It snowed! and my philly wknd...
I meant to update my blog right after my trip to Philly, but got caught trying to catch up with work that I didn’t really have time until now (which, btw, is in the middle of psychiatry lecture on alcohol addiction). We left last Fri after picking up this MD/PhD student from my dorm that I offered a trip to (she was visiting her aunt in new jersey). It was FREEZING that morning, and I heard on the news that it may snow! Already! But nope, when we left, it was just POURING rain, and it continued to pour for the four hour drive through NY, NJ, and to PA (4 states in one day!). But guess what—it SNOWED at Yale! I missed my first snowfall of the year! I heard it was enough to cover the cars, about 1-2”. And I saw remnants of it when I got back Sunday. Oh well, people said that I shouldn’t be too sad to miss it because there will be plenty more soon enough!
Anyway, on the drive there, the MD/PhD girl kept insisting that her school is not a “free-ride” just because she doesn’t pay for tuition, and has a decent stipend (due to PhD portion of her degree). She says that she has to spend extra 2-3 years doing research for Yale, which she could have spent working as MD and get more money. I guess she sorta has a point, but it sure is nice going through school without hefty loans, and have spending money.
We got to PA earlier than expected, and went to hotel first. This time, they housed me with Radu (the really good badm player), and Christine (this girl he dated for 3 months, also my doubles partner and the sister of my mixed partner James). I felt really odd ‘cuz I wasn’t sure what was going on with them exactly, and I didn’t want to be “caught up” in any of the acts. But that’s where they put me (though I could have gone in the other room with 3 guys, heh), so oh well. We watched the Peterson’s trial until they announced the verdict (talk about being tough! Why do they keep adding to his sentence instead of just saying it all at once in one long verdict? Guilty….guilty of first degree….guilty of first degree and second degree…guilty of first degree with circumstance and 2nd degree..geez, it’s like extending the torture!
So Friday evening was just all singles, and I waited and waited and waited to play. Turns out my opponent never made it there, and so I won and advanced to semifinals without even touching my racket! Saw some good OCBC players (from so-cal) all the way here, including the former crush Bob. Heh, now I don’t even care. I remember being obsessed with it wayyy back in high school! Oh, and guess who Matt and I met from Cal! Good old Senor Fred, who was our teammate long ago. He moved to Puerto Rico, and now plays for their national team, which supposedly is pretty bad (avg level B/C). That was great seeing him again—haven’t seen him for like 4 years! =) So that first day, I ate like a pound of trail mix while nervously anticipating the game that never happened (I haven’t played singles in two years, so I was very anxious!).
Next morning, I got a egg/cheese English muffin sandwich at Dunkin’s! I’ve been craving one of these for awhile, and always too lazy to go. =) so it was yummy…but still not as good as McD’s. No meat I guess. Today is women’s doubles and mixed doubles competition, with singles at the end. I didn’t warm up adequately, and Christine and I lost to relatively easy women’s doubles team. It was very frustrating. Then came our mixed, and this is where all the drama begins. First off, I think I mentioned before that I do not think I play well with James, and that I hope this is the last time I have to play with him. He thinks we work great, and that we should train together as a team. I totally disagree, and was hoping to find a way to separate from him. So during our first game, he’s like “Why do you keep coming back [on the court]? You need to stay up there and get that!” I was confused…cuz our mixed-style is more doubles-style and I cover the back 40% of the time. So I guess I repeated the “mistake” that I thought was supposed to be our rotation, and he’s like, “Why aren’t you rotating correctly? You Can’t do that!!” I said calmly, “I don’t get it….how do u want me to rotate?” Then in the middle of our game, with opponents (and some spectators who later told me they heard) watching, he yells, “What don’t you get? Stay up there and get your shots! Those you YOURS!” Well, to be honest, I don’t remember anything he said…I was just thinking, dude, what the hell is wrong with this guy? NOBODY yells at me on the court, who the hell does he think he is? And then my brain closed on him, and on the game. I lost all interest, I did not care, I did not even want to toss him the birdie. I kept my mouth shut after he yelled at me because I knew that if I opened it, it would be VERY dangerous what words might fly out. He quickly apologized for yelling at me between games, but I didn’t care anymore. So anyhow, we lost an easy match, and I was now in a pissy mood. Now the best thing for a pissy mood is to pull out the books, so I actually got some studying done. =) then I hear our next mixed game announced and then quickly cancelled, and James walked over to quickly say, “We’re not playing anymore.” I’m like, “We’re not?” and he says, “No.” Believe it or not, he decides to FORFEIT the rest of our matches without even consulting with me!! I got sooo mad ‘cuz I NEVER forfeit, not even if I have leg cramps, injuries, whatever. No excuse! I paid $20 to play with this guy I care barely stand, and no matter what, I wanted to get my $20 worth of badminton competition experience! I was willing to go out there myself, and play one-against-two so that I get my money’s worth! So I got soooo mad (fuming by now), and told Christine (my WD partner and his sister) about what he did. She was appalled too—she has similar competitive do-not-quit personality as me, but also said that James will not listen if I talked to him. But I didn’t even want to talk to him, nor look at him, for the rest of the weekend! Just wanted to vent…dumbass guy. In short, I got killed in singles (but won $40 for making it to semifinals), and won A consolation in women’s doubles in the easiest match ever. But the absolute BEST part of this weekend is the fact that I will never again have to play with that cocky punk!! =D I guess thinks work out for the best in the end. Oh yea, and I took off back to CT Sat night instead of Sunday, since I could not get much studying done there and the less I have to see of James, the better. However, Matt Christine and I got lost 3x, and didn’t make it home itl 2am (5h drive).
Anyway, on the drive there, the MD/PhD girl kept insisting that her school is not a “free-ride” just because she doesn’t pay for tuition, and has a decent stipend (due to PhD portion of her degree). She says that she has to spend extra 2-3 years doing research for Yale, which she could have spent working as MD and get more money. I guess she sorta has a point, but it sure is nice going through school without hefty loans, and have spending money.
We got to PA earlier than expected, and went to hotel first. This time, they housed me with Radu (the really good badm player), and Christine (this girl he dated for 3 months, also my doubles partner and the sister of my mixed partner James). I felt really odd ‘cuz I wasn’t sure what was going on with them exactly, and I didn’t want to be “caught up” in any of the acts. But that’s where they put me (though I could have gone in the other room with 3 guys, heh), so oh well. We watched the Peterson’s trial until they announced the verdict (talk about being tough! Why do they keep adding to his sentence instead of just saying it all at once in one long verdict? Guilty….guilty of first degree….guilty of first degree and second degree…guilty of first degree with circumstance and 2nd degree..geez, it’s like extending the torture!
So Friday evening was just all singles, and I waited and waited and waited to play. Turns out my opponent never made it there, and so I won and advanced to semifinals without even touching my racket! Saw some good OCBC players (from so-cal) all the way here, including the former crush Bob. Heh, now I don’t even care. I remember being obsessed with it wayyy back in high school! Oh, and guess who Matt and I met from Cal! Good old Senor Fred, who was our teammate long ago. He moved to Puerto Rico, and now plays for their national team, which supposedly is pretty bad (avg level B/C). That was great seeing him again—haven’t seen him for like 4 years! =) So that first day, I ate like a pound of trail mix while nervously anticipating the game that never happened (I haven’t played singles in two years, so I was very anxious!).
Next morning, I got a egg/cheese English muffin sandwich at Dunkin’s! I’ve been craving one of these for awhile, and always too lazy to go. =) so it was yummy…but still not as good as McD’s. No meat I guess. Today is women’s doubles and mixed doubles competition, with singles at the end. I didn’t warm up adequately, and Christine and I lost to relatively easy women’s doubles team. It was very frustrating. Then came our mixed, and this is where all the drama begins. First off, I think I mentioned before that I do not think I play well with James, and that I hope this is the last time I have to play with him. He thinks we work great, and that we should train together as a team. I totally disagree, and was hoping to find a way to separate from him. So during our first game, he’s like “Why do you keep coming back [on the court]? You need to stay up there and get that!” I was confused…cuz our mixed-style is more doubles-style and I cover the back 40% of the time. So I guess I repeated the “mistake” that I thought was supposed to be our rotation, and he’s like, “Why aren’t you rotating correctly? You Can’t do that!!” I said calmly, “I don’t get it….how do u want me to rotate?” Then in the middle of our game, with opponents (and some spectators who later told me they heard) watching, he yells, “What don’t you get? Stay up there and get your shots! Those you YOURS!” Well, to be honest, I don’t remember anything he said…I was just thinking, dude, what the hell is wrong with this guy? NOBODY yells at me on the court, who the hell does he think he is? And then my brain closed on him, and on the game. I lost all interest, I did not care, I did not even want to toss him the birdie. I kept my mouth shut after he yelled at me because I knew that if I opened it, it would be VERY dangerous what words might fly out. He quickly apologized for yelling at me between games, but I didn’t care anymore. So anyhow, we lost an easy match, and I was now in a pissy mood. Now the best thing for a pissy mood is to pull out the books, so I actually got some studying done. =) then I hear our next mixed game announced and then quickly cancelled, and James walked over to quickly say, “We’re not playing anymore.” I’m like, “We’re not?” and he says, “No.” Believe it or not, he decides to FORFEIT the rest of our matches without even consulting with me!! I got sooo mad ‘cuz I NEVER forfeit, not even if I have leg cramps, injuries, whatever. No excuse! I paid $20 to play with this guy I care barely stand, and no matter what, I wanted to get my $20 worth of badminton competition experience! I was willing to go out there myself, and play one-against-two so that I get my money’s worth! So I got soooo mad (fuming by now), and told Christine (my WD partner and his sister) about what he did. She was appalled too—she has similar competitive do-not-quit personality as me, but also said that James will not listen if I talked to him. But I didn’t even want to talk to him, nor look at him, for the rest of the weekend! Just wanted to vent…dumbass guy. In short, I got killed in singles (but won $40 for making it to semifinals), and won A consolation in women’s doubles in the easiest match ever. But the absolute BEST part of this weekend is the fact that I will never again have to play with that cocky punk!! =D I guess thinks work out for the best in the end. Oh yea, and I took off back to CT Sat night instead of Sunday, since I could not get much studying done there and the less I have to see of James, the better. However, Matt Christine and I got lost 3x, and didn’t make it home itl 2am (5h drive).
posted by CookieMonster28 at 12:31 PM
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