Personal Addition #12 - Blooming Tea

This is probably one of the coolest and most aesthetically pleasing teas out there... also great for when you have company! So far, I've only encountered green and white blooming teas, though I'm sure that others exist. These guys start off in ball form (picture below), and open up into flowers while being steeped. This process takes about 10 minutes, so it's pretty neat to watch!


http://goo.gl/CMNZ6

Glass tea/coffee pots tend to be the best to use for blooming teas, as they make it easy to see the flower bloom.

White tea with jasmine flowers

Remember that with steeping more fragile teas (white, green, oolong) one should wait about 10 minutes or so after boiling their water before infusing the leaves. Otherwise, the boiling water may singe the leaves, creating a bitter taste in the process. (This is why many people are convinced that green tea is bitter - which is definitely not the case. They simply don't know how to steep it properly!)


Green blooming tea from Quebec City.

p.s. Any tea questions? I'm more than willing to share my tea knowledge.

Reading and Writing Reflection #8

Book: Seriously, I’m Kidding…

Author: Ellen Degeneres

Pages Read: 1- 241 (all)

The first thing that captured my attention was the witty back cover of the book. It is so much more silly and personal than most, using irony for comedic purposes. Ellen stated that she’s uncomfortable with “nice quotes from fancy people” on her cover because she doesn’t “believe in cheap tricks like that.”  I loved how she filled the space with her own quotes, which were all cheesy compliments to the reader instead. I was laughing and already hooked, and I hadn’t even opened up the book yet!

Once I did, I wasn’t disappointed. Ellen managed to cover so many topics about life, giving insight and inspiring me to focus on what I deem to be important, instead of getting sucked into the views of society. The best part of it all was that she managed to incorporate humor into the whole thing. What I really enjoy about Ellen is that she is just generally so funny without taking things too far. Her humor (and book) is appropriate and caters to everyone, and in my opinion, she doesn’t cross the line like many other comedians tend to. I think that this is why she is so successful and has been around (and has stuck around) for so long.

Woops, I’m a little off topic. Anyways, Seriously, I’m Kidding… was a wonderful easy read and whooshed right by! They say that laughter is the best medicine, and I can truly relate to this after having read the book whilst not feeling well. It put me in a great mood, made me giggle, and most importantly, left me with a positive outlook on things. (Thanks Ellen!)

As far as being goofy goes, one of my favourite chapters was “How to Be a Supermodel.”

 

Writing Reflection - Newspaper Blackout Poetry:

 

I really enjoyed the Newspaper Blackout Poetry. I’m not much of a writer, therefore having someone else’s words as a canvas made it much easier. Starting from scratch is always a scary thing for me (often referred to as the “white paper syndrome”) so there was some reassurance in already having something to go off of. The first poem came to me quite easily, as did the second. The third one was quite a bit more time consuming though. This may have been because I knew that I’d have to connect the three poems with an evident theme in the end, and had that weight on my shoulders while trying to create the last poem. Either way, it was completed eventually and the theme came together quite nicely. Thinking back to it now, I probably shouldn’t have been so worried about the main topic since there are infinite possibilities and options for it.

I found that some articles I could work with much more easily than others. For example, politics related articles were difficult to use because of the vocabulary. Surprisingly, I ended up using one or two sports articles though. I found that they had more emotional words. When I was out of luck in finding a word that fit my poem, I had the option of searching for individual letters, which could make any word I like when combined. All in all, I enjoyed the freedom of Newspaper Blackout Poetry because it wasn’t overwhelming for me. Instead, it felt a little bit like a puzzle to search for letters/words and make sense of it all.

Personal Addition #11 - Bell Pepper Egg

http://goo.gl/aQwqT

The first time I stumbled upon this was on iwastesomuchtime.com. Thinking that this is an easy, visually appealing cooking idea, I decided to try it out... With my own twist!

I am a huge fan of quick, healthy, and filling meals that just about anyone can make for themselves. One of my favourite lunch options is the mushroom omelette. Adding the bell pepper ring to it not only gives it a funky appearance but also gives people the option of using it as a patty.

Ingredients:

- egg(s)
- sliced mushrooms (preferably brown)
- a little bit of salt and pepper
- pepper ring, your choice of colour
- some dill/parsley/other greens (optional)

I feel like this would be a great burger option for vegetarians. Both the egg and mushroom provide one with protein, and cheese, lettuce, tomato, cucumber, sauce, or other burger/sandwich toppings can be added. Put that between some whole grain (possibly toasted) buns, and you've got yourself an awesome meal! (Or just make a side salad, which is what I did) ---->

Bucket List (often revised)

1. Visit my family in Russia after 10 years of not seeing them
2. Find a career path that I'm passionate about
3. Be reunited with the boy I love
4. Pierce my septum
5. Run a half marathon
6. Pet and feed a giraffe
7. Be an audience member of The Ellen Degeneres Show
8. Experience a hot air balloon ride
9. Scale a building
10.. Help in a third world country
11. Ride an elephant
12. Play hide and seek in IKEA
13. Ride on the back of a motorcycle
14. Take part in a traditional Japanese tea ceremony
15. Travel somewhere alone
16. Watch the ball drop in Times Square
17. Do Sun Salutations (Surya Namaskara) to the rising sun
18. Kiss a stranger
19. See The Lumineers live in concert
20. Explore Thailand
21. Quit my part-time retail job
22. Take swing dancing lessons
23. Euro trip
24. Fly a kite
25. Have a hanami (cherry blossom viewing) in Japan during the blooming season
26. Speak French fluently
27. Participate in a Chinese lantern festival
28. Sleep outdoors for a night
29. Master the use of chopsticks
30. Pick up and decorate a Charlie Brown style of Christmas tree
31. Surprise my parents with a vacation
32. Walk the streets of Vieux Québec again
33. Go mushroom picking with my grandma (like old times)
34. Win $100+ from a scratch ticket
35. Buy farm animals for a family in need overseas
36. Marry the love of my life
37. Have my own tea wall/cupboard
38. Put together a Christmas hamper (or a few) for a less fortunate family
39. Bake and decorate a cake with multiple tiers
40. Swim in the waters surrounding/of Greece
41. See the mountains in person
42. Get my own place
43. Swim with penguins
44. Bring a gift/treat for my favourite sample guy at Costco
45. Visit Paris with my significant other
46. Learn to crack eggs with one hand
47. Help the environment by planting trees in public areas
48. Go zip lining
49. Live by a swimmable body of water
50. See Montréal
51. Skinny dip
52. Harvest the camellia sinensis (tea) plant
53. Have a late night beach party (bonfire included)
54. Make pottery
55. Watch a movie at a drive-in theatre
56. Become a (successful) USANA associate
57. Get over my fear of public speaking
58. Perfect mom's mushroom soup recipe
59. Go sailing
60. Paint a piece I'm proud of
61. Become a red head

What do you want to do before you die?

Personal Addition #10 - Year of the Snake!

Happy 2013, everyone! (Yes, I know. I'm a little late...)

"The Lucky snake gives you fortune so your heart will be satisfied." - translation from Asian calendar, thanks to Winnie C.

I have a friend (mentioned above) who is aware of my fascination with the Asian culture, and therefore gave me a Chinese calendar for my desk. (Yes, my room actually has a desk in it now..! No more doing homework on my bed and slowly dozing off!) Every month has an inspirational quote, all of which she translated into English for me. Though you probably won't ever see this, friend, I always appreciate how thoughtful your gifts are!

Anyways, she mentioned that the quotes don't exactly sound as poetic or as powerful in English, but I think that they still get the point across quite nicely. (If this is just me, then simply use your imagination while reading them.) Here are a few of my favorites:

"Relax with everything and happiness will come naturally." - month of February. To me, this means that one should avoid stress and worry as much as possible. It also implies that even though one should strive for happiness, it is not something that can be obtained with force or artificially. To be happy, you need to be at ease and positive.

"Being able to eat is a fortune and will give you a lifetime of satisfaction." - month of November. This implies that we should be grateful for the privileged life we have, as many are not so fortunate and don't meet their basic needs for food, shelter, and clean water. Referring to Abraham Maslow's pyramid of human needs, one needs to satisfy the first physiological level (survival) before they can work on themselves in other ways. We are truly lucky not to have to worry about where our next meal is coming from and will probably never understand how serious of an issue this is for some, unless we live in their shoes.

"Have no limits on anything and everything will to smoothly." - month of December. To me, this quote discusses the idea of having expectations. I don't know how it works for others, but I find that when I expect things to happen a certain way, I am usually disappointed. As a result of this, "no expectations" is often something I tell myself to avoid this from happening. The quote also touches the subject of not to setting restrictions and simply believing in yourself.

Personal Addition #9 - Essay and Immigration

To prepare us for our provincial exam, our English teacher asked us to do written piece; specifically the one that the grade 12 students had to write for the exam a year ago. The topic was 'Experiences'. Living a busy life and putting the assignment off, I hadn't completed it until after the exam itself. (As hard as it may be to believe due to my work ethic in this course, this was completely unlike me!) What was different about this piece is how thought provoking it was for me. In literary courses, most of the writing is done based off of novels. However, for the final exam, this isn't exactly an option. Tweaking my central idea for the topic of 'Responsibility', I wrote a personal essay about how the experience of immigrating from a different country has benefitted my life and has helped me with overcoming obstacles, self-initiated learning, and led to positive outcomes in young adult life. The strange thing about this topic is the fact that it wasn't just a bunch of BS! (Pardon my Français.) For once, I had written about something that is genuine and very true to me. The topic itself also led me to conclude just how grateful I am to have gone through all of the struggles, awkward moments, and the language barrier, as all of these things have drastically shaped the person I am today. Sorry for the cheesiness, I just had to share my excitement.

I now leave you with two things...

"Experience is the teacher of all things." - Julius Caesar

And yes, having to sit cross-legged on the floor in elementary school was an actual challenge for me! Not physically, of course. It was just a little strange after all the expectations of proper posture, manners, and you know, being told to avoid the dirty floor full of germs as a kid in Russia...

Words to the School Board

My favourite digital activity has been keeping up a personal blog. This is something I would’ve never done before due to lack of interest and things to write about, but having some guidance when it comes to what is necessary to post has made it much more manageable. For our personal blog additions, we have full creative freedom, meaning that we can discuss whatever it is that interests us and watch our blogs grow, so it’s nice not to be limited to specific topics, writing forms, etc. Something surprising that I’ve learned about the digital world is that social media can be used for much more than just communication and entertainment. One can share useful facts, their talents, and even educate others through it. It was Twitter that led to this revelation. A recommendation of mine would be to open up Wi-Fi to students. This course has been a little challenging with many sites being blocked and the lack of computer availability on a daily basis. I feel like many students would benefit from being able to connect to Wi-Fi and so many things wouldn’t be left to be done at home, making it easier to focus on the point of the course and keeping up in general. My last comment about the course is how much it has changed my writing. I’ve never been comfortable with writing my views or opinions, and this course took me out of my comfort zone and opened me up a little bit. It is also one of the only classes that has touched me on a more personal level and provoked thought while serving as a bit of inspiration for my life.