Where I'm From Interview

Picture of our Car in China (Dad)

For the "Where I'm From" interview, I picked my dad as my interviewee. I had a nice 30 minute chat with my dad asking some questions that I came up with earlier. My first question for my dad is how is your neighbor like to you when you're growing up? An answer I got back is he had some really nice neighbor around where he likes, there was a couple that lives right next to him is my grandpa's old friend. My dad grow up in the country side, so he basically knows everyone near him. Right across from my dad's house, lives three people, two parents and one is my dad's friend as they grow up. My dad told me that is all he remember so he want me to jump into the next question.

What do you usually do in school when you was a kid and please give me some details. My dad answered, "It was cool for me to go to school at that time, every child in the country side knows each other, and some of the are in the same class as me. After school is when all the fun part comes, we hang out near a huge tree that near a friends house, we claim up and down the tree, playing tags, and play cards but loser have to do whatever the winner says." My follow up question was, "But did you do anything bad when you're in school?" My dad answered, "Yes, a lot. We were used to be very bad children, we have fights with another class students after school, having drinks without parents knowing, but one thing for sure is we would never do any drugs." 

I was very interested in my dad's childhood so I follow up my question and asked, "Please tell me a time when you get into a major trouble in school, since you told me how a bad kid you were when you're little." My dad laughed and said," I still remember a time when my classmate and I get into a group fight with another because the two class never gets along with each other, so during school recess we started a huge fight. People were using chairs as weapons during the fight, pens are throwing across the class, but the fight got break out in few minute when the principal and teacher stopped. People in both class that were fighting have to do community service for a month and parents have to pick up the kids from school or call home." There are some great answer that I think is pretty interesting to me, and my dad give me a lot of details, so this is why I'm writing about these few question.  

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"Where I'm From" Observation

Saint James & Saint Joseph  School (SJJ) is a place that's meaningful to me, and makes me want to write a observation about it. I came over to United State when I was at the age of 9 which should be one of the student in 4th grade. Saint James & Saint James was the first school I attended in U.S. The school wasn't called this name before, it was used to be called Saint Joseph, not until the Saint James school migrate with our school because their school have to be taken down. Through out the 5 years in SJJ, I had a lot of fun time there, I learned English, can read and write in English due to the excellent teaching from teachers of that school. 

In Saint James & Saint Joseph  School, we have to wear uniform everyday. I remember we have to wear a white shirt with tie in red and blue color, and any black shoe for a normal school day. For a gym class day, we would have to wear a dark blue t-shirt and dark blue sweatpants with the school logo on the right side of our feet. We can wear any type of sneaker for gym, but when we are wearing our normal day uniform, the color of our shoe must be black. 

The Outside wall of the my old school building is painted mainly in yellowish brown color, the school is connected with a church so there is a huge black front door that leads you into the church. There are lines of wooden chairs inside the church, the statue of Jesus on the cross, two huge window designed with figures of some Saints. Right after you walk into Saint Joseph Church, there is a red carpet on the floor with symbols of the cross, leading you to the very end of the church. At the very end of the church, there is a long white stone table with a red bible and two white candle on each side. 

The school is 6 floor high building including the basement. The basement is use as a cafeteria for all student in the school. The cafeteria is full with wooden tables and blue plastic metal chairs. There are one boys and one girls bathroom in the basement. There are two stairs and one elevator that connects to all floor. I have no idea what the second floor of the school, but starting from that flooring and higher, is a school based environment. The third floor is used as the main offices with lots of teacher's table around, and the principal's office is at the very far end of that floor. The fourth floor is use for first to fourth grade, the fifth floor is for 5th  grade to 8th grade. On the roof of the building, there is a playground, which is the coolest part. The roof playground is for 4th grade and lower. So I had only been on there for a year, it opens for kid after lunch during the free 45 minute for kids to play, and there will be at least two teacher watching the kids. There is a tall wall on the roof with painting of flowers to protect the kids from any danger of falling down the building. There are all of the detail I could think of for my old school, and I would be planing to visit one day to refresh all of my memory from it.  

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Hurricane Sandy Observation

This week had been to craziest week I ever been through for my whole life. It was the first time that I had experience the power of a hurricane. I tried to go outside and feel how strong the wind would be, but I guess I did a stupid action that I never to do. Going outside during a hurricane is not a thing anyone would want to do. When I walk outside of my house, the wind and rain is smashing  through my face, making very loud noise and the trees are blown so badly that it seen like the tree is going to fall. After 2 minute standing outside my house, my clothes are wet and when the rain hits my face it hurts, I can't take it anymore so I decided to go back into my house and made myself a cup of hot coffee. 

The first day when Hurricane Sandy hits New York, I stayed home all day, I was home along since my dad went out with his friends. I watched TV, played video games and did all the stuff that I usually do during a weekend. When I saw the news saying there is no school for the next day, I thought it's going to be another great day without school, but I was wrong. During the night of the first day of Sandy, around 9 P.M. the electricity went off. It happened during the middle of my movie on my laptop, luckily my laptop is charged. The light of my house all went off. I got a little bit scared, the first thing I did was look outside my window. When I look out the window, the whole neighborhood is fill with completely darkness. Then I start seeing yellowish light coming out of some neighbor's window. I know exactly that light is the fire from the candle, I used the flashlight from my iPhone and went though the dark hallway and used the lighter to light up some candle that my dad bought earlier. Since my laptop is still on, I finished the movie that I was watching then I went to bed earlier than usual. 

The second day of Hurricane Sandy, the wind and rain had stopped, I woke up around 11 A.M. knowing the electricity was off. I went to the bathroom with my flashlight, clean myself and took a nice hot shower. I feel very lucky because we still have water running in my house. My grandma called me at noon, telling me to go over to her house for lunch since the electricity is out. I went over to my grandma's house and lunch there without electricity in her house too. My cousins are there too during the lunch. After lunch, my cousins and I played poker for a while. Later on, my aunt picked the whole family up and drive over to her house in Flushing. My aunt owned a 15 floor high building in Flushing, she and her kids living in the Building for two whole floor with is huge. My uncle separates the two floor into three apartment, and every one the the apartment is huge. My family and my younger uncle's family moved into one of the apartment. I spend the whole week in my aunt's house. My cousins and I had a lot of fun there, watching NBA games, playing cards, and movie time, and had plentiful of meal. 

I watched news on TV and online about the result form Hurricane Sandy. It said that a lot of place are flooded in New York and New Jersey, around 50 houses are burned down, and many death. I never know natural disaster would make such a mess to New York. The news reported that United State had lose around 30 to 50 billion of money. When I see that number coming up, I was thinking to myself that is impossible, if that money is given to me, I could never finish spending it for life. I do feel bad for those who lose their family and home, but no one can do anything for it anyway since is a natural disaster. So let us just hope people can rebuild their house soon and find their missing family members.

Pictures I took during the week of Hurricane Sandy:

                            Watching NBA with cousins

                             A tree after Sandy

                                The park after sandy

                  A candle I used when the electricity went off

                                Mall in Flushing

                               My electronic devices

                        House in Bay Side during Halloween

                                     The Sea

                                   Aunt's House

              My favorite basketball player in the NBA Dwyane Wade

                       Living in Aunt's house during Sandy

                      Little cousin during Halloween night

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