27
December
2006
I am not ready for Christmas to be over again! It’s amazing how every year it seems like Christmas seems to be coming around faster and faster, and then when it’s finally here, it’s over with a snap of the finger. “Don’t save it all for Christmas day, though, find a way to give a little love everyday.” (I love that song 
)
Anyway, I was wondering how different my Christmas is in comparison to the traditions around the world. My mom is German, so I’m accustomed to the German traditions during Christmas time. I’d like to share them with you, and gladly read any of your comments explaining your traditions.
First the basics. In Germany there are three days of Christmas celebrations (Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and Dec. 26). We also have small family get togethers recognizing the advent (the four Sundays leading up to Christmas). My mom makes an advent wreath each year as the centerpiece of the traditional “coffee and cake” get togethers. One more candle is lit every Sunday- at the get togethers- leading up to the birth of Christ. Lit candles can also be found on the trees of traditional German households. I remember when I was younger, we celebrated Christmas at my oma and opa’s (grandma and grandpa’s) house, and I was so scared of being near the tree!
December 6th, St. Nicholas Day, is also a day of celebration. The night before, my sister and I put out shoes- yes actual shoes, not stockings- in front of our door for St. Nicholas to fill (usually with candy, chocolate, and a small present). I’m not exactly sure how this tradition came to be, but I know that St. Nicholas was a follower of Christ and known as a giver during his lifetime (and now!). He led a life in which he carried out many notable acts of generosity- especially to those in need, sailors, and children. His life offered many stories which were passed on from generation to generation. December 6th, his death day, became known as St. Nicholas Day- a celebrated holiday throughout Europe. Many children like to think of him as the uncle or cousin of Santa Claus.
Christmas Eve is family time. We have a nice family dinner, complete with festive dinnerware, a table set for three courses, and mellow Christmas music in the background to set the mood. A traditional dinner could include zweibel suppe (onion soup- very good, but bad for my stomach), roter kohl (red cabbage- my favorite), kartoffeln (potatoes), and Ente (duck, but my family substitutes that for any other type of fleisch (meat)). Nachtisch (dessert) is usually my all time favorite ice-cream, heiss mit eis, a vanilla icecream topped with heated german cherries. MMM. I’m getting a craving just writing about it.
After dinner, we sit around the tree to sing Christmas songs and open presents from extended family, friends, and one from mom and dad. Before we open a present, we all have to sing a song together, play an instrument, or perform a dance. It’s a very special tradition that I couldn’t imagine my Christmas ever without. I think I’m going to carry this tradition on to my family, when I have kids.
After all presents are opened, we usually take a walk around the neighborhood to enjoy the lights our neighbors have to offer- which let me tell you, they offer A LOT. One street was even on the news for being the most lit street in the state. It’s amazing, this year someone even put a stage in front of their yard to play Christmas songs on their saxaphone. It really makes a great night, and we’ve made it a tradition to take that walk every Christmas.
At midnight we also go to midnight mass, which I know is a tradition for all Christians. After a fun and full night we roll into bed until we awake Christmas morning to my younger sister’s (and of course my) excitement to see what Santa left for us. We have a festive and semi-formal breakfast afterward, and then head over to our close family friend’s house in the afternoon. (We would usually spend Christmas day with extended family and friends, but we don’t have extended family here)
December 26th the celebration continues, with more food, more family, and more joy, laughter, and love.
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26
December
2006
I watched this movie the other day (The Pursuit of Happyness (intentionally spelled that way)), and Will Smith’s character said something in the movie that triggered my questioning. He said something like,
“How did Thomas Jefferson know to put in the Declaration of Independence that we had the right to pursue happiness? That happiness is never just handed to us. We can pursue happiness, but never really have it completely.”
I never thought of happiness being something that we could never fully have. When I thought about happiness, I always focused on the thought that happiness is the ultimate human desire, and it could be achieved. I never envisioned happiness as something we had to pursue, as if it is a life long battle to keep happiness consistent throughout our lives.
I struggled to discover why I was so drawn to this quote and why it sounded so profound to me, despite my initial disagreement with it. I came to a verdict that this quote is in fact true. Despite how “glass half emty” it sounds, it is true if you look at the world completely in a different way. We can achieve happiness (like I originally, and still do, believe), but we can never have happiness completely in our lives. I originally thought that this meant we could never have complete happiness (which I couldn’t bring myself to agree with). Looking at it in a different angle, I recognize truth and something I do believe.
There will always be times in our lives that we will not have happiness- it’s only natural- and we have to pursue it, to gain it back. We’re not just born with happiness. It is something we have to strive for. A common source of happiness comes from family and friends. We’re not just given family and friends, we have to pursue a family and friendships. Along with our happiness from these sources, there are times when they won’t bring happiness and they will dissappoint us- but it’s not because of them, it’s because of certain situations that challenge and face all families and friends at one time or another. However, in general- which is how I always looked at the achievement of happiness- I believe it is possible to gain complete contentment and satisfaction in life. Yes, it’s true we have to work to gain our desires, and sometimes it can be a long haul before we even feel any happiness in our lives. But even when we do achieve it, we have to protect it (just as how Will Smith’s character said about dreams “You gotta dream. Protect it.”) there will always be times where life just doesn’t seem to go our way, but we have to just see these times as challenges of our life long pursuit to keep satisfaction within us.
P.S. Watch the movie its was really good. There were some slow parts, but the overall the message was very inspiring, and the little boy was adorable!
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15
December
2006
Most people believe that if you want your child to be a STAR gymnast, enroll them into classes at an early age- like around a year or so after they start walking. I, however, don’t entirely agree with this idea. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen young gymnasts get burned out before they’ve reached the age of 10, including my sister.
There are a few parents who think that pushing their children to continue to become amazingly great gymnasts are doing their children good, and they are, if they know that their child really loves the sport and they just need a little extra sporadic motivation, every now and then. But there’s also the other case, where a gymnast just grows to despise the sport she once loved, and in this case, parents have to just learn to let go of dreams that they have for their kids. In this case, they should think- is it really worth my child’s happiness and childhood, if there’s no enjoyment coming from it?
My sister had a lot of talent as a gymnast, and although we (my parents and I) all wanted her to continue, we knew that once she started crying everytime she had to go to the gym, or conveniently falling sound asleep before gym practice, it wasn’t meant to be. She started toddler classes around the age of three, team around the age of five, and had enough of it by the age of eight. I think a lot of it came from fear and intimidation by the yelling and lecturing of coaches- problems that younger kids just don’t know how to deal with. That’s why sometimes I think that waiting to start gymnastics at a later age, and sacrificing the strength, flexibility, and skills that are more easily achieved at a younger age, can turn out to be a greater gain in the long run.
I didn’t start team until I was 12. I did recreation classes for about seven years, before I asked my mom if I could be on team. Building up my passion for the sport by having fun for the first couple of years gave me the drive to keep achieving and learning more once I started team. Of course, I’m never going to be the gymnast that you see on tv, but that doesn’t matter; I was happy.
I’ve gained so many more meaningful experiences from wanting to go to gym. It made me excel faster then what most people expected of me. I had to ask to try out for team, when usually you have to be invited. They accepted me for my unbelievable will to do the sport, not so much for my skills at the time. But with just two years of being on team, I went from having no backhandspring, to having them on beam. I skipped a level, and my coach gave me the nickname of ”eye of the tiger.” I went from level four to eight in three years before I decided to move onto another area of the sport (coaching and trampoline). Would I have been able to get as far as I did if I had started team at a younger age, like my sister? I don’t know, but I know one thing for sure- you achieve things faster when you’re hungry for it, and at younger ages you don’t really know what you want; you just basically do whatever you’re told until you hit an age of rebellion and vulnerability where you’re prone to quit, if you decide you’ve had enough. That’s why, in my opinion, children should enjoy being children before they start any sort of high-stress activity or sport. If they really want to do something, they’ll ask, and they’ll achieve much more if it comes from them.
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6
December
2006
I’ve been so stressed out lately. It’s nearing the end of school, before Christmas break, and I still have a mountain load of homework to finish, Christmas shopping to start, and not much time to actually enjoy the holidays. I actually had a breakdown the other day, because I just couldn’t see how I’d accomplish all of this. My perspective changed once I remembered the chapel we had last week.
Chapel that day was dedicated to raising awareness about the genocide that has been going on in Darfur. Many black Sudanese people are being driven out of their homes, abused, and killed every day in Darfur by the Arab Sudanese Government, simply because of their race. The black Sudanese have to fight to survive every day of their lives, with short or no food supply and every day torture. *
You may not see how I am connecting this with my stress, but hear me out. I realized that sometimes we get so caught up in complaining about the little things that we have to do- such as homework- and we don’t realize that there are people in this world that have much larger worries and justification to complain.
I replied to Sarah’s post on the genocide the other day. I said that we should really count our daily hassles as blessings. It’s a blessing that I even have the opportunity to go to a school, and have homework to do. It’s hard to realize this, because in our society it’s mandatory to go to school, but think about how many other kids in this world are dreaming of gaining a good education- including the children in Darfur. I’m sure they’d much rather “worry” about getting an assignment done on time then figuring out how they will survive every day they wake up.
Just a simple reminder to everyone, if you ever feel like complaining about something like having to wake up early every morning to go to work or school, or having a horrible meal, just think: Do I really have the right to complain?
* for more information on how to help the people in Darfur go to http://www.darfurgenocide.org/. Spread the word. These people need our help.
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28
November
2006
“Don’t look at this situation and feel sorry for yourself. Take it on as a challenge, and it will prepare you for life’s other detours. Let it make you stronger not weaker.”
-incorporated advice from my coach, my mom, and my dad
When I had my surgery about 2 months ago, I didn’t know how I would deal with it. I had already retired from artistic gymnastics and moved onto trampoline gymnastics, which placed so much less strain on my body, but I never would have thought that I’d have to cut back even more. I would have to take an unknown amount of break time from doing any type of gymnastics at all once I found out I had to have surgery.
Surgery- something I never in my life thought I would need at my age. I’d never even broken a bone, and now all of a sudden I needed surgery. It was true though, I remember the day the doctor told me he had bad news after looking at the MRI of my wrist. He told me my bone was detiorating, and I needed to have it revascularized if I wanted any hope in ever gaining my range of motion back again. He also pretty much guaranteed that I’d have arthiritis in my wrist when I get older. You won’t believe how overwhelming it is to hear all of that in less than five minutes. I think I cried for two days straight in disbelief. I had just come back from nationals, and I had been so antsy to get back into the gym and start learning new skills for next season with high hopes of making it to the 2007 World Age Group Games if I tried hard enough. Well, I had to put all those sights on hold with just one doctor’s visit. The doctor couldn’t set an exact date that I’d be able to get back into my regular gymnastics routine; he did, however, say that full recovery required one year to two years, and getting back into my gym routine we would have to play by ear.
My mind squirmed with thoughts and concerns for days. I started thinking about all the weight I’d gain not doing gymnastics, and how much more stressful school would become considering I couldn’t write with my right hand- or my left. Most of all I just didn’t know what I’d do without being able to do gym. It’s what I’ve known for the past several years, and I was so taken aback upon recieving all of this news, I just didn’t know what to think of it- and the pessimistic side just seemed to stick out.
After talking with my parents and coach, I recieved many words of wisdom that I will cherish forever. Without their support I don’t know how I’d get through this- and still am going through it. With my parent’s advice, I realized that thinking negatively and worrying about my situation would only make things harder than they already were. I couldn’t afford for that to happen, so I promised myself that I would not misjudge my capabilities in school and use my wrist as an excuse to not give full effort. My mom also advised me not to look at what I don’t have, but at what I have, when I start feeling sorry for myself. I felt really pathetic about my own sympathy one day when I saw a lady at the store with no arm. I thought I had it hard, but then I realize it’s nothing compared to what some people have to live their lives through.
My coach encouraged me to not give any sympathy to the rest of my body, just because of my wrist injury. I was still capable of conditioning, and he encouraged me to keep it up. He also brought to my attention that life has many challenges ahead, and this is just the first really big one. He told me, once I conquer this, I know I’ll be strong enough for the next one.
I can’t tell you that there aren’t any more days that I don’t feel sad about it. It still creeps back into my mind once in a while, like when I watch my teammates tumble. I miss it, but I know that I will be back soon; in the meantime, i just have to keep my head up and keep conquering. :)
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16
November
2006
I often rethink my decision to retire from artistic gymnastics. It’s my passion, and I miss it. I knew that I wouldn’t be doing gymnastics my entire life, but I expected myself to stay with it through highschool and hopefully make it to college. I know that my reasons for moving on, however, could not be ignored.
Last year, I started attending one of the most rigorous gymnastics training centers in the state, in high hopes of making my college envisions come true. I never planned on switching gyms, but my “home” gym was closing down our artistic gymnastics program, so I had no choice. I knew it would be hard, but I had so much passion and fire to achieve this, I figured I could do it. Instead, the unthinkable happened. I started to DREAD going to gym. I never in my life dreaded of going to gym, and I was scared to admit to it. It was like military boot camp- or probably even worse- for five to six days out of the week, right after school. I ended school at 3:30, and gym started at 4:00 and ended at 8:00. I always had these training hours, but never to this intensity.
It started to feel like I had no life outside of gym, and I questioned my reasoning for pushing myself through these long workouts. I asked myself, what if I’m doing all of this work, and it doesn’t pay off in the end? I knew I would definitely not make it to a Division 1 school, because in order to do that, I’d have to have been a level 10 or an elite for quite some time now. I was training level 8, and I reasoned that if I stuck with it until my senior year, I could make it to level 10. It’d be a huge accomplishment, but not enough to bring me to a Division 1 school. I realized that all the schools I had been dreaming of academically, such as Stanford and UCSD, would not match the college that I would be able to attend for gymnastics, because they wre primarily Division 1 schools or schools without gym programs.
My ultimate reason for withdrawing, however, was not because I didn’t feel I could make it to college gymnastics. I just was not happy. It took a long time for me to admit to it, because I never thought that I would ever not be happy doing gymnastics, but it was true, and I couldn’t lie to myself anymore. There was no way that I could let myself continue at this gym for my entire highschool career. It just wasn’t right for me.
After leaving, I knew I couldn’t entirely shut gymnastics out of my life. I loved gymnastics; I just couldn’t handle the highly intense and competetive environment anymore. I decided to re-establish my passion by moving back to my old “home” gym and join the international trampoline team with all my old teammates. It was the best decision I could’ve made. I experienced some lifetime opportunities of traveling internationally (and nationally) for meets- an option I never would have had if I stayed in artistic gymnastics. I won’t lie, though, artistic gymnastics will always be my passion, trampoline will never replace that, but I’m much happier now just continuing to do it for fun. A few years ago, I would have never imagined me feeling this way, but sometimes things just don’t turn out the way that you plan on, and I’ve come to learn that that is OK. 
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7
November
2006
I believe that materialistic and monetary gains influence expectations. The more people gain, the more they expect. If people don’t gain as much, they lower their expectations, and if people gain too much, they tend to expect more. To illustrate an extreme example, compare the poor and the rich communities. There is a huge difference in expectations. Homeless people would be ecstatic if someone donated a dollar to them on the street, while accomplished rich people may become enraged (or at least baffled) if they don’t receive a Christmas bonus.
In many situations, people base their expectations on materialistic gains, universal scales of achievement, or objects of achievement, such as trophies. This is the wrong thing to do, because it can be detrimental to the purpose of doing something in the first place- for both people who are rewarded for their accomplishments and for people who unfortunately do not get rewarded for their hard work. People who work very hard to accomplish their goals, but never receive any recognition for it have a possibility of eventually becoming apathetic in continuing their ambitions. On the other hand, people who gain too many rewards for their achievements have the danger of losing sight of their initial reasons for their actions. I believe people should learn to ignore ornamental achievements (i.e. trophies), and just be happy when they know they’ve put in their best effort to achieve their goals.
I’ve been a gymnast for many years, and I know many people, gymnasts and parents, have a hunger for winning. For some, it was all about the “gold.” When I used to compete in artistic gymnastics meets, you would find that there were always the same girls standing on top of the award podium at the end of each competition. After a while, trophies weren’t really anything significant to the gymnasts who always won. It was kind of like just another accessory to add onto their dusty shelf at home.
The sad part is that since they had the reputation of winning, it often came true, even if there was someone more deserving of the first place spot. It didn’t happen often, but once in a while you would see a judge give a higher score to a girl who had the reputation of winning who made a mistake in her routine, than to a girl who had performed just as well a routine but given a much lower score. This can lower a gymnast’s confidence, and can eventually ruin a gymnast’s desire to keep pushing herself, if she never gets rewarded.
For some of the gymnasts who had a reputation for winning, winning became the most important part of the sport. Often this influence comes from the parents of these gymnasts, because since they maintain a high level of achievement over a while it starts becoming expected of these gymnasts. Most of the time it’s not intentional, it’s just a natural way to think when someone wins so much. Unfortunately, this can cause a gymnast to lose interest in the sport, as well, if the pressure to win distracts and overwhelms the gymnast’s passion for the sport.
I have to admit that my reasoning for retiring from artistic gymnastics was partially because I doubted that I’d be rewarded for my hard work. I’m not speaking trophy wise, but rather in a college scholarship. It wasn’t my only reason for retiring, however, because I had other substantial reasons, but it did influence my decision. I knew that the chances of getting a college scholarship in gymnastics were very slim, because there are so many talented girls competing for them, and many go unrewarded, but I knew my chances were even slimmer, because I wasn’t even a level 10 yet (I was level 8, and could’ve made 10 by my senior year). I also reasoned that a college that I could get accepted to for my gymnastics, probably will not match up to a school I could attend for my academics. So, I retired. It sounds as if I was only in for the scholarship, but trust me- that is far from true. I was very passionate about gymnastics, and I still am, but it just became too much for me to handle, for my body and my schedule. I figured why should I do this to myself if I couldn’t enjoy going to gym anymore, and I wouldn’t be performing in a team for college?
If I still had the will to continue artistic gymnastics, it would’ve been different, even knowing that I may not be rewarded with a scholarship. This is because, I feel people should do whatever makes them happy, and that includes reaching for goals even if there may not be a materialistic or monetary gain. The enjoyment of doing whatever one loves best should be the most important thing. The extra rewards (aka material and monetary gains) are what cause people to expect more or less with whatever they gain, and often trigger someone to do something or avoid going for something. People need to strive to excel in goals close to their heart, regardless of how far of a reach. Rewards are beneficial, but they shouldn’t be the deciding factor in what a person does and doesn’t do. People can have all the money in the world, but not be happy with their lives. In my opinion, happiness should be the ultimate goal and ultimate gain, not money or materials.
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