New School Year

School has started, and my birthday’s a wrap.  ”No long a teen” as most people say, but I really don’t feel the difference.  I received some awfully nice gifts, both material, and non-material, so thank you so much.  Classes seems okay, I am a little worried about ochem, but since 50% is a C, I hope I should be okay.  Each year of college has been full of surprises, so I wonder what’s in store for me this year.  I hope it’s going to be a good year.

Jail

(Same story as one on Facebook.)

August 18, 2009

The summary of this whole story is that I got GG’ed. Horribly horribly GG’ed.

Yesterday, I went jet-skiing in Lake Washington. It was a clear and beautiful day. The summary of this whole story is that I got GG’ed. Horribly horribly GG’ed. Today, I went jet-skiing in Lake Washington. It was a clear and beautiful day. The weather wasn’t too hot, nor was it cold. It was perfect. After getting the hang of riding the jet-ski, I went a little faster, then a little faster, then I reached the maximum speed for the key I was using, and it was exhilarating! As I was heading back to shore, I had to cross under a bridge, I noticed signs that said “8 mph”, but I still went around 15 mph because that was the speed earlier when I came, so I didn’t think it mattered. As I headed for the clear waters, I saw from my peripheral vision a larger boat coming my way.

At first I thought it was just a random boat that got too close to me, so I continued to mind my own business and stay out of the way. Then the sirens came on, and that’s when I noticed that it was a police boat. FML, I thought to myself, because I didn’t have the paper works to operate these kind of stuff, nor did I have my ID with me! I also didn’t have a boating safety card or whatever they called it for people under the age of 25. The police officer that talked to me was very rude. He looked like your average white-middle-aged-male type of police officers in the movies that probably hates Asians, or any other type of minority. (Think of the police dude from Harold and Kumar go to White Castle). Oh let’s just call him Officer Asshole because I certainly didn’t care to remember his name. 30 minutes and a few misunderstandings with my name and identity later, I got handcuffed onto their boat, and was taken to jail. Officer Asshole transferred me to the dock, and handed me off to another police officer by the name of R. Jira. Keep in mind that I’m still in my bikini, and a life jacket. I mean, how more awkward can it be to walk in a police station wearing these, and no shoes? Officer Jira took my mugshots and finger prints, then sent me off to jail. D: He was really nice though, and he told me he was hungry at the time, so he couldn’t wait to hand me off to someone else. He said his goodbyes and good lucks, then I’m guessing he went to grab some lunner, or maybe a donut.

So now I’m at the actual jail. The officer there was really really nice too. He was actually from LA! So he had a lot of sympathy for me. He also thought that it was absolutely ridiculous that I got sent to jail for a minor reason like this. I changed into jail outfit in a room with no windows. I sat on the bench, but because they were releasing other people, they locked me in a little separated jail room. Dion and my mom finally came with the bail money, which is $500 by the way, and they released me. I have to come back to court some time in the future. It’s all so troublesome, but at least I’m not spending the night in jail. By the time I got back to the lake, four or five hours have passed, so I thought I can jet-ski a little more before the sun comes down. I wanted to get a couple of pictures, so I tried to go fast so the splashes can go far, but I also had to be close to shore so the camera can capture me. And then………guess what?

The cherry on top of this hectic day is me getting pulled over AGAIN by a different police boat. There were two of them, and they were authoritative. I tried to make them sympathize me by telling them about my identity mix-up earlier, and how I’m from California, and I’m only here for vacation. One of the officers told me about how he took Chinese in college, and showed me a few things that he still remembered. He was actually not bad at all. Some more small talk went on after as I tried to smile as much as possible and be nice. I did my sad face, pretended to be cute, and played the sympathy card. In the end they let me go, but warned me that I better not be caught in the Washington state again. Don’t worry officers, I definitely will not.

That marks the end of my epic day. I, Tina Zhang, went to jail!!! I can’t even wrap my mind around that yet. Officer Asshole was indeed a big asshole, but all of the other police officers were all very generous. I’ll be back again for my court date!! Ugh.

Also, jet-skiing is REALLY fun. Everyone should try it. Just make sure you have your ID with you and don’t meet a Officer Asshole like I did.

Currently in Korea

12 or 13 hour ish from home. I’m in Seoul, Korea right now, waiting for my transferring flight back to LA.  For one thing I’ve been very deprived on the Internet. 

It sure was an eventful vacation.  During this trip I laughed, I cried, I was angry, I was blissful, I was so much more emotions.  I wrote a lot, because I used to have people to vent to, but they’re not there anymore, so Microsoft Word became their replacement.

Most importantly I learned.  One thing I concluded is that there are so, so, SO many right takes on one subject, and as long as you stand by your argument strongly, you are correct too.  It also became clearer to me that the more you see things from different point of views, the more dilemmas you’re in. 

The best thing that happened in this trip is that I grew closer to people who matter to me, and grew apart from people who aren’t.  I grew closer to my brother, who is only turning 9 years old this October, but is eventually going to grow up and be one of the important people in my life.  I grew closer to my parents, (I think at least) even though it might not have happened in the best way.  And I grew closer to my grandmothers, whose time here is too valuable to lose. 

I watched some home-made videos of when I was younger, and in it were old, disappearing memories.  It was the night before I came to the United States.  (I’d like to say that everyone’s hair was ridiculously ugly ten years ago).  My grandpa was in it.  And as I watched my cheerful younger self, I wondered how sad I would be if I knew that it would be the last time I ever see him, and whether or not if my mom and I would leave at all.

***

I’ve done a lot of thinking on my free time here (believe me, I had A LOT of free time).  I realized that it seems like as I grew older, emotions seem to overwhelm me easier than when I was younger. Why?  I never used to cry in the past, and now tears always fill my eyes faster than I can respond.  I’m going to return to that old self, except the older version.  I refuse to feel that vulnerable again.

Apart from that, I have a new plan for myself for the next school year.  I’m going to be in a different mindset.  I wonder if it’ll be the way I expected it to be.

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Summer Plans/Goals

A few on my list , let’s see how much gets accomplished:

- China
- Seattle
- Disneyland
- Six Flags
- San Diego
- Griffith Observatory
- Learn new songs on piano
- Learn guitar
- Cook a full dinner for family
- Jog on a regular basis
- Shooting range
- Have lots of mahjong/monopoly nights
- Finish reading the Twilight series, and Angels & Demons

Can I do it? I think so!

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I AM

SO ANNOYED WITH EVERYTHING.