Euro 2008 Predictions

Semifinal #1 – Germany vs Turkey:

- Germany will be up 5-0 at the 80th minute. Three of the goals will be on set pieces and two will be headers from super tall (former basketball?) players. Cuz those are the only ways they ever score anyway.

- “Super Mario” will have another poor game because he’ll miss his mushroom boost again.

- From the 80th minute until the end of the game, Turkey will have another amazing comeback by scoring 6 goals to win the game. Oliver Kahn will once again remind Lehmann that he’s a n00b.

Semifinal #2 – Spain vs Russia:

- Russia’s coach, Guus Hiddink, will not show any emotion whatsoever. He’ll reminisce about the times he brought Korea and Australia to their greatest World Cup runs and about how he beat his own country, the Netherlands, in the last game. But he’ll also be so distracted that Spain will win 4-1 again. (Hiddink wants a Russian magic trick. Villa wants another hat trick.)

- William H. Macy will referee the game. Ooops, I meant Michel Lubos. Seriously, am I the only one to see the resemblance?

- To train for the match, Spain will play England in a friendly (since England is sooo bored of just watching this year’s Euro). Wayne Rooney will “accidentally” step on all the Spanish players’ crotches, and Spain will forfeit the game.

Final – Turkey vs Spain:

- Before the match begins, Turkey will lose another 10 of their starting players due to suspensions and injuries. They’ll still have an amazing sense of hope that they will win. The winning Greek team from 2004 will give them a few tips on how to pull even bigger surprises.

- Still hurt from the English friendly, the Spanish players will be shielding themselves extra cautiously during Turkish free kicks. Well-past his sperm-producing ages, Spanish coach Aragones will not understand their nut-clutching behavior.

- Upset about their deserved loss to Spain, the Italians will interfere with the game by falling, diving, elbowing, shoving, and doing anything cheap to help Russia win.

- Attracted to the falling and diving tactics, Cristiano Ronaldo will join the Italian squad. Attracted to Cristiano, a couple million teenage girls will also join the Italian squad.

- But Zidane will headbutt them all.

- And for no apparent reason, Brazil will win the game.

Aaaaand scene!

the most awkward meal + the most random thing

thursday 4/3/08

the most awkward meal:

after the funeral, my family and relatives had lunch together. we had two tables in the restaurant, one for adults, the other for the kids.. and the undertakers decided to join the kids table.

i swear.. it was like a scene straight from a comedy movie. one undertaker was a chinese man who had a really dorky smile the whole time.. and the other two were big and serious american guys who seemed like his sidekick goons. during the first 10 minutes of the lunch, absolutely no one said anything at the table. meanwhile, all of us kids kept exchanging glances with each other, as if we were all thinking the same thing and at any time were about to crack up at how ridiculous the situation was.

my brother and i finally broke the silence by asking the chinese guy questions about chinese customs at funerals. when we ran out of questions, i asked the undertakers about their jobs and why they chose it.

tuesday 4/8/08

the most random thing:

at dinner with titi, miguel, alex o., chang, and ashley n., i was sitting at a table facing the swipe-in desk. one table separated mine from the swipe-in.. and two girls i didn’t know were sitting there. when i saw one of my friends swiping in, i waved at her.. and i guess the two girls i didn’t know thought i was flirting with them. they started giggling and whispering to each other. but i didn’t know it had anything to do with me until..

when they were leaving the dining hall, one of the girls came up to me and put a little raffle ticket on my table and said “call me.” i flipped the ticket over and saw “call me, babe! =)” with a phone number and “3rd floor!” written on it.

the friends i was sitting with were like.. wtf? minutes after the girls left, i used my friend’s cell phone to call the number. i was ready to play a joke back at the girls by pretending i was gay, but the person on the other line was a guy! i “flirted” with him and found out he also goes to BU.. so at least it wasn’t a random number. he was friends with the girls, but i couldn’t get him to tell me his name or the names of his friends.. haha.

thursday 4/10/08

the weather today was finally beautiful!

dinner with titi, giselle, giselle’s friend alex, and titi’s admissions guest sarah. i just met alex, but he remembers me from last year’s COM201 Coffeehouse Reading, where i was chosen with 3 other students out of 400 to read our memoirs as examples for students taking COM201 that semester. alex said he was able to identify with mine.

i’m so glad someone remembered my piece. one of my goals in life is to have my art – mainly my films and writing – inspire people and make a difference in the world. it doesn’t necessarily have to be featured in papers and be famous and whatnot, but as long as one person identified with it or was changed by it, i’m proud to have made it.

in the evening, we went to the GSU to watch the documentary “the price of sugar,” which is about sugar cane cutters in the dominican republic. we had a nice talk with the producer after the show.

afterwards, we went to “jamnesty” in the basement of the GSU, where i saw stephanie s., ankita, nishita, and lauren m.

later when the live band “spiritual rez” was performing, titi, sarah, lauren s., sid, and i danced together.

friday 4/11/08

i went to BU’s Campus Movie Fest finale. i was supposed to go with giselle, alex, and maria, but i wound up sitting with maria, erika, and clarissa.

we were sitting near my friend javier and his production group. they won “best drama”! congratulations, javi!

also congratulations to all my other friends who made a film, whether it made it to tonight’s top 16 or not. that would be too many to mention, but i’d like to say i really liked watching melody get chopped up in iris’s film! lol

my scar

i usually get through everything in life fine. you can throw anything at me, and either i’ll have the strength and endurance to fight it or i’ll have the attitude to not care about it. but even if i got through this week, i’ll have to admit that it was one of the roughest i’ve ever had – rough enough to leave me scarred.

i had a test monday; a paper due wednesday; a quiz wednesday; a project to prepare, film, and edit; lots of reading to catch up on; a bunch of meetings and gatherings; and my grandpa’s funeral to go to on thursday. i barely slept each night, and i had to squeeze in short naps in my little free time just to prevent my eyes from burning. having teary eyes at the funeral and standing near a pot of burning incense didn’t help much either (at chinese funerals, we burn things like play money so the dead can spend it in heaven).

to top it all off, when i was getting back into the car at the cemetery, the corner of the swinging door left a bloody scratch under my right eye. after i bowed three times to grandpa in his coffin, traditionally i wasn’t supposed to look back at the coffin. so i was opening the door while staring at the ground, and the funeral car doors were heavier and longer than i expected. the top corner scratched my face and left me an apt reminder of the battle i survived this week.

at the end of the week on friday, i fell back on my own “religions”: Kindness, Hope, and Trust. (under religious views on my facebook profile, i have “Kindness, Hope, and Trust are the world’s greatest religions.” one of my friends, a writer for the daily free press, mentioned it in her article about faith last year.)

anyway, on friday, i pointed out a dropped ipod to its owner, i helped a random prospective student and his family find directions, and i helped out a (new?) resident with her mailbox in the mailroom. i usually do stuff like that, but more than ever, this time they were nice reminders that under all the hardships and adversity, there is still meaning in this hustle and bustle we call life.

i Hope things will get better. no, i Trust they will.

rest in peace, grandpa

my yeah-yeah (cantonese for grandfather on my father’s side) passed away last week on friday, march 28th. he lived a long and happy life (1914-2008) as an artist, painter, restaurant owner, father, husband, and grandfather.

(the photo: my grandparents with their grandkids. i’m the little rascal who wouldn’t stay in place. my brother is in checkers. the other two kids are my cousins. my sister jasmine and cousin tiffany weren’t born yet.)

yeah-yeah and i never had a long conversation with each other because of a slight language barrier (my limited chinese and his limited english), but we were still able to express ourselves with bits and pieces of chinese and english, with body language, and with touch. despite our not being close in the conventional sense, he was still one of my favorite relatives. i’ll always look up to his artistic ability, his calmness, and how he would never hurt a thing.

my mom and my sister were at his bedside in the hospital when he left this world. when he was approaching his death, my mom told him to wait for me.. and he started breathing again. i was supposed to visit him the next day, but he still left that evening =/

a few days after his death, a photo of him fell down from my desk shelf (the same picture i posted here). none of the other 50 pictures of family and friends ever fell.

yeah-yeah, thank you for everything you’ve done for the family, for your inspirational art that will continue to be passed around the world, and for just being you. we’ll miss you dearly.

- nathan

end of march

tuesday 3/25/08

i hosted danny and chris overnight. i showed them the fitrec (guests are always impressed with it), then we played pool in the GSU basement. we each had our own table and raced to see who could get all the balls in first. we.. all.. sucked..

later on we met up with giselle again so she could show them the performing arts house in south campus. both my guests were interested in BU’s theater program, but other than one acting class i took, i didn’t know enough about it, so the people at the house really helped out a lot by talking about their experiences in CFA.

late at night, we hung out in another overnight host’s room with a bunch of other people. danny and ashlie, who i just met, taught me enough sign language to say inappropriate things.

thursday 3/27/08

every month or so, BU dining halls have a special theme night or a visiting chef. some reeeally delicious theme nights in the past were lobster night (yes, every student got a lobster), western bbq night, and chinese new year night (last year’s was a lot better than this year’s).

tonight was a visiting chef night, where they served food from a famous boston restaurant – this time, toro, a spanish restaurant in the south end. i had: (most of these descriptions are from their menu)

- juicy smoked beef
- a mini kobe hamburger with smoked tomato, alioli, and pickled red onion
- a grilled and buttered cob of corn
- toasted bread rubbed with tomato and garlic, finished with spanish olive oil – a totilla espanola (egg, potato, onion omelet)
- churros con chocolate (spanish fried dough with chili infused chocolate sauce)

i’ll be willing to say that the churros con chocolate was one of the top 10 things i’ve ever had in my life. i’m kinda desperate to go to the restaurant and order just that.

it’s nights like these that make BU’s dining halls some of the best in the country. mmmm.. i go to college to eat.

saturday 3/29/08

i went to bombay cafe for dinner with mike c., katie, sabrina, sabrina’s boyfriend will, and katie’s friend danika. i had the chicken saagwala, which was spinach mixed with chicken. the “nan” bread was good to dip into the bowl of chicken covered heavily in sauce. we actually had to pay for the nan, but the waiter gave us seconds for free. the food was better than average, but the serving sizes were relatively small, especially for their prices.

at night i went to the BU dance marathon, which is an 18-hour dance to raise money for camp heartland (camp for kids with AIDS) and the elizabeth glaser pediatric AIDS foundation. i was there as a visitor for only 2 hours, but some of my friends – stephanie s., vanessa s., gabby, brooke – were official “dancers” there for the whole 18 hours. i was originally registered as a dancer, but i couldn’t make it for personal reasons. anyway, when i showed up, a bunch of my friends told me that i was called up to the stage before. i asked one of the volunteers why, and she said someone had a make-a-wish for me to irish step dance??!!

back in boston

monday 3/17

one of my professors ended the 3-hour evening class early and proposed a class trip to uno’s. originally it was supposed to be a pub (since it’s st. patrick’s day) but one student was underage. it still made my day.. maybe my semester.. when the professor said “let’s go to the Dugout and finish talking about the midterm over a pint”.. haha.

my green shirt blends in with connie’s blanket. iris: “where’d nathan go? oh my god, he’s camouflaged!”

tuesday 3/18

nap party with titi and stephanie b… (don’t even ask)

wednesday 3/19

i had lunch with sarah, kayla, and amy for the first time in a while. kayla told us her starfish story.. lol.

thursday 3/20

i day-hosted eve and blessing in the afternoon. blessing’s family actually came along on most of the tour. when we got to agganis arena, eve and blessing asked what the long line outside was for. it was mostly middle school and high school girls screaming.. so i knew it wasn’t for one of BU’s sports games. i said “i don’t know”.. and then my friend michael b. randomly came up to us and said “the jonas brothers are here!” i had no idea who they were, but eve and blessing got excited and started taking pictures of the jonas brothers’ van and everything. that was an easy way to end the tour on a good note.

free malaysian food, thanks to the asian student union. the food was really good, especially the stick of chicken and the sauce i put on the rice. i sat with maria, camilo, titi, and yue. melody wasn’t at a free food night! *gasp*. i also finally met jessica, who i’ve always seen at these types of events.

when you go up in line, they ask if you want the fried rice or the white rice. most people request the fried rice. when camilo came back to our table with his second serving, he had a big plate of white rice. he was like “if you ask for the white rice, they give you more.”

friday 3/21

me: how do you know josh?
michael c: we’re both in engineering. how do you know him? oh wait, he said you know everyone in myles.
(true enough.)

i finally decorated my dorm wall with photos of family and friends. amy was working in the mail room when i got my package of photos.. haha.

marisa was finally at dinner! i’ve been missing her cups. (we already talked about how that doesn’t sound right.)

saturday 3/22

i went to titi’s get-together in her dorm. i got a chance to hang out with stephanie c., maria, camilo, jordan, liz, and a bunch of others. i also met a lot of titi’s friends and some students from berklee.

during the party, we played a movie association game. someone named a movie, and anyone else had to name another that’s connected in some way (in theme, has the same actor in it, is directed by the same director, or has a similar title). then someone else has to name another connected to the newly named one. one rule is that you can’t repeat any movie that’s been said.

i think i was the only film major there, but i was probably the worst at the game. everyone is so much more in touch with movie pop culture than i am. i usually watch “art films” and foreign films, not hollywood blockbusters. most my associations were for directors and themes.. and the former was hard whenever people listed popcorn movies by no-name directors.

anyway, the game went on for nearly two hours. i wasn’t playing towards the second half. instead, i went to talk to the berklee kids cuz they seemed left out (they came in late and weren’t playing the game). after a few minutes, i noticed a silence from the people still playing, so i asked them what movie they were stuck on. they said “six”.. and i assumed they already listed all the easy connections like “the sixth sense”, “se7en”, etc. so i yelled out “two girls, one cup”.. and basically i ended the game cuz no one wanted to talk after that! haha

spring break

spring break (saturday 3/8 – sunday 3/16):

- i took the fung wah bus to new york city with connie. then my mom’s friend drove me home to new jersey.
- i got caught up with a lot of movies i’ve been wanting to watch and a lot of books i’ve been wanting to read.
- scattergories with my siblings jasmine and jordon! jasmine totally owned us. my answers were too inappropriate.. and jordon’s were way too obscure.
- one of my friends, greg, who i haven’t talked to for years and years, found me on facebook.
- i went with my family to walk around princeton university.
- sleeeeep.
- endless snackage at home. mom’s home-cooking (especially the chinese soup she makes). new jersey buffets (why aren’t there any good and cheap ones in boston?).
- i saw connie again on the fung wah ride back to boston. mine was full.. so she had to go on the next bus. she was actually the cut-off point.. haha.