Diary - April 2024

April 1, 2024

Today I was at home playing piano. I was stuck on some notes that were difficult to play. They were really fast, and even after I tried repeating the notes over and over again, I couldn't get them right. After mom heard me pounding on the piano in fury, she told me I had to do the very boring hand exercises. So, after I did the hand exercises several times, I tried the notes again. I wasn't expecting much, because it was already so bad it couldn't get any worse. But, mom told me that if I keep doing this, I could get a lot better, apparently.

I bet that if I keep working on my soccer skills the same way I work on piano, I should be able to get a lot better in dribbling that I am right now. I just have to keep working. And don't give up. And listen to good advice. And don't trip on the concrete when I'm practicing. Ugh. So many things to do...

April 2, 2024

Today I noticed that mom was giving Kyle practice sheets for Pre-Ace exams. I asked mom if I could go to, but she said it was only for people that are in mastery and that calculate fast and accurately. Also for people that raise hands often.* I was kind of mad, not because I wasn't in Ace, because Kyle is always better than me. So, I promised myself that I would work hard to get into mastery and then get into Ace. Same with soccer. And chess. And Language Arts. 

I want to be the younger sibling. You get to be annoying, you get more options (Say, when I was six, I never had the chance to take a test and go into Think Academy. Younger people are luckier.) , and you never get in trouble for it.

*It's not my fault dad comes in and makes me do other stuff! 

April 3, 2024 - courage

Today I read about Dave Grohl again.

This time, the diary is about the time he and his daughter, Violet, performed in front of a school talent show. Violet was scared of how many people were watching, but when was called to get ready backstage, she eventually found the courage to sing. Everybody was stunned by her angel-like her voice was. After the show, they were met with a thunderous applause and a standing ovation.

So, just like Violet, David stepped up to the offer to play for the Oscars in front of 34 million people. He treated it like an ordinary show, and just played. He gathered his courage to do something that he was worried of doing.

I think compared to Dave, I would have never played for the Oscars. I would have never overcome that fear (I haven't played a show in front of over a hundred people yet, what do you expect?) and just stuck to playing piano alone. I know. Very awkward for a kid 4' 10".

I do find courage in playing 1 on 1 at a chess tournament. I'm proud of myself for overcoming my fears and getting second place.

April 4, 2024 - First basketball game with dad

Today I was told by dad that I was going to go to basketball camp. I didn't want to go (I'm not good at basketball), but after discussing that there was no canceling the decision I thought I might use some skills for the camp. I went to Odle (sounds like oodles [As in oodles of worms] ) Middle School to practice with Kyle and dad. The school has a full court, and at our house, we don't.* And Odle's basketball court is covered by a roof, which is nice to have when it's raining. 

We started playing 2v1 (me and Kyle vs. Dad) once we got there. I first made a couple goals by beating dad with my speed and my long shots, but he started getting the hang of his old skills. And so, he scored a few points. After that, Kyle scored a backward shot! "LETS GO!" exclaimed Kyle, pumping his fists in the air. Me and dad clapped and cheered for him. I'm sure that he must have felt very tired and proud of himself.

 After that, I also scored a 90º shot and a 270º shot. I let out an enthusiastic "LETS GO!" afterwards. I thought that I was really good, because I was the first one to do ether in our family. Plus a 360º shot. But that doesn't really count as "special".

I think I'll make a good basketball player at basketball camp for a little while. But, I might not. Kids could figure out that I tire easily when dribbling the ball and cutting it back at high speeds.†

I feel lucky to even have the chance of playing basketball.

*We could attach one of those basketball hoops, though.

†I think everybody does, though.

April 7, 2024 - A day with my uncle

Today I went to my uncle Pan's house to play.
The first thing I noticed was that from the outside, the house looks small. But, from the inside, it's actually really big! The house was clean, it overlooked a beautiful view, and it had lots of room to play. And it was going to look nicer after the grass installation was done!

I saw a basketball court that was my uncle's neighbors' property, and asked dad if I could play there. He said yes, so I brought my ball and went. It was pretty nice! I could score a nice layup, and the court wasn't too slippery. But, after Kyle came, things got messy.

I was beating Kyle 16 - 3, when he said, "You're mean! I don't want to play." So, I continued by myself. Until dad poked his head out and told me to play with Kyle. So I did. I let him score all the time, and he was happy. And I could play on. 

I learned something important: If you are playing with a person younger than you, play easy. Go 50% on them. Don't go 100%. They'll get angry and tell on you and then you'll get in trouble.

April 8, 2024 - first day at basketball camp

Today I went to basketball camp at Sammamish High School. I liked it a ton!

The first thing I noticed was that all the kids were pretty good. So, I decided to follow David Grohl's ideal plan: Fake it 'till you make it. So, I pretended I was good. Soon enough, I was blending in well. Nobody noticed me. Until I saw Devin.

We talked, and we kind of made fun of the high schoolers who missed and had airballs on 3-pointers. I was okay, but I didn't do that good when someone was defending me. Devin didn't make fun of me, though.

In 3v3s, our team won by a considerable bit. Like, 27 - 24 or something. And I contributed with 15 assists and 1 goal. I took 12 shots. :(

April 10, 2024 - the omen that I don't believe

Today dad told me there was a bad omen.

Dad once told me that me and Kyle were supposed to be the tall trees in our backyard. But guess what? Our branch-trimmer found out that the inside of the left-hand tree was rotting away. Dad took this as a bad omen. He explained that the word "Tai" in my name means a bad thing will come, and flip the world over. Then, things will start getting better and better.

I told dad I don't believe in this omen-y shenanigan, but I do know one thing: If you believe in omens, that will happen. If you don't, it won't! And it all started out with a quote I found on a juice box.

"Those who want to find flowers find flowers. Those who don't, don't." --whoever wrote on that juice box.

April 11, 2024

Today I went to basketball camp for the fourth day. It was pretty fun. I started winning some 1v1s!

We worked on defending, which is not that hard for me since I am a defender in soccer. The defending in soccer is easy to know. Just surfboard-side-on to the attacker, and dive in when they make a mistake.

The basketball defending tactics consists of mostly jumping to save a ball, sliding forward, and even falling back on your butt! But, I learned them quickly, and I could easily defend against Jack or Devin.*

Then, I began winning the 1v1's. THAT was fun.

But, I still have to work on my shooting power. :(

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And I'm getting chewed out by dad.      >:(   

And him telling me that my diary isn't good enough.       >:(        >:(

And I'm sad.  ⟪-_-⟫

*Jack is Taipei, but looks like a mexican. He likes Prime and is good at layups. I think Devin is Chinese, and he is good at 3-pointers and free-throws. He likes Z-bars and Gummy bears (technically rabbits) They both are my friends.

April 12, 2024

Today was the last day of basketball camp...

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzZZZZZZzzzzZZZZZZ....

April 13, 2024 - How I will work on my chinese

Today I got a lecture from dad.

After he watched my Chinese class, he asked me to read out loud the story on my textbook that was taught today. I stuttered several times and I got stuck on some characters. So, he decided to ask me first about why everybody was better than me. He pulled my ear >:(and yelled. >:O  at me for my grades being lowest in my class, possibly in my grade, and he asked me what was happening.

I felt sad and embarrassed. My grades at school already are a B-point average, and for Chinese grades to be this bad is like me getting kicked out of school. So, I tried to come up with a plan.

I have a problem here. I want to improve my grades in Chinese, but I sometimes forget to. What now? I don't know the password, and mom and dad aren't always at home to help me unlock the iPad! Also, how am I supposed to remember to do the Chinese homework??

Well, I thought of a solution. If mom and dad tell grandpa the password, he can open the iPad for me, and I can write "Chinese" (in cursive) on my planner so I remember every day! I hope this method with help me improve my Chinese grades. :) But I have a long way to go.  :|

April 14, 2024 - The chess game

Today I played an unbelievably chaotic chess game against a 969-rated player. 

Dad told me that if I have even ONE MOVE that was played under 10 seconds, he was going to slap me on the hand with a ruler. So, I tried to focus and think on every move. That did not work very well.

I wasn't playing any move under 10 seconds, but, I was focusing too much on the time instead of the game. And I lost some pieces. I cried and cried and slapped my head a bunch of times, and I even tried clicking randomly around the screen. I knew that dad was going to get mad at me.

When dad came, he helped make some moves. And soon enough, The opponent made a blunder! And, I took advantage of that, and I ended up winning! In just a few minutes, someone can become totally different.

Something I learned was that never give up, because anything can happen. On minute you could be losing. The next minute, you are winning!

SORRY FOR THE 7-day delay, i APOLOGIZE for not doing my diary daily.

April 21, 2024 - our UNFORTUNATE loss

I am sad. 

Our soccer team made it to the semifinals in WACUP, or State Cup, and we were really pumped up to win this match against Seattle Celtics. Unfortunately, we celebrated too soon and we paid the price for it. We lost to them.

Before this game, we won all our games in the group stage, and scored many, many goals. I contributed to a few myself! Our confidence was sky high after we beat Central Washington Sounders (CWS) 3 - 2. We thought we were good to go, but we were far from that.

We all thought it would be 5 - 0 in the first half, but it wasn't. They surprised us by scoring 2 goals in the first half! At the end, we lost 3 - 2. I  should have ran harder and pressed the other players. But, it isn't just my fault. Theo should have took more shots on goal. Aurik should have ran harder and took shots in the CORNER next time. :|

I think our team should take this as a learning opportunity improvement next time we face them. Who knows? Maybe we'll win the cup! :)

At least we had some fun!

April 24, 2024 - recap of my chess rating

So, today I was playing a rapid chess game on Chess.com, and I played another 1050. He was attacking fiercely on the queenside to push his pawns, and I was barely holding on by a thread. Just when it looks like I'm going to win a pawn, he makes a move which looked like a fork threat, so I moved my queen away. And then, he played a blunder! He blocked the queen with the knight so it wasn't protecting the bishop! And, he resigned.

If you're asking why I'm a 1050, I'll tell you. One day, dad accidentally played rapid games in my chess account. He got my rating up to 1147, and when I looked, I was shocked. I asked him to lose a whole bunch of games for me, because 1150 is too hard for me. So, he lost a hundred points for me. Now I'm a 1020. Yay. 

The fog has finally cleared, and I am happy that I met my goal! If I weren't actually 1025 rated, I would have lost all my games, and my rating would be back to a 950. But, I'm still here, so I think I have a good chance for Washington State Chess Cup!

April 27, 2024 - Our science experiment

Yesterday I had a challenging science experiment with a very interesting lesson.

At school, Yusef and I built a lunar module that has shock absorbers to help slow the fall. We originally built made paper suspension with marshmallows, but later that idea didn't work.

The marshmallows kept falling out of the Lunar Lander (a piece of cardboard with a cup taped on it) , so Yusef and I taped the marshmallows to the inside of the cup. Then, I got an idea. What if we just used a piece of cardboard with no suspension? It worked, but it tipped over a lot. I taped straws under it, and Yusef put the marshmallows under the cardboard. It worked once or twice, but we ran out of time.

When we presented the landers, other people's did better than us! One team had straw suspention. Two had parachutes (those worked best) , and the rest failed, ours included.
One lesson I learned: expect the unexpected. 

April 28, 2024 - My first tryout for elite

Today I had my tryout for Elite. A lot of people (64) came to try out, so I really have to play hard so I can get myself noticed. Last year I made into Elite A, but it was pure luck.

THIS time, most of my elite A/B buddies were on my team in 2v2s, and in 5v5s, my old friend Tyler got put with me, alongside Luke, Theo, and Ethan. 

2v2s: My team totally dominated everybody we played against. In the first round, we beat my old Elite team 3 - 0, and I scored one. In the second round, We beat the other team a whopping 20 - 1, where I scored 3 goals!

5v5s: My team was with other Elite A players (e.g. Ethan, Theo, Luke) and with Tyler from Coach Tian's team. We dominated the first game, where the score was 14 - 0, I scored 5. In the second round, we took control, and beat some of my old Elite teammates 5 - 0, where I scored twice!

I feel like I have a good chance of getting into Elite. For some reason, my gut instinct says that I'm going to get into Elite B. Dad says my score today in soccer was 10 / 10. Still, I feel a little unsafe that I might only be on Elite B...

April 29, 2024 - second day of tryouts for elite

Today I had my second Elite tryout...In HAIL AND BUCKETLOADS OF RAIN! I was really cold and wet, so if you saw me perform badly, there you go. You have the weather to blame.

When we just started in 9v9s, I felt like my team was going to win this. But, the first part wasn't so. Ethan let a goal down, and so did I. But, thankfully the offense did a good job of scoring. 

I felt like me and Ethan let our team down by losing two goals, but at least we won the game! After all, the point of soccer is to have fun, and if you aren't, it kind of defeats the purpose of the game.