***Note: If you read the title above and found yourself interested in the contents of this post, do not be fooled. Even I, as the author, suggest you navigate away from this post. BEWARE… it was written to bore you to tears.

You know, the first thing that comes to mind when I’m introducing myself is the fact that no one has ever said my official name correctly. I understand if it’s a person from a different language background – I don’t expect a Frenchman to know how to pronounce my name with Chinese accents. I mean, please, let’s be realistic here. 

Still, one silly dream that I had when I was younger was (you guessed it) that one day, a teacher would take one look at the roster and call out, “SiJia You.” This wouldn’t be just any call – it’d be one with the correct pronunciations.

I’ve come to the conclusion that my imagination must’ve ran wild back then – no one’s going to say it right on the first try. Maybe it’s just the growing pessimism that comes with teenage angst. But after listening to teachers calling out all sorts of variations of my name (ranging from ‘see-jee-a’ to ‘sit-jwa’ to ‘sjaw’), I’ve given up hope. I used to believe that the teachers who spoke the same language as I would pronounce my name better than those who spoke a different native language. Yet, statistics from the past 13 years show that that is not the case – my 8th grade Spanish teacher (a native Spanish speaker) pronounced my name better than any of the Mandarin-speaking teachers I’ve ever had.

Now I know what you must be thinking – this girl has some serious name-trauma. No, no I don’t. And I’m not in denial either. But speaking of traumas… no… never mind. A curious thing I found out was that I have Hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia after taking an online quiz. I didn’t think I had that phobia until I saw what the phobia was called. Who would get Hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia from attempting to read the word Hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia? Though if you really want to get technical, Hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia doesn’t even come close to the word I learned in Organic Chemistry last year!

Speaking of Chemistry, I must say that I absolutely love that subject. Not like – love. I may have something to do with making ice-cream and lollipops during the labs or exploding things in cups or, simply, seeing the physical changes that chemical reactions bring about. My favorite aspect of Chemistry labs is flame color. When you expose fire to different chemicals, the normal blue flame that results with the use of a Bunsen burner can change to all shades of green, red, yellow, purple, etc. My favorite would have to be the emerald green that results when you add Barium (Ba) to the flame. However, the scarlet red that comes from adding Strontium (Sr).

While we’re on the topic of things I love, I might as well list some for you since this post is about moi:

• making 3D images/designs with PhotoShop
• creating videos with Sony Vegas Pro
• drawing animations (see below)

Unfortunately, all the real-life drawings I’ve completed were so horrible that I immediately burned them and tossed the ashes out the window and into the wind. YOU DO NOT WANT TO SEE MY ATTEMPTS AT ANYTHING OTHER THAN ANIMATIONS… ANYTHING.

I truly enjoy listening to music but uploading my entire playlist will be quite a feat that I’m not mentally or physically willing to do. Therefore, some songs I have playing on my stereo now are (click anything in parentheses, even the smiley face):

• English: Westlife (here, here, and here), 98 Degrees (click), SR-71 (here), Parachute (<3), Claude Kelly (😀), Rascal Flatts (here)
• Korean: DBSK (tada, and here), G.Na (click, and click), B2ST (<3, #>, >.<)
• Chinese: Hacken Lee (here), Joey Young (here), Richie Ren (click), Beyond (click)
• Instrumental: ThePianoGuys (here, here), Lindsey Stirling and Pentatonix (here), KuroNova (click), July (<3)
• Japanese: AAA (click), Vocaloid (click), Janne D’Arc (here)

Browse the links at your own leisure and desire.

Food-wise? NO ONIONS. ABSOLUTELY NO ONIONS. Coffee… meh… they are not my first or second or even third choice of beverages. I prefer soft drinks, mainly Coke Zero. Otherwise, apple juice, orange juice, but no coconuts please. And anything sweet or sour or salty goes. Jelly is good too – they’re chewy. Not Jell-O… JELLY. Like Konyaku Jelly. They’re very easy to make and adding fruits in them (if paired correctly) can make the perfect get-together snack. I feel as if I’m advertising for the company… but really! They’re delicious, especially when eaten after being chilled in the refrigerator overnight.

You can say I’m obese at heart and would love to try any types of food as long as they don’t include onions or coconuts. I’ll probably be reading your introductions in search of any food recommendations, aside from getting to know you (which is, also, quite important). So for those of you who’ve made it to the end, thank you for reading and I can’t wait to read through all of you introductions.

This is me, myself, and I.

P.S. Penguins are adorable!