New disclaimer:
I actually am happy this blog is categorized as high school reading level. Considering English not being my 1st language I do think it is quite an achievement! Hehe...
More than once people asked me how many languages I speak and usually the answer they get is either a "blah" meaning nothing at all or I completely avoid answering it. The reasons are:
1. it is hard to define what it means to "know" or to be able to "speak" a language;
2. I really don't know because I have exposure to many but nowhere close to being fluent enough to fully communicate with others;
3. and of course I don't want to sound cocky as I really am a humble and a nice person! ;)
My goal in life is to learn as many languages as I can because I think that is the best way to learn about a culture. Of course it is not possible to be fluent in more than a handful but I enjoy the stimulation a language offers in reshaping my thinking about cultures and the world. Here it is all my encounters and experience with different languages if you really want to know:
Cantonese: Of course it is my native and I feel the urge to defend it whenever people think it is not a real language but a dialect. Personally I think it is way more fun and colorful than the dry and dull Mandarin. My goal is to teach Cantonese at the college level again someday.
English: I was fascinated by it since I was little as I thought it was cool to be able to speak a language so different from my own and communicative to the entire world. I was fortunate to attend a semi-international elementary school but had a tough time handling all subjects in English. I hated the teachers so much that eventually switched to a regular Chinese governement/public school which was then way too easy for me. My English skills soared and was perfected during the year as an exchange student at the University of Utah. Defintely the best year of my college life.
Mandarin: Had no problem understanding since both parents speak it with my older bro. I refused to speak it at home when I was young however as I thought it was "uncool" that none of my peers spoke it at the time. Who would have thunk (I think this word is "cool" as well btw) I would be a teacher of this "uncool" language now?
Indonesian: I was left living in Indonesia for 3 months alone with my Indonesian relatives at the age of 8 in the name of curing my health problems. Had ton of fun to begin with that most of my relatives there spoke limited Chinese which forced me to pick up Indonesian at light speed. After 3 months I'd had enough of living away from my family and I had no desire of receiving Indonesian education (I don't think I would enjoy being converted into Islam) that I demanded to be sent back home. But now I'm amazed at times how much I still remember after all these years with that brief exposure to the language and the culture.
Sign Language: Thanks to Berinda, Brother Yuen, and Sister Fung that I picked up CSL (technically HKSL) at church as there was a need for interpreters for the deaf members. It was really an eye opener to learn the signs and interacted with the deaf communities in Hong Kong and later Macau on my mission. They are the nicest and the most humble people I have ever met. Even the visit to the deaf school in Quanzhou China with the YAs made me want to give back and do something for them again in the near future.
Italian: Took a year course during freshman year. It was my last choice of foreign language class but I felt I had to learn a new language to keep me sane from the boring biology classes. The Italian Diction class I took at the U of U was super fun but I keep wondering why I had the guts to take that class with everyone else being senior vocal majors. I did somehow mysteriously get an "A" in the end!
Japanese: I was one class shy of being a Japanese minor in college but just wanted to know more so that I know what I was eating or watching while enjoying my favorite Japanese snacks or the crazy Japanese TV shows.
Spanish: One year at the U and one year at CUHK. The two teachers at the U were wonderful while the one at CU was a total slacker. The good thing is I don't have to worry about not having exposure to it now being in a state where Spanish is pretty much the 2nd language. Many of my students are of Latino descent as well.
Tagalog: Did not really learn it formally but the fellow Filippino missionaries taught me quite a bit. Learned the lines for ice-breaking so the Filippinas would really open up when I approached them. It was amazing to get to know these people who have always been a part of Hong Kong culture but often neglected by the locals.
French: Took a summer intensive course at the Y. The American teacher was actually a classmate of mine but I learned more about language teaching than the language per se. He has very creative and organized teaching skills that I later integrated into my own teaching. I love how things are pronounced... tres beau...
Hebrew: I wanted to take the intensive summer course at the Y as well but felt it was way too intensive than I expected that I dropped out after a week. The teacher was very experienced but the methodology was too traditional for me. I am glad he still recognized me and said hi to me afterwards without sounding mad...
Korean: In preparation for the Asian tour with the YAs, I studied a bit of Korean on my own that I wanted to fully experience the culture. I memorized a few lines in Korean that I fooled most of the group that I spoke Korean! But I am so proud with the help of a Korean classmate that I ran the entire Korean supertitles of the show on my own not really knowing how to read Korean!
German: It has been a little over 2 months since class started but my intension is more on language teaching observation rathan than really learning the language per se. The experience so far has been very enjoyable and I even want to visit Germany now because of the things I have learned. I'd better go back to study for the test tomorrow now! Tschus!
~time for friends and family.
~time off doing nothing but eat, sleep, watching or reading whatever I want.
Have a happy holiday and wonderful new year!
Those were included in the red pockets/laisees I gave them...
After the banquet.
It's an illusion... the big birds couldn't touch my lunch (with Cassandra and Cindy) because of the glass window.
And we saw something like this... a wild otter enjoying crab in the ocean! Lunch time for all of us...
July is the month of birthdays, or birthmonth to me. It seems all the coolest and the greatest minds were born this month! At her birthday lunch today at Maggiano's Paige made a comment that people in October must be very happy... go figure... LOL!!!
I could hardly believe my eyes when I finished fueling up my car with gas today... almost $70 (average around $40 in the past)!!! With gas price reaching $5/gallon now it is almost impossible to imagine how much it cost back then just less than 7 years ago when I came to the States... less than a dollar (pre-911)! So with inflation almost out of control these days I was just talking with a friend that one's financial strategy now is not just how much one can save but how much more one can earn to offset the increasing living costs.
About 4 months ago I planned to take the German class as for my personal interest and possibly ideas for my own language teaching. Now I am so glad I did and finished by taking the final with NO studying because I skipped the last couple of classes while Doris was in town and I was way too exhausted after a day's work for the past couple of weeks. I think I did quite good regardless of some of the words I already forgot. Tonight we celebrated afterwards with a dinner at a German restaurant. The food was just ok but the ambience and comradarie was wonderful. Basically every single student loved the class and is coming back for second semester if one can. I think it is quite an achievement the teacher has accomplished with such diverse students. Everyone was reminiscing the creative and fun sketches we did. They kept commenting how good an actor I was but my response was I hated acting to begin with but now I have grown to be quite fond of it! And the teacher has totally inspired me to be a better teacher and I even told her that. The funny thing I learned tonight is that she is dating a young guy who is a DLI graduate of Chinese and we chatted quite a bit. 
Waiting in line to get in to the Tonight Show. With Doris on the bottom left...
After Doris left I saw both Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull as well as Iron Man over the memorial weekend. I like both movies but the former has a wacky ending while the latter a predicatable plot. I prefer the Indy film just because of the nostalgia and the comradarie it brings back. Watching it is just like taking the disney ride again.
I almost became one myself because of totally different reasons (read on for explanations below). With the approaching of the olympics in less than 100 days as well as the chain of events lately such as the torch relays, deporting Danish sculptor Galschiot of the "Pillar of Shame" from Hong Kong (how fit the title it is for such action by the HK, and possibly PRC governments), and protests for different causes in all corners of the world, China is under unprecedented scrutiny as a host of such a worldwide event. I've read a few insightful and interesting articles including the Economist and the National Geographic. I just want to say both China and its people (counting myself in) really need to learn to be good hosts to the world despite all the "oppositions". This is the price of presenting oneself a prominent role on the world stage. It seems the nation as a whole has already partially failed the test by overreacting to the "negative press" from the West and the zealous Chinese citizens trying to silence any voices not supportive of the Chinese Olympics or the PRC's Tibetan policies. Bear in mind almost every single Olympic host countries have taken their shares of criticism and the success pretty much lies in how poised and mature the countries acted politics-wise. Imagine how "excited" many of the Westerners, especially the French, would be to come visit China now for the Olympics without worrying being "attacked". 
Stumbled on a show by John Bytheway on BYUTV. He actually is my favorite LDS speaker even though he is not a GA of the church and most of his talks are targeted for the teenagers. I actually met him in person and got to have a quick word with him at the LDSBA convention a couple years back. He's very insightful, inspirational, and funny at the same time. His most recent quote that I like from the show is 
I'm well known as a (late)night person which explains why I often look sleepy and tired. It comes from our family habits and traditions back home since the city never sleeps and I often enjoy the "freedom" that we can still do whatever we want without sun rays. As one grows older I realize the drawbacks of sleep deprivation and the risk of fighting against the nature of our "bio-clock". I read from different sources lately on the correlation of sleep/light and diabetes along with cancers. The picture above shows the "light pollution" which pretty much coincides with distribution of the world energy consumption. Studies show that the "brighter"/more developed the area is the more incidents of cancers can be found. One suggestion is people should use more natural light rather than man-made light at night. This really is a wake up call to many of us. When the world begins to focus on environmental issues people should also think more about making our own bodies to be in tuned with the nature as well.
I love sumptuous brunch on a weekend... 
I love seeing the funny and adorable wild sea otters float and sunbathe in the ocean while the mommy seal teaches the suckling baby seal how to swim and survive... (click and enlarge the image to see those cutey creatures in the sea)
Ended up not going to bed as early as I wanted to so this morning I was off to a weird start. First I felt bloated probably because of the worsened metabolism of the sugar intake from last night as reported by 60 minutes of the effect of sleep deprivation. I literally gained a few pounds over one night just because of the fries, a Carl's Junior Teriyaki burger (which was yummy!), and my fav peanut butter cookie! Yeah so much for my indulgence on gluttony. Then since I didn't have early morning class until 10 I moved a lot slower on my way to my car for work. As I was trying to grab a bottle of water from the trunk my car key slipped off of its key chain and without thinking I pulled out the key from the key hole, dropped it in the trunk, grabbed the bottle, and closed the trunk... Oh wait a minute! That means my key is now in the trunk and I have no way to get into the car. What was I thinking (or the lack of it)? Once again I can blame it on my sleep deprived dysfunctional brain. I was thinking if I should call my insurance company for the auto service to help me out. Then I decided to give it a try to locate my spare key. It has actually mysteriously disappeared for a good few months and I have no clue where it was. I flipped my drawers, desks, and closet over to look for it and at the same time I gave my supervisor a head's up that I might end up missing work for the morning. My neighbors could see me running back and forth a couple times between the apartment and the car for using the wrong keys attempting to pop the car doors open. I then regret my total lack of organizational skills that my drawers and closets are plain messy war zones that it was difficult to reach in, let alone finding the spare key comparable to finding a needle in a haystack. Miraculously I had a great feeling when I saw a tupperware box that I put some of my bookmarks and memorable show ticket stubs (I know how random and dorky it sounds) that the key was gonna be there. Tuh-duh! When I saw it it felt like I had struck gold! In no time I was back in the office and my supervisor was quite amazed (and relieved) that I was back this soon. 
Went to a "dim sum" restaurant in Gilroy a week ago as I craved for food from home. Then I was reminded of how much I missed the days when we were thrilled at and anticipating for the approaching of those "dim sum" carts toward our tables at the restaurants when we were kids. It is now replaced with the diners checking from a list at the table which is a lot less fun. It is sad more and more of the unique "Hong Kong culture" is lost or abandoned, whether intentionally or not. 
And happy 40th anniversary, mom and dad! 
Having been dealing with quite a few life and death matters lately, namely suicidal friend, family member with serious illness, and even the death of Heath Ledger, this is the one that I am finally comfortable with. Thanks to Tiffany who informed me within an hour of the news (from Hong Kong!) President Hinckley finally rested in peace and reunited with his wife. What a remarkable man of God he is. He became prophet right before I came to the US (Salt Lake City, Utah to be exact) and since then I had the privilege to sing in front of him (and right behind him) on a few occasions. I met a few of his grandchildren and one of them even told me a bit about his life and his love of all the people that he served. I was so amazed with his achievements that I finished reading his biography in less than a month (a record for me at the time) and voluntarily wrote a paper on him for an institute class that I sat in. His biggest influence on me was this conference talk that I still clearly remember I read on the first day of December 1999 which gave me the much needed conviction to do well on the most memorable month of my mission in Hong Kong. His extraordinary ability in summing up the history of mankind in beautiful words and his eloquence totally left me in awe.
Real sweet and sour pork... it's supposed to be crispy outside with tender meat inside...
I've loved this eggplant dish since I was little and never get tired of it...
Love this waffle... it's just peanut butter and sugar in it but addicting... one of the culprits for my few extra pounds gained...
And of course nothing beats mom's cooking!
You will not believe what they sell in the Chinese version of Costco there until you enlarge the picture... don't if you have a weak heart...
Thanks Covi, Samily, Sangel, Wallace, Ah Dak, Ben, Gigi, Kenny, Lauren, Tiffany, Venus, Circle, "Horse King", Boris, Andrew, Jeremy, Michael, Julie, Ming, and Jacky, it was fun to catch up with all of you again.
And I also have to mention an awesome movie I saw before I left -- Lars and the Real Girl. The idea is crazy (both figuratively and literally) but the plot is just warm and touching and shows what true humanity means.
Posts
