Jenny aka Jen-nay-nay aka The Boss *heart*
She was my GSW Chem 111 facilitator, and was really very good at teaching. She is really solid (as in reliable) and cool and nice. I think I most adore her ability to speak firmly and clearly and stay cool as a cucumber. Yet her most adorable part is her naivepart *winks*. (Yeah I was surprised when I found out that she's a Catholic. Though she hasn't been going to Sheil this past year probly due to busy-ness X.X Jenny pls go to church~ but i dun feel its my position to tell her|||) During the ASB trip I slept with my feet facing her feet (so we're buddies~! WRONG. =.=") I remember one morning her alarm went off over and over again and it was way before i wanted to get up and it got so annoying that i tapped her feet with my foot to tell her to wake up and shut up the alarm clock and she did wake up and guess what she said:
"Maria, thanks!" O_O Erm...you got it wrong Boss...my intention was not a noble one......but i never told her x.x
And later when I saw her hair wet then I remembered why she had wanted to get up so early - to shower - then I understood why she thanked me lol.
But that's not an essential part of what I wanted to tell you guys. Anyway here's the elaborate story. On ASB trips we generally cook our own food, and everyone takes turn cooking. Me and Nathan were randomly selected as a cooking pair, and I was freaking out because I am pretty much clueless about cooking [though I can cook rice in a cooking pot and probly fry an egg and I do know the theory of stir-fry]. Nathan is a headstrong guy who has clear thoughts and when he sets out to do something, he is very determined to do it (and do it as perfectly as possible). So even though he also doesn't know much about cooking, he virtually took control of the situation by making almost all of the decisions. And me being my low-self-esteem self, the one who always gets persuaded but never manages to persuade (T-T), i felt like i was being pushed back. Yet I couldn't complain because I really don't know what to do, and how can I contribute like this? [ELS story all over again] So Nathan decided that we would be making fajita, a type of Mexican food (go google it yourself la I lazy). It's something like taco. And I agreed because I had no better ideas. When we went shopping at Kroger, everything we bought was basically decided by him (because I had no idea what fajita is or how to estimate how much people eat. I still don't know how to estimate how much ppl eat -.-"). So I was feeling...unsatisfied...because I wasn't contributing. I want to contribute! I don't want to be useless!
My Biggest Fear is: Being Useless; or more precisely, being disliked & being scolded & being thought stupid by everyone in the world. T.T i don't want that i don't want that i don't want that.
Erhem. (So I hope you now understand better why i try so hard to not offend ppl to the extent of withdrawing myself from possibly disrupting group harmony in various social situations)
Back to the story. Nathan & me were supposed to cook dinner on Thursday evening, so the night before I confided in Jenny about my worries/fears/dissatisfaction. Jenny had a clear view of the situation and frankly told me what she thought, and what i should do, in a way that was impartial to everybody. While talking to her I gradually became clear as to what I thought and what was the thing I should do. I said I don't mind doing all the manual labor (because clearly i cannot help much in the brainy department because i don't know what a fajita is lol). I said I think I will ask Nathan to let me do at least 50% of the work. I don't want him to take all the credit.
Later that night Nathan literallySHOOED everybody out of the kitchen & brought Xin Kai in. To make his top secret surprise dessert (=.=) Not even me was allowed (wth?) I was stubborn for quite some time, not wanting to get out of the kitchen, prolonging my stay by washing the dishes and pots and pans. Nathan was even more stubborn (SUPER SUPER HEADSTRONG STUBBORN O_O). In the end I still left the kitchen (because i doubt he will ever give way |||orz) but on ONE CONDITION: i will get to help him make the dessert tomorrow. I don't want him to get all the credit.
As luck would have it, Thursday evening after painting, some ppl went to Krogers to get more groceries, and Nathan went to get the salsa sauce. And I went back to the church where we were staying to get started on preparing dinner. BIG GRIN =D. I started by doing the canned refried beans. Lisa & Jenny were at hand to instruct this clueless kid. Really not much, just pouring them from the can into a pan, heat up, and stirring so they won't get burnt. (Refried beans look gross, btw).
And then I proceeded to cut the veggies (luckily Nathan told me beforehand that we were going to slice them). Shalini and Ritu and Lisa offered to help cut but I FLATLY REFUSED because I FINALLY GET THE CHANCE TO COOK and to have the chance to do ALL the work is a WONDERFUL PLEASURE and a RARE OPPORTUNITY for this spoilt overprotected xiao jie here. Yes, because at home I feel that pa & mi don't trust me to cook, and besides i'm too slow lol. Shalini kept on offering to help but i flatly said No. (Sorry Shalini. This is important to me. It's a previous learning and growing process for me. You must let me "struggle" my way out from the cocoon and learn to use my wings.
Moldy: Struggle konon. =.= )
What veggies? Bell Peppers aka Capsicum EWWWW -.-||| I don't like bell peppers x.x But they look pretty and are not too hard to cut, though Jenny and Lisa had to give me explicit instructions. I'll repeat them to you now. First wash the capsicum. Next, cut it into half. Then cut off/tear off using hands the center part (with the seeds and all). Then slice them (I did it with the capsicum's inside facing up). Try to slice them into equal sizes (widths) so that they'll be cooked evenly - this is especially important for meats! [I know this! though not the reason. From watching Chuuka Ichiban XD See? Anime is educational] So I finished slicing 1 yellow, 1 red, and 1 green capsicum all on my own! Yay!
Then I went on to the tomato. The last time i cut tomatoes (during ASB DC) it was not a pretty result X.X Now i referred to my experienced consultant cooks. It would be impossible to slice tomatoes, so the experienced cooks advised me to dice them. So I shall proceed to tell you the explicit instructions for dicing tomatoes. First wash the tomatoes. Next, cut it into half. Then slice the 1/2-tomato into slices & then dices - imagine the oval-hemisphere shaped 1/2-tomato, imagine the oval has two axes. i think it's better to slice the longer axis first, and then make 4 more parallel slices. then only turn it 90 degrees clockwise/anticlockwise, to slice the shorter axis and make 4 more slices parallel to the shorter axis, and you will have diced 1/2 a tomato! Do the same with the other 1/2. [Hope people are getting what i'm trying to say lol. But most people won't need that much advice about dicing tomatoes gua haha]
Before I finished dicing all 6 tomatoes, Nathan had come back. He & others sliced (I let him slice =P) the two onions while i finished up the tomatoes because I had sliced onions at home before =] Then we went on to the chickens. I think it was 3 pounds of chicken breasts. Nathan took out the fatty parts of the chicken breasts and passed them on to me for me to slice. Again, my best-est ["best-est" is not a word] consultant cooks advised me along the way. I think I did a pretty good job ^_~ Because of time shortage, Ritu and Lisa helped us to slice the chickens too (yeah i finally allowed outside help lol).
Then follow the instructions of Kroger (generic) brand Fajita pre-made seasoning mix [The Secret of the Taste]. I cannot remember already X.X We used 2 packets. I think we seasoned the chicken before cooking (by mixing the powder with the chicken in a salad bowl). Nathan did that while i began...
...stir fry~! I was so happy when I found out that we were going to do stir fry because it's something I know more about! And with Lisa the experienced cook consultant by my side, I fear not! I can't remember exactly the procedure, but it should go like: 1. Pour some oil into pan/wok. 2. put the onions. 3. i can't rmb whether to put the chicken or capsicum first. i think it was chicken, bcoz there was a lot of capsicum and it would've been hard to stir fry chicken properly. 4. Stir fry the chicken by letting them sit in the wok for some time to cook (a minute or two? I don't know- just followed when Lisa said), and then stir/turn them around, upside down, then let them sit again, and then stir again. Repeat until chicken is cooked (I'm still not sure how to know, i guess when chicken looks cooked- brownish? Put in some water too. (I dunno how much and I dunno when - we actually put in too soon) 5. put in capsicum, stir fry (dun need to let them sit) 6. put in tomatoes, stir fry briefly, and Ta-Da, DONE! Yay~
"Maria, thanks!" O_O Erm...you got it wrong Boss...my intention was not a noble one......but i never told her x.x
And later when I saw her hair wet then I remembered why she had wanted to get up so early - to shower - then I understood why she thanked me lol.
But that's not an essential part of what I wanted to tell you guys. Anyway here's the elaborate story. On ASB trips we generally cook our own food, and everyone takes turn cooking. Me and Nathan were randomly selected as a cooking pair, and I was freaking out because I am pretty much clueless about cooking [though I can cook rice in a cooking pot and probly fry an egg and I do know the theory of stir-fry]. Nathan is a headstrong guy who has clear thoughts and when he sets out to do something, he is very determined to do it (and do it as perfectly as possible). So even though he also doesn't know much about cooking, he virtually took control of the situation by making almost all of the decisions. And me being my low-self-esteem self, the one who always gets persuaded but never manages to persuade (T-T), i felt like i was being pushed back. Yet I couldn't complain because I really don't know what to do, and how can I contribute like this? [ELS story all over again] So Nathan decided that we would be making fajita, a type of Mexican food (go google it yourself la I lazy). It's something like taco. And I agreed because I had no better ideas. When we went shopping at Kroger, everything we bought was basically decided by him (because I had no idea what fajita is or how to estimate how much people eat. I still don't know how to estimate how much ppl eat -.-"). So I was feeling...unsatisfied...because I wasn't contributing. I want to contribute! I don't want to be useless!
My Biggest Fear is: Being Useless; or more precisely, being disliked & being scolded & being thought stupid by everyone in the world. T.T i don't want that i don't want that i don't want that.
Erhem. (So I hope you now understand better why i try so hard to not offend ppl to the extent of withdrawing myself from possibly disrupting group harmony in various social situations)
Back to the story. Nathan & me were supposed to cook dinner on Thursday evening, so the night before I confided in Jenny about my worries/fears/dissatisfaction. Jenny had a clear view of the situation and frankly told me what she thought, and what i should do, in a way that was impartial to everybody. While talking to her I gradually became clear as to what I thought and what was the thing I should do. I said I don't mind doing all the manual labor (because clearly i cannot help much in the brainy department because i don't know what a fajita is lol). I said I think I will ask Nathan to let me do at least 50% of the work. I don't want him to take all the credit.
Later that night Nathan literallySHOOED everybody out of the kitchen & brought Xin Kai in. To make his top secret surprise dessert (=.=) Not even me was allowed (wth?) I was stubborn for quite some time, not wanting to get out of the kitchen, prolonging my stay by washing the dishes and pots and pans. Nathan was even more stubborn (SUPER SUPER HEADSTRONG STUBBORN O_O). In the end I still left the kitchen (because i doubt he will ever give way |||orz) but on ONE CONDITION: i will get to help him make the dessert tomorrow. I don't want him to get all the credit.
As luck would have it, Thursday evening after painting, some ppl went to Krogers to get more groceries, and Nathan went to get the salsa sauce. And I went back to the church where we were staying to get started on preparing dinner. BIG GRIN =D. I started by doing the canned refried beans. Lisa & Jenny were at hand to instruct this clueless kid. Really not much, just pouring them from the can into a pan, heat up, and stirring so they won't get burnt. (Refried beans look gross, btw).
And then I proceeded to cut the veggies (luckily Nathan told me beforehand that we were going to slice them). Shalini and Ritu and Lisa offered to help cut but I FLATLY REFUSED because I FINALLY GET THE CHANCE TO COOK and to have the chance to do ALL the work is a WONDERFUL PLEASURE and a RARE OPPORTUNITY for this spoilt overprotected xiao jie here. Yes, because at home I feel that pa & mi don't trust me to cook, and besides i'm too slow lol. Shalini kept on offering to help but i flatly said No. (Sorry Shalini. This is important to me. It's a previous learning and growing process for me. You must let me "struggle" my way out from the cocoon and learn to use my wings.
Moldy: Struggle konon. =.= )
What veggies? Bell Peppers aka Capsicum EWWWW -.-||| I don't like bell peppers x.x But they look pretty and are not too hard to cut, though Jenny and Lisa had to give me explicit instructions. I'll repeat them to you now. First wash the capsicum. Next, cut it into half. Then cut off/tear off using hands the center part (with the seeds and all). Then slice them (I did it with the capsicum's inside facing up). Try to slice them into equal sizes (widths) so that they'll be cooked evenly - this is especially important for meats! [I know this! though not the reason. From watching Chuuka Ichiban XD See? Anime is educational] So I finished slicing 1 yellow, 1 red, and 1 green capsicum all on my own! Yay!
Then I went on to the tomato. The last time i cut tomatoes (during ASB DC) it was not a pretty result X.X Now i referred to my experienced consultant cooks. It would be impossible to slice tomatoes, so the experienced cooks advised me to dice them. So I shall proceed to tell you the explicit instructions for dicing tomatoes. First wash the tomatoes. Next, cut it into half. Then slice the 1/2-tomato into slices & then dices - imagine the oval-hemisphere shaped 1/2-tomato, imagine the oval has two axes. i think it's better to slice the longer axis first, and then make 4 more parallel slices. then only turn it 90 degrees clockwise/anticlockwise, to slice the shorter axis and make 4 more slices parallel to the shorter axis, and you will have diced 1/2 a tomato! Do the same with the other 1/2. [Hope people are getting what i'm trying to say lol. But most people won't need that much advice about dicing tomatoes gua haha]
Before I finished dicing all 6 tomatoes, Nathan had come back. He & others sliced (I let him slice =P) the two onions while i finished up the tomatoes because I had sliced onions at home before =] Then we went on to the chickens. I think it was 3 pounds of chicken breasts. Nathan took out the fatty parts of the chicken breasts and passed them on to me for me to slice. Again, my best-est ["best-est" is not a word] consultant cooks advised me along the way. I think I did a pretty good job ^_~ Because of time shortage, Ritu and Lisa helped us to slice the chickens too (yeah i finally allowed outside help lol).
Then follow the instructions of Kroger (generic) brand Fajita pre-made seasoning mix [The Secret of the Taste]. I cannot remember already X.X We used 2 packets. I think we seasoned the chicken before cooking (by mixing the powder with the chicken in a salad bowl). Nathan did that while i began...
...stir fry~! I was so happy when I found out that we were going to do stir fry because it's something I know more about! And with Lisa the experienced cook consultant by my side, I fear not! I can't remember exactly the procedure, but it should go like: 1. Pour some oil into pan/wok. 2. put the onions. 3. i can't rmb whether to put the chicken or capsicum first. i think it was chicken, bcoz there was a lot of capsicum and it would've been hard to stir fry chicken properly. 4. Stir fry the chicken by letting them sit in the wok for some time to cook (a minute or two? I don't know- just followed when Lisa said), and then stir/turn them around, upside down, then let them sit again, and then stir again. Repeat until chicken is cooked (I'm still not sure how to know, i guess when chicken looks cooked- brownish? Put in some water too. (I dunno how much and I dunno when - we actually put in too soon) 5. put in capsicum, stir fry (dun need to let them sit) 6. put in tomatoes, stir fry briefly, and Ta-Da, DONE! Yay~
I tried the dish not expecting much x.x ....and....it was good! I mean the chicken was fully cooked, had flavor, and the capsicum didn't taste bad at all! I guess the seasoning, despite being a generic and cheapest brand was very powerful and Lisa's instruction was very good ^______^ I AM HAPPY ^O^ ^O^ ^O^ ^O^
Meanwhile we reheated the refried beans, and kind Ritu helped us heat/bake the tortillas (?) [the flat thin round pieces used to hold the filling- beans/meat], set up the salsa sauce etc. and our fajita dish is complete!
Now came time for Nathan's mysterious DESSERT. It was mini toasted bread squares+mini scoop of ice cream! [I asked XK later what he was doing with Nathan in the kitchen the night before, and he said Nathan wanted to find out how toasted the bread should be. OTL||| Wah Lau eh. Nathan oh Nathan @_@ @_@ @_@ Perfectionist sangat budak ni! [he should be same age as me, although he's a sophomore =P]
Now you might be thinking that you won't like Nathan after reading all these not-so-positive-tones from me, but no- my only issue is that he's too overwhelming for small little stupiak me orz. I actually really really respect him. He's actually a very good guy, the most gentleman and hardworking of all the 3 guys on my trip. [me wonders why there hasn't been a white male on both my trips] The thing that struck me most about him is how passionate he is. He's really strong-willed, hard working, intellectual, kind (he's really good with kids ^_~) and he's really really great at the piano- i can actually feel emotion from his playing - which shows how deep his passion is. He is pretty religious (Christian). Meanwhile I also cannot comprehend him. During his life story he said he is actually a very serious guy (really really serious) but he's trying to loosen up. And indeed my first impression of him during the first few days was that he was a goofball and happy guy. And then he just got more reserved and less smiley and mysterious (e.g. sitting alone with computer late at night aft everybody had gone to bed). But as a whole i believe he is going to go out and do great things (that is his life goal - to do something great). I hope he didn't get offended by what i wrote to him [we had a session on the last day where we wrote (good things ^^;; but i think i ended up doling out advice pretending to be a grandmother swt) about each person on the trip] I think i wrote something like telling him to relax, and acknowledge his achievements.
and now. back to Jenny =)
My silly little hope: hope that she can be sort of a friend-mentor to me. i want to maintain a relationship with her. so that was the main factor i was so keen on getting into her gsw section this quarter [plus her great teaching skills]. And yes, I got in, after a little bit of struggle coz idiot me forgot to enroll in her section on the system. so i'm going to meet her every sunday, but for chemistry lar, with 7 or 8 other students. Let's see how things work out. I'm not going to lay much hope. But God knows.
God knows. =)
p/s have i delved into the shocking fact about how common pre-marital sex is in America? that'a another issue i need to explore some time.
Ciao!
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