Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
My Adventure on a Pirate Ship
Two years ago, my brothers and I had the adventure of a lifetime. I'm happy to say we all lived to tell the tale, but we definitely had some close calls. Too many close calls....
The day started out as an ordinary day. It was a Saturday, and we decided to drive down to the beach where we rented a small boat. We wanted to see some dolphins and snorkel a little out in the open water. We only went about 10 miles out. But as it turned out, this ordinary day wasn't so ordinary after all. No, this day was not ordinary in the slightest...
Johnny noticed it first. A white sail, far away on the horizon.
"What the hell is that?" he asked.
Michael squinted in the same direction. The far away ship seemed to be moving towards us.
"Huh..." he said.
That white sail, dear reader, was not the sail of any modern sailboat. Within minutes, that white sail turned into a cluster of white sails. And that cluster of white sails grew to the size of a three-story building. And that three-story-building of a white sail cluster was hoisted atop an enormous, sixteenth century British naval ship, a firstrate to be exact (see picture).
As the ship drew near, we got pretty nervous. And then we all saw it at once. The blood instantly drained from my face and my heart raced in my chest. A black pirate flag just above the white sail, fluttering in the wind.
"Holy shit!"
I ran for the driver's seat of our boat. I cranked the engine, only to hear a horrible crash towards the back of our boat.
"They're shooting cannonballs! They're fucking shooting cannonballs at us!" Johnny screamed.
The engine wouldn't crank. They'd shot off our motor, and the propeller with it. We were sitting ducks.
Another shot rang out, and the water on the starboard side of the boat burst up as a cannonball hit it.
At that point, we truly began to panic.
"FUCK!" Michael screamed. "GET OUT OF THE BOAT!!"
We jumped into the water just as another cannonball crashed into the boat. Now I've swum plenty in my life, but I have to say I've never swum like that before. My legs thrashed and my arms reached out further and further as I swam away from our boat. My body burned, and it soon became hard to breathe. But I kept swimming. A minute later, I looked back just as the ship smashed our small rental boat to pieces. The ship was flying through the water. There was no way to out-swim a sixteenth century firstrate. I mean look at that shit! (again, see picture)
"It's too fast! What do we do??!" I screamed. I looked to my brothers, fear in their eyes as they glanced back at the ship barreling toward us.
"They stopped shooting," Johnny said. The boat was almost upon us, but no more cannonballs hit the water. In fact, they had begun to hoist down the sail, and the oars had stopped. They were stopping.
We kept swimming, praying they'd lost interest. I glanced back again.
A small boat had been lowered down from the side of the ship. Three men, all in pirate costumes, (that's right, fucking pirate costumes) rowed the small boat towards us.
One stood up, and in a gruff, pirate accent, shouted, "Avast! You three had better stop swimmin', or we'll gun ya down! You come along with us, and no harm'll come to ya! Ya have the cap'n's word!"
At this point I was next to tears. I hollered back at the pirate, "Leave us alone! We want to go back to land!"
"T'ain't safe for ya now to go back to the land, me beauty! Ya'd give away arrr position! Ya must come to the ship now or be shot where ya arrr!"
"Holy shit," Johnny said.
We looked at each other, seeing we had no choice at this point. It was either go to the rowboat or be shot dead in the water. We slowly made our way to the small boat. I shook with fear as I swam. The three men helped us up, and then they made way for the ship.
"Why are you making us go to the ship? Let us go back to shore! Let us go and we won't give away your position." I said.
The pirate laughed. "Ah, suuuure, as if I'd put me trust in a lubber like yeeself! Hah!"
"What??.. How do we know you won't hurt us? We've done nothing wrong!" my voice shook.
"Ya don't know, lass, now quiet! Or I'll have yer tongue!"
I don't know what possessed me, but in a panic I jumped off of that boat and swam harder than before! Fuck that pirate!
"Christina!!" Michael yelled after me. "Get back here! They'll shoot you!"
I heard a splash, someone had jumped in after me. I only swam harder. Maybe I could get away. Maybe they wouldn't really shoot to kill. Maybe this was some kind of Ashton Kutcher bullshit Punk episode.
A hand grabbed my leg and yanked me backward in the water. Water filled my nose and mouth, choking me. A strong arm went around my waist and I was being carried back toward the boat. I fought, struggling with all my might. The arm then moved up to my neck and within seconds, everything went dark.
The day started out as an ordinary day. It was a Saturday, and we decided to drive down to the beach where we rented a small boat. We wanted to see some dolphins and snorkel a little out in the open water. We only went about 10 miles out. But as it turned out, this ordinary day wasn't so ordinary after all. No, this day was not ordinary in the slightest...
Johnny noticed it first. A white sail, far away on the horizon.
"What the hell is that?" he asked.
Michael squinted in the same direction. The far away ship seemed to be moving towards us.
"Huh..." he said.
That white sail, dear reader, was not the sail of any modern sailboat. Within minutes, that white sail turned into a cluster of white sails. And that cluster of white sails grew to the size of a three-story building. And that three-story-building of a white sail cluster was hoisted atop an enormous, sixteenth century British naval ship, a firstrate to be exact (see picture).
As the ship drew near, we got pretty nervous. And then we all saw it at once. The blood instantly drained from my face and my heart raced in my chest. A black pirate flag just above the white sail, fluttering in the wind.
"Holy shit!"
I ran for the driver's seat of our boat. I cranked the engine, only to hear a horrible crash towards the back of our boat.
"They're shooting cannonballs! They're fucking shooting cannonballs at us!" Johnny screamed.
The engine wouldn't crank. They'd shot off our motor, and the propeller with it. We were sitting ducks.
Another shot rang out, and the water on the starboard side of the boat burst up as a cannonball hit it.
At that point, we truly began to panic.
"FUCK!" Michael screamed. "GET OUT OF THE BOAT!!"
We jumped into the water just as another cannonball crashed into the boat. Now I've swum plenty in my life, but I have to say I've never swum like that before. My legs thrashed and my arms reached out further and further as I swam away from our boat. My body burned, and it soon became hard to breathe. But I kept swimming. A minute later, I looked back just as the ship smashed our small rental boat to pieces. The ship was flying through the water. There was no way to out-swim a sixteenth century firstrate. I mean look at that shit! (again, see picture)
"It's too fast! What do we do??!" I screamed. I looked to my brothers, fear in their eyes as they glanced back at the ship barreling toward us.
"They stopped shooting," Johnny said. The boat was almost upon us, but no more cannonballs hit the water. In fact, they had begun to hoist down the sail, and the oars had stopped. They were stopping.
We kept swimming, praying they'd lost interest. I glanced back again.
A small boat had been lowered down from the side of the ship. Three men, all in pirate costumes, (that's right, fucking pirate costumes) rowed the small boat towards us.
One stood up, and in a gruff, pirate accent, shouted, "Avast! You three had better stop swimmin', or we'll gun ya down! You come along with us, and no harm'll come to ya! Ya have the cap'n's word!"
At this point I was next to tears. I hollered back at the pirate, "Leave us alone! We want to go back to land!"
"T'ain't safe for ya now to go back to the land, me beauty! Ya'd give away arrr position! Ya must come to the ship now or be shot where ya arrr!"
"Holy shit," Johnny said.
We looked at each other, seeing we had no choice at this point. It was either go to the rowboat or be shot dead in the water. We slowly made our way to the small boat. I shook with fear as I swam. The three men helped us up, and then they made way for the ship.
"Why are you making us go to the ship? Let us go back to shore! Let us go and we won't give away your position." I said.
The pirate laughed. "Ah, suuuure, as if I'd put me trust in a lubber like yeeself! Hah!"
"What??.. How do we know you won't hurt us? We've done nothing wrong!" my voice shook.
"Ya don't know, lass, now quiet! Or I'll have yer tongue!"
I don't know what possessed me, but in a panic I jumped off of that boat and swam harder than before! Fuck that pirate!
"Christina!!" Michael yelled after me. "Get back here! They'll shoot you!"
I heard a splash, someone had jumped in after me. I only swam harder. Maybe I could get away. Maybe they wouldn't really shoot to kill. Maybe this was some kind of Ashton Kutcher bullshit Punk episode.
A hand grabbed my leg and yanked me backward in the water. Water filled my nose and mouth, choking me. A strong arm went around my waist and I was being carried back toward the boat. I fought, struggling with all my might. The arm then moved up to my neck and within seconds, everything went dark.
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Winter Break 2010
Ahh, winter break. No school, and, for right now, no money. Luckily, I should be getting some money in a week or so (yay school loans!), so I'll be aight.
This is the first break in a while where I haven't needed to be doing something school related - like working on my thesis or studying for the GRE. It is weird, but awesome. I am starting to really relax. I have 3 weeks all to myself. :)
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Should be studying~~whatev
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_meLjbHrRB8&feature=related
I really like this song! Nina Simone has a very unique sound.
I only have two weeks left in Taizhong county!!! I'm so nervous, I don't know how I can clear out my apartment, I'm wanting to mail my mattress thing by boat, but I need it til I leave.....
I booked my hotel for Newark today, and I'm thinking of booking a Taichung hostel now and taking the HSR to Taoyuan, since it should cost $15 for the HSR and only about $16 for a Taichung hostel. It's literally a 40min ride on the HSR to Taoyuan, whereas by bus it is about 2 1/2 hrs. WHY DOESN'T THE US HAVE THIS?!
I am secretly hoping that when I visit Vivian's parents on Saturday that they will tell me to just stay with them that night and then they could drive me to the train station....we'll see.....
I think I will mildly miss Taiwan, but I'm sick of being the white girl you can practice your english with. That shit got old day 1! I kind of feel like most people here were very selfish, so I won't miss it too much. But I will definitely miss how welcoming some ppl were, especially Vivian's parents, Gabi's family and Tony's family, and Vicky. They are all really sweet.
I really like this song! Nina Simone has a very unique sound.
I only have two weeks left in Taizhong county!!! I'm so nervous, I don't know how I can clear out my apartment, I'm wanting to mail my mattress thing by boat, but I need it til I leave.....
I booked my hotel for Newark today, and I'm thinking of booking a Taichung hostel now and taking the HSR to Taoyuan, since it should cost $15 for the HSR and only about $16 for a Taichung hostel. It's literally a 40min ride on the HSR to Taoyuan, whereas by bus it is about 2 1/2 hrs. WHY DOESN'T THE US HAVE THIS?!
I am secretly hoping that when I visit Vivian's parents on Saturday that they will tell me to just stay with them that night and then they could drive me to the train station....we'll see.....
I think I will mildly miss Taiwan, but I'm sick of being the white girl you can practice your english with. That shit got old day 1! I kind of feel like most people here were very selfish, so I won't miss it too much. But I will definitely miss how welcoming some ppl were, especially Vivian's parents, Gabi's family and Tony's family, and Vicky. They are all really sweet.
Friday, December 11, 2009
Having Trouble
I'm having a lot of trouble with stress lately. Outside my window there is a small dog that barks all the time, I can't concentrate cause its bark is too shrill, and today it was joined by a crying baby. I constantly hear traffic, scooters, my neighbors moving furniture every single day for some reason, there is really no peace and quiet.
I also keep thinking about my thesis. My thesis is crap, and I think everyone will know it and point it out to me at my defense. I have no idea what my thesis question is anymore or how I could 'prove' anything - the authors who's works I'm using as sources didn't prove anything in their articles, and they have PhDs. Most of them don't make arguments either, they just talk about a few things and end with more questions. Is that how a thesis is supposed to be?? I think I'm in deep shit. I am simply not interested in anything anymore; there is no question that I want to find out the answer to. Everything in international studies has no real goal or answer - people continually debate the implications of different events/policies, and these debates make absolutely no difference cause the only people who read the articles are professors. I've read articles on whether or not organizations in China should be termed "grassroots organizations" or "civic associations," - who the fuck cares what they are called?? they never even talk about specific organizations, just "organizations" in general.
I suppose as long as it is long enough and I loosely tie things together, the worst that will happen is I get a C, right? It's only 3 credits anyway, but it feels like it could prevent me from graduating.
Also, my room has ants. I can never find them, but while I'm sitting on my bed using my computer, I occasionally have one crawl across the screen, which implies that the ants are on my bed. I keep looking for them, but I can't find them. I keep taking out the trash, and not leaving food around, and trying to clean my room, but they keep coming just one at a time - showing up on my computer screen or crawling on my arm. It's really disgusting and I am starting to lose patience with how unsanitary my life is here. The floors in the bathrooms at school are wet with water and urine mixed with dirt from people's shoes; my bathroom has grime only a few days after I scrub it down with disinfectant; I get woken up by mosquitoes buzzing in my ear at night; and there are ants crawling on me or my computer screen everyday. All that mixed with the constant noise makes me hate being here. I really want to like it here, but I really want to go home.
I also keep thinking about my thesis. My thesis is crap, and I think everyone will know it and point it out to me at my defense. I have no idea what my thesis question is anymore or how I could 'prove' anything - the authors who's works I'm using as sources didn't prove anything in their articles, and they have PhDs. Most of them don't make arguments either, they just talk about a few things and end with more questions. Is that how a thesis is supposed to be?? I think I'm in deep shit. I am simply not interested in anything anymore; there is no question that I want to find out the answer to. Everything in international studies has no real goal or answer - people continually debate the implications of different events/policies, and these debates make absolutely no difference cause the only people who read the articles are professors. I've read articles on whether or not organizations in China should be termed "grassroots organizations" or "civic associations," - who the fuck cares what they are called?? they never even talk about specific organizations, just "organizations" in general.
I suppose as long as it is long enough and I loosely tie things together, the worst that will happen is I get a C, right? It's only 3 credits anyway, but it feels like it could prevent me from graduating.
Also, my room has ants. I can never find them, but while I'm sitting on my bed using my computer, I occasionally have one crawl across the screen, which implies that the ants are on my bed. I keep looking for them, but I can't find them. I keep taking out the trash, and not leaving food around, and trying to clean my room, but they keep coming just one at a time - showing up on my computer screen or crawling on my arm. It's really disgusting and I am starting to lose patience with how unsanitary my life is here. The floors in the bathrooms at school are wet with water and urine mixed with dirt from people's shoes; my bathroom has grime only a few days after I scrub it down with disinfectant; I get woken up by mosquitoes buzzing in my ear at night; and there are ants crawling on me or my computer screen everyday. All that mixed with the constant noise makes me hate being here. I really want to like it here, but I really want to go home.
Monday, November 2, 2009
Vivian's again and Hsinzhu~
This past weekend Nick and I visited Vivian's parents again, they took us to 天外天 to eat hot pot, which is delicious! Her parents are so fun, although I don't always know what to talk to them about, which is sad, its just that not that much happens and then the language barrier keeps me from talking as much as I would like to. I wish we could visit them more but its hard to organize/plan that kind of thing, and I don't want them to spend money on us eating out everytime we come by. I think in a week or so we could go by Fengjia and buy them some bread, and then go by and see them for a while.
Then Tony randomly invited us to his house in Hsinzhu - 新竹, and we stayed there for Saturday night. His family owns two apartments and they're both beautiful, Asian apartments are really bright, I really like them. They seem to have more windows or something, or maybe I just like how the floors have different levels so it feels like there's more room.
We went to 内湾， where we spent maybe $50 on souvenirs, and we ate rice-balls with meat in them, they were really yummy, and we also rode go-carts!! Then we had pineapple popsicles. His mom made the best food we'd had in a long time, she uses Hondashi, and the little fishies that Vivian has. Those two ingredients are magical!! Hsinzhu had really pretty scenery, its more compact like Taipei, but then there's also a river running through it with a pretty promenade along on both sides, and tons of trees surrounding it. It is small though.
Hsinzhu is also the "windy city" of Taipei, when we went to the ocean the wind was incredible! It made me lose balance when walking sometimes. It's also Taiwan's "silicon valley" so a lot of people there are rich, and there's an area where workers live in small dorms, but the area is so beautiful, some roads reminded me of NY near Central Park.
After we got back, Tony taught me how to ride a scooter. I think it's too dangerous for me to ride a scooter, it would take too long to get used to it, and I really don't want to ride a scooter next to a public bus. I heard today that some girl fell in traffic and her hand was ripped off. I think I'll pass.
And now I'm trying to work slowly but surely on my thesis. I only read through one article today, but it was a 30 pg article, and I read parts of a couple other articles. I think it was a lot for one day, so I'm proud. Hopefully I can get more done before I go back!!! BAHHHHH!!!!
Today the wind in Shalu was crazy
Then Tony randomly invited us to his house in Hsinzhu - 新竹, and we stayed there for Saturday night. His family owns two apartments and they're both beautiful, Asian apartments are really bright, I really like them. They seem to have more windows or something, or maybe I just like how the floors have different levels so it feels like there's more room.
We went to 内湾， where we spent maybe $50 on souvenirs, and we ate rice-balls with meat in them, they were really yummy, and we also rode go-carts!! Then we had pineapple popsicles. His mom made the best food we'd had in a long time, she uses Hondashi, and the little fishies that Vivian has. Those two ingredients are magical!! Hsinzhu had really pretty scenery, its more compact like Taipei, but then there's also a river running through it with a pretty promenade along on both sides, and tons of trees surrounding it. It is small though.
Hsinzhu is also the "windy city" of Taipei, when we went to the ocean the wind was incredible! It made me lose balance when walking sometimes. It's also Taiwan's "silicon valley" so a lot of people there are rich, and there's an area where workers live in small dorms, but the area is so beautiful, some roads reminded me of NY near Central Park.
After we got back, Tony taught me how to ride a scooter. I think it's too dangerous for me to ride a scooter, it would take too long to get used to it, and I really don't want to ride a scooter next to a public bus. I heard today that some girl fell in traffic and her hand was ripped off. I think I'll pass.
And now I'm trying to work slowly but surely on my thesis. I only read through one article today, but it was a 30 pg article, and I read parts of a couple other articles. I think it was a lot for one day, so I'm proud. Hopefully I can get more done before I go back!!! BAHHHHH!!!!
Today the wind in Shalu was crazy
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)