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batskeetsThis is going to be a long post... because it's COLLEGIATES RECAP TAIMUUUU
So, I got up bright and early on Friday morning (7am, to be precise) and met up with the club at 9:30a. The ride down was rather long, and kind of tedious.![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
junsiew and I were perched in the very back seat, and spent a lot of time crocheting and knitting, respectively. The only bad thing about being in the very back was having to either climb over Keith's horse bench, or vault in through the back door to get into our seat. ^^; I also got kind of bored, because *everyone* around me fell asleep for several hours during the ride, so I had this wall of sleeping people between me and the other folks who were actually awake.
When we hit Medford, we had to pick up Peter, whom I don't even really know b/c he was in the club before I joined. But it wound up taking an HOUR at least, because nobody had any idea how to get to Peter's house. It was a rather creepy experience, because there were random people in town just sitting on their porches or standing on the sidewalks, *staring* at us as we drove by. I can just imagine some yokel standing out there saying, "Boy howdy, lookit all them Japaneeeese people!"
We stopped at Quizno's/Carl's Jr for lunch, and that got the Quizno's song stuck in my head. Damn those mutant rats! ;p (OMG that Quizno's commercial just came on as I wrote that sentence. CREEPY AAAAHHHH) After lunch, I was going out of my skull because Phil kept playing the same Ludacris songs over and over and OMFG WHY GOD WHY?!! Seriously, the next person who plays Ludacris anywhere *near* me is getting kicked in the crotch.
After some more driving, we got to San Fran around 8 or 9p, and we stopped for dinner to have some Pho. It was pretty good, and I also had this interesting tapioca/bean paste dessert thingy that was really good. And afterwards, a bunch of us went a couple doors down from the Pho place to get bubble tea!! <3 I was stuffed beyond belief after all the food.
We didn't get to our final destination until after 10p. Fortunately, the house of Brandon (the guy we were all crashing with) was not quite as sketchy as I expected it to be. But it was close. ;p There was a lot of space, though, so a few of us practiced our forms for a bit before taking showers and getting ready for bed. I went through it twice, and felt *awesome* about it. The form felt strong, flowing, and *easy* when I did it.
We finally hit the bed around 1a. I was one of the fortunate few to snag a futon to sleep on, and I also didn't have to share it, mostly because I told people that I have a history of involuntarily kicking my bedmates in my sleep. ::rotfl:: Unfortunately, even with that, I could *not* fall asleep. I don't know why, but it was at least an hour, probably closer to two hours before I could fall asleep. And even then, I kept waking up every 20 minutes or so. It was the most horrible night's sleep I've had in recent memory.
And so, I got up at the ass-crack of dawn (6:15a) on Saturday morning, feeling like utter crap after tossing and turning for 5 hours. I had my wushu stuff gathered together around 7:30, and several of us ran across the street to a donuts/coffee shop for breakfast, and then ran back to hop in the van and head over to Stanford. Our plan was to participate in/watch the tournament, see the Masters Demo, and then go to a club after all of that.
Of course, we weren't informed until about 5 seconds before the van pulled away, that we *weren't* coming back to Brandon's before going to the club, so half of us had 30 seconds or so to jump out of the van, run back inside, grab a change of clothes, and run back outside again. I forgot about half the things that I wanted to bring because we had so little time to grab our stuff, so I was a little ticked off by that. That feeling was only intensified by my being completely exhausted.
We checked in at Stanford, and I had to start warming up right away, because the Beginners were scheduled to go first. Aaaahhh!! Warming up was kind of hard, and I could tell that my body was starting to crash, just from the sheer fatigue of not getting any sleep. I ate a protein bar, and kept shoveling in Skittles in the hopes of giving myself enough energy to last through the Beginners' set, but it soon became clear that it wasn't working.
Anyway, my turn eventually rolled around, so I went out at the appointed moment and did my form. I was mostly just going through the motions, because I was so tired that I couldn't focus AT ALL. I can't even really remember what I did wrong, because it's all just a big blur in my memory, but I came away with an overall feeling that it was definitely not my best work. Poo. :p I was hoping to represent myself and the team better than that.
It was a rough day for our Beginners, overall. Janet and Greg both came away from their forms feeling like they did crappy. Thomas was actually doing really well in his long fist set until the very end, and then he had the misfortune of breaking his brand-new staff during his weapon set later in the day! It was pretty freaky, too, because it split right down the middle.
The rest of the team definitely had its moments, though: Keith pulled down several medals, including one for his awesome horse bench, and Phil snagged All-Around Champion for his 3rd time in a row. W00t! We also saw some really amazing work from the Advanced competitors, including this tiny chick from Brazil who took Women's All-Around. Although, honestly, I was a bit more interested in the *other* girl from Brazil, as in the taller, dark-haired one who dominated all the Nanquan events--she was also probably the only girl in the room built like me! (seriously, if you took all the guys out of that room, my head would be sticking up like a sore thumb in a sea of tiny women) I guess she made me think that perhaps Southern style is my true calling... :)
I was further reminded that I am a tall freak in the world of wushu when I bought a straight sword from one of the merchants at the event--I had to buy the longest one they had. ^^; At least it was only $25, though, which beats every online price I've seen by a lot. I'm very excited about learning straight sword, because Phil said multiple times before the tournament that he was going to teach us straight sword next. You can bet that I'll be holding him to that statement.
As for Stanford itself, the campus *was* really pretty, just liketotchiko told me. :) Everything on it was *much* farther apart than on the UO campus, though. When we hiked over to Tressider (the student union) to get lunch, it was a pretty involved walk. There is also not a single ATM on that campus, or at least not one that's near Burnham Pavillion. ;p
After the tournament finally ended, there were a few other random things to partake in. Stanford set up this thing they called a "Masters Demo," which wasn't exactly the most appropriate name for it, because there were only a couple actual Masters in the show. The Masters were quite good, though, especially the woman who did double straight sword. :)
There were quite a few sets done by people who competed earlier in the day, but it was kind of boring, because they did the same forms that they'd done in competition less than 4 hours earlier. :p They did have a performance by this adorable little kid, though, who was maybe 6 years old, and he already had wushu skills that put a lot of the Collegiates competitors to shame! Apparently they start some kids on this sport straight out of the womb. ::rotfl::
After the show was over, we took a few moments to freshen up (badly, because we couldn't take actual showers), and then went off in search of the club that a bunch of the kids from Collegiates were all going to. Again, this took way longer than it should have, because nobody up front knew where they were going. -_-; (Next time *I* am navigating! :p) We almost missed the 11pm cutoff for free admission, too, but we managed to get in just under the wire.
Sometime during the search for the club, Keith felt it necessary to mention that I have "a really pretty sneeze." ASDKFADSLFKHADSFKLH!! My response: "I thought 'terrifying' would be a more apt descriptor!" It seems to startle the hell out of everyone else the first time they hear it.
The club itself was kind of meh. Aside from the wushu kids from the tournament, the club seemed to be populated primarily by really trashy-looking 18-year-old girls, or really fat guys of various ethnicities. The music was okay, and I got a couple hours of good dancing out of it, but eventually it just got boring. The drinks were microscopic for how much they were charging, too, so I couldn't even get drunk enough to fool myself into thinking it was a good experience. :p Maybe I'm just spoiled by 80's Night at John Henry's--the music at 80's Night is enough to keep me dancing for 4 or 5 hours, and the crowd is more quirky and less into humping and groping each other.
Anyway, it seemed like a lot of my fellow UO kids weren't having much fun, so 8 or 9 of us gathered together a little after 1a, took the van keys, and ditched out for some dinner. We went through the drive-thru at a Jack-in-the-Box a couple blocks away from the club, and put in a *huge* order. It was a rather painful process, because we kept going back and adding/changing things in our order, but they got our food out really fast.
Of course, later we went back through the same drive-thru *again*, after going back and getting the last few stragglers at the club. Phil decided to put on the most hilarious Fresh-off-the-boat-Asian accent when he was putting in his order, and we about died laughing in the back. ::asdlfksdhlfkhdasfkl:: The poor woman working that drive-up window will be having nightmares about us for days, I'm sure.
Sunday had me feeling somewhat better, because I actually got some decent sleep. Not enough to compensate for the utter lack of it the night before, but it was a relief. This time we were minus Phil, because he took a plane back to Oregon early, so I started off in the driver's seat for a while. BWA HA HA! Everyone said that I should put on an accent for the toll booth guy, but I didn't, mostly because none of the funny accents I can do would really work coming from a half-Asian female. (Phil is very obviously Asian by appearance, so his corny accent was at least semi-believable) ^^; I don't know, maybe I could get away with really bad Scottish? ::shrug:: Something to think about for the Berkeley trip, I guess.
We stopped for lunch at In-n-Out Burger!! OMG, I hadn't had an In-n-Out burger in ages, and it was *so good*. Oh my stars! And after that, we hit up Krispy Kreme and Keith bought us 2 dozen donuts for the road. It was junk food heaven!
The drive was even more long and tedious than it was on Friday, because I was just so damned TIRED, and I couldn't sleep in the car, and I couldn't wait to get home. I have never been happier to get back to my own house and my own bed, and actually have some time alone. But, I had some good times, so I would still do it over again, even if we ate so much junk food and fast food that I probably gained 5 lbs just over the weekend. :p
So, yeah, it was a fun trip, and it has definitely made me raise the bar on my goals in wushu. I'm feeling very determined to train hard with my Long Fist form, learn straightsword and maybe even some Southern Fist, if Keith is up for teaching it to me. Then I will just get some good sleep the night before, and then come out on April 10 and 0wnz0r Bitches at the Berkeley tournament! >:D I also really want to have my own silks by then. I think I may go out and look for sewing patterns tomorrow, because they can't be too hard to make--they aren't closely-fitted uniforms, so it won't require a lot of measurements.
Also, I had the thought of maybe driving myself down to SF for Berkeley, instead of traveling with the group, because then I could stay an extra day or two, and visit withtotchiko!! And finally meet threeleet, too, I suspect. :) That'd be so much fun. The only problem is getting extra time off, if I have a job by that point. Of course, if I have a decent job by then, then I'll probably have enough money to just buy some plane tickets. :)
And holy crap, I need to go to bed now, so I can wake up for my interview! Good night, my darlings.
So, I got up bright and early on Friday morning (7am, to be precise) and met up with the club at 9:30a. The ride down was rather long, and kind of tedious.
junsiew and I were perched in the very back seat, and spent a lot of time crocheting and knitting, respectively. The only bad thing about being in the very back was having to either climb over Keith's horse bench, or vault in through the back door to get into our seat. ^^; I also got kind of bored, because *everyone* around me fell asleep for several hours during the ride, so I had this wall of sleeping people between me and the other folks who were actually awake.When we hit Medford, we had to pick up Peter, whom I don't even really know b/c he was in the club before I joined. But it wound up taking an HOUR at least, because nobody had any idea how to get to Peter's house. It was a rather creepy experience, because there were random people in town just sitting on their porches or standing on the sidewalks, *staring* at us as we drove by. I can just imagine some yokel standing out there saying, "Boy howdy, lookit all them Japaneeeese people!"
We stopped at Quizno's/Carl's Jr for lunch, and that got the Quizno's song stuck in my head. Damn those mutant rats! ;p (OMG that Quizno's commercial just came on as I wrote that sentence. CREEPY AAAAHHHH) After lunch, I was going out of my skull because Phil kept playing the same Ludacris songs over and over and OMFG WHY GOD WHY?!! Seriously, the next person who plays Ludacris anywhere *near* me is getting kicked in the crotch.
After some more driving, we got to San Fran around 8 or 9p, and we stopped for dinner to have some Pho. It was pretty good, and I also had this interesting tapioca/bean paste dessert thingy that was really good. And afterwards, a bunch of us went a couple doors down from the Pho place to get bubble tea!! <3 I was stuffed beyond belief after all the food.
We didn't get to our final destination until after 10p. Fortunately, the house of Brandon (the guy we were all crashing with) was not quite as sketchy as I expected it to be. But it was close. ;p There was a lot of space, though, so a few of us practiced our forms for a bit before taking showers and getting ready for bed. I went through it twice, and felt *awesome* about it. The form felt strong, flowing, and *easy* when I did it.
We finally hit the bed around 1a. I was one of the fortunate few to snag a futon to sleep on, and I also didn't have to share it, mostly because I told people that I have a history of involuntarily kicking my bedmates in my sleep. ::rotfl:: Unfortunately, even with that, I could *not* fall asleep. I don't know why, but it was at least an hour, probably closer to two hours before I could fall asleep. And even then, I kept waking up every 20 minutes or so. It was the most horrible night's sleep I've had in recent memory.
And so, I got up at the ass-crack of dawn (6:15a) on Saturday morning, feeling like utter crap after tossing and turning for 5 hours. I had my wushu stuff gathered together around 7:30, and several of us ran across the street to a donuts/coffee shop for breakfast, and then ran back to hop in the van and head over to Stanford. Our plan was to participate in/watch the tournament, see the Masters Demo, and then go to a club after all of that.
Of course, we weren't informed until about 5 seconds before the van pulled away, that we *weren't* coming back to Brandon's before going to the club, so half of us had 30 seconds or so to jump out of the van, run back inside, grab a change of clothes, and run back outside again. I forgot about half the things that I wanted to bring because we had so little time to grab our stuff, so I was a little ticked off by that. That feeling was only intensified by my being completely exhausted.
We checked in at Stanford, and I had to start warming up right away, because the Beginners were scheduled to go first. Aaaahhh!! Warming up was kind of hard, and I could tell that my body was starting to crash, just from the sheer fatigue of not getting any sleep. I ate a protein bar, and kept shoveling in Skittles in the hopes of giving myself enough energy to last through the Beginners' set, but it soon became clear that it wasn't working.
Anyway, my turn eventually rolled around, so I went out at the appointed moment and did my form. I was mostly just going through the motions, because I was so tired that I couldn't focus AT ALL. I can't even really remember what I did wrong, because it's all just a big blur in my memory, but I came away with an overall feeling that it was definitely not my best work. Poo. :p I was hoping to represent myself and the team better than that.
It was a rough day for our Beginners, overall. Janet and Greg both came away from their forms feeling like they did crappy. Thomas was actually doing really well in his long fist set until the very end, and then he had the misfortune of breaking his brand-new staff during his weapon set later in the day! It was pretty freaky, too, because it split right down the middle.
The rest of the team definitely had its moments, though: Keith pulled down several medals, including one for his awesome horse bench, and Phil snagged All-Around Champion for his 3rd time in a row. W00t! We also saw some really amazing work from the Advanced competitors, including this tiny chick from Brazil who took Women's All-Around. Although, honestly, I was a bit more interested in the *other* girl from Brazil, as in the taller, dark-haired one who dominated all the Nanquan events--she was also probably the only girl in the room built like me! (seriously, if you took all the guys out of that room, my head would be sticking up like a sore thumb in a sea of tiny women) I guess she made me think that perhaps Southern style is my true calling... :)
I was further reminded that I am a tall freak in the world of wushu when I bought a straight sword from one of the merchants at the event--I had to buy the longest one they had. ^^; At least it was only $25, though, which beats every online price I've seen by a lot. I'm very excited about learning straight sword, because Phil said multiple times before the tournament that he was going to teach us straight sword next. You can bet that I'll be holding him to that statement.
As for Stanford itself, the campus *was* really pretty, just like
totchiko told me. :) Everything on it was *much* farther apart than on the UO campus, though. When we hiked over to Tressider (the student union) to get lunch, it was a pretty involved walk. There is also not a single ATM on that campus, or at least not one that's near Burnham Pavillion. ;pAfter the tournament finally ended, there were a few other random things to partake in. Stanford set up this thing they called a "Masters Demo," which wasn't exactly the most appropriate name for it, because there were only a couple actual Masters in the show. The Masters were quite good, though, especially the woman who did double straight sword. :)
There were quite a few sets done by people who competed earlier in the day, but it was kind of boring, because they did the same forms that they'd done in competition less than 4 hours earlier. :p They did have a performance by this adorable little kid, though, who was maybe 6 years old, and he already had wushu skills that put a lot of the Collegiates competitors to shame! Apparently they start some kids on this sport straight out of the womb. ::rotfl::
After the show was over, we took a few moments to freshen up (badly, because we couldn't take actual showers), and then went off in search of the club that a bunch of the kids from Collegiates were all going to. Again, this took way longer than it should have, because nobody up front knew where they were going. -_-; (Next time *I* am navigating! :p) We almost missed the 11pm cutoff for free admission, too, but we managed to get in just under the wire.
Sometime during the search for the club, Keith felt it necessary to mention that I have "a really pretty sneeze." ASDKFADSLFKHADSFKLH!! My response: "I thought 'terrifying' would be a more apt descriptor!" It seems to startle the hell out of everyone else the first time they hear it.
The club itself was kind of meh. Aside from the wushu kids from the tournament, the club seemed to be populated primarily by really trashy-looking 18-year-old girls, or really fat guys of various ethnicities. The music was okay, and I got a couple hours of good dancing out of it, but eventually it just got boring. The drinks were microscopic for how much they were charging, too, so I couldn't even get drunk enough to fool myself into thinking it was a good experience. :p Maybe I'm just spoiled by 80's Night at John Henry's--the music at 80's Night is enough to keep me dancing for 4 or 5 hours, and the crowd is more quirky and less into humping and groping each other.
Anyway, it seemed like a lot of my fellow UO kids weren't having much fun, so 8 or 9 of us gathered together a little after 1a, took the van keys, and ditched out for some dinner. We went through the drive-thru at a Jack-in-the-Box a couple blocks away from the club, and put in a *huge* order. It was a rather painful process, because we kept going back and adding/changing things in our order, but they got our food out really fast.
Of course, later we went back through the same drive-thru *again*, after going back and getting the last few stragglers at the club. Phil decided to put on the most hilarious Fresh-off-the-boat-Asian accent when he was putting in his order, and we about died laughing in the back. ::asdlfksdhlfkhdasfkl:: The poor woman working that drive-up window will be having nightmares about us for days, I'm sure.
Sunday had me feeling somewhat better, because I actually got some decent sleep. Not enough to compensate for the utter lack of it the night before, but it was a relief. This time we were minus Phil, because he took a plane back to Oregon early, so I started off in the driver's seat for a while. BWA HA HA! Everyone said that I should put on an accent for the toll booth guy, but I didn't, mostly because none of the funny accents I can do would really work coming from a half-Asian female. (Phil is very obviously Asian by appearance, so his corny accent was at least semi-believable) ^^; I don't know, maybe I could get away with really bad Scottish? ::shrug:: Something to think about for the Berkeley trip, I guess.
We stopped for lunch at In-n-Out Burger!! OMG, I hadn't had an In-n-Out burger in ages, and it was *so good*. Oh my stars! And after that, we hit up Krispy Kreme and Keith bought us 2 dozen donuts for the road. It was junk food heaven!
The drive was even more long and tedious than it was on Friday, because I was just so damned TIRED, and I couldn't sleep in the car, and I couldn't wait to get home. I have never been happier to get back to my own house and my own bed, and actually have some time alone. But, I had some good times, so I would still do it over again, even if we ate so much junk food and fast food that I probably gained 5 lbs just over the weekend. :p
So, yeah, it was a fun trip, and it has definitely made me raise the bar on my goals in wushu. I'm feeling very determined to train hard with my Long Fist form, learn straightsword and maybe even some Southern Fist, if Keith is up for teaching it to me. Then I will just get some good sleep the night before, and then come out on April 10 and 0wnz0r Bitches at the Berkeley tournament! >:D I also really want to have my own silks by then. I think I may go out and look for sewing patterns tomorrow, because they can't be too hard to make--they aren't closely-fitted uniforms, so it won't require a lot of measurements.
Also, I had the thought of maybe driving myself down to SF for Berkeley, instead of traveling with the group, because then I could stay an extra day or two, and visit with
totchiko!! And finally meet threeleet, too, I suspect. :) That'd be so much fun. The only problem is getting extra time off, if I have a job by that point. Of course, if I have a decent job by then, then I'll probably have enough money to just buy some plane tickets. :)And holy crap, I need to go to bed now, so I can wake up for my interview! Good night, my darlings.
