Stephanie
2022 Fourth of July Carnival and ARML
Lexington holds a Fourth of July Carnival every year. It's not only on the fourth of July; the carnival runs for 5 days in total. Yesterday, on July 1, I was being driven home after I picked up my newly fixed computer when my friends sent me a text urging me to join them at the carnival. It was around 8 and the carnival ended at 11, and I had no idea the carnival had started at that point, but I decided to go. I arrived there and it was exactly as I remembered it to be from previous years, and tried to find my friends in the large crowds. I spotted an abundance of YOG "2026" shirts, a lot of babies, and many other friends from high school, but I didn't see the two friends I was looking for. It was them who found me first, actually, when I turned around and saw them waving. We first went to a carnival stand where you needed to spray a small dot with water to get this octopus to rise, and whichever of the people playing got their octopus to rise first won. One of my friends really wanted a blobfish plushy, which was one of the prizes, so the other tried time and time again until she finally won. We were about to leave the stand when the friend who was playing decided that she also wanted a plushy, and we returned to watch her try again for another. Eventually, she won, and we decided to try for a third, but to no avail.
Afterward, we went to explore the other rides but decided their lines were too long. We went to the Ferris wheel and talked as we waited to get to the front of the line. The fireworks were starting now, so we watched the fireworks while in line together. When we got closer to the front of the line, however, we found that there was an extension behind the Ferris wheel that we hadn't seen previously, meaning the line was longer than we thought. When we finally got on the Ferris wheel it was late and the fireworks were over, but it was still fun to talk to one other. After the Ferris wheel, I got a red slushy, fries, and a caramel apple. It was pretty fun!
On the topic of excursions, this was my first year going to ARML! I made vlogs throughout the entire trip so I would have a detailed overview of what happened.
I woke up at 5 AM as the ARML bus was set to arrive to my school at 6 AM, got ready, made sure to wear my Math Team hoodie, brought my suitcase, and set off. When I got to the parking lot I was one of the first few, and waited as others arrived. There, we all received our Math Team shirts. My first vlog was set at the school parking lot at 5:53 AM. I'm standing with a friend, and say "We're waiting for the bus for ARML." I then turn the camera around so it pans over the scene, showing a parking lot and a group of people, most of whom are also wearing Math Team hoodies. We put our luggage into a compartment under the bus when it arrives. My next vlog is at 6:08 AM where I board the ARML bus. After that, I have another vlog at 6:11 AM where I'm with two other friends, and I talk about how the bus is mostly empty.
At 6:22 AM I have another vlog where the bus is full and in motion, and I explain how I'm sitting in the back of the bus with the two friends from before. This turns out to be a mistake later on, since the bus was really nausea-inducing, and the further back you were on the bus, the more nausea you felt. My next vlog is at 8:09 AM where I talk about how I'm getting motion sickness. After that, at 12:47 PM, I'm still on the ARML bus and talk about how we had a rest stop earlier with a friend. At 1:12 PM, I'm on the bus again after another rest stop, and show some fruit snacks that I got at the rest stop with a friend.
At 3:34 PM I'm at my dorm, and I'm with a different friend who's my roommate. I remark how the view is pretty and how we're in room 304. At 3:40 PM I show my bed, which has been set (it was previously just a mattress). At 4:15 PM I'm walking with a group of friends to a hotpot place, which we found to be closed. We walked to a noodle place instead (which is seen in a different vlog at 4:32 PM). At 4:48 I show some of the food we got, which included shrimp fried rice and beef ho fun. I return to the dorms and play some card games with the rest of the team. At 7:23 PM I'm next to a volleyball court where all the Math Team kids are playing a modified version of volleyball. At 8:00 PM I'm at Po Shen Lo's lecture with a friend. When 10 PM comes I have a video call with my mom and brother. At 10:10 PM I show the refrigerator and the ice cream that my roommate brought, and fall asleep shortly after.
At 5:54 AM the next day I wake up, and go to the cafeteria across the campus for breakfast with friends. I eat breakfast at 6:57 AM and show the breakfast that I got, which included tator tots, sausage patty, eggs, and a cookie. The math competition passes surprisingly quickly, and we pack our bags before the awards are announced. At 4:33 PM we return to our dorms to grab all of our luggage. We return our room key and meal cards. We bring our luggage down to the bus, and eat ice cream that people bought. At 8:12 PM we're on the road home after a dinner break at Wendy's. I'm less nauseous on the ride back as I'm sitting in the front. At 8:30 PM we have karaoke on the bus. At 10:20 PM we have another rest stop, and it's dark out. We arrive home at around 11 PM, and once I'm home I take a picture of an ARML frisbee I got, which turns out to glow in the dark. I also bought an ARML face mask. Overall, it was a really fun experience.