Hey, there.
I’ve been on WordPress for about 2 years now, and I decided it’s not the place for me. Therefore, I’m moving Way Out Wanderer to tumblr, at least for now. We might end up back here at some point. I’m not deleting this site, so ya never know.
Here’s the new link. It should be easier to access than this one: wayoutwanderer.tumblr.com
Stay safe ❤
On May 25, 2020, George Floyd, who was black, entered Cup Foods in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where he was a regular customer. He payed for a pack of cigarettes with a 20$ bill, but the clerk called the police, alleging that the bill was fake. They found Floyd in a parked car around the corner with two other people. According to court transcripts from the bodycams of the officers, Floyd was co-operative with the police at first, “repeatedly apologizing to the officers after they approach his parked car,” according to BBC. As the officers attempted to put Floyd, who had been handcuffed, in the police car, he “stiffened up, fell to the ground, and told officers he was claustrophobic,” says the police report. Derek Chauvin then arrived on the scene and forcefully put his hands on Floyd, causing him to fall to the ground again, where he lay face-down, still handcuffed. Chauvin then proceeded to place his knee on Floyd’s neck for seven minutes and forty-six seconds. The bodycams show that Floyd told officers he couldn’t breathe over 20 times, pleaded for his mother, and said “you’re going to kill me, man.” To this, Chauvin responded “then stop talking, stop yelling. It takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk.” Six minutes into the almost eight minute period, Floyd became unresponsive. About an hour after the altercation, he was pronounced dead. I urge you to watch the New York Times video of the incident here.
Most people are already aware of the death of George Floyd, and the information I described above. What many fail to see is that it was not an isolated incident. The police have been biased towards people of color since their forming in the early 19th century. Let’s begin at the very beginning.
In colonial times, there was no established police force. Instead, there were informal police departments that were privately funded and worked for profit. In addition, many towns and cities relied on a “night watch,” in which citizens would volunteer for specific times to keep watch for minor crimes, such as gambling. These didn’t work very well, because the people keeping watch were often unreliable. In addition, cities were growing, and the system didn’t work on a larger scale. In 1838, the first community-funded police force was formed in Boston. Businesses wanted to cut down on the cost of protecting their goods, so they argued that it was for the “collective good,” according to Time, and they convinced citizens to chip in.
These police forces began to pop up in large cities across America, but they worked differently in the South. There, they were glorified slave-catchers, “tasked with chasing down runaways and preventing slave revolts.” After slavery was abolished and the Jim Crow laws went into affect, police were tasked with enforcing those, too. Even today, the policing system enforces segregation, according to The American System: How Police Enforce Segregation. Police are present in predominantly black communities much more than they are in predominantly white communities. In addition, hyper-criminalization of blacks has lead to the ratio of blacks to whites in prison to be very different to the ratio of the population as a whole. To summarize, black people are much more likely to go to prison for minor crimes, such as drug use, while whites will face less or no prison time for the same crimes.
Jemel Roberson was a 26-year-old security guard working extra shifts to afford Christmas presents for his child, who was less than a year old, and his child’s mother. On November 11, 2018, Roberson stopped a shooter at Manny’s Blue Room in Chicago by pinning him to the ground. When police arrived, an officer immediately shot and killed Roberson. The officer was placed on paid administrative leave and still hasn’t been charged for Roberson’s murder. They say the only thing that can stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun, but they cannot recognize a good guy with a gun unless the good guy is white.
Elijah McClain was a 23-year-old who spent his lunch breaks playing his violin for cats and dogs at his local animal shelter. On August 24, 2019, around 10:30 pm, McClain was walking home from a convenience store with an iced tea he had bought for his brother. He was wearing an open-faced ski-mask, because his face would sometimes get cold due to his anemia. Police received a 911 call about a “suspicious person.” McClain was unarmed, but an officer accused him of reaching for a gun and put him in a carotid hold, which temporarily cuts off blood flow to the brain. McClain tried to explain that he was “stopping his music to listen,” according to the officers bodycams, which “fell off.” He tells them his house is “right there.” He can be heard crying. Then he vomits and apologizes, saying “I just can’t breathe correctly.” He was then injected with ketamine, which was meant to sedate him, while officers pinned him to the ground. On the way to the hospital, he went into cardiac arrest and died days later.
Breonna Taylor was an EMT in Kentucky. Police claimed that her boyfriend, Kenneth Walker, had been using Taylor’s address to smuggle drugs, so they procured a warrant for her home. According to the police, they knocked and announced themselves before forcing entry into the home, however Taylor’s family says they entered unannounced. Police also claim that they were shot at by Walker immediately after entering the home, so they fired back. Walker had a license to carry, but there is no evidence as to who shot first. Taylor was shot and killed by an officer. A 911 call was released from Walker’s phone, in which he tries to explain that someone broke into their home and shot her. “I don’t know what is happening,” he says in the call.
The deaths of Roberson, McClain, Taylor, and Floyd are all examples of the racism and injustice that runs rampant in the police system in the United States. Since George Floyd’s murder, protests and riots have broken out across the United States and the world, and the Black Lives Matter movement has been greatly emphasized. But what does “Black Lives Matter” mean? It does not mean that non-black lives don’t matter. It does not mean that all cops are bad. Black Lives Matter means that black people have been killed, enslaved, or treated as second-class citizens, simply for being black, for centuries. It needs to end, but how?
EVERYONE CAN DO SOMETHING. BLACK LIVES MATTER. THE ISSUE DOESN’T GO AWAY ONCE THE TOPIC ISN’T TRENDING.
What Is Defund the Police – CNN
Exploring Effectiveness of Violence and Riot in American History – Time
Riots are destructive, dangerous, and scary – but can lead to serious social reforms – Vox
George Floyd: How the USA’s history has shaped today’s police brutality BBC
George Floyd death: The other names we’re also hearing now
Black Lives Matter Carrd Donate Page
Black Lives Matter Donate Playlist
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-52861726
https://time.com/4779112/police-history-origins/
https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/ac3d72c7b1c54305937e40d2ad43d774
https://edition.cnn.com/2018/11/15/us/chicago-area-security-guard-police-shooting/index.html
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2020/06/25/colorado-elijah-mcclain-death/
https://www.upworthy.com/elijah-mcclain-police-investigation-death
https://www.thecut.com/2020/07/the-killing-of-elijah-mcclain-everything-we-know.html
https://edition.cnn.com/2020/05/13/us/louisville-police-emt-killed-trnd/index.html
The district of Albania that I’m living in at the moment is full of street animals, so enjoy this photographic essay that I made for Film class. ❤
Spring break is coming up for most students, and breaks make it easy to forget everything you’re learning in school. Fortunately, apps have made learning easier than ever before, and I’ve gathered some that are pretty great. (Not sponsored haha)
Try to ignore the incorrect grammar in the title. I’ve been trying to learn about investing so that I can do it when I actually have an income one day. Investing School explains everything very simply and there are little quizzes throughout to test you on what you’ve read. There’s a variety of courses you can take, from stocks and budgeting to real estate and mortgages. At the end, there’s a “final exam” quiz. The app is completely free, but there are ads, although they aren’t too annoying.
Yes, it’s a music app, but it’s also my go-to podcast app. It’s definitely not considered the best podcast app available, but I really enjoy some of the podcasts and I can’t find them other places. Some of them are more like audio books or audio plays, too. My favorite is called Teenager Therapy and it’s basically just a group of teenagers chatting about life. It’s really chill and calming to listen to. Spotify also has most of the really popular podcasts, like NPR, TED, and The Daily (New York Times). Just like with music, Spotify gives you recommendations for podcasts, too. Spotify is free to download and listen, but there is a monthly fee to unlock all features.
This one is well-known as a study app. It’s great for keeping up with vocabulary you’ve learned in school, especially during breaks and weekends. There are a few different ways you can study on Quizlet, such as matching and flash cards. You can also find other people’s study sets to use, especially if you’re studying vocabulary out of a textbook. It’s also easy to share sets with your friends, so I make a set for each unit in my AP class and then share it with all my friends. Quizlet is free to download and use, but there is a monthly fee to unlock all features.
I’ve been using Duolingo for years and I’m still very happy with it. I use it for Russian and Spanish, but there are dozens of languages available. Spanish has stories for improving your reading and listening skills. They boast that “you can learn as much in 34 hours of Duolingo as in one semester of university language classes.” I don’t know if this is true or not, but it’s been pretty useful for me for keeping up with languages, even though I can’t practice them in real life. Duolingo is free, but you can upgrade to remove the ads (which aren’t annoying) and to download courses for use offline.
Hello Chinese is another language app that I prefer over Duolingo for Chinese. Duolingo isn’t set up for the complexity of Chinese characters, but Hello Chinese allows you to practice all aspects of Mandarin. There are individual lessons and a practice section to refresh your memory regularly. There’s also mini podcasts and videos you can watch that teach you more about Chinese culture (in Chinese and English). Another thing I really like is that there are videos of native speakers saying phrases or words so that you can hear them pronounced realistically. All of the lessons on Hello Chinese are free, but you can pay to unlock more podcasts and other extras.
Khan Academy is my go-to resource for math help, but they also have other courses, such as economics, sciences, and literature. Each lesson has videos and quizzes, and a lot off schools use it because you can add students to your classes and then see how much they do. Sal Khan does a great job of explaining things using his digital blackboard. Since the videos are embedded from YouTube, you can speed them up or slow them down. There is a website too, or if you don’t want to make an account or track your progress, the videos are also right on the YouTube channel. It’s all completely free.
This is my favorite news app. I started using it because it came already installed on my computer, and then I downloaded it on my phone, too. It’s really simple. You follow interests, channels, or places and then get a “My News” tab based on that. Some of the ones I follow are “Top News,” “Martinsburg, WV,” “Cooking.” I like the idea of following interests as well as channels, because you get a wider variety of content from lots of reputable sources, instead of just one new channel. It’s good to read different viewpoints. Microsoft News is completely free.
Libby is an online library app that is even more useful amid the Coronavirus. You simply put in your library card information and are given access to a wealth of books and audio books. Search for the book you want or browse through the different genres. Then, check out the book for either 7 days or 14 days. You can also renew and return early, just like a regular library. I have my books delivered to my Kindle, but you can also read on Libby. It’s free, you just need a library card.
I hope I’ve given you some ideas for learning new things during this time of no school. See you next week!
I’ve been on Spring Break for the past week, so Mom and I decided to rent a car and drive out to the city of Berat for a night, which is about an hour and a half away. We stayed in a cozy boutique hotel right in the heart of the old town, giving us easy access to the ancient churches, mosques, and stone buildings. We spent the first day wandering around and visiting a museum. The second day, we hiked up a steep hill to a walled-off village/castle.
Mom and I headed off at about 10 am and we arrived in Berat around 11:30. First, we grabbed some lunch at a “Mexican” place that didn’t actually have anything Mexican…
“I’ll take the enchiladas, please.”
“We don’t have.”
“Okay, how about the chili con carne?”
“We don’t have that, too.”
“Um… chicken wings?”
“Okay.”
The wings were pretty good, actually, and combined with the lovely tray of fruits the lady at the hotel gave us, it made a nice lunch. Afterwards, we walked around a mosque called the “Lead Mosque,” because the ceiling is made of lead.
After that, we went to a museum in an old house that showcased life in the village in the 1800s. There were cases with clothes, dishes, and tools. There were spinning wheels, looms, and other machines. There were also lots of fully decorated rooms with information about each one. Back at that time, the houses had separate spaces for the men and women to spend their time. When guests that weren’t close to the family visited, the women and children had to stay out of sight, even during festivals and ceremonies, when they would follow along through the windows.
Next, we crossed the Gorica bridge to the other side of the old town and walked along the river. It was a rainy day, so the river was really muddy and the sky was dark. It was still beautiful, though.
For dinner, we ate kebab at a restaurant called “Heaven’s Kitchen.” It was pretty good, but I’ve had better here in Tirana. Then, we went home and watched Albanian TV, which was surprisingly entertaining. There is a music channel that was showing mostly 90s/early 2000s music videos.
We woke up around 8 am the next day and had a huge Albanian breakfast out on the terrace at our hotel: eggs, sausage, cheese, fried dough and various jams, tomatoes and cucumbers, and orange juice. After breakfast, we began our trek up the hill to the castle. It only took about 25 minutes, so I personally feel that we severely overestimated the difficulty, but I was still happy when we finally got to the top. We came in the wrong entrance and then ended up wandering around the village for about an hour. We never found the museum that was supposedly there, but we did see an old church and an old mosque. Then, we had a small lunch of Lima beans in tomato sauce at a little restaurant. The owner had a little baby that Mom was very excited about.
I was very happy to get out of the house for a couple days and not think about school, and now I’m ready to start working again. Berat was a lovely place to take a break, relax, and reset after a stressful couple of weeks. XOXO
Well, 2020’s off to an interesting start so far. Of all the New Year’s Blog post ideas I had, I didn’t end up using any of them. As soon as school started back up again, I was instantly busy and then, all of a sudden, it was Chinese New Year. Dad and I travelled to Austria and Germany during our two weeks off, and while we were at a lovely hotel in Füssen, Germany, we found out that we would not actually be returning to China when we had planned.
As most of you know, a coronavirus outbreak has left parts of China on complete lockdown, with schools closed all across the country. Afraid that we might end up stuck in China and unable to fly anywhere, we decided not to return and to stay in Europe for as long as possible.
Dad and I immediately started brainstorming places to go while my mom debated whether or not to leave China. We decided to go to Bratislava, Slovakia. It’s a cheap place, but also very cute, and we know a few people in the area. Mom ended up in Albania with some close friends, and after about a week, dad and I flew over to join her. And that is why I’m in Tirana for I-don’t-even-know-how-long and school is delayed until at least March 2nd.
Now, we’re already 3 paragraphs into this post without the slightest mention of hot chocolate. You may be wondering: “with so much going on, how could she possibly care about hot chocolate? That’s so arrogant of her! People are sick! They’re being quarantined and told they can’t leave their city! This is a terrible crisis! How can you care about hot chocolate?” While that is indeed a valid argument, I believe in making the best of every situation! Toxic positivity, amiright? Honestly though, I figured there were enough article about the virus at this point. Why not enjoy a nice, calming read about hot winter beverages instead?
So, it was a cold winter’s day in Salzburg, Austria on the 1st or 2nd day of Chinese New Year. I was obviously freezing. I borrowed a very lovely coat from my friend, but I had just come from tropical China, so the temperature was a bit of a shock. Dad and I walked past a cozy bakery and dad really wanted to go inside, so he said “Let’s get you some hot chocolate and sit in this nice little cafe.” We sat down and talked about Austria and stuff. It was really good hot chocolate, and suddenly I had a marvelous idea. “I’ll drink hot chocolate in every country we go to and then I can finally write a new blog post!” I exclaimed. And that is what I am doing, so get yourself a nice, hot beverage and a cozy blanket and enjoy!
The first, best, and most inspiring cup of chocolate. The place had a super cozy atmosphere and the guy who owned it was very friendly. He talked us about where we were from and even gave us some ideas of where to buy gluten free food (he offered us free cake and I had to tell him why I couldn’t take it). I decided that I would one day retire and open a gluten free bakery that’s not vegan and healthy and blah blah blah. Just delicious baked goods for people who actually can’t eat gluten. Anyways, the hot chocolate was bordering cocoa and chocolate, but I’d call it chocolate. Thick, creamy, and foamy on top. 8/10, it was just what I needed at the time, but it could’ve been thicker.
After a couple days in Salzburg, we moved on to a tiny village in the mountains of Austria called Hallstatt. I didn’t get my cocoa here until the last day, but I also had candied almonds. The cocoa here also came from a bakery, but it was more milky than chocolates and definitely classified as cocoa, not chocolate. It came in a nice cup with a lid though, so I didn’t have to worry about spilling. It was a little too milky for me, but still good. 6/10, but the village was my favorite.
Dad and I traveled to Füssen, Germany with a friend from Turkmenistan, who lives in Finland now. We found a restaurant called Aquila that we ended up eating at twice. They had a lot of options and a warm atmosphere, so we had lunch there on the first day and dinner on the second. The cocoa was more chocolatey than in Hallstatt, but was definitely cocoa, not chocolate. 8/10 because I prefer chocolate.
After we left our friend, Dad and I moved int to a ski resort in Germany called the Riessersee. I had hot chocolate at the hotel’s restaurant along with a cup of Goulash. The cocoa was the best I’d had, aside from the hot chocolate in Salzburg. Very chocolatey, but not thick. The twinkling lights were a nice touch that night. The next day, we took a walk through the snow, built a snowman, and stumbled upon a lively restaurant up in the mountains. I had some kinderpunsch there, with cinnamon and plum. I know it’s not cocoa, but it’s still worth mentioning. 11/10 for both combined.
After our trip was unexpectedly extended, Dad and I flew down to Bratislava. I had hot chocolate in a fancy restaurant that we only went to for the purpose of getting hot chocolate. It was thicker than the other cocoas, so I liked it. 9/10 for the whipped cream on top!
Hot chocolate was obviously not the only amazing thing about my vacation across Europe, but I think it made a very nice introduction. I’m writing another post about my trip for next week, so stay tuned! Also, happy Valentine’s Day! Make sure to spend it with the people you love, whoever that may be!💝
Journaling or writing in a diary is a great way to express your thoughts. Most people like to write about their day, but here’s why you should keep a journal of your most random thoughts.
Stream of consciousness writing is the method of writing out your thought process the exact way the words flow through your mind. An example that comes to mind is some of Virginia Woolf’s books. “To the Lighthouse” and “Mrs. Dalloway” are both written using stream of consciousness.
A lot of people have trouble thinking of what to journal about, but we all have ideas swirling in our heads all the time, so writing down random thoughts can help to open and cleanse your mind. It’s stressful to have worries or to-do lists stuck in your head, so dumping them out onto paper is a huge relief. It can also be a form of creativity if you’re writing down fictional scenes or story ideas that you have in your head. It’s creative in a different way than other forms of journaling, because it requires very few supplies. You can use color or a plain black pen and you can use a fancy notebook or random scraps of paper. Finally, putting your goals on paper can solidify them and make them stick in your mind better so that you can work to achieve them.
I journal a little differently than the traditional way. Usually, you would write in paragraph form without stopping for however long you want. I don’t write in long paragraphs, but instead I write different thoughts in different places on the page. They’re usually not particularly important, but it’s interesting to go back and read it because sometimes it comes out in poetry, song lyrics, or even doodles. I’ve made journaling a daily thing for the last week, and I date each page. Sometimes I use song lyrics or quotes as prompts and write something that I’m feeling based on that. Sometimes I add color, sometimes I don’t. I try to fill a whole page every day, but sometimes I only use half. I don’t force myself and I’ve come to really enjoy it.
I’ve kept diaries off and on ever since I was little. I usually started each entry with “sorry it’s been so long.” I was writing as though I were telling someone else about my life, so I was too focused on making things make sense that I never really put down my true feelings. Now, I don’t write about my day all the time. Sometimes I do, but sometimes I write things that I don’t even understand when I look back. It’s still fun to read through, though. Just try it for a few days. I can guarantee that you’ll feel less stressed and more creative, and you can free up your mind to focus on what’s really important.
Dad and I spent our Chinese New Year in Austria and Germany, where I drank a lot of hot chocolate, as I mentioned in my last post. Obviously, that’s not all I did, so this week is all about everything else.
In Hallstatt, we found a cute square with a nice sausage restaurant to eat dinner. Later, we returned to the square and stood in the cool winter air for at least an hour looking at the lights.
We went to Füssen for the purpose of seeing Neuschwanstein castle, but then we found out that we were supposed to book our tickets in advance. We went anyway, though, and just walked around. Ate more sausages.
On our last night of vacation, the fire alarm in our hotel went off. Dad and I rushed out into the hallway, but no one else seemed bothered. Then, we stood on the balcony and watched the fire truck arrive and then leave. We still don’t know what that was about.
You can’t really tell, but this river is SUPER clear. It is one of the clearest water bodies I have ever seen, second only to Dahab, Egypt.
As soon as we got off the ferry to Hallstatt, Dad slipped on the ice and fell down. It was mortifying. Thanks, Dad. 😂❤️
Really, though, it was an amazing trip and I’m so thankful that I got to experience all of it. See you next week!💕
I haven’t been blogging every day, so what HAVE I been doing??!
Not much, to be honest.
Mostly, I’ve been Christmas shopping and eating good food. It’s not like I don’t have time to write posts, I have plenty. I’ve just been running out of Christmas-y ideas. So, I don’t really have an idea today either. BUT, I’m going to lunch today, so perhaps that could provide some inspiration. Then, I pretty much have stuff planned daily until Christmas. Today’s post is essentially me stalling but still forcing myself to write something.
I made a delicious cinnamon roll coffee cake for breakfast and we’ve been eating it for the past few days. The recipe can be found here: https://www.gayadebut.com/2019/07/easy-cinnamon-roll-coffee-cake-recipe.html
It’s not a gluten free recipe, but we just used Bob’s Redmill 1-to-1 gluten-free flour.
This one is fairly straight forward. Mom and I have been Christmas shopping and buying things to take back to China with us. The Dollar Tree has 1$ stockings, which we bought.
I have handmade 5 Christmas cards so far. You can read my post about brush pens, which I used for the cards, here. I plan on making many more.
And wayyyyy too much of it. That’s pretty much the only channel Mom and I have been watching since we got back to the US. There’s one called Good Bones that is about a mother-daughter remodeling duo.
And that’s pretty much it! Hopefully, I’ll have something more interesting for you tomorrow! XOXO
I needed to make Christmas cards for my family, but I didn’t bring anything with me to America. Today, mom and I went to Michaels to buy supplies.
I was going to buy regular markers, but we got to the pen aisle and I found really nice brush pens for the same price as gel pens. I figured that was a pretty decent deal, so I got the brush pens. I’ve never really used them before, but I’d seen people use them and they looked really fun.
The pack I bought has 10 basic colors, but they mix really easily and I can make pretty much any other color. Water makes them spread out even more, like water colors. They’re two-sided, so there’s a brush side and a regular marker side.
Now, I needed to make a lot of cards, and I figured it would take a long time, maybe even a few days. I’m just a couple hours in, though, and I’ve already made four! The brush pens are really easy and they look nice. My favorite thing to draw so far is a Christmas tree.
The star on top is drawn with the marker side and so are the lines connecting the bulbs to the tree. The rest is freehanded with the brush side. For the trunk, I don’t have brown, so I layered orange and gray.
This is just one example of the mAnY oPPuRTunITiES you have with brush pens. If you’ve never used them before, give something new a try!
Way Out Wanderer 