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To this day, my mother will not let me step foot in the kitchen. As a child, the fanciest thing I did was marination. My mother wanted me to focus on my studies, cooking was something that I could "learn later when I got married." Before I knew it, with a makeshift stove in my single room in college and crazy working hours after, I realized that I never had the time to learn myself. At 27, I am embarrassed to say I cannot cut the skin off an apple without completely mutilating the fruit, I cannot cook anything that doesn't say instant on the front label. My mother excuses it with the fact that I've had a successful career. It is now a running joke in the family that I cannot cook. I just never had the knack for it. My mother is a natural in the kitchen but I was always awkward. My friends would give me simple tasks but then would get frustrated and have me leave the kitchen.

Scuba dive. Sure, this seems like a common pastime to others. I almost drowned as a small child. I am also a little claustrophobic and have never been the same since watching Jaws. My father took me to a special viewing in our local theater as a small child because I begged him to. One of the boys at school would not talk about how awesome the movie was. So of course I wanted to see it too. I barely lasted thirty minutes and was never the same again. Even today, when I go snorkeling, I feel like the fish are going to attack me. The fish make me uncomfortable.

I want to adopt a child. I would not be where I was today without the love and support of my parents. I want to provide that same opportunity to someone.

I want to learn how to play the cello. My obsession with this instrument began as an 11-year old girl in love with Paula Abdul's song "Cold Hearted" that featured a brief solo. I was in love. But my traditional Asian parents said they would support me playing the violin but not the cello. At a little

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