Becoming 13

It has been so long since I have made a post. I have spring break for a week so that means lazy mornings and lazy afternoons and lazy evenings too. For the first time I haven't been given homework during break and I'm taking full advantage of it. In a week and a day I am going to become 13. Not only am I going to be a year older but I'm finally going to graduate being a tween and become a full-fledged teenager. I've been looking forward to becoming a teenager like any other girl would for a really long time. You know that feeling when you are looking forward to something for a really long time and then it comes close by and days go by really slow? Well magnify that feeling by 100 and that is how I feel now! On top of that, the spring school dance is the Friday after my birthday and I can't wait for that either. Just yesterday we went and bought a super-cute top to wear for that (yay!). Another funny thing is that there is absolutely nothing I can think of that I could ask for my birthday. As my grandpa would say 'I am suffering from abundance'. I wouldn't call it suffering though, it is more like a basking in abundance or something else pleasant like that. But I know for sure this birthday I will remember forever. =)

Leadership Camp

Last week my whole grade went to a Jungle Resort called Nagarhole and had a very good time and did once in a lifetime activities together. It was all part of a school thing called Leadership Camp. We did fun activites such as rafting, rappling, and jumaaring. I learnt lots of leadership qualities and I think I benefited from this camp in many ways.

Leadership Camp gave me the first oppurtunity to be by myself and away from my family for such a long time and I learned how to be responsible and take care of myself. Also many activites included teamwork and I learned to trust and depend on people that I barely even know from school. I also learned how to lead a team and to overcome obstacles together. Also many times I was in the same team as someone I don't like but I learned how to work with them which is a skill needed in daily life. I also learned how to communicate with different people and how to make them listen to you through fun activities. There was also lots of activies that helped with fear management. I did many thing which I thought I could never do like rapple down a huge mountain or hold and touch large snakes. I learned how to overcome fear and I was glad because I'm not dead right know and even though before the activity I was scared, now when I look back on it I'm happy I did it because it was fun, and most of the things I did were things I will probably never do again. I also learned how to survive in the wild and how to be strong and stay safe. We did survival cooking, tent pitching, and how to protect yourself in the wild. We also learned to live a week without any junk food or electronics. (it wasn't as easy as it sounds) So now, if I am stranded on an unknown island I wouldn't be as lost and confused as I would of been before the camp. Overall, I thought Leadership Camp was very fun and I am very glad I went because it taught me a lot and it was a great experience. I hope that I can do more camps like this and I will never forget this one!!!!!!!!

Happy 2009

After my wonderful vacation in America I came back to start a new strenuous semester in Indus International, Bangalore. =) In my opinion, 2009 started off in a wonderful way. I go my results of my Half-Yearly tests and most of them were really good. Also in September I took and unexpected National Science Olympiad. I got A Merit Scholar for that and got a 6th place in the school, 19th in the state, and 173rd in the nation. For me that is a very good thing considering I didn't even know about the test. But, because now we are in the second term, the teachers are piling a lot of homework. And not small homework, BIG charts and stuff. Unfortunately for me that means less fun, more H.W. and a lot more of chart paper!!!!!!!!

My Trip Back Home

Oh my god! The days are going by so fast. It seemed like just a couple days ago since I came to India and started school. But aldready a whole semester has gone by. I just came back to school from my winter vacation in America. When I went there I had so much fun. I enjoyed seeing my best friends, I enjoyed enjoying the fun things we did, and of course I enjoyed playing and talking and just spending time with my dad. And as usual, we had enjoyed getting a Christmas tree, decorating it, and putting present under it. And finally, when Christmas came, me, Nihar, Daddy, Mommy, Grandma, and Grandpa all happily opened presents together. I recieved a lot of cool things. I got what I always dreamed of-a new awesome cellphone. I also got many DS games, books, hairbands, and a new Wii game. Best of all, I to spend time with my whole family. In the evening we went to the annual Christmas party. I saw all my old friends and we had a wonderful time. After that, me, Nihar, Daddy, and two other families went for an awesome ski trip in Lake Tahoe.

After that, we had another big party the New Years Party! 5...4....3....2....1!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Trip to Paradise Land

On the morning of Indian Independence Day, August 15, my mom, brother, grandparents, and me started off for out weekend trip. We started early morning, and reached the city of Mysore in the afternoon. Mysore is a very beautiful place. We went to a really big temple called the Charmandaswari Temple atop the Charmandaswari Hill. We actually were able to get in despite the HUGE crowd. From there we went to the Mysore Palace of Maharaja. We saw the really big palace with all the artifacts belonging to the Maharaja displayed on the sides. Then, after that we went to the big bull which significance is that the enormous sculpture was carved from an entire sculpture of granite! From there we started off to the city of Coorg.

We reached there at night and spent the night in a beautiful resort. As I slept, I dreamed about the excitement on that day, and waited for a next day to start. Before I knew it, it was the next morning. We woke up and got ready quickly to go eat a delicious breakfast. After that we started off to see a really big and famous waterfall. During the drive, I saw Coorg for the first time in broad daylight. There is no word to explain it, but BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!!!!! It is the most “green” place I’ve seen. There is not even a single place in Coorg, which is not covered with lush green plants! We saw so many varieties of plants form pepper plants that swirl around tall trees to little coffee plants growing as little shrubs on the ground. After a fairly long drive, we reached the waterfall. It was the biggest one I ever saw! . It was known as the Abbe Falls. It was raining that day, so it made the waterfall much more beautiful. After we left there, we went to the resort to spend the day in the Fun Zone. The Fun Zone was a really nice plays which board games, card games, carrom board, table tennis, art activities, and video games. It was what I can definitely call, “A Family Place” We had lot of fun there.

The next morning was Sunday, and we had to go back home. On the way we went to an Elephant Camp, which sadly, was closed. So, disappointed we decided to go to a Tibet town. The small town resembled the country of Tibet. There, we went to the second largest temple in the world, which was also the biggest Buddhist school. It was really big and had to huge building with beautiful paintings and designs on the outside. But the best part was the inside. It was really beautiful with a really BIG statue of sitting Buddha, and on one side was his first follower who encouraged Buddhism after Buddha died, and then on the other side of Buddha, there was his second follower. The statues are 60 ft. tall and are made of copper and are gold plated. Inside the statue of Buddha, there are several small artifacts and sculptures. It was really nice. After that, we left towards home. After a long and boring 9 ½ hour trip, we reached home. As I slept that day I thought of all the wonderful and exciting places I’ve been to and saw, and I wish I could of gone for longer and see more. I hope I can go back to see some things I couldn’t see, and know that this trip will bring back wonderful memories.

In Bangalore

We recently came to Bangalore, and are staying in Le Meridien, one of the best hotels I've ever been to. It has been 10 days now, and we are checking out tomorrow. I am kind of glad because we are cooped up in a little room, and we get bored most of the day. There is a swimming pool, but it has been raining everyday, and the pool is cold. Tomorrow, we are going to a guest house which is really big and has a swimming pool inside the house. Yup, INSIDE the house. I can't wait. But the thing I really can't believe is that we are going to move into our new house within a month. I can't believe that Bangalore is actually our "home" now. It happened all so quickly. But anyways, now we are here, we are starting to settle in. We are looking for good cars, houses, and schools already. Speaking of schools, we took the test for TISB a couple days ago, and we both passed and are on the waiting list. But, because we had to take the test so late, the class is full and we probably wont have a space in the class, so we will most likely go to Indus. There is lots of things to do in our new "home", and I can't wait to find them out.

My Grandparents are Leaving!

On May 26th by grandmother and grandfather are both leaving to their home town in India. They have been here for two whole years. They came to help my mom during her MBA, and help me and my brother. They have been very supportive and without them, my mom would be more stressed that she aldready is and me and my brother wouldn't of been able to make it through the school year. My wonderful and helpful grandmother takes care of many household chores. Without her, my mom would have to do yet another thing to keep the house moving smoothly and properly. My grandpa helped my mom a lot. He takes us to tennis, walks, swimming, ect. so we could still have all the fun things without pestering busy mom. He helps me and Nihar (my brother) with all our schoolwork. Without him and mom not having enough time to help us, me and Nihar wouldn't of got it through the year. They both were here for two years, and I became very attatched to them. Tomorrow, they are leaving and even though mom is done with MBA and the schoolyear is almost done, I can't imagine life without them. I love them a lot, and I can't wait to move to India to see them again.