ThucLam is Better than Nam

When I woke up, my feet hurt really bad and walking hurt for the first few minutes. We all got ready relatively quickly and got in the car. The line to get into Hollywood was longer than in Animal Kingdom but it was nothing compared to the lines for the rides. When we got in, we made a beeline for Galaxy’s Edge, a section of the park dedicated to Star Wars. The whole place looked like it was taken out of the movie, it was very impressive. Uyen had made an appointment at the Droid Depot to make her own droid. Kim and Luân ended up adding onto her appointment and made droids as well. Then, we went in line for Smuggler’s Run. It was another simulation ride that had you interact with the ship all the while. It was very fun, and I liked pressing all the buttons. The next ride we wanted to do was Rise of the Resistance but the line was more than a two hour wait, so we went to look for lunch. We settled on Woody’s Lunchbox and everyone got grilled cheeses and tomato basil soup, it was very good. Since we were in Woody’s Backyard, we decided to go to Toy Story Mania, where you had to shoot stuff to get points. I beat Tien. Afterwards we went to see the Indiana Jones show, and I thought I had already seen the majority of the show so I wasn’t going to be surprised, but the show had more parts than I thought it would. So it was pretty fun. And loud. After that show Annie wanted to see the Beauty and the Beast show. I enjoyed that one very much, even if it was kinda silly, I enjoy theater. Then we made our way to Runaway Railway. It was a trackless ride on Goofy’s train, which gets separated throughout the ride and it’s very fun. All the trackless rides are good ones. There was also a parade, I can’t remember if it was before or after the Railway, but I got to see Edna Mode. She’s my inspiration. We also got really good slushees, they were really good. After that, I really wanted to go on the Slinky Dog ride, and I figured that TQ would be able to ride it. And after talking, TQ agreed to go on it. This was the longest line we had waited in the whole trip. Not because of the actual line, the actual line was pretty average. But it started raining right when we were in the front of the line, and the ride got suspended until the rain let down. But eventually, after maybe an hour, we were able to go on the ride. And I thought it was thrilling. TQ didn’t enjoy it as much as I did. Actually, I think we did Toy Story Mania after Slinky Dog. Maybe. All I know is after we left Andy’s Backyard, we made a beeline to Galaxy’s Edge to get on Rise of the Resistance. This line was unbelievably long, it felt longer than everything. But it was only about half an hour more than an hour, which was good. When we got on the ride, we were on this space shuttle, then we got kidnapped by the First Order, and we passed this giant room with Stormtroopers. Then, the First Order interrogated us, before sending us into a cell. The Resistance saves us and puts us into the ride. This was a trackless ride. And it was so much fun. It was mind blowing. Even TQ thought it was fun. There is one slight drop, but that was fun too. This whole ride was a masterpiece. Now, my Star Wars knowledge isn’t like Nam’s but I could tell what was going on. It was amazing. Any other theme park is gonna be nothing compared to Disney. After that ride it was getting dark, so we would have to do the Hollywood Tower of Terror and the Rock and Rollercoaster the second time we come here. We all talked about how amazing Rise of the Resistance was. It was pretty awesome. What did we eat that night? I think shu mai and rice and seaweed. We were all beat up and tired.  So we went to sleep, and tomorrow, we would be going to EPCOT, Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow.

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I woke up pretty early, probably because of time zones or whatever it is. I went through my suitcase to find the outfit of the day, but since my mother packed everything for me I could barely scramble together a decent outfit. I had the dresses that Tien gave me last night but U was saving those for Magic Kingdom. I pulled together a white shirt and my blue skirt with white flowers. Kim gave all of us bracelets that acted as bug repellent and I just put it on my ankle. While driving there I almost fell asleep, even though the drive was less than twenty minutes. When we got there we had to get cards to pass through the gate instead of an online pass. This was to my advantage because I was hoping for a card to keep for memories anyways. Since Disney is celebrating their 50th anniversary, there’s a lot of exclusive 50th Anniversary merch. The cards were also decorated accordingly, you could get one of 50 characters on it. I got Minnie, and TQ got Simba. Once we got past the gate, we were greeted by this giant tree. It wasn’t real, too green to be real, but it was huge. I grabbed a map, which I would be collecting throughout all four of the parks, also for memories. I opened the map and see four sections branches off the mainland, Discovery Island, with the Tree of Life. We first went to Pandora, from Avatar. Now, I haven’t seen Avatar in years. The one thing I remember is blue people and banshees, and the hair connecting thing. The first ride of the day, and in me and TQ’s theme park experience, was the Rite of Passage. This line was longer than any line I have ever been in. And apparently all the lines at Disney were like this. Hooray. After about an hour of waiting we went into this simulation room, where we would be experiencing riding a banshee. You sit in a chair like a bike, and the whole room moves around as a screen in front of you plays the banshee ride. It was very fun, very cool. I’m having trouble figuring out how to describe the ride, so just look it up. TQ was terrified, she closed her eyes the entire time. So afterwards we went on the only other ride in Pandora, a river ride. This line wasn’t as long as Rite of Passage but it was very close. The ride was cool though. The best thing was this very lifelike animatronic at the end of the river. My memory is a little bit hazy after that but I think we went to eat after that. And then we got ice cream. And this was the beginning of my love for Mickey Ice Cream Sandwiches. Godly. There was a kite show, with Simba, Zazu, Timon, and Pumba. Very cool. Then we went on the Mount Everest ride. TQ was very intimidated but everyone else kept telling her there were no drops, and that it was a smooth ride. At first I thought they were saying that on accident and I attempted correcting them; the Everest ride is probably the third most “scary” DisneyWorld ride. It definitely had drops, a good few of them. And I also knew that it went backwards. The power of the internet. But I realized TQ wouldn’t go on the ride if she knew about the drops so I just let the adults mess with her mind. Tien kept on saying how she’s been on the ride before and how she’s a big baby with roller coasters so it couldn’t be that bad. It was bad. I was screaming my butt off. And I think TQ was crying. After that we got Coke. Now this started a chain reaction throughout all the Disney days, we all craved the Disney Coke. They had to put drugs in it or something because it tasted so good. Towards the end of the day, we went to Dinoland to go on this dinosaur ride, but it got shut down right when we were about to get on, unfortunately. So we decided to repeat the best ride of the day, Rite of Passage in Pandora. It was kind of across the park so we had to speed walk the whole way. Oh my goodness my feet were killing me. I think my blisters had blisters it was so gross. And I was wearing Vans. TQ kept hearing all of us talking about how fun Rite of Passage was so she promised not to close her eyes this time. The line was relatively short and fast since it was near closing time. The second time on that ride was just as fun as the first time. I concluded that these long lines were all worth it. As we walked out to the car Mom Facetimed and I just smiled and waved and talked about what happened. When we get home, Uyen and Tien make rice and seaweed. I don’t know why but this whole trip everything just tasted so good. Then, I showered and TQ showered and then we ended off the day but resting our blistered feet and going to sleep.

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Mom dropped off TQ and I at the departure gate as we boarded the plane to Orlando, for the Disneyworld trip where the two of us would be supervised with Uyên, Tiên, Kim, Luân, and Annie. The plane ride was relatively fast, I didn’t get to sit next to TQ, which was fine by me. I took the window seat next to this purple haired girl and her, I’m assuming, father. I fell asleep the whole plane ride. But right before landing I woke up, I like to look at the whole city right before landing. It would’ve been more enjoyable at night, but it was still nice. Kim picked us up from the gate and the rest of the gang came in the SUV. Seven people in a five seat car wasn’t very doable. So Annie switched and sat in the back after we parked at Lotte to get food. Then we went to Target for sandals or something. And I needed pimple patches. Then we went to this hot pot  place that had robots serving you. The broth was also so good, and according to Tien, the crab was the best that she’d ever had. TQ’s teeth were causing pain so I had to cook the noodles for like thirty minutes to get them really soft and mushy for her to eat. I ate until I thought I was going to explode. Then we went to a CVS to get yogurt for TQ. After that, we went to the rental house. Located in a townhouse community. It was big enough to fit all of us and TQ and I even got our own beds so we were happy. I showered, TQ showered, Annie did my nails, and then we fell straight to sleep, we were going to Animal Kingdom for the first day of Disneyworld. How exciting.

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This morning we would be leaving the campsite and going home. TQ and I had woken up kinda late but Nana and Pappy had gotten most of the stuff packed up and ready to go. We just had to brush our teeth and put our backpacks in the truck. The dogs were in the truck with us waiting for about half an hour before we got on the road. I enjoyed the ride down because of the view once again, and because it’s easy to fall asleep in a car. We got back to the house and unpacked everything from the truck. Nana and Pappy had to wash the cars and clean the house so TQ and I just hung around. Then after lunch, which was sandwiches, we took showers and then had dinner, then ice cream for dessert. Then TQ and I brushed our teeths. And then we went to bed.

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At 9am there was gonna be another presentation at the amphitheater with a bunch of birds. The were two owls and some falcon thing. TQ and I collectively agreed that the owls were pretty creepy. There was a lot of wind that day but I actually really liked the cool breeze. I asked TQ to play cards with me, and then I realized she has so much fricking luck it’s not fair. So I just played solitaire while TQ went on and on about her whole life with her online friends and her roblox addiction. The worst part about it was that it was kind of entertaining. Lunch was more sandwiches and then we went on another walk, this one was longer than the last one but I don’t mind. TQ was still going on the rant about her online friends and it kept me entertained, still. Once we got back to the trailer Nana and Pappy took naos while I continued with solitaire and half listening to TQ, who was still ranting about online people drama. We took showers and then went back to the amphitheater where they showed a video about sheep which was kinda cool. Then we went back to the trailer to sleep. Oh by the way, Nana and Pappy slept on the bed while TQ and I slept on the dining table which was pushed down and had cushions on top.

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In the morning, we had wake up really early and quickly get our stuff together and in the truck. I usually really like driving up to the campsite because the view is very pretty and it’s mostly uneventful. We had to make a one hour stop because our campsite wasn’t ready yet which was fine by me cause I just read the entire time. And the view was over a cliff which was pretty cool. Once we got to the campsite everything was unpacked really fast since we are mega pros. Nana made us sandwiches for lunch while we ate outside. TQ and I just read while talking about whatever we were talking about. Then we went on a walk around the perimeter of the campsite, which was smaller than I thought it would be. That night, there was gonna be a presentation of some sort at the amphitheater so we all decided to go. This park ranger talked about squirrels. And some other stuff, I don’t remember all of it but trust me, I remember tomorrow morning’s presentation.

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Last Thursday ThucDan dropped off TQ and I at Nhi’s house to wait for the arrival of Nana to come kidnap us and take us with her and Pappy on their camping trip. We were only waiting there for about 30 minutes when Nana came to pick us up. She had to go to the grocery store to get, something. While we were driving I had a very faint nostalgic feeling since this was the area of my childhood home. Once we got to the house, the dogs were the same, and we just chilled until the end of the day, and we had ice cream for dessert. Very good. TQ and I would be sleeping in the office on these two air beds. The next morning we would be leaving at 4am to ride up to the campsite.

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in approximately three weeks, i will be leaving middle school and entering high school. the difference between the two is that one of them is high.

i would be lying if i said that i’m not scared but at the same time i’m pretty excited. high school can’t be that different from middle school, and if anything goes wrong i could always just toss myself off a cliff, so i would say i’m pretty prepared. my top chosen electives are culinary, asl, and dance. honestly if i really think about it, i don’t have that much to worry about. maybe i’m just dramatic.

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fellas, i did it. i attended a middle school dance. i’ve always thought they were dumb but at the same time i’ve wanted to go to one just to see if it was anything like how thucdan told me it was, or if it matched up with any of the movies i’ve watched. let me tell you, it was exactly how i thought it would be.

my school was holding a spring fling on friday night, april first for all seventh and eighth graders. tickets could be bought for five bucks beforehand or at the door. i had made up my mind that i wasn’t going to go because i assumed i had tennis that night.  turns out i didn’t, but i still wasn’t sure if i wanted to go or not. on friday all my friends were talking about the dance and i still hadn’t made up my mind. as i walking to my car one of my friends pulls me aside and gives me this entire speech on why i should go. it went something like this;

”thuc! you have to go to the dance.”

“no i don’t?”

“but you do!”

“and why is that?”

“because (insert convincing reason here) and you’ll miss out if you don’t go.”

“i’ll think about it.”

so i thought about on the car ride home. and then i decided i was going to go. it was only for two hours and five bucks so why not? anyways once i got home, i called mother and informed her about the dance. then i threw on a skirt and shirt. doing my hair was slightly a hassle since i can never get one side to look like the other. once i finished, mother came home and drove me to school. on the car ride there i was wondering if i had made a mistake. well, too late now.

i showed up about 15 minutes early for two reasons; one, to buy my ticket since i didn’t buy it a week prior to the dance cause i’m not a loser, and two, because i wanted to hide out in the bathroom and cry a little bit before that dance started. i’m kidding, i didn’t cry. but i did hide out in the bathroom before the dance started. i realized i arrived a little bit too early and that the gym wasn’t even ready by the time i bought my ticket. but after walking around the halls aimlessly for about 10 minutes, my two friends arrived. i’ll call one of them gru and the other one paige. now gru and i had a mutual agreement through text that we would be matching. she in fact, did not match with me. she matched with paige. i’m not mad about it. anymore. anyways a few minutes after saying hi and chatting, palm tree arrived. her name isn’t palm tree but she’s like six foot so it makes sense.

it was 5pm so we went into the gym and hid out in a corner waiting for the rest of our friends. it took awhile for everyone to get here so for the first 30 minutes of the dance, it was just a bunch of kids in huddles and some low music playing. but then a bunch of people started arriving and they turned off the lights so everyone was jus round of yelling at each other. my group that i had arrived with basically split up, palm tree and paige went for food and gru and i went looking for our two other friends. i’ll call these two kimpossible and mila. when the four of us were united we just kinda talked until the dee jay guy put on some spanish song and all the hispanics went crazy cause apparently it was a cool song. anyways gru kimpossible and mila all knew how to dance to that song and i obviously didn’t but mila took my hands and had to show me how to. i don’t think i picked it up too well but it felt like i did and i was having fun just shaking my hands with mila and shimmying back and forth. i’m not gonna lie, i had a lot of fun. it was great to just grab my friends’ hands and make them dance with me even when they looked so miserable. the entire time, i was just laughing and talking with my friends while grabbing their hands and dragging them over to dance with me. i knew that if i thought it was fun, then it would be fun. so i just kept the mindset that this was going to be great. and it was. i had a great time.

towards the last 20 minutes of the dance the dee jay guy told us that he was gonna play the last few songs and a few kids started retaliating. i didn’t really care, i had enough fun and my social battery was starting to run out. i have this friend. we’ll call him domino’s pizza. because that’s his name. another spanish song came up and i didn’t really care cause for the last few spanish songs i just danced with mila. but somehow i got separated from my group and found myself talking to domino’s pizza. he’s a good friend of mine and when i told him i didn’t know how to dance, he grabbed me and we started dancing. it was pretty cool since i don’t really know any dances but domino’s pizza was pretty good at it and pretty much guided me the entire way. the bad thing was that someone had taken a video of us. normally i wouldn’t mind but they showed me the video and i realized how bad of a dancer i was.

i got over it in approximately 7 seconds.

and then i went back to just dragging random friends of mine to dance with me.

basically, throughout the entire night i assumed that it was just gonna be awkward and weird. but i got comfortable with the people around me and i didn’t really care at that point. i would recommend going to school dances. even though thucdan gave me the idea it was gonna be weird she still made me wanna go. and i did. and i don’t regret it. i had so much fun. too bad i didn’t get to go last year cause of covid. still, for my first school dance, it was awesome

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Hôm qua con, em và chị đi lên nhà thờ cho têt’. Con đi lên đễ mà con coi máy ban, của con nhãy. Lúc mà con tới thì con tìm bạn của con dễ. Con đan đói cho nên con hỏi TD đua con tien nhưng mà TD nói TQ đan cam. Lúc mà con tìm em thì em nói em làm mát^ cái tiên` tôi`. Cho nên bạn của con mua cho con chãi giò. Con coi máy bạn của con nhãy và con la to lám. Bây giờ cỗ con thì là đâu. Bạn của TD cũng tới luôn. Con và bạn con chụp hình rôi con phải đi vê`.