TODAY!!

Today, in general is a GREAT DAY!!! Although today is an amazing day, I've still got worries in my head. I feel heavy when I think of it, and it makes me depressed, so I try not to think about it. Anyway, first off, about TODAY. So today I had to wear a shirt, a skirt, and a tie (I didn't actually wear my tie for long haha) because of a 'tradition' of the girls basketball team where we wear formal stuff on the day we have a game. So yeah it was kind of embarrassing being the only people to wear formal stuff with everyone staring. But oh well. Then at lunch, we bombarded a friend of ours because it was her birthday. It was actually pretty amazing. We made a fake cake out of shaving cream and smashed it onto her. Then we each had an individual plate of shaving cream and rubbed it on her. It was really fun, until she started attacking us too. So in the end, we've all got shaving cream on us.Then we made her wear this really sexy dress and super high high-heels. It was really fun. Then the rest of the day wasn't as fun until school ended. By the way, our team chant for the yellow team isn't very good, to be hones. Our chant includes a heck lot of 'gobbles'. And you know what else makes gobbling sounds? Turkeys. So anyway after school, we went to our basketball game. It's my first ever game, so I was really nervous. I'm SO glad and happy because I was put in the starting five, but only because one of the members weren't there. Still. It's an achievement because atleast our coach chose me yayyy. I thought the game was quite good, though we lost. We showed great improvements though. I'm so glad. When I got home, I crashed onto the sofa and started sleeping. So yeah, now after thinking about today's awesomeness, I'm now dragged back to reality. Sometimes I hate reality. But who doesn't? But still, today in World History class we learned about 'gratitude'. I'm not saying that I'm feeling 'ingratitude'. I'm saying that I don't like thinking about what's coming this weeked. So anyway this weekend we have our SAT test. This score goes on my official record, I think. So like the future people looking at my college app can see it. I'm in really big pressure now, I could cry any moment.Sometimes I feel like people expect a lot out of me, and in truth, I'm not that good. I don't know why they think so much, because I'm really not that prepared and stuff. Then there's sports day. I don't want to disappoint my team. I want to win. I'm really stressed now. Like really, really stressed. I'm feeling sick, and tired, and I feel like really panicky. I'm trying to take my mind off it, but I know I have to face it anyway. I don't know what to do.

Sports today

So today in PE, we practised for sports day. It was really fun. We started off with tug-of-war. We learned how to properly do tug-of-war and win. We had to lean our backs and make it straight. By the end, everyone had a mild ropeburn on their hands, and their biceps from the rope rubbing against it. It was like all red like a lobster. Then we practised fro the 5 legged race. In my case, because I teamed up with 4 other girls, we had a 6-legged race. We won with a record of 1'05" around the basketball court against a group of boys, who were just really uncoordinated. Their punishment was that they had to do pushups, but still tied together. Then after that, we didn't do anything else and got freetime for the rest of the period, so I picked up a soccerball and started practising for the soccer game on Sunday. I really like soccer, although I never actually played it in school. I have a soccerball at home, and its the only sports equipment I can play with that wouldn't make much of a sound, since I live in an apartment and the noises would annoy the neighbors. So at home when I get bored, I kick around a soccerball. I love dribbling the soccerball and I've played it so much that I'm actually used to the ball around my feet and I can manipulate it in most directions I want. (But obviously, I'm still not very good at it, and need much more practise). Then after PE, I went on to basketball practise. For me, this was the funnest basketball practise, mostly because I didn't get yelled at at all, which means that I didn't make much mistakes. I even managed to shoot in some balls during the drills, which was usually hard for me. Furthermore, today, I joined the team of the older players, so generally, it was an easier game, because the people were more experienced. When I play with the other team with people like me who just joined basketball this year, sometimes its hard to play because the older players keep getting the ball from us, and also I have to do a lot of the running. It's really annoying. Plus, with the older team, I know a lot more of their tactics so it was really fun. So today, in general, was a good day for me. I can't wait for tomorrow's match against this other school! I finally get to wear my jersey.

Football.

So first of all, today in PE, WE WON OUR FOOTBALL GAME!!! I'm so happy, and so proud of my teammates. I tried my best being the captain of the team, and it paid off, I guess, since we won. I'm pretty happy about it. But some people in the opposing team didn't have the best of sportsmanship. They were unhappy, and kept saying that we used little tricks and fouls that helped us win. But to be honest, WE DIDN'T. One of the things I emphasized to my team was that NO MATTER how much we want to win, WE CAN NOT CHEAT. Or else that would not be winning. You wouldn't feel good about yourself after you win, and would instead feel terrible. Some of the people on the other team did cheat a little as they got desperate, because our scores were 30-12 to our advantage. So some of them grabbed me by the waist, or held my arm or something, which was cheating. But I didn't want to make a big scene out of it, so I just quietly told them that what they were doing is an intentional foul. Some of them listened to me, which was good; there were less fouls and 'tricks' towards the end of the game. Also, I think sportsmanship and attitude is very important. Sportsmanship determines what the opposing team thinks of you. If you win by cheating, or get aggressive when the other team scores, most likely, even if you do win, the other team won't respect you. Sportsmanship is a big part of being an athlete and respecting your opponent. If you encounter a team that is worse than you, but has good sportsmanship, you would respects them. Attitude is also important. It is part of having good sportsmanship. When we were winning, we didn't trashtalk them or anything. We continued playing normally, because we knew that if we said anything else, they would probably get more upset. Also, even as we were leading 30-12, I kept reminding my teammates, treat this game like its still 0-0, that way, we won't be careless, and will still have the right attitude. So in general, today's PE class was fun, and I'm glad I'm getting an A in PE!!!

Football in PE

For the three weeks of each PE chapter, we play a different sport. This time, we're playing football. We re-picked our teams. This time, I'm quite confident that the girls have a chance of winning football, though I think it will be a close game. I had the honor of being the captain for the girls. At the beginning, our team won most of the drills. But they got close this last couple of times, though today the other team lost all drills. Our team had all seven of our players, though the other team only had five. So we called two players off and substitued when someone gets tired. Our game went pretty well. First, we had a touchdown, then the other team also had a touchdown. Then we had another touchdown, and we managed to block off the other team's next attack. I was so proud of our team for being able to do that. We had good teamwork. Then, during our break where the boys went on to play, we practised different plays and positions. We practised for offense mostly. It was hard to do, but we managed. Then we were on again, and we managed another touchdown, and we blocked one of their attacks again. We were doing really well. Our defense was really good because we had worked on it on Monday and it worked. However, their touchdown shouldn't have worked, but someone cheated a little. When one of my teammates was trying to pull of the runner's flag, one of the opposing team player grabbed her arm and pulled her back. At first, though I didn't see it, I thought it was really weird because at first the runner were completely surrounded by our defense so there was no way she could have gotten out. But she did. And I was completely shocked. So aferwards, I asked my teammates what went wrong and they told me. We won in the end, 18-12. I think the most important part we need to work on is the offense. It is very important.

24

Today in basketball practise, we got our jerseys. FINALLY!!! I'm really excited. I couldn't let go of it when we got it. At first, directly after practise, our coach took us to his office. We all crowded around his cubicle, and stared in awe as he dumped the new jerseys out. We took in the numbers, and all of us locked our eyes on the jersey of number 24. Right before practise ended, our coach gave us a little speech about the jerseys. The number 23 was left out because it was the number of one of the greatest basketball players. Michael Jordan. If anyone got that number, I'm sure he/she would be under great pressure. But then there was number 24 as well. Our coach told us that the number also belonged to a great basketball player, Kobe Bryant. He said that whoever got the number should aspire to play well in basketball. Out of all the new people who got their jerseys, there was 1 senior, 2 sophomores, 4 freshmen, and 1 eighth grader. Our coach told us that the number would be distributed according to age. So the senior would get a smaller number, because the jerseys were distributed from 1 though 99. I counted in my head, and figured that one of the sophomores would get 24, since the senior is going to get 21 (because the last jersey last year was no. 20), and there are two sophomores, each 22 and 24. However I was wrong. When he called out number 24, he looked at me, and asked me what grade I'm in. I got the 24 jersey. I can't believe it! This is means that atleast our coach has a certain recognition in me, because out of all the freshmen (and the sophomore), our coach chose me to be 24. I'm really proud, but at the same time, afraid that I won't be able to live up to the number. But our coach told us to make our own history with the number. So I'm going to make my own history, and make the number live up to me.

Basketball

Today, someone asked me why I like basketball. I thought about it, then said, "Because I grew up around it." Normally, children in Taiwan grow up around baseball, because it is one of the few sports we are actually good at. But for me, it was basketball. My dad plays for a small team in a sector of the company he works for. He used to be captain of the team, and encouraged me to play with basketballs. In our house, there is always at least 3 spare basketballs sitting around, and since a small age, I've been rolling them around (I have a video of me as a toddler trying to play basketball). And every saturday and/or sunday morning, we would watch a NBA game. Sometimes, we would go to a basketball court and shoot some hoops. But when we moved to Europe, we stopped playing. I don't know why, but I think its because my dad was really busy in Europe, so we didn't have time to play basketball. Plus, we had satellite TV, so there weren't any basketball games to watch, but we'd always follow the scores closely. Besides my dad and my brother, a lot of my cousins play basketball, too. I remember we used to go to a park and just play basketball while the adults stood around talking about politics.Now that I'm back from Europe, I decided to take up basketball again. But after two years of no practise whatsoever, I've actually gotten pretty bad at it. But I really want to actually be good at it again. Also, I can't wait for this year's basketball season to start.

Keeping fit.

Today I realized the importance of keeping fit. Because if I don't, I will be slaughtered in P.E. and girls basketball. For example, today in P.E. we had a fitness test, where we had to do pull-ups and this other type of exercise which trains your biceps and triceps. Then we did shuttle runs. Plus, because someone was late, we all had to do suicides. This killed me. At the end, I could barely lift my arm, plus my leg muscles hurt.
Then in girls basketball, we practised penalty line shoots. If we didn't get the ball in at all in our turn, we had to do 20 pushups. In the end, I had to do 60 pushups.
But there's been much improvement since the first time I joined. The first day, we did a lot of fitness tests, etc. and the next day, my muscles hurt A LOT. I could barely move without feeling pain in every part of my body. I concluded that I just had to suck it up. Because this time next year, I would be the one watching the newbies suffer... :D