Peng's Family
Lucinda's 2014 Newsletter
Hello everyone! I hope your year has been wonderful!!! I guess I have a bigger audience this year... New places, new people, and an AMAZING climate ;) it's been a crazy year for me, and though I suppose most of you know, for those who don't, I'm writing this on the way home from my first semester of college at Yale! That means high school graduation, a summer trip around the world, new sports, and reunions with so many old friends! It’s really been a year of silver and gold – friends that is! New and old, it’s been great to meet both and see how small the world really is.
Lucinda at high school graduation
First day at Yale
Before I get ahead of myself, let's start from the beginning, less than a month after you last heard from me, I received a super exciting call from Yale. Well, my mom got the call while I was, as usual, at the gym. They wouldn't tell her anything except that I should call back, no matter how late I got back home. I was kind of nervous about the call, thinking it might be another interview or something of the sort, but instead I got congratulations! You will be receiving a likely letter from Yale soon, and in February you're invited to come up for YES-W (Yale Engineering and Science Weekend), which just happened to be the weekend of my birthday. I was initially very confused, having never heard of a likely letter before, but as the nature of the likely letter became clear, I, as my sister put it, “could only say thank you, oh wow, thank you.” I was ecstatic about my likely admission status, and could not wait to go to Yale the next month.
YES-W came, and it was better than I could have ever imagined it to be. Not to make it sound like a typical admission-type program, but this weekend was wonderful. I got to know my wonderful host Emmy, went running in the snow with her suitemate Shalila, met some of my future classmates and friends, and had an insane amount of fun with all of the activities. Over the course of the three days I was at Yale, we had master classes, went to a basketball game, and Junk Wars. For Junk Wars, we were separated into 12 teams, each representing a residential college in Yale. Luckily, I was put in Branford (BFA!), which is my current residential college. We had to design a machine that had different requirements, such as making a loud noise at a certain time. Since Branford’s mascot is a squirrel, part of our machine was a flying squirrel. We got to hear lectures from the faculty, and were put into groups for lunch with a professor in a field of our interest, so I was put in the biomechanics group with Professor Humphrey. This special lunch was on a special day for me, the one where cake and presents are usually present. So at the end of lunch, I got a surprise! A gluten and dairy free cake from Claire’s! It was one of the best birthday weekends ever!
Branford YES-W Junk Wars Team
Enjoying the beautiful snow at YES-W
The rest of my school year at Eastside passed by in a blur. It was a series of “lasts.” I had my last cross country banquet, last violin recital, last day of school, last set of AP and IB tests. We got our IB pins and diplomas, finished extended essays, and Theory of Knowledge presentations. I graduated, and then in wizarding fashion, went to explore the world. My summer around the world began with a trip to the west coast, visiting my American grandparents and family friends in Portland and Seattle. Then, I went to the Far East, visiting my Chinese grandparents and meeting up with friends from school in China. My trip ended in Europe, reunited with my family, exploring the Netherlands, Norway, Denmark, and France.
Eastside Prom
Chinese Dance at Spotlight on Youth
Happy Mother's Day!
Eastside Graduation!
Lucinda's last violin recital
Lucinda's Graduation Party
Portland
I started my busy summer with a relaxing visit with my American grandparents (my parents’ host family when they had just moved to the USA and were studying at Portland State). I had a fantastic time there, and realized that I absolutely love Portland. I got to see my American grandparents’ family and my friend Sophia. I went to Columbia Gorge with Sophia, stopping first at Multnomah Falls, because we wanted to relive the experience from the last time I visited Oregon and came to Columbia Gorge with Sophia and her dad. We then explored a few falls, took an infinite number of pictures, and had lots of fun. This furthered my belief that I cannot live without nature nearby. The feeling of freedom, carefully balancing on the slippery rocks to get closer to the falls, I would’ve been perfectly content spending my entire summer exploring the Columbia Gorge. We also went downtown one day, shopping in the Pearl District, finding all the water fountains in the area so that we could play like kids in them. Sophia took me to Voodoo Doughnuts and Salt n Straws to get our sugar for the day.
Back at Grandma Ellie and Grandpa Ted’s house, we decided to go to Mt. Hood for an afternoon trip. We walked around the ski lodge, learned about its history, and I got really excited when I saw the patches of snow, but since we couldn’t go skiing, we headed back down the mountain. I also went on a walk with Jane, grandma Ellie’s daughter on the hill in the neighborhood. Apparently there are mini volcanos on the mountain that they had found when they were kids. We also went to the Pearl District (second time for me!) to see all the cool shops they have there. Lizzie, Grandma Ellie’s granddaughter, and I made delicious gluten and dairy free crepes for breakfast. One evening, we got to go to Portland State to see a concert (classical music of course) that was part of the Northwest Chamber Music Summer Festival. We went to the Debussy concert, which sounded lovely. This concert made me realize how much I already missed violin, and I know that I will continue playing music for the rest of my life.
Lucinda and Sophia in downtown Portland
Lucinda and Sophia at Columbia Gorge
Seattle
Next, I went to Seattle because I was flying out of there the next day to go to China. I got to stay with my parents’ friends: Fei and Xiaoli. Xiaoli is one of the most impressive runners I know. She has run a few marathons, many more half marathons, and triathlons (like-minded people always get along). We went downtown and had her son’s birthday dinner with her family. The next day we went to some touristy areas, like the fish market, the gum wall, and a sculpture garden. I wished that I had more time so that we could have gone to Mt. Rainier, but there’s always next time for that.
Nice view of Downtown Seattle
Happy to see Xiao Li's family
Beijing
No matter where I go, I know that I always have my dad’s students to count on to pick me up and let me stay at their house, especially in China. With the assurance of “you’ve met her before”, I went to Beijing, and stayed with Nannan Jiejie, who came to pick me up at the airport. I was planning on going to GuGong, the Forbidden City, but apparently on Mondays it isn’t open, so instead I went to Yi He Yuan, the Summer Palace, and Jing Shan, Jing Mountain, by myself. The Summer Palace is a huge park where the emperor and empress went to cool off in the horribly hot summers. It has many beautiful gardens that I too loved wandering through, but as for the cooling off part? I’m not so sure of that ; it just seemed like more of the hot, sticky summer experienced in the rest of the city. As I was trying to find my way out of the labyrinth, I realized how rusty my Chinese had gotten when I couldn’t ask for directions to the subway station without calling my dad for translation help. I made it out alive, and continued to my next stop, Jing Shan. I decided to go here because I really wanted to see the Forbidden City, and since it was closed, this was the only way to get a glimpse. Jing Shan itself is a very pretty garden park, with many little temples around it. From the vantage point of the top of the mountain, I was able to see the roofs of Gu Gong. I grudgingly began taking selfies in my time alone, because who doesn’t want to see my face?
Yi He Yuan - Summer Palace
Jing Shan Park overlooking the Forbidden City
Chaling
It had been quite a few China visits since the last time I went to Chaling to visit my dad’s side of the family, but I’m so glad I was able to go this time. My cousin, Xiao Yu Jiejie picked me up from the train station and then took me around Changsha with her friend. We went to a park near her school, and looked around at all the closed stores, because according to my cousin, Changsha is very much a night city, so all of the stores and restaurants weren’t open, because 10 am is too early for them. Just like Gu Gong wasn’t open on Mondays, all of the museums aren’t open on Tuesdays, so of course with my luck, none of the air conditioned places were open. We went to a nearby park, and another place that had some connection to Mao Zedong, as he grew up in Hunan Province. That afternoon we went to Chaling with my dad and uncle. My grandma and aunts and uncles were all there. Since Chaling is in the countryside, I could actually see the blue sky, which is nonexistent in cities due to the excessive pollution. Getting to reconnect with this side of my family was fun, but not as easy as with my mom’s side since I don’t speak or understand the dialect that they speak. Besides playing cards with my cousins, we also went to the mountains one night, and did a night hike up the mountain. My cousins and I were running just to keep up with my uncle’s steady walking pace. We raced up the mountain, but since the lights were out, we only went up to the bridge to feel the cool breeze from the river rushing below us. Another day we went to Huangtang, the tiny village that my dad was born and raised in. We met many of his old neighbors, and got fresh vegetables from their farms, and even a live chicken for dinner that night. It was really impressive to see how little my dad was born with, but with all of his hard work, we now live extremely comfortable lives in a nice house in the USA. Even though I liked going to see the old farm, I couldn’t imagine trying to live there, even with the renovations were apparently done to the house, which only had two bedrooms for six people.
With cousin Yu at Chaling
Not pictured: Xiao Yu Jiejie
Dad's family at Chaling
Zhengzhou
In Zhengzhou, I stayed with my grandparents, talking to them, going on walks, playing games, just relaxing and having fun in general. We all like to go to sleep early, and wake up early. My grandparents read the newspaper, while I read books on my kindle. This summer was the first time in a really long time that I had had time to read many of the books that I had been planning on reading for all of high school. We always had visitors at all hours, my aunts and uncles and cousins all liked to stop by, so I had time to catch up with all of them. Ming Ge and his wife took me to see Transformers 4 at midnight, which was fun, but only Ming Ge made it through the entire movie without napping. Feng Jie took me to the golf course to meet my aunt and get an extravagant but delicious lunch. Han Ge and his wife and mom took me to Lou Yang, where we went to Long Men Shi Ku and Bai Ma Si. Long Men Shi Ku, Longmen Grottoes, is a place with many Buddhist figures carved into the side of a mountain. The quantity and quality of the statues is amazing. Unfortunately, as I heard my cousin complain numerous times, the invading Japanese armies destroyed the faces of every statue, but all the artistry can still be seen behind the defacing marks. We also went to Bai Ma Si, White Horse Temple, which is the first Buddhist temple to be built in China. Although I’m not particularly interested in history, I loved the opportunity to, as my Chinese class would say “进一步了解中国文化和社会” (or further understand Chinese culture).
Having a great time with aunts, uncles, and granparents!
Playing with Langlang
Golf course with Feng Jie
Bai Ma Si (White Horse Temple)
At the Longmen Grottoes
Can I pass off as a Buddha too?
With YaJuang Jiejie at Bai Ma Si
Shanghai
In Shanghai, I met up with my friend Christine and my dad, but Christine and I decided that we were old enough (and had enough Chinese skills between the two of us) to explore the city without him. In Shanghai, the main attractions are shopping and eating, so we did a lot of both. We went to Yi Yuan, a really pretty garden, and shopped at the many shops that line the streets outside of it, explored the underground mall, and, of course, had delicious food. The old Shanghai Expo site has been used for other purposes now. The China pavilion is now the China Art Museum, so we decided to spend half a day there, looking at the art pieces from different eras. We tried going to a cathedral close to our hotel, but weren’t let in because we were wearing sandals and had uncovered shoulders, how indecent! The last place we went apparently didn’t want us in unless we really wanted to find it either. From the era of European domination, there are a few old French towns on the outskirts of the city, so we decided to visit one, but didn’t realize that the remains of the French town would be in such a small area, and there weren’t any directions in the subway station of how to get to it. I had the genius idea of picking the direction that most people were headed and assuming that they too would be going to the French town. We had fun pointing to buildings on our walk, saying that looks kind of old! About half a mile later, we hadn’t found anything, and were told that we had walked in exactly the opposite direction, and that the French town was about one mile away. Since we had already taken the time to take the subway all the way to the outskirts of Shanghai, we decided to suck it up and walk back to find it. The French town ended up being an old street that reminded me of Chinatowns in the USA. There were many vendors in the street, little shops on the side, and even a mini overcrowded nature park. This was a trip worth remembering for the journey more than the destination. The last night my dad and I were in Shanghai was the day of the World Cup finals. I wanted to stay up to watch it, as the game started at 3:30 AM Shanghai time, but my dad thought we should sleep and then maybe we could wake up to watch it. Unfortunately when my alarm woke me up an hour later, I was too tired to do anything but go back to sleep. I figured I’d find out the results before we boarded the plane to Europe anyway.
Model Status, obviously
Finally at the French Town
The cathedral that we didn't enter
Amsterdam
I was the first to arrive in Amsterdam, passing through Frankfurt, Germany first. When I had to go through customs in Germany, the line was incredibly long, and moving much slower than usual. Even if I hadn’t seen the results before leaving China, I definitely would’ve found out when I landed. People in line began joking about how no one was working because everyone was still a little out of it from partying when Germany won. I’m not sure that was the reason for the slow line, but it was amusing enough that the rest of the wait didn’t seem awful.
In Amsterdam, Naomi and I wanted to go to all of the places that Gus and Hazel went to in The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. We got to visit the Anne Frank House, the flower markets, go on a canal tour, and saw some interesting museums. The Anne Frank House was really interesting to see not only because of the story behind it, but also just to see how the secret annex was architecturally hidden, with really narrow steep stairs and extremely efficient use of space.
The flower market was filled with vibrant, colorful flowers, and smelled like springtime. I wished that I could have brought home so many seeds and bulbs… Too bad for customs.
For an outdoor, nature appreciating family like ours, Europe consisted of too many museums that only somewhat interested us (Naomi and I were the ones who complained the most). It all started from the beginning, in Amsterdam. The Anne Frank House was an extremely interesting museum, but most art galleries, unless they contained Monet or van Gogh’s work, weren’t the best parts of the trip. The Amsterdam museum started out like a normal art museum, with lots of paintings that I was less than interested in, but we soon discovered the upper levels, which had a beautiful porcelain violin, white with blue floral designs. I obsessed over that for the rest of the time we were in the museum. There was also a giant doll house, extraordinarily elaborate with tiny details painted on all of the furniture. In addition to the amazing artifacts inside the museum, outside had gorgeous gardens with a fountain that switched the pattern of water it sprayed at different times. My family and I had a lot of fun playing in it (first Portland, now Europe… I really think I’m reverting back to little kid tendencies).
Besides little kid nonsense, we also got to go to the van Gogh museum, which I absolutely loved. All of the bright colors and simple pictures are so pretty, especially the flower paintings, I didn’t want to leave. But at the end of the day, we had to go. Good thing the rest of Europe was just as amazing.
Lucinda at the Anne Frank House
Lucinda at the Flower Market
Naomi trying to be a model
Lucinda at the Amsterdam Central Station
Naomi by the Amsterdam Museum
Playing in the fountains is our specialty
Lucinda and Naomi on a canal bridge
Oslo
In Oslo, I started obsessing about the blue sky, since I only saw it once in China, though I’m not sure why it didn’t hit me in Amsterdam. We spent a lot of time by the ocean in Oslo, even though as Floridians, we should be used to its beauty by now. When we were walking around the city, on the way to the opera house, Naomi commented about how different European steps were compared to American steps. Suddenly, we heard someone say “Naomi??” from behind. It turns out the world is really a small place; Naomi’s friend was there, and heard her talking about American steps. Her sister had just said that not every Asian is Naomi, when Naomi turns around and replied “Nazli??” It was one of the funniest encounters ever, but we soon parted ways as we had different plans for the day.
We continued on to the opera house, literally on. The roof of the opera house was slanted so that it also served as a viewing deck for the ocean. There was a glass structure in the ocean that sparkled when the sun reflected off of it. We saw it again from the mini cruise that we took to an island that had some really interesting museums on it. The mini cruise took us around the coast, past a few islands, before dropping us off on the island. The warm sun and cool wind felt amazing as I stood on the edge of the ship. I almost wanted to stay on the boat for another loop around the coast, but the museums were definitely worth getting off for.
Look who Naomi found!
Naomi's modeling... yet again
Lucinda and the glass structure
Naomi on the mini cruise!
Leaving the island of museums
The Opera House at Oslo
The museums were about the Viking’s history and culture. One of the museums had a climate change section, with really cute cartoons of the effects of global warming. It was triangle shaped in order to hold the Fram, a ship that was built to explore the arctic. Another housed the remains of old Viking ships and other small artifacts. The next day we went to the Royal Palace, watching the changing of the guards, and walking around downtown. We also went to the Frogner and Vigeland park, a park full of statues, on a lucky day. Not only was the park full of flowers and gardens, but as we were about to leave, a rainbow appeared, arching over the main statue in the middle of the park. On the last day, we went to a ski museum, and from there decided to hike to Lake Sognsvann. Up and down hills, the web of trails almost led us astray at times, but in the end we found it, with a memorable journey and destination.
Going to the Fram
Part of the Norwegian Culture Museum
They kind of match...
Rainbow over Frogner Park
The stone people aren't free, but we are!
At the Ski Museum
"She's so tan" ~Naomi
At the grounds of the Palace
On our way to the lake!!
The statue looks similar...
We made it to the lake!
Bergen
From Oslo to Bergen, we took one of the most scenic trains. We passed through mountains, next to lakes and rivers, and judging from the times that I wasn’t sleeping, the view was gorgeous, but it paled in comparison to our hikes up the mountains surrounding the city. We went up the mountains almost every day we were there. It reminded me of our trip to Alaska, constantly exploring the mountains, enjoying nature, mixed with breath-taking scenery. Since my mom didn’t go with the rest of my family the first time, I insisted that she come see it too, so we climbed a really steep mountain twice. I had so much fun though! The rocks made for an intimidating-looking climb, but the harder it is, to more exciting it is. For locals, it apparently isn’t very hard. One person passed us running at a decent pace, jumping from rock to rock like an animal born on the mountains. Towards the top, the path became so steep that there was a railing so that we non-experts could make it all the way up. Even though I loved the climb, the top was possibly even better. There were lakes and houses along the mountain ridge, mountain goats in the far distance, and the view of the city and its surroundings below was incredible. I wished that we could live in one of those houses for a summer, always in the mountains, enjoying the fresh air and tranquility. What a life those people must have!
A glimpse of sunrise from the scenic train
The hills are alive with the sound of music
I'm on top of the mountain!
Climbing down the mountain
Copenhagen
By the time we got to Copenhagen, we were a bit jaded, spoiled from seeing all of the gorgeous places beforehand, so although Copenhagen was beautiful, it didn’t seem as great as our initial destinations, even though had it been one of the first, it would have been gorgeous. Even though we were dead tired by our second to last stop, we got to see many cool things in Copenhagen. We went to see the second most disappointing statue, The Little Mermaid. I personally think that it’s even more famous than it should be because of its status as “second most disappointing statue”, but it wasn’t THAT bad, just not the best. I didn’t know what to expect, but it was indeed the LITTLE mermaid, not a huge statue, just about human sized, but it looked disproportionately small compared to the vast ocean background. The opera house was pretty interesting, shaped like a cowboy hat, this plus the little mermaid made Copenhagen seem like a pretty odd city, but we went on a walking tour of the city, and the guide was so in love with the city that it began to transform how I thought of Copenhagen. We saw the royal residencies, the colorful wharf, city hall, and I enjoyed walking around the city in general. We also went to Christiania, a freetown that has its own set of rules. I wasn’t a huge fan, because they don’t allow for my favorite thing… running!
Naomi on the wharf
Lucinda looks better than the Little Mermaid
This scene looked "manly" enough for Dad
The Opera House looks like a cowboy hat
The girls in front of Christiansborg Palace Tower
Paris
Paris was basically Naomi’s birthday gift. She had been obsessed with going to the Eiffel Tower since her friends went in elementary school, so you can read her newsletter for a more complete story of what we did there. However, my dad and I spent one extra day in Paris when my mom and Naomi had already left. We decided to start the day out by going to Centre Pompidou, the modern art museum, even though we aren’t the biggest fans of art. After an hour or so, my dad and I decided that since it was our last day together before he came to help me move in at Yale, we should do something more memorable and fun. We settled for walking along the Seine, not taking the metro as we had previously done. When we passed by the Louvre, we inadvertently found the lock bridge. Unfortunately, Naomi was the one who really wanted to see it, but she was already long gone when we found it. I don’t see the significance of this, and was not overly impressed with the couples who were essentially throwing money into the water, but to each their own, I guess. My dad and I spent the afternoon in the Luxembourg Gardens, taking a relaxing day to talk and enjoy the pretty gardens. As the day came to a close, I realized that this wasn’t just my last day in Europe, it was the end of my high school days. I was moving on to college in a few short weeks.
Last day in paris with Daddy
Luxembourg Garden
The overrated lock bridge
Moving on to Yale
After a few weeks at home, I went up to Yale early for a six day backpacking trip in the White Mountains. This trip was one of the things that made my move to Yale as smooth as it was. We were split into groups of eight, so we got to know our group members really well. The trip itself was great too. I loved being in the woods, away from technology, surrounded by the cool air and tranquility. We learned that when you’re in the mountains, delicious plus delicious equals delicious, so tortillas with salsa, peanut butter, cheese, granola, and honey became lunch favorites. One day the trail disappeared out of thin air, so we did a bit of bush whacking before we found that the trail had started again a while back, and we had been traveling parallel to it for most of the time we were bush whacking. It was an unforgettable experience though, and I wouldn’t change any of it.
Whites 4mal
First time washing off dirt in four days
We're on top of the world
On the day we got back from backpacking, my dad flew up to Yale to bring all of my stuff and help me settle in. I had so much going on that I felt awful constantly ditching my dad for all of the student activities, and then all too soon, he had to leave, but I wouldn’t say that I was all alone. In fact, I was less alone than I had even been living at home. There were always events or group meetings to attend that basically forced us to get to know other Yalies. Through freshman counselor group meetings, classes, and placement exams, I began to get to know lots of people. I have so many new friends from triathlon club, ballroom dance, orchestra, and research that it would take me forever to say everything that has happened. However, here are some notable things that I have done since going to Yale.
Dad came up to help me move in
Old Campus with Dad
Triathlons
I decided to stop being the forever injured runner, and take my physical therapist’s advice by cross training a lot… or choose a new sport that allows me to run, but also forces me to cross train constantly. So I decided to give triathlons a shot, and ended up loving it. I have run two triathlons so far, one sprint and one Olympic. I discovered that endurance sports are much more to my taste than shorter distances. I finished my Olympic triathlon in 3 hours 5 minutes, which was overall faster than my sprint pace. Triathlons are perfect for me, and although my shins have continued to bother me at times, I’ve learned to deal with them, because sometimes no matter what concessions you make, it’s never good enough.
Ready, set, GO!
Morning ride up East Rock
First triathlon!! Branford, CT
First Olympic Triathlon! Westchester, NY
My Monthly College Race Series
When I finished my last cross country race last year, I couldn’t believe that it was all over. The team was a huge part of my life, and I couldn’t imagine what I would do without their constant support, so I began looking for ways to incorporate cross country-like things into my life, to make the transition easier, and to make sure I stayed in shape. What I came up with is simple: every month, instead of every week, I have to run (or bike and swim) a race. At the time, I didn’t know that I was going to get into triathlons, so I assumed I’d just be running a few 5K’s, hoping there would be enough to complete my goal. I’ve kept with it, and the results have surprised me. My first race was not in August, but since I had just started school and the race was the first weekend of September, I decided it would count for my August race. I ran a 22:48, which was reasonable for my first race. I figured that the time was almost the same as that of my first race for a regular cross country season would have been, so I was happy with it. My next race was the Branford sprint triathlon. I had only been training for less than a month, but I finished the 0.5 mile swim, 13.5 mile bike, and 4 mile run in 1 hour 37 minutes, first in my age group, which I was extremely surprised, but excited about. The next weekend, there was another triathlon, and since this one was an Olympic and qualified me for nationals, I decided to do it too. The Westchester Triathlon had a collegiate division, which basically means I got crushed in my division… as in third… to last. It’s okay though, because I had a blast, and with my experience from the last week, I knew that my feet would feel weird during the run, and that I should just push through, instead of slowing down trying to fix the problem, finishing in 3 hours 5 minutes. In October, I waited until the last minute to find a race, so I ran a 5K Halloween fun run. I hadn’t been running much, as my shins had started bothering me again, so I wasn’t expecting a good time from the race, it would just be for fun. I saw one of my triathlon teammates there, and I guess that changed my mentality. I wanted to race, see how well I could do, so I tried to keep up with a few guys, and somehow ended with a 19:34! I couldn’t believe it, as this was 59 seconds under my personal record, and the three guys ahead of me were stunned with their times too. It turns out that it was “probably closer to 4.9K”, but regardless, the time made me ridiculously happy. Staying with the holiday theme, my next race was the Thanksgiving Turkey Trot, which I ran with my dad, just like last year. However, this year, since my shins had been bothering me, I actually had to run with my dad, not race against him. We still finished with a decent time of 49:06. This race was mostly memorable, not because of the time, but because I got to see many friends there. It was an unplanned running friends reunion! December was hectic because of finals, and coming home, so I didn’t find a race that fit my schedule, so no real race for this month, but my dad and I ran for 30 minutes on the beach, so I decided to cut myself a bit of slack and let that count as my December race.
5K Labor Day Run with Wendy and Micaela
Yale Tri takes first at Halloween Run
The scenic view of my first triathlon!
Turkey Trot with Dad
Ballroom Dance
I decided to join the ballroom team pretty late in the semester, because I realized how much I missed my Chinese dance group, not just the people (though I do miss them a lot), but also dancing itself. I’m not sure how good of a substitute ballroom is for Chinese dance, but it’s a ton of fun, so I don’t have any regrets, except for not joining earlier. Right now, I know some of the more advanced moves, but never learned the basic steps, so we’ll see how competition goes next semester!
Research
Over the summer, my paper on the metabolic costs of running with lower extremity injuries that I was working on last year finally got published! If you want to read it, the abstract can be found here. At Yale, I’ve also started doing research again! Life didn’t feel complete without this aspect in it, so I began looking for a new lab at Yale. I had a fellow origami enthusiast friend from violin, Joey Xu, who was battling a rare pediatric kidney cancer. Inspired by his fight with this disease that kills too many, I decided to try doing research in the cancer center at Yale. I am currently in the Hattangadi lab, doing leukemia research. Cell work is completely different from my previous biomechanics research, and while I cannot yet say which I prefer, I really love being at the lab. I’ve been on a steep learning curve since joining, and continue to learn and grow, just like my cells. Though I am extremely happy doing this research, I know that the need for it is filled with horror and injustice and sorrow. Joey passed away the night before Thanksgiving, and though his passing filled me with sadness, it also strengthened my resolve to study cancer, because although I will never be able to help him, hopefully my research will be able to help others suffering like he was. This doesn’t mean I’ve made up my mind about my future studies, but I know that no matter what I end up doing, it’ll be influenced by his memory. Sorry to cast such a shadow on my letter, but Joey means a lot to me. His mom set up a foundation, Joey’s Wings, in his memory. If you’d like to donate (I hate asking for money, I’m really sorry), the link is: http://www.joeywings.org/
Always having fun at lab
Meet Joey, the wonderful boy who inspired this research
NYC trips
Since New Haven isn’t the most convenient place to fly out of, I get to go to New York City when I travel! It’s annoying, but gives me an excuse to see old friends, who I never thought I’d actually be able to see again. The first time I went was to see my elementary school friend Firdaus. It had been seven years since we had last met in Wisconsin. I moved to Florida, and he moved to India, and though we had kept in contact through email and then Facebook, I still couldn’t believe that I was actually going to see him after all those years that we had gone through the same rough move. We spent the day catching up and roaming around Central Park and Times Square. It was an unforgettable trip, and I’m extremely happy that I got to see Firdaus in first semester of college, just as we had half-jokingly planned all those years ago. I also got to catch up with Natalia again! My UWM daycare friend came up to Yale to visit me, and when I was flying out of NYC to go home for Thanksgiving, I stayed at her place for a night. When Natalia came, I took her to East Rock Park, one of my favorite spots near Yale campus.
Got to see Firdaus after we moved 7 years ago!!!
Natalia came up to Yale to visit me! Daycare friends forever
Yale Family Weekend
About halfway through the semester, my family came to visit me for the family weekend. Even though I had a test the Monday after they left, I was extremely happy with the opportunity to show them my new home and go to Sleeping Giant State Park. I took them to all of my favorite places on campus, and as usual, we had to go on a hike. Since they had a car, and I had only been able to bike past the entrance of Sleeping Giant, we decided to go there. It was a lovely autumn day, with cool weather and bright leaves, so we enjoyed ourselves immensely. Since we had moved to Florida seven years ago, the red and yellow leaves were really exciting for all of us to see.
Since my move to Florida was rough, to say the least, I was extremely pleased that my move to Yale was much smoother than the previous one. I’ve enjoyed my first semester of classes, taking Organic Chemistry, Intro to Cognitive Science, Chinese, and Microeconomics, and am planning on majoring in biomedical engineering.
So happy to see dad again!!!
Lucinda's favorite place on campus
Sister sister
Reminder of old days
Yale Commons
Yale library
First fall in a long time
Sleeping Giant Park
Mexico
My family decided to spend spring break down Puerto Morelos, Mexico. Aside from spending most of our time at the beach, we also went to cenotes, Xcaret, and downtown. Cenotes are a series of underground caves, carved out from the bedrock of limestone, that are partially filled with water. My family and I swam in the siete bocas cenotes, exploring those that had enough space to get through the connections. When the sun was out, the caves lit up, turning the water a gorgeous blue, and the walls shone from the minerals inside of it. One of the openings was a few meters above the water, so Naomi, my dad, and I took turns jumping into the water from the top. I loved spending the day there, swimming in the cool water, seeing the stalactites and stalagmites, and goofing around with my family. We spent another day in Xcaret, an eco-amusement park. We snorkeled in a small inlet of the Caribbean, swam through the underground rivers, and got to see a Mexican cemetery. The underground river was my favorite part, half floating, half swimming down the river. There was a mangrove system that we swam under, many caves, and of course, my dad obsessed about how the roots were so strong and cool-looking.
We went into town a few nights for dinner, and when we were done with dinner, there was a night market in the town square. One person was doing really interesting finger oil paintings, so Naomi and I got one of us jumping on the beach. Even though I watched the entire thing, and a few more paintings that he did, it’s hard to believe that it was just painted with his fingers.
Swimming in the cenotes
Just jumping on the beach
Jumping into the cenote
Beachin' in Mexico
My beautiful family
Winter Break
I’m home for the holidays, enjoying a relaxing, de-stressing break with family. My goal for break is to get as much vitamin D as possible, as I’m always bundled up in New Haven, and don’t let my skin soak in the sun up there. I’ve gotten together with friends, got to see my wonderful violin teacher, and went to Emma and Anneliese’s lake house, La Chua Trail, and the beach. We upheld the tradition of going to the lake for Christmas, and I also got to go a few days earlier after seeing the Nutcracker with Emma and Anneliese. Even though it had probably been half a year since I had last been to the lake, it felt just like home, lounging on the dock, playing games, watching movies, making cotton candy, begging parents for more time, I couldn’t ask for better friends.
Lucinda and Emma on the dock
Sunset over the lake - perfection
My family also went to La Chua Trail, a place in Payne’s Prairie where there are many alligators, bison, wild horses, and birds. The alligators like to sunbathe (like me!) on the side of ponds, meaning they’re right next to the path, or even sometimes on it. We got to see many gators because of this tendency. There were also many birds, which my mom loved photographing. We stayed until the park closed, watching the sun fall below the horizon, lighting the sky up with vibrant colors.
Chomp chomp
My mom's such a great photographer
Lucinda's favorite place on campus
It's the little things in life that bring us joy
Sunset over the prairie
Great way to spend the day
Keeping the sunbathing theme going, we went to the beach for a day trip. Since I’ve almost completely turned back into a northerner, pale skin and all, I jumped in the waves, just as if it were summer, although I was one of the few without wetsuits on in the water. I figured it was about the same temperature as the ocean around New Haven in the beginning of the semester, when the tri team had open water swim practices. My dad and I ran three to four miles together on the beach and dragged Naomi into the water with us.
Always running, no matter where we are
Beach day
Mom and Dad’s activities
My parents would be busy enough people even without having to take care of me and my sister. Mom continues to play tennis, though this year, apart from her Day League team, she also joined a USTA team that made it to finals at Daytona! She continues to volunteer at Eastside and ACYO (the youth orchestra). Her chauffeuring job is back now that I’m a thousand miles away; driving Naomi around to her numerous events and extracurriculars seems like a full time job. She also is still really into photography, and getting better at it every day. I occasionally get texts from her with some of her artsy, beautiful pictures.
Dad is still going strong with his bike to work scheme. When it’s raining and he needs to be picked up, he never forgets to remind us to bring the bike rack so that he can bike to work the next day. He’s also very busy in China, constantly flying back and forth, it’s hard to tell if he’s home or away more often! However, he somehow still makes the time to join our family vacations and help me move into Yale.
Weekend tennis fun
Gator Party
As my year of changes comes to an end, I can look back with a little more perspective now. It was not only a year of lasts, and endings, but also a year of fresh starts, new beginnings, and I think I like that classification more. Through my summer travels, I gained independence and confidence in my ability to survive on my own. I got to reconnect with friends and family from around the world, traveling near and far to see them. It’s been one of the best years yet, and I can’t wait to see what 2015 has in store for me.
Last year in high school
Every ending brings a new beginning
Happy (late) New Year!
新年快乐,万事如意,合家幸福！
Lucinda Peng