{"id":249,"date":"2022-06-25T05:28:00","date_gmt":"2022-06-25T12:28:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/giftofpresent.org\/?p=249"},"modified":"2022-08-02T06:18:42","modified_gmt":"2022-08-02T13:18:42","slug":"june-25-2022-sleepover","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/giftofpresent.org\/index.php\/2022\/06\/25\/june-25-2022-sleepover\/","title":{"rendered":"June 25, 2022: Sleepover"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"392\" height=\"442\" src=\"https:\/\/giftofpresent.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Screen-Shot-2022-08-02-at-9.02.56-AM.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-251\" srcset=\"https:\/\/giftofpresent.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Screen-Shot-2022-08-02-at-9.02.56-AM.png 392w, https:\/\/giftofpresent.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/Screen-Shot-2022-08-02-at-9.02.56-AM-266x300.png 266w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 392px) 100vw, 392px\" \/><figcaption>Schedule for the Day.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-heading\">Morning Games<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Once I woke up and danced, I went upstairs to fold my laundry. After that, I went downstairs and started playing a huge, chaotic game of <a href=\"https:\/\/groupgames101.com\/the-mind-card-game-rules\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">The Mind<\/a> (\u201cTake a simple concept such as putting numbers in order and remove something important like talking to other players and you\u2019ve got yourself an introduction to the Mind card game rules.\u201d\u2014the website) with (I think) at least 12 or 13 people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Among the players, there was me, <strong>JW<\/strong>, <strong>JC<\/strong>, and others (around this time, <strong>JW<\/strong> and <strong>JC<\/strong> started hanging out a lot, such that if there\u2019s <strong>JW<\/strong>, there\u2019s <strong>JC<\/strong>, and vice versa). (According to <strong>DX<\/strong>\u2019s blog, the players were <strong>VT<\/strong>, <strong>RQ<\/strong>, <strong>JC<\/strong>, <strong>JW<\/strong>, <strong>DD<\/strong>, <strong>VivL<\/strong>, <strong>SA<\/strong>, <strong>KS<\/strong>, <strong>LiT<\/strong>, and <strong>JLin<\/strong>) It went incredibly well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Then, we played three games of Secret Hitler. This is the first time I\u2019ve ever played Secret Hitler, so it was a lot of fun! Of course, I lost all three rounds (and Hitler won all three rounds), so that was slightly less fun :(.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-heading\">Brunch<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>After that, I went to get food at Resnik with all the others who played Secret Hitler.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While I was at Resnik, I put my stuff (phone and backpack and all) in the garage, next to <strong>JW<\/strong>, where I was eating. After eating, I went to the Egg Shoppe to get my tea, where I saw <strong>IZ<\/strong> sitting. Thinking I should actually, like, get to know my roommate, I went and sat with her. We started talking, and it was quite fun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, when I returned to the garage, I found the <strong>JW<\/strong> was gone, as was my phone!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I absolutely freaked out, thinking I must have somehow lost my phone. Turns out, <strong>JW<\/strong> thought I\u2019d left, so she was incredibly nice and took my phone with her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-heading\">TSTST Day 3<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Then, it was TSTST Day 3! I sort of had three writing topics today:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>I wrote about caution and regret. I was going to post that essay in order to prove that I\u2019m not being too cautious, but as of July 22 (and now, as of August 2), I have still yet to post it. Hmmmm.<\/li><li>I brainstormed ways of advertising for DC Live and wrote a little blurb.<\/li><li>Then, I wrote a silly little thing about social hierarchies and cliques within MOP.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>After the TSTST, I hung back to chat with <strong>Turtle<\/strong> a bit and help them clean up. It\u2019s a bit jarring to think that we\u2019ll have no more tests left at MOP. We started walking to Resnik, but then I noticed on Discord that apparently a bunch of people were going to Squirrel Hill for dinner. I vacillated over whether to go to Resnik with <strong>Turtle<\/strong> or Squirrel Hill with the bunch of people, but eventually I chose Squirrel Hill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-heading\">Squirrel Hill<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Thus, I shouted a goodbye over my shoulder to <strong>Turtle<\/strong> and then ran towards the intersection, hoping to meet up with those headed for Squirrel Hill. When I got to the intersection, I tried to hit the walk button multiple times. However, I was busy waving at the people (mostly <strong>TJ gang<\/strong>) on the other side of the street, so I wasn\u2019t looking at the button, so I missed multiple times.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I laughed about it and tried to see if the people on the other side of the road found me as amusing as I found myself. Once I crossed the street to them, we returned to the dorm so that everyone going to Squirrel Hill could gather.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After gathering at Stever, we started walking to Squirrel Hill. I walked with <strong>DX<\/strong> and <strong>CH<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Like last time we went to Squirrel Hill, we sort of split into three-ish groups based on how fast we walk. Once we all arrived there, we started trying to figure out where to eat. Initially, I think we were all going to Squirrel Hill for noodles, but. Well. I think there must\u2019ve been at least 20 people who went. And an influx of 20 people in some noodle shop was likely <em>not<\/em> going to work, so a few of us split off to go eat burgers, instead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-heading\">Burgers<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>AZ<\/strong>, <strong>DerL<\/strong>, <strong>LC<\/strong>, <strong>AnW<\/strong>, <strong>JC<\/strong>, <strong>DX<\/strong>, and I went to get burgers. According to <strong>JC<\/strong>\u2019s blog, <strong>BW<\/strong> and <strong>FW<\/strong> were also there. I joined the burger group because I figured I\u2019ve had Chinese food so often at MOP, I ought to try some burgers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I found out something wonderful! Apparently, whenever <strong>DX<\/strong> gets food and they ask for a name, he always says \u201cMr. Dinosaur.\u201d It\u2019s funny and absolutely precious &lt;3. It brightens someone\u2019s day and brings interest into monotone. I\u2019ve decided I\u2019ll pick some ridiculous name and do the same!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>DX<\/strong> and I got the same thing: Pineapple Chicken Burger with a can of \u738b\u8001\u5409!!! I haven\u2019t had \u738b\u8001\u5409 in <em>so<\/em>. <em>Long<\/em>. We usually drink it when we\u2019re in Chengdu eating hot pot, and it just brings back so many memories!!! Go to <a href=\"https:\/\/artofproblemsolving.com\/community\/c3061762h2876332\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>DX<\/strong>\u2019s blog<\/a> for a very enthusiastic description of how great the food was. It was very good, but after reading his description, I don\u2019t think I can do justice \ud83d\ude1b<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lh4.googleusercontent.com\/FP_rmSVs7fULOvgIQ_nj1ZPvPvid230aa0-E3VCcsisSc6QZZ_m22ndTQdczZA3XIP2I8CyGcQGx5Dmu62sp78eEV2NcHBWjAbgj236cM9e1N8JYG1dLfHg4VxgRaLkY8w4ElqUB2g92r49UnawWSig\" alt=\"\" width=\"347\" height=\"463\"\/><figcaption>Memory-filled Chinese herbal tea &lt;3<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>My phone has an app that allows my family to know where I am so that they know I\u2019m safe. Through that app, my mom could see that I was in Squirrel Hill, so she texted me (by which I mean she WeChatted me) to ask what I\u2019m eating. Having finished my burger already, I sent her a photo of my \u738b\u8001\u5409 instead (7:37 pm). It\u2019s a tad sad. I always try to remember to take a photo of my food, but I literally never remember to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A few days ago, at one of Po\u2019s story times, he mentioned that one can get college aid by marrying someone during (or even better, before) college, as then, you\u2019ll both be penniless and not dependent on your parents. We discussed this as we ate. <strong>DX<\/strong> was talking about how he might be willing to find some stranger across the country to \u201cmarry\u201d and then break it off after college, while Jeff was being extremely serious and saying he would never do such a thing: he\u2019d only marry when he really loves the other person, etc. etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Then we started a round of kicking one another under the table. After that, we started throwing things at one another, and then it just devolved :P.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>JC<\/strong> stole my phone and take many selfies with it (7:52 pm). Tall people are bullies: I kept trying to jump for it, but he\u2019d just hold it out of my reach because he\u2019s too tall :(((((.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Also, apparently, <strong>DerL<\/strong> got a nosebleed during the TSTST. He had a brown stain on his shirt and someone was like, \u201cWait, blood is that color?\u201d That made me wonder how they could possibly <em>not<\/em> know that. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>(If you note the time, you may notice that we missed TSTST test review)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After hanging out at the burger place for way too long, we finally left the establishment. Some people went to get boba at the place that we got boba during Pre-MOP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-heading\">The Return Walk<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p>On our walk back to CMU, I was talking to <strong>DerL<\/strong> and <strong>BW<\/strong>. <strong>BW<\/strong> was talking about how the IMO team members are six people that everyone at MOP looks up to, so they should be excellent role models. They should, in fact, be the top six influences at camp. <strong>DerL<\/strong> was talking about how he\u2019s worried because he\u2019s not really sure how to be a role model and an encouragement the way <strong>LR<\/strong> is. <strong>BW<\/strong> suggested to maybe start by not playing tag in the dark, which apparently <strong>DerL<\/strong> did last night and managed to injure himself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He also talked about how <strong>DerL<\/strong> shouldn\u2019t brag about getting problems right. For instance, <strong>DerL<\/strong> is often like, \u201ciMagInE noT sOlvInG tStsT 1\u201d (because he did). I don\u2019t think what he does is too bad, but I can see where <strong>BW<\/strong> is coming from. Then, <strong>DerL<\/strong> asks what he should do if people ask him how he did, and <strong>BW<\/strong> said that <strong>DerL<\/strong> should just say, \u201cNone of your business.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Honestly, I think saying \u201cNone of your business\u201d is actually worse, though. <strong>DerL<\/strong> pointed out that when people ask, they want to know. I pointed out that when you ask <strong>LR<\/strong>, you sort of expect him to say that he solved it, and if he didn\u2019t, you feel better.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>That did not come out the way I wanted it to, though. I meant it as a sort of thing where, if even <strong>LR<\/strong> doesn\u2019t solve it, that means it was probably quite difficult so that there\u2019s no need to beat yourself up over it. Of course, my philosophy is that you shouldn\u2019t beat yourself up about it either way, but most people aren\u2019t as sanguine about it as I am (because they care more about their scores than I do).\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Later, I asked <strong>BW<\/strong> who he thought the top five influences were. He said <strong>LR<\/strong>, of course, was up there; he also mentioned that he used to think <em>I <\/em>was one of the top five until I said that thing about <strong>LR<\/strong> just now. Lol. (I think he did not take it the way I meant)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One of the things I like to do as I walk is to walk on ledges. I was doing that today, but as I walked along it, the ledge kept going horizontally, but the sidewalk was going downhill, so by the time the ledge ended, I was a human above everyone else. I had to take off my backpack and jump down carefully in order to continue on. It really makes me wonder why <strong>BW<\/strong> ever thought <em>I <\/em>was such a good influence: I told him he probably just didn\u2019t know me well enough :PP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He told me I was a net positive influence, at least. Of course, when I prompted him, he said that he thought that everyone at camp was a net positive influence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So, doesn\u2019t say much :P.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As we drew closer to Tepper, I recalled that I had still yet to respond to the last meme volley from the wrong-number on June 16. I happened to be walking next to <strong>AZ<\/strong> and <strong>JC<\/strong>, so I asked them if they had any suggestions for the exchange. This was a rather large mistake. The memes suddenly devolved into very <em>sus<\/em> territory. I\u2019m not sure what I was thinking when I handed my phone and free rein to those two, but not <em>this<\/em>. Like, how can a meme battle devolve within five texts into this sort of thing?!? I had told <strong>JC<\/strong> that I trusted him because I knew him decently well, but, well. Then this happened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-heading\">Special Assembly<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Once we got back, we went to the special assembly at Tepper (which we were rather late to, but it\u2019s fine, half the camp was off at Squirrel Hill, so half the camp was late). We were celebrating <strong>VivL<\/strong>\u2019s birthday, which was on the twenty-third. After playing Happy Birthday, they started having <strong>Turtle<\/strong> play \u201cHappy Birthday\u201d in various composer styles: Bach, Chopin, etc. Then, he started playing the singing troupe songs in terrible keys.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now, the thing is, I cannot sing well even <em>with<\/em> the right accompaniment. With the wrong accompaniment? Well, it\u2019s just a bit of a nightmare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I sat with <strong>Po<\/strong> a bit and he smiled at me rather consolingly. The assembly was going on for a <em>very<\/em> long time: I think it was still going at around 9:50 pm! So <strong>Po<\/strong> didn\u2019t have story time today. Then, I talked with <strong>CH<\/strong> a bit, along with <strong>DX<\/strong> and <strong>DebL<\/strong>, and then we returned to the dorm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After that, we did some kpop dancing. <strong>IZ<\/strong>, <strong>VH<\/strong>, and I practiced the <a href=\"https:\/\/youtube.com\/clip\/UgkxaWK0UmG61X1aXK6Kj2OAz2pZ0_ZmOWOn\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">piggy back jump<\/a> in me gustas tu!!! It was very satisfying. I was so excited I dragged <strong>DX<\/strong> in to watch us :)))<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After we finished dancing, it was already past 11:30. I was very excited because I thought I was finally going to sleep at the same time as <strong>IZ<\/strong>!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"has-text-align-center wp-block-heading\">Sleepover<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>As I was brushing my teeth, however, I became curious about where everyone else was, as the lobby downstairs was strangely quiet for a Friday night. I found a few people (maybe ten-ish?) playing Seven Wonders in one of the lounges on the living floors, but that still left many, many people unaccounted for. I texted <strong>JC<\/strong> to ask where everyone was, as I figured that he\u2019d likely be in the midst of whatever was going on, and he told me to go up to the fifth floor. When I went up there, I ran into a woman (presumably another of the pre-college RAs) who asked me if I was with Helen. I mumbled something indistinct, and she pointed me towards the other end of the fifth floor, saying that there was some noise coming from over there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It makes me wonder why she would think <em>Helen<\/em>, whoever that is, could make that much noise. And why she <em>would<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I found a bunch of people sitting around and playing cards. Initially, I think they were playing ERS, but that quickly devolved into <em>throwing<\/em> cards all over the place. <strong>JC<\/strong> was literally climbing under the table in order to hide from the flying projectiles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The people up there at that point were <strong>EL<\/strong>, <strong>LiT<\/strong>, <strong>AGe<\/strong>, <strong>JC<\/strong>, and <strong>JW<\/strong>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After we somewhat cleaned up the cards, <strong>JW<\/strong> tried to persuade us to play Fish or Tractor. We dealt the cards, but in the end, <strong>JC <\/strong>gave them a geometry problem to complex bash, instead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>They spent an hour or two doing that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>While they were struggling with actually doing math while their brains were going haywire from lack of sleep, I worked on writing my journal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Some of the <strong>TJ Cult<\/strong> also dropped by around this point. I later found out that they were talking in the lounge on the other side of the fifth floor. I feel like joining them probably would\u2019ve been a <em>bit<\/em> better for my sanity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A cockroach appeared, but no one was willing to get near it? So I whacked it with my shoe. So much for \u201cAlso just kil it :P,\u201d <strong>JC<\/strong> :P.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Then, <strong>JC<\/strong> started working on the Superlatives form. Namely, <strong>MK<\/strong> sent out a form asking for suggestions for superlatives that she would then send out a voting form for later. <strong>JC<\/strong> was working on creating a very specific superlative for everyone at MOP (and putting the answer in the form, as well), which was absolutely not what we were supposed to do. It\u2019s fine, it was funny.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At that point, I was getting cold on top of sleepy, but I wanted to keep listening to the superlatives. I tried a few strange positions to sleep in\u2014upside down and then on the arms of the couches\u2014but ended up just scrunching into a ball on the couch. But that still did not solve the issue of being far too cold, so I went down to my room to get my blanket and then returned upstairs (a bit before then, we briefly discussed sleeping up there to general vague, tired approval).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>By that point, <strong>LR<\/strong>, who periodically came upstairs to remind us to be quiet as some of the pre-college TAs are actually sleeping on the fifth floor now, brought many very loud people from the third floor up to the fifth floor. Most notably, there was <strong>RG<\/strong>, who kept making his <em>rawr<\/em> noises. I could not at all understand why <strong>LR<\/strong> brought those loud dudes up when he was trying to make sure we stay quiet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Eventually, they all left.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>By then, <strong>JW<\/strong> and <strong>EL<\/strong> had finally finished their complex bash, so they started playing a game of Semantle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Eventually, the rest of them also decided to get blankets, so <strong>VH<\/strong>, <strong>JW<\/strong>, and <strong>JC<\/strong> went downstairs to get their blankets and pillows. We ended up going to sleep at around 2:30 am.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>VH<\/strong>, <strong>AGe,<\/strong> and I pushed two armchairs and a couch together in a sort of horseshoe formation, where <strong>VH<\/strong> and I slept on the armchairs (with our legs sticking onto the couch) and <strong>AGe<\/strong> slept on the couch. That way, we could share two blankets among three people. Meanwhile, <strong>EL<\/strong> just made do on the other couch with his sweater. Finally, <strong>JC<\/strong> and <strong>JW<\/strong> didn&#8217;t sleep on any couches. Instead, they both ended up on the ground with their blankets acting as both impromptu mattresses and actual blankets.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Morning Games Once I woke up and danced, I went upstairs to fold my laundry. After that, I went downstairs and started playing a huge, <a href=\"https:\/\/giftofpresent.org\/index.php\/2022\/06\/25\/june-25-2022-sleepover\/\" class=\"btn btn-link continue-link\">Continue Reading<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[77,78],"tags":[105,53,75,103,73,74],"aioseo_notices":[],"post_mailing_queue_ids":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/giftofpresent.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/giftofpresent.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/giftofpresent.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/giftofpresent.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/giftofpresent.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=249"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/giftofpresent.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":252,"href":"https:\/\/giftofpresent.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249\/revisions\/252"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/giftofpresent.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=249"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/giftofpresent.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=249"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/giftofpresent.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=249"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}