

Some challenges we are facing right now is the cost and the sustainability. Since our school is a strong supporter and enforcer of keeping our campus as sustainable as possible. The process of making milk tea is not exactly sustainable. All the ingredients of sugar, milk and tea come in packets but as long as all these have a disposal plan that is recyclable we will be okay. But we did have to spend some time finding ingredients that achieved these requirements. The cost however of finding better ingredients goes sky high. Therefore we had to find a compromise between better taste and high cost. Also when serving the milk tea, cups had to be reusable so no plastic anything. Luckily Zero Waste is a college service that provides reusable cups that they wash so that is pretty perfect.

We conducted a taste testing within our GC and the one I liked was the most expensive so that definitely was a “no” but we did find one that was pretty good. We’re going to conduct another taste testing on the plaza having the rest of the school try it and give us feedback. From this, we will improve our milk tea business and hopefully become pretty successful in the school.

PSE final reflection *tears*

So for grade 12, I think the biggest challenge for me will be dealing with stress because there will be loads more work to do, especially coursework such as iAs and IOC’s and EE. This is very intimidating but I really should tell myself it isn’t that bad. We’ve done so much work this year already and I’m proud of everything that I’ve achieved so far so I really just have to try to keep on top of my work, manage my time and make sure I surround myself with people who are supportive and preferably less stressed than I am. I think the people around you are very important. They are the ones influencing your thoughts and opinions about subjects and if they have a pessimistic view on life, it’ll probably make me pretty depressed about the future too.

Dealing with sleep and being tired maybe because of procrastination and the amount of work might be a challenge too. Honestly, I expect a lot of the challenges to be quite similar to the challenges in grade 11 because it’s still iB and I think we’ve become quite acquainted with iB stress.

Personally I think leaving and dealing with the fact that my life won’t be certain anymore will be hard. Now I know that I have to come to school everyday and I have goals within academics but for the future, I have the freedom to do whatever I want and that is scary.

Taekwondo reflection

So I did my grading for Taekwondo and guess what? We got a double promotion which is what happens when you skip a grade which we did! So I am know officially a yellow belt which is incredible. Even though I am still lower in grade than many of the smaller kids, I’m just really I have gotten to experience something like this. I am actually quite late in starting Taekwondo because a lot of kids start at the ripe age of 3 while I am 16 but I really wanted to try it and stepped out of my comfort zone to achieve what I did. I’ll definitely join again next season because of how much fun lessons are (thanks to all the kids who make it hilarious) but also that I’ve met and made friends even though if they’re not in the same grade. That’s what I love about these activities, meeting more people because there’s always so much to learn even if it’s from a kid. The enthusiasm they bring to everything they do is perhaps some excitement I’ve lost throughout the years of stressing but their laughter reminds me of the good times. The teachers are great as well. They are professionals and do Taekwondo for a living so I definitely have a lot of respect for them for being able to be physically challenged everyday. Two of the teachers are also Korean so sometimes I have a little trouble understanding but that doesn’t really affect a lot when a lot of the movement learnt is through copying.

So I’ve never done Taekwondo before so this activity is one where I acquired a new skill. Thanks to the teachers, each lesson is filled with laughter but gravity at the same time. Of course some of the exercises are hard especially push ups. I honestly can not do a single push up but I guess it makes you stronger which is important. I’m happy about going up a grade but I think the main benefit is not knowing a pattern and knowing how to perform it but feeling safer within my own body. Being able to rely on yourself to protect yourself physically boosts your confidence mentally and I really benefit from such boosts. We learn a bit of self defence here and there and I don’t think I’ll be able to beat up someone if I get attacked but at least I know where to hit and that I have a pretty strong kick that could do some serious damage. Taekwondo is not an attacking martial art, so it is really only used in self-defence.

Smiles of China GC #2

As finance officer, I’ve had to go to a few meetings which has been stressful especially since they don’t really tell I have to be somewhere until I get to the GC meeting and sometimes I’m a little late because I have to get lunch first. But when going to these meetings, I really feel like I’m contributing to the GC in a more beneficial way that sitting in the meeting and not really talking about anything.

So family festival has just been done and that is an important part of the GC this year because the school is taking a turn towards being more sustainable so all the stock from previous that have unsustainable materials should be sold in order to make room for more sustainable pieces of items. We had fans, t-shirts, pens, bookmarks etc. I thought it was pretty successful since we made quite a bit of money for our GC which is great but also because now more people have learned about our NGO and have supported it through buying good or just plainly donating. Maybe we didn’t make as much money as some of the other GC’s but we did sell a great deal of things. I think it was great experience especially since I’ve never done anything like that, being in the vendor position instead of the buyer.

ITP – Piano #2

I am currently learning 3 pieces. One Scarlatti, one Handel and one Debussy (I don’t know the exact names of the pieces). I’ve been playing them for a while honestly and after a while it gets a little boring especially since it’s the same every week. But my teacher sometimes gives me a piece to sightread to switch things up which is fun. Mostly there is a little pressure whenever I see the piano because I feel compelled to play it since I have to do the grade 8 exam soon. I am honestly terrified but I know I’ll get through it. If I don’t pass, I’ll probably have to relearn a whole new set of pieces. I’ve got to learn my scales and work on my oral because sight singing and singing in general is not a strong point of mine. It will be a huge challenge for me since grade 8 is the highest level before you enter professionalism so good luck to me I guess.

Smiles of China GC #1

I joined Smiles of China because I am Chinese and I though it would be nice to give back to the mother country. The first meeting was a little nerve wrecking as I am new and I hadn’t met a lot of people but when I went in, there were some familiar faces which comforted me. We did some ice breaker games which led me to get to know some people but we started getting to know the GC, which NGO we supported and raised funds for. Also the responsibilities within the GC and what would be expected of us.

Our NGO is called New Hope Foundation and they take in abandoned infants especially those with special medical needs and care for them. They are located in and around China so the funds we raise all go to the nannies who take care of the baby’s salaries. We could sponsor a child and raise money for a specific child but that would be unfair as the other kids wouldn’t be getting any care. So sponsoring the nanny’s salaries seemed to be the fairest way to do things.

I’ve never done anything like this so I’m excited to see where this goes.

Yoga with meditation reflection

So Yoga is coming to an end. Yoga isn’t just about being able to do the poses but to be able to be completely present in the moment while doing them because our mind wanders very easily. One trick we learned to do this is to focus on our breathes. That brings your attention back to what you’re doing at the current moment and not what happened in class or how you embarrassed yourself during the day. I think since I do keep to myself quite a lot, I am prone to just think too much and repeatedly revisit certain moments during the day. The more I do so, the more I distort the memory into something that is quite unrealistic. I tend to intensify a feeling or moment just by focusing it too much but without meaning to. To be able to bring the attention upon the present moment helps to ease the mind. Sometimes after yoga, I notice things that I normally wouldn’t such as how bright the green of the trees are and all the colours of green around just because I sit in my head.

Yoga was something new to me, I had not done it before so it was interesting to try it and challenge myself. I have been dancing since I was young so I think the flexibility I had helped me in some of the poses but I was a person that lacked balance physically (and possibly in general) so doing poses that required that was a little more challenging. Sure I’d be able to stand on one leg and hold the other above my head but am I able to twist myself into a position that looks completely unnatural which is called the “eagle” – no. But it was fun to try and I think that was one of the main goals of this activity. To have some fun and to relax because there honestly is too much stress and complications that we have to face in our daily lives so it’s really nice to stop, reflect and just take a break. Especially just to let your mind take a moment to chill. Sometimes I think I overuse my brain a little too much and it overheats and it’s killing all my brain cells and that is why I can’t achieve much and not because I am too lazy. But anyways here are some pictures of me doing some very basic yoga, there’s is still a lot to learn but I’m really glad to have done this.

Yoga with meditation #2

We’ve been doing yoga for a while now. Sometimes I fall asleep in the session but that only occurs rarely so no I’m not wasting my time. But it has been very relaxing and quite what I need in between stressful school days which kill my mental capabilities of thinking and concentrating. I guess yoga is a good way to re-centre yourself mentally and spiritually.

We’ve tried different types of yogas and have different things. Such as inversions, deep stretches and sun salutations. They each have their own difficulties, for example the repetition in sun salutations or the unnatural position of inversions. They all are fun to explore.

I don’t think I’ve gotten much stronger through just doing yoga but maybe have been a little more balanced. The main advantage of doing yoga is definitely the mental calmness you experience especially after the meditation bit.

Taekwondo #2

So apart from just learning the grading patterns and working towards a new belt, we also learn self defence and some exercises that come with that. So the level I am going to be at is definitely not going to at the “I can beat you up” level or even “I can bruise you” level so I think at least having knowledge about what to do in situations where you are physically trapped makes me feel a little more comfortable when walking in sketchy alleys. Also I’d like to point out that Taekwondo is a self-defence sport so openly attacking someone with the fancy leg kicking is not encouraged but not banned. So…. yeah no. But we did this thing called candle training where they light on of those metal candles in front of you and without touching it, you’ve got to put it out. Using the AIR. No actually you punch at it and apparently it is possible to produce enough wind around your hand to put out a candle, sort of like that shown in anime. I couldn’t put out anything which is quite discouraging but I did make it flicker so ACHIEVEMENT!

Anyways, the kids aren’t that intimidating anymore. They’re actually just kids, quite silly honestly and very loud might I say. But they do come up and start talking to you and they ask some of the most mind-baffling questions which is a fun situation to be in. Seeing them outside of the class is a little weird seeing them in their school uniforms instead of their dobok’s but sometimes they wave which is honestly a little heart-warming.

Yoga with meditation #1

I always had this assumption about yoga thinking it was for hippies and those who did it were not “cool” if that makes sense. But my psychology teacher – Ms Cole (she’s amazing!) said she did yoga and after doing it was really relaxed and had a a calmer perspective on life. She does not seem hippy at all so I thought “Why not give it a try, it’s not likeĀ  I have anything else to do (except too much school work that I haven’t touched)”.

We’re a small bunch, just 8 people but it varies. There’s two parts to the lesson – yoga and meditation which now does seem quite obvious because what the course is called. But yoga turns out to be much harder than what I thought. Muscle is actually required to balance in the pose. Even just kneeling on the floor required a great deal amount of strength which I definitely lack but with the meditation at the end, my mind was definitely brought to a more peaceful state. Which is good. I think I enjoy and even might do it in my own free time.