Interview #1: With Eileen Li, of ***Singing and Reading in the Rain***

 

Encore une fois, je m'excuse au lecteurs français, car l'article d'aujourd'hui n'est pas traduit de l'anglais. C'est trop de travail, vous voyez, c'est un interview, et c'est très long, à chaque fois que je traduis mes articles je prends le double du temps.

 

 I'm sorry I took five days to write another post everyone, shame on me! Oh well. Today I'm super-duper excited because...Guess what? I'm starting a series of interviews! Introducing Eileen, my first interviewee, a totally awesome-crazy-cool blogger! I first got interested in her because she is 13, like me! And there aren't a lot of young bloggers out there - I mean this young. She is an avid reader, another point in common between us, and she posts book reviews on her blog.

 

 

Eileen!

Name: Eileen Li

Age: 13

Blog: ***Singing and Reading in the Rain*** (If you Google it, it comes up! I’m so excited about this because it’s not everyday one of your creations is the top forum on the Google page! Then again, you usually don’t have a totally long title that’s a pain to spell out constantly.)

 

Why did you start blogging?

Simply enough, because The Iron Fey series by Julie Kagawa (my favorite series of all time) totally got me and I freaked out over them like insanely. This was also the period of time where I discovered I wanted to actually do something about my singing career (I want to be a singer when I grow up), so instead of opening a YouTube channel like the next sane guy over there, I opened up a blog. That blog later got accidentally deleted (don’t ask; this is a story for another time) and I started up a new one and I think it’s gone pretty well!

Describe yourself in three words.

Singer, insane, Asian (Because I am actually the stereotypical Asian.)

Where are you from? What language/languages do you speak?

I am from the great country of The United States! But my parents are both 100% Chinese, so technically I am an ABC—American Born Chinese. So I’m like 100% Chinese appearance-wise, but the personality is all American baby! And I speak English—who doesn’t? This language is ridiculously easy people. I also am learning to fluently speak Chinese. Dude. You can’t even fake your way through this language! If you don’t know a character, you don’t know it and can’t PRETEND to know it. Any of you know what this is: 我的名子是我不要告诉你因为我不知道你是 ? No I didn’t think so!
But, can you pretend you know what this is:
Hola me llama no está diciendo a tú porque no te conozco.
You trust your eye for the above words, and you attempt to read them. I don’t know if I got the sentence right, but I’m sure if you can read, you can get close to how you’re supposed to pronounce that. BUT, if you’re reading Chinese or some other characters, it is virtually impossible to guess what those words are unless you have training in that specific language. I also take Spanish as a language requirement in my school. However, I focus more on Chinese because contrary to what you may think, I suck at Chinese. I should probably be doing my Chinese homework now, in fact. But nope. I’m on the computer being the wonderful human being I am.

What are your hobbies?

I sing, like, ALL the time! I have a YouTube channel, and I cover songs on there (http://youtube.com/eileenli08) and I’m always practicing songs for there and just jamming to random songs. My parents always tell me to shut up, but it’s a total passion and I really can’t stop doing it. Seriously. I want to be a singer when I grow up, thus the constant singing. I also love writing songs and playing the piano! I’m self-teaching myself Für Elise by Beethoven, and I have half the song down, except the thirty-second notes, which aren’t that fast, it’s just a relative sight-reading issue.


What is your worst nightmare?

My worst nightmare (life-wise) is probably not getting to do something I would’ve loved because I didn’t take the chance when it was offered to me on my silver platter. For example, if somebody gives you a chance to accomplish your life-long dream—say, singing—and you don’t take it because you’re scared, that’s your fault. I don’t want that to happen to me, no matter what happens.


If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go?

I would go to Los Angeles (or Nashville) or England! So many record labels are based in Los Angeles and Nashville, and it would be a dream to go there and see if I could get someone to sign me to their label. England because I have so many friends there and I just love British accents, they amuse me way more than they should!

If you could wave a magic wand and grant one wish to make the world a better place, what would it be?

I would want everyone to get a fair chance at life. I don’t think that just because some people’s parents are poor that they shouldn’t not be able to do things that they could do if they had more money, like go to dance camp, or something. And, if everyone started off with a fair chance at life, you could make your own choices on what you want to do without many restrictions. Well, obviously you can’t do something if you don’t have the ability or talent, but I would just love if everybody could pursue one thing and have it based solely on their talent and their capability, not the amount of money they have or who their parents are.

If you were to transform into an animal right this second, what would it be, and why?

I’d turn into a bunny! Does anybody know the Chinese zodiac? If you don’t, simply put, the Chinese zodiac is basically giving you an animal sign for the year that you were born. It repeats every twelve years I think, and I was born in the Year of the Rabbit. I always loved bunnies as well, so there you go. Although I hate carrots. Don’t know how that would work...

Who is the biggest inspiration to you?

I think it’s definitely Taylor Swift! Her music and her personality just inspire me all the time and I really want to be at least half as successful and talented as she is when I grow older and hopefully become a singer! That would be my number-one dream, no doubt, to be able to inspire someone the way that she inspires me one day.

Who is your favorite author?

Can you give me a Julie Kagawa?!?! I love that woman to pieces! Seriously, I have screenshots of almost everything she ever said to me, no. Joke. Her Iron Fey series got me to start blogging and start the chain of events to me creating my YouTube channel and if I ever become a successful singer, I’m dedicating her (and Taylor Swift of course!). They both did so much to help me discover who I am.

What's on your bedside table?

Okay, the full rundown of my bedside table:
My bedside table is more of a cubby, and I have clothes and old Chinese DVDs piled up on the two open cubbies. The counter space on top has my reading lamp, a book, two pads of sticky notes to tape onto my wall, a few pens, lip balm, receipts, bookmarks, my iPod charger, deodorant, and hair ties. No books, guys! I’m OCD about putting books back onto the shelf as soon as I’ve read them, so they’re nowhere near my bedside table, except for that one book. It’s a library book I never brought downstairs.

What is on your Christmas list?

I don’t usually ask for a lot, but this year I want a few fairly expensive things (and some things that are just pure wishes to the world)
1. A guitar
2. A professional recording microphone
3. Taylor Swift concert tickets
4. For everyone to be okay after Hurricane Sandy, even though it already happened. I was in the storm, I lost power for 10 days, and it was brutal. But I cannot imagine what it must be like for the people who lost every piece of their house, all their furniture, every memory they ever had in that house, and even the people who lost their friends and family members. Personally, I just want everybody to end up okay. Even if that may be wishful thinking, I think that we all just need to stop for a second and say, “I really hope you’re doing okay today” to someone who was directly in Hurricane Sandy. Totally sappy, but I have a temporary classmate whose house was destroyed, and I feel so, so bad for him.

What song is stuck in your head at this moment?

JUST ONE?!?! That is brutal, my friend. I’m covering The A-Team by Ed Sheeran very soon so I guess that would be the one since I’m trying to learn all the lyrics. But other than that, pretty much every song I’ve ever recently heard and liked is running through my head on repeat.


Thank you Eileen, to have taken the time to answer these questions! You're fabulosa (hey, how do you say that in chinese?) ;)